[shark]

10.12-11.0

M. PM. With reports of baking conditions at Malham agreed with Mina to sack off going Tuesday Headed into the shed and bouldered then did a PE session on systems board. Scores marginally improved on last week

T. PM Foundry Wave. 3.5hours. Monster session for me. Worked white and black spots (7A?) on left side of steep section and did it after dropping last move three times. Also repeated yellow black (7A?). and a few level 2s. Felt I was climbing really well

W.

T.

F. Malham. Up with Paul, Steve, Haydn and Steve the pro. Crag astonishingly dry. Cold when cloudy hot with the sun out.  Made it hard to time redpoints – at least not humid. Shut down on the route. Didn’t even make it as far as the throw. Maybe not fully recovered from Tuesday but even so. Glum scenes. No point going back till the Spring 

S. AM CragX. Dry as a bone. Mint conditions. Started working the top of JR. Heel toe worked a treat to match rail but next move to pinchy hold still sketchy. Experimented with various alternative footholds and in end reverted to original but found that a hip thrust made all the difference. Too tired by then to try the whole problem. Still only seem to be able to catch the pinch hold with front two rather than three but can do the next moves with just two so that’s ok. Eve Went to a party in Birmingham and stopped over

S. Bit rough. Late PM Foundry AeroCap on autobelay

Devastated that now Malham is finally coming into good condition that I'm too burnt out to make the most of it. Will draw up a training plan this week. Going to do whatever it takes this winter to crush it in the Spring. 

Don’t seem to be shaking off swollen finger joints especially mid finger of left hand. 

[mic_b]

Don't sack off the Oak Simon! I only read power club to see if you have done it yet. Surely just take 2/3 days proper rest and then take advatange of the cold weather and dry crag.

[fried]

Cheeers Shark

M- Drove back from the centre of France.
T - Slept badly, but it's a bank holiday, so I went to Rocher du Potala to tick off some sub 6s. Predictably enough I climbed like a sack of potatoes, every problem consisted of 2 razor sharp crimps and no footholds. Grey and miserable. Haven't had a bad session in a while, get stuck in tons of crap, accident ridden traffic on the way home. Should've stayed in bed.

W/ Th - Nothing

F- Indoor, excellent session, felt so much better on a lot of steeper stuff, ticked 2x '6B', one that I'd been working since it seemed impossible to fairly easy.

Sa - Friend visited, played tunes and drank red wine until the early hours...
Su - Fragile, climbed onto the sofa and stayed there all day.

[shark]

Don't sack off the Oak Simon! I only read power club to see if you have done it yet. Surely just take 2/3 days proper rest and then take advatange of the cold weather and dry crag.

Hi Mick,

Thanks for your interest. The last couple of sessions have been dismal. I dont understand why I am physically so weak on it now. My other training sessions and bouldering sessions have been going OK. If Id had one go getting through the horn move in the last two sessions that would have given me enough hope to carry on. My psyche levels also need to be high to have effective redpoint goes and I'm just crushed now. Just not enjoying it any more over the last three sessions.   

Simon

[Muenchener]

STG: Get to the top of a moonboard by any means whatsoever.
MTG (Spring 2017): Redpoint 7b
LTG (<= 5 years): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60.

M: rest
T:   Public holiday in Bavaria, and glorious autumn sunshine in München & points south. So we cunningly drove north to Hanslberg, a nice little sport crag overlooking the Danube - where everything for miles around was blanketed in thick, freezing fog. 
   Drove around a bit to check out a couple of other crags in the area for future reference, then spent the afternoon at the Regensburg branch of Boulderwelt.
W:
T:
F: Boulderwelt with M jnr. Back on home ground at München West for the first time in a couple of weeks, ticked a multi-week project first go of the day and made significant progress on a couple of others. Good session.
S: The lad wanted to go plane-spotting at the airport. 2½ hours bike ride along the river to get there on a pleasant autumn morning.
S: Boulderwelt with M jnr. Body tension seems to be improving: I have a move on a project where until today I've always swung off after my feet cut. Today I stuck it three times with my feet on well in control. And strung four moves together on a moonboard "6B+". Another good session.
 Half a dozen circuits afterwards to start easing back into a bit of aerocap training.

[nai]

goals - 
winter - end of season dregs through Nov combined with a training block focussing on strength.  Then pretty much just training with a few grit outings.

2017 - 6x7c-8a routes, 8a+, 7c onsight, E6.


M - 3x10 mins LI AeroCap

T - base FB session 2

W - first time at eatswood trying the traverse. Just about worked out all the moves, exiting the kneebar and matching the final rail proving most problematic and taking up most of the session.  Enjoyed it, pretty psyched to get stuck into it.

Th 15km mtb

Fri - car packed with a sea of foam, flask filled and lunch made. All set for a return to eatswood to iron out the rail match and get some links done. Then 20 minutes before school opens a message arrives saying they have no water and it's shut for the day.  Spent the day in a bit of a huff.

FB base session 3 in the evening.

S HI AeroCap

S rest

[petejh]

STG: first 8b+ (Mecca), in July October, November
MTG:
LTG: 8c, by June 2018

Redpointing phase.

M. Sports massage, painful! Had built up quite an impressive selection of knots.
T. Tor. Mecca sesh 9. Cold and crisp, great connies. Feeling strong on the razor hold, slightly new foot position and throwing for groove with left foot out left way. Start and trav no probs now although I didn't try any significant linkage.
W. Hip/glute stretches.
T. Couldn't find a partner for the Tor. Pilbox ming and raining. Ended up on plan c - a long bouldering sesh in the Beacon. Pretty decent sesh with a few harder things sent but not what I want to be doing now.
F.
S.
S. Again couldn't find a partner for the Tor. Infuriating. Tried pilbox and lasted 30 minutes in the drizzle and wind. Manged drop-down to crimp move on Milenium 5 times in row. Slunk home. Did a core sesh and then a ketllebell sesh.


Maddening to be feeling strong and making progress each time I get on Mecca but unable to get a partner for the last two sessions. Only been on the route 3 times in two weeks, should have been 5. Think I've left it too late in the year. Fucking hate redpointing at times like this, feels like a lot of wasted months despite knowing I've improved.

[Murph]

Stg-Train consistently. Weight control. Easy ticks.
Mtg-Advanced Training.
Ltg-Bigger better stronger faster. Some big ticks at Rubicon.
Wishlist-Piss, SotG, AT, Tsunami, 147

M-work
T-short session on AT. Fell off the top hold another two times.
W-work
T-work
F-kids
S-AT in the morning. Have posted a NNFN about this which, in the wider context, was perhaps a little melodramatic. But it is frustrating to fail something for purely mental reasons.
S-A bit of contemplation over what next. Struggling a bit to balance work, family, and projecting. Have decided to make space a few times a week to do a bit of strength training following the main movement patterns. Had let stuff slide recently with all that obsessing over AT which meant saving skin and not training in the misguided belief that it needed just one more go.
Today's baby steps:
Goblet squats, kettlebell swings & press ups (boy am I weak!)
Beastmaker - 10 second 3 finger hangs off the 18mm edge with +4kgs, +8kgs, +12kgs, +16kgs, +20kgs, +24kgs and then +28kgs for 9 seconds.

Weight - getting out of hand. Topped out at 65.2kgs this morning. 2.7kgs above target.

[Duma]

Goals:
Good winter bouldering season,
8A (Hunters Roof? Full Power?)and 8b by next June

Body Audit: pretty much clear.

Sleep really good atm, hopefully over the worst, touch wood.

M: TCA eve, only had 40 mins, but fun little session on the finals problems from saturdays comp - did all the girls and got sequence on 2 of the mens, no ticks though (~7hrs)
T: Nothing (~7.5hrs)
W: TCA eve, went round comp problems - did okish, slipped off an easy one dropped the finish of a hard one. Finished one of the finals probs too. (~7.5hrs)
T: Nothing, EOFT - Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll is amazing (~8hrs)
F: Day off, mostly taken up with buying new car, got an hour at the wall in aft though - Mothership reset so did everything up to 7A+, failed on everything harder. Then drive to peak (~7.5hrs)
S: Lots of rain previous day so aimed fro Burbage - South to begin with, but was pretty grim in the wind and then soaked by brief shower, so wandered up to North - really pleased to get Giza 2nd go, very much prime nick today! Amazing dinner in the Red Lion in Litton after. (~7hrs)
S: Churnet, Gentlemans, Pegusus seemed a bit soft, not sure if I went from right holds, fun move though. Pleased to do 50p problem too, great hold and name, nice pop to finish too. stopped in at Virgin Wall on way back, Enjoyed the easy central section, thoroughly spanked attempting the LH extension. Drive back to Bristol. (?hrs)

Another easy week, need to be putting a bit more time at the wall next week. Fun weekend though.

69kg

[moose]

Don't sack off the Oak Simon! I only read power club to see if you have done it yet. Surely just take 2/3 days proper rest and then take advatange of the cold weather and dry crag.

Hi Mick,

Thanks for your interest. The last couple of sessions have been dismal. I dont understand why I am physically so weak on it now. My other training sessions and bouldering sessions have been going OK. If Id had one go getting through the horn move in the last two sessions that would have given me enough hope to carry on. My psyche levels also need to be high to have effective redpoint goes and I'm just crushed now. Just not enjoying it any more over the last three sessions.   

Simon

Sad to hear it fella.  I think it's highly plausible that you're overreacting to the consequences of arriving at the crag already tired.  If my own experience is any guide, how tired you feel is often a poor guide to how well you can climb.  I've felt pretty broken since late July (consequence of using up a load of holiday time in May/June departing from my normal "weekend warrior" routine) but despite feeling like I needed a months bed-rest, I seemed to climb as well as ever for the next 3-4 months.  Sacking off climbing for a good 5 days and arriving fresh on a day with good conditions could be worth a go.

We shall now have a poetic interlude, courtesy of Tennyson:

We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

That said, I entirely sympathise if the main factor is the mental tiredness.  It is hard to try hard for long.  I have had a pretty good season all told but being on RP for months at a time has now resulted in a breed of "combat fatigue" - a twitchy combination of apathy and nerves that spells the end: the mojo has plummetted and I have stopped caring - only capable of going through the motions sufficiently to tick stuff I don't care about.  Put me in a box full of straw to hibernate over winter..... or failing that, I'll just pootle about bouldering for a few months (went to Craig y Longridge today.... crag to myself, free to have a quick climb or read my book according to my whims, God it was... nice).

[shark]

Thanks moose

I have tried to regain the form of a few weeks ago and regained a bit but I feel like I'm scraping the bottom of the performance barrel. Even on the warm goes when there is no pressure its obvious I am a level below where I need to be. I'd rather go bouldering and it also makes sense to start building towards next Spring. It's not that far away

[Catcheemonkey]

We shall now have a poetic interlude, courtesy of Tennyson

I may be a bit of a lurker round these parts, but l love the range of references on this forum.

Moose, I'd wad you if I wasn't a newb.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shurt]

Shark, for the love of Power Club, sort it out please. You can't let one bad session ruin your motivation. We are all counting on you (no pressure!!).

stg: some rock action, hopefully near the end of the month
mtg: more rock action
ltg: same old 8a, 7B, E4 or higher   

m: nothing
t: good session on new monkey bars - 3 x 5 pull ups, some back and forth and about 5 or 6 muscle ups
w: 3 sets on fingerboard
t: 3 sets on fingerboard
f: 2 x 5 pull ups
s: nothing
s: managed a bit more on the monkey bars whilst at park with son - some pull ups and a few muscle ups, bit of back and forth

[Teaboy]

If conditions are still good you might as well keep putting in the burns. Perhaps you could start working something else at Malham but sneak in a few low-expectation tries on the Oak when your ego is distracted?

+1

If you need to drop something from your schedule why not drop the training (and drop weight if you can) and just go on the route, it works for others and I bet it's worked for you in the past? You probably won't get it but you definitely won't if you're not on the route, it'll probably be wet in a couple of weeks so your only delaying the start of your new training plan by a small amount.

[shark]

Thanks for the encouragement. As a recap it's not 1 session of underperformance but 4. On the 10th and 13th oct I peaked getting through the horn move from the ground twice and in fact also did 2nd bolt to the top on the 10th Oct. The following week on the 17th I got through the horn move only once and not done that since. On the warm up go I am unable to link horn to top whereas before that was a breeze. I have already dug myself into a hole. My fingers are constantly swollen and my back is starting to play up and my psyche is low which are all signs of having overcooked things. I'll think about it and if someone is going up Friday and it's dry perhaps I'll go but it will be without hope or expectation

[dave]

.... I am a level below where I need to be. I'd rather go bouldering and it also makes sense to start building towards next Spring.

Listen to this guy, get to a reliable font 7b level and you'll smash it come spring.

[T_B]

M - Foundry lunch. Wave - attempting 4 x 4s on L2s. Bit too hard, falling off on rep 4. Thought I might have blown it for Tues.
T - Lamp session. Really cold 1degC. Tor, v close on U/cut-Sloper trying it with the proper start i.e. starting both hands in the break (how people can live with themselves ticking this with just one hand in the break or even none is beyond me  ). Anyway, hit the jug a couple of times but didn't hold it. I've always found this move knacky/desperate, so good progress for me. Went to Sean's. Pulled onto first move of Working 9-5 stand and it felt desperate. Had a quick look at PoB. Went back to W95, then realised I could do the rest of it more easily than when I tried it in the summer, partly due to some key beta from Joe Heeley. Did the first move, punted the big move left, then a few goes later did it. Chuffed as my only 7C+ this year.
W -
T - F/Board - lunch. Testing 1, 2 , 3. Managed 2 x 6 x 7 Half-crimp, 2mins30secs rest on nice new edge, 10 secs hangs on middle two of BM #12 (x 3, but with long rests), 10 secs hang of front 3 and back 3 on #10 of BM. P.M. Rings with R and Nic
F - DOMS from skinning the cat
S - Had 3 hours in the am, warmed up on f/board and headed to Mossatrocity. Tried this briefly some years ago and tweaked my wrist on it warming up. Thought it might be an easy-ish tick. Anyway, did all the moves apart from the last one and generally got it sussed but couldn't work out how to do the final move. Going again with left feeling too pulley on hammy and left smear too high. Headed to Secret Garden where it was hot, did all moves on LH Man apart from the first one.
S -

I'm flippin heavy - over 87Kg since effectively stopping running this past month. Probably need to do something about that!

[Coops_13]

STG: Heal elbow in time for Font
MTG: Climb in Font if elbow allows/get Zippy's when back
LTG: 8A

M: Went for a fingerboard session, left arm felt very weak with ulnar nerve setting off
T: Spoke to a doc who said I should have x ray to rule out any bony impingement of nerve, booked doctors for Friday
W:
T:
F: Saw doc, was confident elbow wasn't as bad as feared and that with rest I should be ok for Font in two weeks. Had x-ray at Guy's, all normal
S:
S: Squash, lost to housemate 7-1

Been eating crap and drinking lots while resting, need to eat well again so stay lightish for Font in two weeks. At least the elbow doesn't sound like it's as bad as feared 

[Nibile]

Shark,
stick at it. There's no reason not to leep going there as long as the route is in condition. Performance level varies a lot, you know, and often in an unpredictable way.
You never know, until you go.
Sack the training, rest, keep trying the route.

[T_B]

Shark - sack it off for this season.

Seriously, I don't know why everyone wants you to keep banging your head against the wall. At best you'll get even more depressed, at worst, you'll injure yourself.

Take a short break, re-group and set out an effective training plan. Do some pottering on the grit. Wait for the mojo to return.

Who the F climbs their hardest ever route with no mojo?!

[measles23]

Shark it's been humbling watching you and Nick hit the wall on your respective projects - the honesty and openness make for top quality reporting - I agree with T_B and think sack it off until mojo back..

GRUESOME ALERT - DO NOT READ THIS OVER BREAKFAST!!

Where to start..

M - work

T - nice session on Back to Black; sussed the non dyno way of doing the top and familiarised myself with 9 to 5 stand, which I've done before - all moves and some links, feels as if could go quite quickly... met Miguel from Spain and Tony who did red or dead - popped by beginners briefly to pay homage to the psychodrama that is Nick on AT!
Boy got initiated into beavers dyb dyb

W - work++

T - Strength Asylum: Deadlifts 9 sets up to 185 x 5 (felt easier than 180s last week, I must be acclimatising to 5s) Celebrated by allowing myself one single- 230 off 2" blocks which felt solid - feeling stronger than ever and beginning to hope this cycle could lead to WR levels for small old people who don't do roids (240.5 for WDFPF M2 75s).
Weighted wide grip pull-ups 7 sets up to +45 x 1.5
Squats 7 sets mainly working sets of 100s/110s - failed at a PB go of 130, bouncing my head off the bar on the way down - not pretty!
Bench press - failed at PB attempt of 80, so if I compete will def be single lift!

F - Work ++

S - Went to Whaley Bridge to look at some piglets; agreed to take the three girls to root up the land and maybe breed; with the boy having been read both babe and charlottes web recently not much chance of them reaching the dinner table!

S - Stoke AW kids club - boy completed NIBAS 1, I was having a nice session; couple of V7s, then went to look at the cool green on the back leaning wall of the island - climbed smoothly up it with that 'in the bag' feeling; sideways lurch to a jug at the top, but banged a hold on the way so couldn't hang on and came spinning down full force on my left leg with the following result:

NSFW  :

Open transverse tib/fib, now pinned - Massive respect to the guys at Awesome Walls who were stars, and sorry for messing up everybody else's session..

Two things that were really gutting - the look on the boys face when he realised his father wasn't invulnerable, and the deadlifting- I'm sure ill get the climbing back on track, but really not sure I'll be able to have the same long term DL plans..

NNFN

[TobyD]

Mon early turbo session, hospital most of rest of the day
Tue gym, easy bike ride
Wed early turbo session, gym
Thu  early turbo session, gym
Fri  early turbo session, gym: long session
Sat  early turbo session, 5-6 mile mellow walk
Sun  early turbo session, gym

Shoulders feeling slightly stronger on weights, and slightly fitter on the bike. Positive, but unproductive for climbing. Pretty intimidated by the idea of any climbing at the moment, partly enjoying the break, but missing that addictive blend of movement, thought, adventure and pulling the fuck down.

[cheque]

GRUESOME ALERT - DO NOT READ THIS OVER BREAKFAST!!

Get well soon man.

Could you use the nsfw tag on that please?

[TobyD]

Shark - sack it off for this season.

While I'm at it, Simon, listen to this man. Especially if you have swollen fingers as well. 

[shark]

Shark it's been humbling watching you and Nick hit the wall on your respective projects - the honesty and openness make for top quality reporting - I agree with T_B and think sack it off until mojo back..

Thanks Measles. That looks awful and fucking painful beyond measure. Even more gutting when you are going so well with the weights and bouldering. I have added the NSFW feature - hope you dont mind. A long road back - keep the faith.