[GCW]

Monday morning and no power club thread?  Damned inefficient if you ask me







Short term goals
Do my local cross country (5.8km) in under 30 minutes (big ask I think)
Sort out the bad knee.

Medium Term goals
Climb font 7c in 2010 (a bit ambitious maybe).
Lose (almost) a stone initially (aim for 83kg)- also a bit ambitious!
Do my Winter Hill run in under 43:12 (average 10kmh).
Finish off my remaining esoteric Lancs Quarry projects.

Busy week family wise.

M-  Work, wine.
T-  Work, wine.
W-  Work, wine.
T- Half an hour's running whilst buying some new running shoes.  Left foot rolls about it seems, which may explain the knee.
F-  Crap session at the wall.  V5s felt hard.  Wine.
S-  Round at the Boss' for tea, the wine and SuperMario.
S-  Bridestones.  Very busy and in the sun, so poor conditions.  Added a sit start to Damned Spanky, it just wasn't morpho enough.  Failed to link the Cheeseblock arete.  Should have done the wall right of Out Of Sight.  Tore hole in skin.  3 pints of Peroni and some red with pub tea.

Monday weigh in of 83.5kg. 

[nai]

goals - 7C, E4, WSS

m - family ill so nothing
t -
W - strange day on WSS, skin was pretty glassy so struggled to gain purchase on the crimp, despite this I had my best efforts and after another foot sequence change missed the break by a whisker.  I know that I can do it now, just have to be patient and wait for the planets to align....
t
f - didn't train as hoping to be out Sat & Sun
S - waited all day for the rain to stop, ventured out just after five to find WSS dry, tried it til dark but my first go ended up beng the best, somehow managed to puncture a tip on the third sidepull 
S - Just the place to go with bad skin - Ramshaw.  Largely spanked but did manage Monologue after bumping in to Scouse and Cofe and using their beta, pads and encouragement - cheers guys.

Hmmm week but good save at the end, fastest 7B+ by far but I guess that's the benefit of using beta rather than piecing it all together by yourself.

[Barratt]

My week has been mixed, only climbing once.

Sunday: session at Plantation with a nice new tick, The Prince - excellent problem!

I hoping for a better weeks training ahead, plus I have my appointment with the shoulder specialist so fingers crossed!

[i_a_coops]

STG - Secret Cabaret the weekend after next, Threadbare, onsight 7b+, Font 7C
MTG - 8a
LTG - 8a in a session, Loskot next year

M - Bar, core, run for the first time in ages - 5k in 21 min. I think I may never do 5k in 20min.
T - Steep board session, Cabaret training!
W - no skin, and ill. Bar session. Finally worked out how to do a one arm pullup!
T - P.E. bouldering, and circuits.
F
S - Portland with the uni club. Got rained on. Got the mick taken out of me by people sport climbing in helmets for owning a grigri and a clipstick, then had to do a lot of wet muddy 4+s. Did a little bit of bouldering in the half an hour before we had to leave. Consoled myself with a quick session doing one-armers before going to sleep. 

S - Physics happened, training did not. Held a front lever for at least a second though!

I'm going to actually do some sodding climbing next weekend if it kills me, and preferably not with the club. Aargh.

[shark]

M.
T. AM Tor. Sardine to warm up then 2 goes at Crucifixion. On 1st got thrun PushUp on 3rd go and reached the crux (at 30m) but finger strength failed. 2nd go dogged in sections. Too tired to retrieve draw on Tin Of crux but J-L-Sausage stepped in to get it.
W.PM Some deadhangs. Eve. Physio with Ben to learn postural stuff
T.PM Some deadhangs Eve. Shed. Worked AnCap circuit
F.
S. Travel to Italy. PM. Couple of routes at Masone
S. PM. Failed on a couple of routes at Massone

Cheers GCW

My climbing seems to have gone down the toilet but at least I'm in Arco

Ciao   

[chris_j_s]

Just back from 2 weeks in Kalymnos and unless I can get to Malham soon (possible but fairly unlikely) I would think that I've finished with routes for this year now.

The trip was a big success and the training leading up to it was just the ticket. Although I didn't achieve my ultimate aim of redpointing 7b+ I did do my first 7b (on only my 2nd attempt too!) which has been a long time coming and is a big YYFY. I'm not that upset about the 7b+ as I decided there were simply too many great routes to do to get stuck on a single project.

Any disappointment I was feeling was made up for by exceeding my onsight target. I had hoped to onsight 6c+ but managed to go one better and onsight a 7a (came agonisingly close to a couple of other 7a o/s's as well) which was a very unexpected surprise.

Thinking forward to 2011 I guess the short term target would still have to be redpointing 7b+. In terms of onsighting I have a feeling that matching a 7a onsight here in the UK will be a good deal harder than abroad so that will be my initial target for next year.

[Joe]

I'm going to actually do some sodding climbing next weekend if it kills me, and preferably not with the club. Aargh.

Thats the spirt Ian, bunch of punters...

STG – (recovery from knee cap dislocation) Finger board sessions 3 times a week, back top roping/leading during November, December – climb F7a+ circuit at Gollum’s Cave, Bristol.
MTG – Climb F7b, (House Burning Down/Bitter and Twisted) on-sight F7a
LTG – Climb F7c, climb F8a within 3 years (from 6th September 2010)

M – Nothing
T – Leading (indoors) again, worked top moves on Sundays 7a, sent first redpoint attempt. Then did 6c+ had been working on. Pretty psyched.
W – Leading (indoors). Onsighted 6c+, climbed another in tow goes. Hardest indoor onsight... Again, Brookes is badly graded, but still encouraging. Proof will come when I go outdoors on 6th...
T – Nothing
Friday – Short beastmaker session
S – Nothing
S – Leading, tried a 7b and a 7a. Did some hard moves and some nice links. 7a should certainly be possible! One move I couldn’t do on 7b.

Need to climb more outdoors...

[petejh]

Goal - do my first VIII, 8a, 8A, E8, in 2010.
At - IX, 8a, 7C, E5.
Goal for October: headpoint My Piano, work High Life. Start the drytool fitness in preparation for winter.

m. Re-equipping on Diamond..
t. Re-equipping on Diamond.
w. Diamond. Tried Wall of Evening Light, totally fucking brilliant route. Needs scary levels of power-endurance to do it clean.
t. Evening bouldering/social at indi, unlike me, felt like a treat.
f.  Nowt.
s. Two-Tier Buttress to join a mate for his coaching session with Ste Mac. Very worthwhile. O/S a few low 7's and tried Why Me but ran out of juice for the send.
s. Plantation, did the 'sky blue circuit' in the new Stanage guide to get back into climbing on grit. Also Crescent Arete and Crescent Groovelet (V1?!) Close to the perfect chilled day.

No Nesscliffe, Highlife or tooling this week.

[andybfreeman]

Back from nearly 3 weeks in Australia so time for some catch up.

STG = onsight 7a, boulder 7B
MTG = more sport routes including finally climbing the cider soak @ anstey's, boulder 7B in the forest and 7B+ anywhere
LTG =  consolidate at 8a, boulder 7C then onwards and upwards

Week 1/2 = fly to Brisbane, spend a couple of days pre-wedding staying with the bride's family and eating and drinking plenty. Got the bus up to Montville for and pre-wedding barbecue and then the wedding itself. Great day with massive quantities of wine quaffed and a decent meal. I surpassed myself by being the drunkest person there without insulting or upsetting anyone. At the end of the night when the barmaid of the free bar decided I'd had enough the father of the bride disagreed and kept getting me another top up until it was time to leave! Headed back to Brisbane in my wedding suit, having changed at the venue and somehow forgotten to collect my clothes. Back in Brisbane spent another couple of days of grog and grub.

Week 2/3 = Drove down to Armidale and bouldered for 6 days straight. Climbed loads of easy stuff and Volcanology a V8 (their choice of grade!) at Gara Gorge + a couple of V6s at Yarawyck. Awesome climbing at both venues on good granite. Looked at some 80's hard stuff and Fred Nicole's V12s but they'll have to wait for a couple of years. Stayed with a local climber who lent me a flashed pad and sorted me out with locals to climb with most days. Had to leave to take the bride and groom back to Brisbane but did some traversing at Kangaroo point while waiting for them to pick their photos.

From what I've seen Australia is an amazing place and i am already planning my next trip/possible move. In the short term I'm looking forward to getting back to training and then the season for some UK bouldering is upon us. I want to tick another 7B soonish so i can conclude on whether the one i did in Oz was either a bit soft or just suited me.

Hopefully I'll get a weather and fitness window to get back on CS before the end of the year but if not it'll be there next year!

Weight up to 69.4kg this morning, which considering the amount I've eaten and drunk over the past 3 weeks is amazing! It'd be nice to get down to 65-67 again  but i won't be doing any special dieting a it's just too depressing!

[Muenchener]

STG: 6a+ os. Mittlere Weisse Wand, Konstein.
MTG: 6b os, 1-3-5
LTG: 7a rp; classic big Vs / VIs at local crags (Kaisergebirge, Wetterstein etc.) e.g. West Face Totenkirchl

M: Bouldering: one hour lunchtime session in the gym at work
T:
W: Wall, Thalkirchen. Evening spent getting mildly pumped on "long" (by wall standards - 15 to 17 metres) overhanging routes up to & including 6a. Avoided my 6b project: prefer onsighting to redpointing. Should, however, probably mtfu and get on some harder things.
T:
F:
S: Konstein, Frankenjura. So far in Climbing Career 2.0 I have avoided the Frankenjura, in the belief that the easy routes were all polished and sparsely protected, and the hard routes were, erm, hard. Not so the easy routes, as it turns out. Weather forecast for the weeknd was better in the north than in the Alps, and study of the guidebook revealed several sectors in Konstein with easy routes that are quite adequately protected, not too polished and with rock that is, as we say in München, geil. Much time spent belaying Frau Muenchener - an investment in the future - and a few 5s in between.
S: Frankenjura, raining. Went for a walk in the woods and stopped for a few quick routes at the wall (High East) on the way home.

[cheque]

STG: E1+ regularly on grit this winter
MTG: same on big crags next year

M- Failed driving test. Extreme frustration leads to intense training to avoid breaking possessions in anger. Everything 'til failure.
T- Walked 8 miles in 1:40 to diffuse last of frustration. Swiss ball core session: what felt nails last week is now easy  .
W- Pullups, pushups.
T- Yoga.
F- Swiss ball core.
S- Wet. Local wall finally reopened. Unfortunately it's in numerous ways. Desultory session but climbing well.
S- Dry! Burbage North to do classic HVSs and Now or Never. Stupid choice as sun and shelter mean conditions are awful on the crag. All popular areas are crowded with top-ropes and whooping students. Fun discovering shady/ quiet areas, but no progress on STG. 

Depressing week all round. My plans of freedom and climbing when and where I like have been delayed to bloody January by lack of license and while I'm in great shape and training's going well, actual rock climbing is still at frustratingly punterish levels. No-one to blame but myself, though. Worse still is that the new incarnation of the local wall is a real step down from the last one, which does not bode well for the imminent dark evenings.

[Falling Down]

STG: OS 2 E3's and Boulder Fb 7a+ by end Oct + Gym Jones Foundation seminar
MTG’s (End 2010) – Boulder Font 7b.
VLTG’s – Redpoint 8b, Boulder 8a, Onsight E6 drop weight to 11.5 st.

M - London and back with work. Fingerboard PM - easy circuit with feet on (Wine afterwards)

T - PE Circuit 3 x 10 Air, Jump and Wall Squats (Warmup) then 3 x 10 OH 20kg KB Push Press, 10 20kg KB Snatch 10 x 18" box jumps) 10 min row to warmdown

W - 8k run over Eccles Pike with dog. Chilly... good run.

T - Rest/V long day at work

F - Gym Jones Seminar Day 1: am 3 x 20 Air Squat, 20 Wall Squat, 10 Jump Squats then 20 squat jumps to 18" box. pm Tail Pipe 250m row + 24kg KB rack hold. 4 rounds for time (6:09) - very hard and very intimidating.

S - Gym Jones Day 2: PE Workout: Work up to Deadlift 1Rep Max . Personal best at 175kg. Then: "JonesCrawl": 10x DL @ 115% BW + 25x Box Jump @ 24" Box Three Rounds (5:25) another hard burner.

S - Gym Jones Day 3: Workout: Work Up to Barbell Turkish Get-Up at 1 Rep Max Personal Best at 35kg. Then: 6x TGU @ 25# (3 each side) + 60sec Plank Hold for Five Rounds Then: 4x (30sec Work/30sec "Rest") Push Press "Rest" is in OH Position (Reps 18,14,12,10) this was murderous Then:Cool Down

M (for completeness) - Gym Jones Day4: PE workout: OH Squat training. 20kg Barbell with 'perfect' form slowly for grind. Then: 3 x OH squats with 8kg  Kettlebells slow for form. Then: 3 x SOTS presses with 8kg KB's. Then 4 mins 30 sec on 30 sec off Frog Jumps; 2 mins rest; 4 mins 30 sec on 30 sec off lunge jumps; 4 mins 30 sec on 30 sec off Burpees.

No climbing other than fingerboard training this week. The Gym Jones foundation seminar was over four days in London. The workouts (I thought I'd include the details in case peeps were interested) were only about 30% of the overall seminar with the rest spent in teaching/discussion on philosophy, energy systems, sport specific goals, recovery, nutrition, then technique and reps, loads, sets, results, testing, workouts and lots of time on personal and sport specific program setting.   It's been absolutely fucking brilliant.....  I'll write a lengthier blog post when I have more time and reflected a little.

This week: Recover & digest the enourmous amount of information I've acquired over the weekend. Sports massage tomorrow..  Bouldering indoors Wednesday pm.   Outside at the weekend.. go climbing.

[tomtom]

Sounds like a top weekend FD!

T: Depot
F: Almscliff. Got warmed up. It rained. 4 attempts on Underhand before the driving rain made the holds under the roof wet!

Rest of the time. Work. arse.

[Three Nine]

Back from nearly 3 weeks in Australia so time for some catch up.

STG = onsight 7a, boulder 7B
MTG = more sport routes including finally climbing the cider soak @ anstey's, boulder 7B in the forest and 7B+ anywhere
LTG =  consolidate at 8a, boulder 7C then onwards and upwards

Week 1/2 = fly to Brisbane, spend a couple of days pre-wedding staying with the bride's family and eating and drinking plenty. Got the bus up to Montville for and pre-wedding barbecue and then the wedding itself. Great day with massive quantities of wine quaffed and a decent meal. I surpassed myself by being the drunkest person there without insulting or upsetting anyone. At the end of the night when the barmaid of the free bar decided I'd had enough the father of the bride disagreed and kept getting me another top up until it was time to leave! Headed back to Brisbane in my wedding suit, having changed at the venue and somehow forgotten to collect my clothes. Back in Brisbane spent another couple of days of grog and grub.

Week 2/3 = Drove down to Armidale and bouldered for 6 days straight. Climbed loads of easy stuff and Volcanology a V8 (their choice of grade!) at Gara Gorge + a couple of V6s at Yarawyck. Awesome climbing at both venues on good granite. Looked at some 80's hard stuff and Fred Nicole's V12s but they'll have to wait for a couple of years. Stayed with a local climber who lent me a flashed pad and sorted me out with locals to climb with most days. Had to leave to take the bride and groom back to Brisbane but did some traversing at Kangaroo point while waiting for them to pick their photos.

From what I've seen Australia is an amazing place and i am already planning my next trip/possible move. In the short term I'm looking forward to getting back to training and then the season for some UK bouldering is upon us. I want to tick another 7B soonish so i can conclude on whether the one i did in Oz was either a bit soft or just suited me.

Hopefully I'll get a weather and fitness window to get back on CS before the end of the year but if not it'll be there next year!

Weight up to 69.4kg this morning, which considering the amount I've eaten and drunk over the past 3 weeks is amazing! It'd be nice to get down to 65-67 again  but i won't be doing any special dieting a it's just too depressing!

Sweet job on 7B and climbing a million days on. If you do something tricky, reward yourself with the tick!

[aly]

STG - be able to use a fork without my finger hurting
MTG - get back to proper climbing

Mon - nothing
Tues - some pull ups, trying to do a 1 armer
Weds - went to wall.  Managed to TR a few easy routes (sub 6b) but led a pockety 6c+ (went front 2 on every hold thus removing the ring finger 'issue'.
Thurs - couple of pull ups, feeling as strong as I ever have with one arm (on the right anyway, LH hurts a bit)
Fri - nothing
Sat - nothing
Sun - went for a walk up Helvellyn, nice day

Goals for next week - try to use LH a bit and get a fingerboard set up so I can start training front 2/monos on my left hand.  Lots of icing/massage and try to have another 'easy' session to get the pulley working again.

[Falling Down]

The seminar schedule drove the pace and Sunday was almost a recovery workout for those with good Endurance.  Recovery is given a very high priority in the coaching. Rest, recovery and nutrition were covered before and as a higher priority than workouts. When we were developing an example month program, rest days were the first to go in with the training structured around rest and sport specific training/activities rather than the other way around.

[duncan]

New STG - sort elbow before trip to Red Rocks in 2 weeks...
MTG= E5 os, 7b rp

M - Shoulder stability / core
T - Arch 10 mins gentle ARCing
W -
T -
F - Shoulder stability / core
S -
S - Shoulder stability / core

Bailed from Font. trip last weekend as elbow is sore.  This usually takes about 2-3 months to settle which does not bode well for upcoming trip to 'States.  Bugger.

[rginns]

STG:get into a proper training regime / structure
MTG: Broughton 6a+, West View V6, Lancashire quarry font 7a
LTG: become a beast / 7b... and erm, all the above if I don't do 'em in the medium term...

M: Broughton, flashed all but 2 of the 5b+s, good stamina training
T: Nothing
W: press ups, sit ups, etc
T: Nothing
F: Fly to Belfast
S:Belfast
S: Fly back from Belfast

Psyche is still low, life too busy to mention. Looking unlikely to ease up for a couple of weeks although still managing to get out once in the week. Only posting on here to keep consistent really.

[andy popp]

Better get back on the wagon.

Goals: do some climbing.

M: Nothing
T: ditto
W: Boulder on board, good session, do all the moves on current project for the first time, even do some links.
T: Wake up sore but eases off so circuits on board, again goes pretty well
F: Quick pull up session, warm up sets then a few sets of travelling pull-ups and lock offs
S: Swim 750m, try to push the pace a little throughout
S: Go to Helsby and Harmers, only second time out since I buggered my knee in June. Do handful of easy routes/problems. Little more than active rest. Knee complains a little going up and down Helsby Hill, Clash-hooks gully etc. Beautiful day.

[joeisidle]

STG: Do a Font 7a on grit (or just outside of the cave)
MTG: Boulder Font 7b by the end of next year


Monday: Wall session, mixture of moon wall problems and circuits (and one hard problem which was pretty satisfying). Pushups
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Went to the wall, climbed random problems and felt about as light and fluid as a brick
Thursday: Did a moon wall session and felt inexplicably strong. Did two problems harder than anything I've managed on there before and just felt like I had a lot more 'snap' when doing big moves.
Friday: Nowt apart from some pushups
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Went to Parisella's and had a good session. Played about on Clever Beaver  for a bit and then managed Dust Kick and Left Wall from the shothole which constituted a pretty good day for me

[Nibile]

good week, good volume. getting back into plastic a bit more.

mon - beast. one arm dead hangs on slopers; two arms dead hangs on 45°; two arms dead hangs on small rung back 3.
tue - wall. 2,5 hours. slightly overhanging.
wed - rest.
thu - rest.
fri - should have driven to ticino. beast instead. one arm dead hangs on slopers; two arms dead hangs on 45°; two arms dead hangs on small rung back 3; two arms dead hangs on small rung front 3.
sat - amiata bouldering. went to film the two problems of the video. good vibes.
sun - wall. 2 hours, very overhanging. a bit tired but not bad.

keep the faith.

[chillax]

STG: Onsight E3, boulder 7b, be able to do one armers again, learn to aid climb properly
MTG: E4, Go to Yosemite and don't completely punt it up
LTG: E7, 8a

Mon: Nowt
Tues: Zilch
Wed: Bouldering on Lugnaquilla. Bit of a trek as it involved 2hrs of driving each way, and about an hours uphill walk to get tothe boulders (and that included getting a lift halfway up the hill). Only climbed on one boulder but put up a quality new problem...
 
Thurs: Nada
Fri: Dalkey. Soloed 4 or 5 Severes, seconded an E2 and 2 E1's, led an E1, and nearly decked after ripping 2 out of 3 pieces on an E2. Exciting.
Sat: Irish Bouldering League. Came 21st out of about 60 or so. Could have done better but called it quits after nearly tweaking my finger with 4 problems left to complete.
Sun: Cold day at Pigeon Rock in the Mournes. Led a necky enough HVS before the average cold tolerance of the group was exceeded and we called it quits.

Not too bad as a climbing week. Probably should have done something on Monday though. Essentially everything I'm doing at the moment is trying in some way to prepare for Yosemite next year (e.g. humping a bag and pad halfway up the highest hill in Wicklow to go bouldering). Nice to do a new problem, but slightly annoyed I didn't do better in the comp.

[webbo]

Mon.rockcity just repeating things.
Tue.depot mainly on new red circuit.finshed off with deadhangs,levers and things.woke up with searing pain in my left shoulder,paniced about what i'd injured then realised it was the site of my flu jab.
Wed.nowt
Thu.rockcity struggled like hell due still feeling the effects of tuesday.resorted to doing power endurance training.
Fri.nowt
Sat.called in at leeds wall on way to visit my mum.Comp problems flashed 18 would have scored about 200 if no one was watching my tatics.
Sun. bike 3hrs

[iain]

@FallingDown, Look forward to your Gym Jones blog post.

@Duncan, really hope you can work round the injury for the trip


Last week I actually did some training. It wasn't much but it was something. However, had a day out on Sunday where my lack of recent training caught up with me and I got spanked on Twangy Pearl 7b which would normally be something I would do quickly. Good route though.

Anyway, aims for this week, (it's a fail so far,) and STG is to do 2 quality fingerboard sessions a week just to keep the fingers in shape and try and keep that up until I get time for some proper volume again.

[Charles]

Oo still chance to log this week.

Mon: Leeds Wall. 8 Routes - F6a - F6c.
Tues: Rest
Weds: Rest
Thurs: Rest (weight = 157lbs.)
Fri: Flew to Costa Blanca AM. Climbed Alcalali. Good day.
Saturday: Gandia - very hot, very busy. Couldn't get on routes we wanted. Failed on a F7a+.
Sunday: Toix active rest. Did a two pitch F4+. We were going to do Magical Mystery Tour but bottled it as we had no trad gear with us.