[shark]

11.1-3 Average 156.3 down 1.8lbs (target 152lbs)

M. Busy day and knackered from Sunday’s long drive back from Morzine. Had painful physio session with Louise as left shoulder feels out of sorts. Got flashed doing 35 in a 30 on Middlewood road. 

T. Still tired. Another busy day.

W. Malham. Following an update from Spidermonkey the previous evening I persuaded Paul to change venue from the Tor to Malham. FB warm up before I left and niggly elbow which I thought was mended immediately flared when I did some pull-ups on a sloper. Thankfully Paul drove. Got to Malham at lunchtime. Just us there to begin with. Cool and occasionally breezy at crag but drizzly, damp and rock a bit skiddy. Oak dry apart from undercut by third bolt as reported. Consenting x3 and F&EE x1 to warm up. Go 1 on Oak surprised myself by pulling on and climbing straight through to wet undercut. Dried undercut and did the rest in sections to put draws in and felt pretty good. Shortish rest and a second go and after one dry fire on start similarly got to undercut but it was wet again and came off. Did throw move second attempt and got thru to traverse left before shutting down. Longer rest. Go3 Hauled up to dry the undercut then came down and was able to climb to it but not pull on it as this time too tired. Go 4 Pulled up to third bolt then did throw to greasing off pulling into rest at start of top traverse - conditions had deteriorated. Busted by now so stripped it. Finished off with a short Fingerboard session on a portable board.

T. Tommy got A level results he needed for York.  Drove to Hull on business and felt shattered when I got back but Ben keen to go out. Debated going to try Bens Roof but went to Higgar as conditions looked ok for it despite Bens scepticism (he regretted not packing a jacket) About 14degrees and breezy so not too bad. Got angry failing on Sick  - 6A my arse. Got to work on start of Shit and eventually worked out a sequence doing all individual moves apart from final chuck for the nose on Piss as too tired by that point. Then tried to repeat Piss. Didn’t get it but had more power on the campus move than when I did it back in March. Left after 7pm. Midges coming out by then.

F. Rainy as forecast. With half an eye on going back to Malham on Monday I decided to train then have weekend off. Systems board. Warm up but then couldn’t do benchmark problem on crusher crimps as grip strength down so PE off the agenda so AeroCap instead. Did two sets of 20:10s timing 2 secs per move using metronome app. Did first set this way for 90 moves then last 30 at normal speed then managed whole of second set timed at 2secs per move which was promising as far better than when I tried this in April. (Need to do lots more of this to get in shape for RRG in Nov. My aim is to do 3 secs per move for 3 sets by then)

S.

S.

Overall an encouraging initial session on the Oak compared to previous years and I would probably have got to throw move twice if the undercut had been dry. Against that I did shut down rapidly so lacking depth as Paul commented though dieting and previous days physio may have been a contributing factor. Fingers felt strong and skin was excellent - no soreness which is unusual after an absence.

Dietary resolve faded somewhat on Friday and Saturday night. Niggly elbow not sore today but need to keep an eye on it.

If Spidermonkey’s report is ok I’ll drag Tommy to Malham with me on Monday but looks to be too hot for rest of week to go back. Booked in with Nick for Tor on Weds.

[monkoffunk]

Well done to Tommy!



STG - Sport projects. Do more DWS
Maintain Lose weight back 74kg.
MTG - Portland Font 7A+/B from unfinished list, autumn (or summer evenings).
LTG - 7C

M - Oakwood. Boulders. Some pretty good. Felt reasonably strong. Few circuits, not hard but I don’t feel fit right now.

T - Nothing.

W - Project. Boulders. Tried to get on board. So sweaty that could achieve very little. Very pinchy board. Lost a lot a skin. Didn’t feel like enough, so did some pull ups at home. Bit of yoga which was good.

T - Long day. Finished late.

F - Drove to Wales after work for stag do.

S - First activity of the day turned out to be abseiling which I always find slighting bemusing that people do as an activity in its own right, but I get the chance to climb the viaduct barefoot on top rope which was surprisingly good despite a bit of wet. Unfortunately fell a couple of times at half hight so not sure I can claim any form of FA. Sad times.

Some gorge walking and climbing up waterfalls after that. Skin in terrible state at the end.

S - Some kind of zip wire is the plan!

Hopefully get out to Portland tomorrow evening if the weather holds out. Bits of unfinished business to take a look at, be a good gauge of the fitness hopefully.

[Will Hunt]

Nowt.

[tomtom]

Nowt.

[Will Hunt]

Well, nothing strictly climbing related. I did a volunteering day with the YWT on Thursday which involved swinging huge hammers around and doing some sawing. This left my pinching muscles feeling absolutely wrecked for a few days after!

On Saturday I was performing Best Man duties at a friend's wedding, so spent a couple of nights in the week prepping a speech and going through it a couple of times so I could do it without notes, which bumped climbing. But all went well so time well spent. Had a fab do at the wedding having a good laugh with footwork and dunnyg of this quarter.

[tomtom]

Mon: Anston. Didn’t go near Alpha... spent a couple of hours working Reservation... a good couple of hours. Found some new beta - worked a couple of things out. Its moved from the maybe to the most likely/red point it category.

Tu: Work

We: Dire forecast... but managed to stay just north of the rain on my way back to Manchester with a 90 min session at Church crag. Sub ideal conditions - tacky and didn’t dry very well... worked and did the high traverse (very good problem) though hands greased off the bigger holds a couple of times. Tried to do the shield RH again and again, but kept greasing off the RH large hold... anyway - felt suitably worked which was a bonus as I wasn’t expecting anything. Traffic Dire - took two hours to get home...

Sa: Where to go... nearly went to Blackstone, but Shallow Grave at Trowbarrow was an itch that had to be scratched. I went, climbed well and didn’t do it. All the way up to the two crimps now feels toughish but completely wired - so its all progress but I might have to move away from it for a bit as its pissing me off....

[Steve R]

Double log as been a hectic (by my standards) time so didn't get round to it last week:

M - MV wall pm. did some of the new problems upstairs then board. felt good - great to have some snap back and quite a relief after feeling weak on it previous few weeks.
T- wall pm.  same again, good session.
W - packing/logistics
T- started drive to france
F-  finished drive to france.  some unpacking and sorting.
S- more sorting and attended a friend's wedding
S- some easy local sport

M - rest.  preparing house and kitchen for family guests.
T- rest. entertaining/cooking for above. 
W - some easy granite sport then 1 dog on Big Mac, a bouldery 8a+/b in Sabart cave.
T- Sabart again.  3 dogs on Big Mac.  coming together - all moves but think foot beta on crux needs refinement for the link.  Did a nice, quite short 7c (2nd go) up the back of the cave in between dogs.
F- Very hot day but went climbing in the evening.  Just did one route - a classic 7b, le secret at le carol.  Hot, greasy, airless, desperate ascent but brilliant route, place and experience.     
S- biked up my col (~10km and ~600m up) hot, felt hard.  seldom got out of bottom cog and up on pedals a lot on steeper sections due to feeble power output from sparrow legs.  Got home and ate kitchen, all very counterproductive for climbing but felt nice to open up lungs with clean air. 
S- max hangs on bm2k edge.  Then got reacquainted with my cellar board, felt unfamiliar at first but managed a couple of my old problems and fingers felt good.

Weight: weighing in on my (I fear more accurate) scales in France yields good news and bad news... good first - recent form on boulder problems outside, boards and training suggests I'm as strong as I've been (not saying much) in absolute terms.  The bad - I'm 77 and a fukin half kilo!     

[gollum]

 M - Got a plan for the week and now just need to execute it.
Steady 10k up and down the hills at home. Nice and easy work while listening to my book.

T - Push day. Bench for triples up to 100k followed by presses off the pins for singles up to 115k. This is starting on the rack, down to the safety bars, rest there and then press. It seems to work better than starting on the safety bars as you are in the right position to press. Very pleased with that. Then go on to shoulder presses for four reps and do last two sets at 50k, really grinding the reps out. Finish off with some explosive clapping press ups which I haven’t done in ages. All felt really good today.
Normal Tuesday evening at Depot. Start with some scapular mobility work, does feel like it’s starting to pay off a bit. Campus session. A little bit off the mark tonight but only by a fraction and feels less off than it has done lately. Repeaters session goes much better with 15k added for first set and then rest went to plan with all grips feeling solid enough.
Working on a project session. First problem goes okay, working my way through the moves, getting good links. Fingers too tired to do it again in one though. On second problem get to top move really quickly but then start to tire on my goes. By third problem I am shot, get most of the moves but not so much in the way of links.
Feels like a solid day and head getting back on it, just gotta wait for the body to catch up.

W - Deadlifts to start. Went really well and 140 was very steady so went for 160 and it flew up more easily than I can remember in a long time. Will add a bit more weight next time I’m trying to go heavy for me. Definitely very comfortable with conventional deadlifts these days although maybe I should still do the odd sumo lift for balance. Then go through some power rows, shrugs and Roman chair while I am stripping the bar down. Next onto some ultra strict pull ups with a tempo of 2 seconds up, 1 second at top, 2 down, 1 at bottom with a stretch. Brings the number of reps right down and do 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 with thirty seconds rest. Definitely feeling the effort. Finish off lifting with a couple of OAP on each arm for three sets and then some cable pulls to the waist. Get in some Achilles and shoulder rehab while I’m working too. Feels like a big day already. That’s more like it. Lunchtime repeater session on BM 2000 at Big Depot. All gripe are absolutely solid as a rock. After first few sets I shorten the rest down to a minute as well, so there is definitely progress going on. Treadmill 10 after work. Feels good.
Another good day for volume and psyche.

T- Push day and lots of picking things up and putting them down. Bench on the flat and decline for doubles working up to a very solid 100 on each. Then did triples on the bench with my feet up. 80 was solid enough but 90 just too unstable so stopped after 1 rep. Finished off the lifting with some German Volume Training shoulder presses. Got the weight just right I think as don’t think I could have completed if it was any heavier. I’d forgotten just how brutal this can be.
Lunch stretch and rehab stuff.
Evening session at the Depot. Playing with some of the yellows. Managed one and close to a couple more but was easily distracted repeating the purples that I really like before they disappear. Flashed another comp problem, having seen some beta that didn’t involve jumping, which I was pleased with and gives me a score I’m happy with and with a few weeks to try the remainder. A good session with a mix of fun and laughs and trying hard.

F - Pull day. Deadlifts and sumo deadlifts alternating goes. Got to 150 on both. Not lifted sumo for a while and knees felt like I hadn’t as well for about 5 minutes. May be time to dig out the knee sleeves if I continue with this. Standard shrugs, rows and lower back work to follow and then finished off with my Achilles rehab.
Lunchtime is a steady 10k to get the weekly mileage up where I want it to be.

S - Long run at a nice steady pace. 20 miles in just over 3 hours. Feels pretty good afterwards with only limited stiffness. Plan of running easy to allow me to run further seems to be working pretty well.

 S - Very easy recovery run was the plan. Set off up the road keeping heart rate low and then really just kept going until I had done a very slow but very comfort 10 miles.

A good week when things start to feel like I’m back on track and things will be good in a month’s time.

[spidermonkey09]

M - rest

T - Malham. Good conditions but struggled massively with nerves. First go up felt strong but somehow completely missed third undercut in boulder. Second go much better; hit and held crimp but foot slipped. Knackered third go so did a link instead. Another thing to contend with in redpoint nerves; got to just enjoy trying it and not stress about the outcome. Easier said than done but stand no chance getting that wrought up about it!

W - Depot. Definitely tired after previous day. Some circuits followed by campusing; couldn't match previous weeks efforts but did some reasonable sets. Repeated crimpy replica on board easily and moved on to foot on campusing in effort to regain some lost fitness. Probably a PB; 60 secs on, 30 secs off x 8, at a rate of one move per second. Needless to say I was brutally pumped by the end. Skin sore but stopped in time to avoid serious issues.

T - rest.

F - rest. Watched the monsoon from work with an impending feeling of doom.

S - Malham. Waited for report that the crag was somehow dry before heading over. Arrived to find the route dry and Ben/Al advising that conditions were good despite sun on the rock. Got warm and had a go in new shoes. Rinsed the boulder and proceeded up headwall without too many alarms. Made it through hard heel move before the pump became terminal. Fought really hard to close the crucial crimp and did so before coming off, matching my previous high point from June. Not too gutted as I did nothing wrong; just got pumped. A long rest and I gave it another go intending to just do some links on the headwall. To my immense surprise I made it through the boulder again with a massive, massive fight and scrapped up headwall feeling knackered the whole way. Rested for an age in undercuts attempting and failing to recover and unsurprisingly fell off hard heel move out of the rest. Can't be too annoyed with that; getting through the boulder twice in a day a real bonus; if that continues the route becomes a question of fitness.

S - back at Malham with Scott to do some fitness work. Conditions better if anything but more rain swirling around. Felt tired on boulder first go up and dropped it right at the end; caught the jug but didn't have the guns to hold the cut loose! Did good link through boulder all the way to big move at end of crux sequence and spent a while refining my sequence up there. Made one key change, using same holds but in a different order which should hopefully avoid having to pull on a bad crimp when pumped. After a long rest I planned to go up and blast my forearms until I couldn't hold on but somehow made it through boulder for the third time in the weekend with ease. Recovered well in kneebars and arrived at undercut rest feeling fresh. Left the rest feeling really good, pissed the hard heel move and felt good on crimps. Closed the crimp with a big effort, got foot on with a bit of a stab and set up for the big move to the incut crimp in the corner which marks the end of the hardest climbing on the route. Laid one on and watched as my fingers made the distance but landed just to the right of the crucial hold, and that was it; off I came. Gutting as really felt like that was the one. Scott rinsed Baboo which softened the blow but was gutted we weren't already in the pub to be honest!

A massive training weekend which has turned the route into a test of endurance. Three times through the boulder in a weekend beyond my wildest hopes for progress, along with a new high point last go, second day on. 4 goes up yielded 8b+, 8b+, bouldery 8b and another 8b+. Got to be pleased with that really although falling at final hurdle tough to take. Resting today and back tomorrow evening for a redpoint before a few days off in the Lake District. Keeping the faith!

[shark]

S - Long run at a nice steady pace. 20 miles in just over 3 hours.

That’s impressive banging that out -especially if you felt it was a steady pace. Have you run a marathon or do you intend to? In fact are you working to a plan and do you have goals you are training towards or is this just what you do?

 

[SA Chris]

Half marathon next weekend, so on running for a bit, then back to climbing training.

M - Run while Kyle at Athletics. Hill reps on the paths around the park. Felt OK, but surprised to find a tick on me.
T - Nothing. Train down to Glasgow for presentation.
W - Up at 6:30 luckily weather forecast wrong and still dry. Fast 6.5 km run to Cunningar Loop artifical boulders, fun half hour bouldering until I ran out of skin and it started raining a bit, which gave me an excuse to head back. Always have a good time on these boulders and they seem to be holding up well, apart from seems like local neds like throwing gravel / sand onto the top of them, so some topouts even have realistic luck based scrittle. Navigation error on the way (extra 1/2 km?) on 5 km home meant I had to miss breakfast and find out about wave energy opportunities on an empty stomach.
T - Nothing
F - Run home from work. Took a detour to make up 19km to station, where I realised van keys still at work, so an extra 4 km home. Knackered
S - Leg stretcher / jog with kids on bike.
S - Barbeque, ate too much, was good though. only 1 beer.

[SA Chris]

S - Long run at a nice steady pace. 20 miles in just over 3 hours.

That’s impressive banging that out -especially if you felt it was a steady pace. Have you run a marathon or do you intend to? In fact are you working to a plan and do you have goals you are training towards or is this just what you do?

 

What he said. That's a faster than steady pace to me.

[gollum]

S - Long run at a nice steady pace. 20 miles in just over 3 hours.

That’s impressive banging that out -especially if you felt it was a steady pace. Have you run a marathon or do you intend to? In fact are you working to a plan and do you have goals you are training towards or is this just what you do?

 

What he said. That's a faster than steady pace to me.

Thanks. It’s the pace that I can hold for quite a long time and can chat at. I’ve run a bit over the years but not as consistently as I do at the moment. My wife is the runner of the family.

My plan is to run Chester marathon in October, White Rose Ultra in November and then a few other bits of races working up to a 24 hour event next July near Leeds.

I am kinda working to a plan but as much as anything it’s just going with how I feel. At the moment there is quite a lot of volume but not much speed work. I think not hating treadmills helps as do lots of my running there. I like fells and treadmills but am not so keen on roads.

Trying to build up a base for when I retire and have things that keep me out of the house.

[SA Chris]

Which WRU are you doing, the 30 or the 60?

I'm signed up for Glen Ogle 33 in November, figured i need to do a 50km race in my 50th year.

Concentrating on volume before speed is a good approach, if longer distances are your aim.

[gollum]

Which WRU are you doing, the 30 or the 60?

The 30, I am fairly confident of being able to do it and was tempted to try the 60 as I wouldn’t be confident at all about that. It’s actually very close to home so will have done plenty of recces before November.

Glen Ogle looks like it’s on stunning trails in a great place. Good luck and hopefully your legs will be good for the ceilidh afterwards

[mr chaz]

Gollum, wtf do you eat for breakfast?! I need some

[Bradders]

Resting today and back tomorrow evening for a redpoint before a few days off in the Lake District. Keeping the faith!

Get it mate! We'll psyched reading that, fingers crossed for you.

[gollum]

 

Gollum, wtf do you eat for breakfast?! I need some

  Yoghurt or porridge. Lunch of chicken and cold beans is the key though....... every day.

[SA Chris]

Glen Ogle looks like it’s on stunning trails in a great place. Good luck and hopefully your legs will be good for the ceilidh afterwards

I think I'll be propping up the bar with a medicinal malt or two.

GO is recommended as a good first ultra, great scenery and good fun. Dee 33 here in Aberdeen is supposed to be easier physically but it's a there and back on a route i know so well the boredom would kill me. Glen Lyons is another one supposed to be good, but it was the weekend after London Marathon so probably not sensible.

[gollum]

Cheers, I will have a look for the future.

Enjoy the medicinal malt.

[duncan]

Summer (English version) still seemed present and correct where I was this weekend. Breezy on both days though and by late afternoon the conditions were better for climbing than picnicking. Autumn approaches... 

Good luck spidermonkey, I enjoy these updates even though it’s a long way from damp sea-cliffs and warm grit.

STG: enjoy climbing, don’t get injured, try an E4.
MTG/LTG: tbc

M - Shoulder strength: IsYsTs, pull-ups. Hip and knee strength: squats, pistols.
T - Westway routes to 6c. L. shoulder felt a bit crunchy, so shorter session than planned.
W - Fingerboard max. hangs. Shoulder strength: IsYsTs
T - Shoulder strength: IsYsTs. Hip and knee strength. Weighted pull-ups to 20kg.
F - Hip flexibility stuff.
S - Birchen Edge with the lad. Soloed some easy routes and played on the Three Ships. Spotted caterpillars and butterflies. Long day but the lad was fine with the 3 hour drive and he enjoyed the climbing despite finding warm grit quite awkward. He’s not the only one.
S - Shoulder strength: IsYsTs. Posh picnic and opera in Sussex. 

Good day out with the lad, normalising the ludicrous behaviour of London-based climbers.

Realised I’ve lost the habit and only done 4 shoulder strength sessions in the last two months, so it shouldn’t be surprising the left (dislocated) shoulder started feeling not quite right again. Will get back on the routine with this.

Trialing weighted pull-ups. I’ve always considered them a bit “personal trainer” and not relevant to my climbing but my basic strength needs a kick up the arse and changing this is not easy at my age. Steep bouldering is the classical solution and I’ve never done much so there is potential for improvement here. My rationale for avoiding it has always been the low transferability to ledge shuffling versus the high likelihood of being put out of service for three months. If I’m honest, it's also because I find it hard and dispiriting. The plan is to do some not-very-specific strength work (weighted fingerboard and pull-ups) then proceed cautiously on a steeper board over the winter.

Looking forward to  a long weekend in Pembroke with AJM. I’ve had mixed fortunes here recently, trying to overcompensate with climbing for other areas of life. Will try not to get too attached to achievement ... but an E4 would be nice...   

[tommytwotone]

Goal - one for new (to me) outdoor 7a to make it 3 for the year.


Second week of partner and kids being away in Scotland, leaving me on my tod. Sadly, not loads to report as I spent a lot of the week getting the house ship-shape to put it up for sale.


F: early finish from work and off to Pudsey Depot. Good session trying stuff at limit (and above). Managed to get up a couple of (V5-7_ purples, one flash and one second go.


Only other thing worthy of note is I put myself on a weighing machine at Boots on Saturday and since I last did it 2 months ago the verdict is:

• Weight: down to 67.4kg from 67.7kg (woop)
• BMI: down to 23.3 from 23.7 (woop)
• Body Fat %: UP to 18.9% from 14.2% (WTF?!)
• Body Fat Mass: UP to 12.7kg from 9.6kg (WTF?!)

In football management cliche terms, I think I'll "take the positives" from that then...

[andy_e]

Hmm, I'd wondered if that was you at the Depot on Friday briefly wearing the ape index t-shirt before going tops off for power...

[tommytwotone]

Indeed it was - 18.9% body fat of "Dad bod" out for power!


I did wonder if that was you as well. I will say hello next time...

[SA Chris]

normalising the ludicrous behaviour of London-based climbers.

At the crag on the day? Or in general?