[shark]

T - Malham. A frustrating evening session waiting for three people, all of whom were working the route, to finish.

Tricky scenario. Did you ask? Not many would object to: “is there any chance I could sneak in a quick redpoint while conditions are good? I got really high last week”.

[spidermonkey09]

Tricky scenario. Did you ask? Not many would object to: “is there any chance I could sneak in a quick redpoint while conditions are good? I got really high last week”.

No; in hindsight I should have done as I wouldn't object if I was on the other side. It was tricky though; one on the bulge, one on the headwall levels of busy! C'est la vie I suppose.

[SA Chris]

Assuming the race course isn't through private land a PB over the course on a random cool breezy Sunday morning still counts Shirley?

Not if it's a closed road race. If I wanted to i could probably run 21 km up and down the old Deeside railway line for example - i did 16.3 km there on my own one cool evening in 1:16 just to see how it felt, especially with a couple of mates pacing, but if it's not a timed race it doesn't really count.

Aberdeen Great Run has always been the race I train up for, and I've PBed each time. This is the last time Great Run are doing in, they are not renewing their 3 year contract, apparently race isn't profitable enough like Stirling Marathon they've pulled out of too.

[SA Chris]

I got really high last week”.

I was going to go and climb, then I got high, la da da da da dadada.

[Kingy]

I got really high last week”.

I was going to go and climb, then I got high, la da da da da dadada.

Worked for Sharma! 

[cheque]

Rehab Diaries Week Fifty-three

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Trad list (11 8/27 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M- Rest.

T- Worried that I'm getting weak so decided to do two pullups on the doorframe of the staff kitchen every time I made a cup of tea at work. Did 14 during the course of the day. 

W- Yarncliffe. A couple of months ago I decided that the excellent Zapple would be a good first post-injury HVS- It's got lots of gear, and I did it with one hang in 2011 so I know there's no nasty surprises and I wouldn't be pissed off to blow the onsight (to be honest this doesn't piss me off any more anyway) so, feeling pretty ready I checked it out a few weeks ago. It was filthy and full of plants so I decided that when the evenings were a bit too short to do trad I'd clean it up in advance- it's a shame when good routes get dirty but in a place like Yarncliffe (only really used by outdoor groups and the few good ones are on the almost perma-shaded back walls) and this would also give me some good time on abseil which I need for my head.

So here I was. Abbed down and cleaned the fucker which wasn't very quick at all due to the aforementioned dirtiness and the whole wall being damp- brush moving the wet crud around rather than removing it scenes. Scared on the rope at first but gradually relaxed. Nice to remember that I have all sorts of cleaning skills (and gear) from past "jobs" like this too- another little forgotten bit of my previous life.

T- Back at Yarncliffe to clean Zapple's left-hand start and the ** VS to it's left, Fall Pipe. Abbing down Zapple it had dried up and my work from the previous evening was evident.  The LH start took a good while though which didn't leave anywhere near enough time to do Fall Pipe which is really, really dirty.

F- Rest.

S- Chew Motherfucking Valley.  A perfect moorland grit day- blue skies but not too hot and a decent breeze so no midges. That slight late-August "autumn is coming" hint in there too.  Went up to Alderman Rocks first- my route here is called Great Slab. I'd soloed the first pitch (which is the slab itself) in October 2015 but backed off soloing the second which is a short and mean wide-hands crack. Seconded the slab then did the crack second go after putting a hole in my hand. A guy in the other group who sounded local told us he'd never climbed there as it was normally wet which is a classic example of the sort of bullshit people believe about high moorland crags- Alderman is right at the top of a windy hill with nothing to drain onto it.

Next we went to Standing Stones. A fortnight after I checked it out in horizontal rain but today the weather was somwhat different- I was walking about barefoot between routes! Did both the routes off my list there, Womanless Wall (which took me two goes as I freaked when presented with wet holds and missed the huge just that was right in front of my face) and Fairy Nuff which is incredibly good  . Seconded loads of routes too, including two E1s. A really, really good day. Standing Stones is not so much a crag that's underrated as unrated as barely anyone's even been there- I imagine it's a lot more deserving of the bloke at Alderman's "always wet" comment than most moorland crags but between VS-E2 it is seriously up there.

S- Rest. Went to Trent Bridge to watch Notts play Yorkshire. As I've only been paying attention to cricket for a few months, live in Yorkshire rather than Nottinghamshire these days and was actually born in Lancashire I've no idea who I support in this game but Notts won and England won an international (most of the crowd were more interested in following this than the match in front of them) both of which made my other half very happy which is all good. We were in a south-facing stand and I don't think I've ever sweated so much in my entire life. 

M- One year since I first went to the climbing wall again. Ive done alright considering I couldn't get my foot up onto the holds back then really. Went to Yarncliffe very early with a plan to warm up on the big sandy slab while it was in the shade then get some lunch at Outside before returning to do Zapple. This went fine until I found that the back wall was soaking wet (wetter than in midweek- must have been condensation) and the bottom of it, which I hadn't cleaned as well as the top but contains Zapple's crux, was slimy as fuck. Couldn't do it but it was good belay practise for my girlfriend who'd never belayed a dogging leader before. Abbed for my gear after sacking it and was encouraged to find that the top 80-90% of the wall was dry and would havebeen prefectly climbable. Went for a lovely walk around the Longshaw Estate after.

Good week. After a week of trying three routes from my list but demoralisingly failing on them all I got three done in a day! It's still very unlikely I'll tick the lot this year but looks like I might get close- with hindsight yesterday's early start would have been better used by getting another one done before it was too hot but I think some more easy mileage was good too. Going to do some more Yarncliffe cleaning this week.

[gollum]

In the afternoon I go out for a longer run and clearly after last week pride comes before a fall. Was struggling with the heat and managed about 18 miles in three and a half hours but was feeling sick and wasted. Despite drinking 2 litres during the run was still 4 pounds lighter at the end. Topping up with isotonic beer in the evening. A mixed but happy day.

When it's really hot and you are sweating loads, I find water doesn't help. I really like the SiS Tablets you drop into the water (make sure it doesn't blow out the bottle as they are a bit effervescent), but my partner swears by Tailwind. If I m doing a long race or run where i need to top up water I carry a couple of the tablets in one of the plastic capsules from a Kinder Egg, they fit perfectly.

That’s a great tip re Kinder Egg. Will give it a go. I tend to use Zeros with and without caffeine.  I also swear by Erdinger AF when I get back and usual crave a bag of crisps, presumably for the salt.

[duncan]

Summer was back and no mistake.  Sounds like cheque was making the wisest choices regarding venue.

STG: enjoy climbing, don’t get injured, try another E4. Tick, tick, tick!
MTG/LTG: tbc

M - Fingerboard hangs with +5kg. Get me!  Shoulder strength: IsYsTs
T - Westway routes to 6b+, maintaining the intensity, reducing the rest times. Forearms felt blasted.
W - Weighted pull-ups with 22.5kg. Shoulder strength: IsYsTs.
T - Hip and knee strength: squats, pistols.
F - Hip flexibility stuff.
S - Alpine start for the drive to Pembroke, roads quiet at 5am. Met AJM, strolled over to St Govan's East and did Lotus Europa and First Blood between chatting with old friends. Then headed for The Castle but it was hard to walk past a dry Huntsman’s Leap with abseil ropes in place so got on Quiet Waters (Direct). Didn’t entirely trust the gear in the first 15m: it's not bad but the rock is a little brittle and I was not at my most confident. Had a quiet word to myself and pressed on and up. The top slab was interesting too, I was surprised to read the old ring piton has stopped at least two falls in the last couple of years. It’s perfectly positioned, does anyone know if the placement was drilled?
S - The Castle. Warmed-up following Andy up Too Much Pressure then tried Under The Influence which was the original plan for Saturday. Got the gear to the crux (copious and unimpeachable) but lacked the oomph to go for the move. Downclimbed, retreated up Davy Crockett, abbed for the gear and did Too Much Pressure again. Relocated to Stennis Head and did the fine Riders on the Storm and the very satisfying Manzoku. More socialising.
M - Bank Holiday bonus. Chapel Point, followed Ultravixens. Got a bit lost on Ultravox (guidebook at the wrong end of the abseil rope) and ended up doing something that closely resembled Sly Fox. A worthwhile route if you’ve done the two Ultras. Skin loss, sleep deprivation, heat and general fatigue stopped play. Drove home.

Pembroke was at it's very considerable best. Great social scenes, this feels like my local crag, a shame it’s 4.5 hours drive. No roped climbing for 7 weeks meant I was not as decisive on the sharp end as I’d have liked but this will come back quickly. I was happy to do Quiet Waters despite not feeling very confident. Would have liked to have at least fallen off Under The Influence but, on reflection, I should have tried this on day one in the late afternoon as originally planned: I need to be fresh and the crucial finger jams and foot smears to be bone-dry. Doing three relatively heavy sessions earlier in the week probably didn’t help either.

Plan: eat, sleep. Have a restful week then reassess finger strength. Next week I'll be back in bachlor mode and getting out regularly again.   

[Steve R]

M - rest. 
T- Max hangs one arm on bm2k edge.  Then board problems.  Good session.
W - rest
T-  Max hangs one arm on bm2k edge.  Then board problems. Long day working but felt good again once warmed up.
F- rest 
S- Grotte de Sabart am.  felt quite good warming up and got on Big Mac again.  Breakthrough on crux - took a while but have good method sorted now.  Unfortunately blood blistered middle finger pad on crux crimp though.  Ready to start redpoint goes next visit.  Easier granite sport pm.
S- Alliat pm.  Crag in full shade but still too hot really.  Revisited a burly 7c+ I tried last year, felt hard and greasy.  Sacked it after 1 dog - will try again when a bit cooler.  Felt quite tired so just some easier milage.

Weight down 1kg to 76.5.

[Yossarian]

Two weeks...

M
T - Wall. Vague memory of this being a fairly productive session on new wineglass set.
W
T - Mile End. Physio with Cris Costa who did various things to my problem shoulder including acupuncture, which I’d never tried before. Hopefully this will lead to some sort of recovery before too long. Climbed for a couple of hours afterward - flashing some V4s and nearly but not quite doing 2 V5/6s in the brilliant cave corner. I climbed at Mile End in the mid / late 90s when it was a sweaty grothole. It’s not exactly Villa d’Este, but the crack den vibe seems to have been dispelled in favour of the typical London & SE beard / tattoo / black Lycra balletic meathead appeal. Anyway, possibly slightly overdid it...
F - Felt fucked. Did prescribed shoulder rehab.
S - Wall. Rushed warm up and then immediately felt tweaky, so gave up.
S

M - Ansteys. Warmed up on Omlette Wall. Did Empire bolt to bolt. As hoped, it felt totally amazing and exactly my favourite type of sport route - flowy long moves, jugs and a bit of cut loose. Planned to do some links but felt ok at the break so carried on, dropping it at the throw to the big LH after the crux. Then climbed from the initial break to the top which felt comparatively easy so made the mistake of expecting it to go down quickly. Then cocked up crux a couple of times, missed that throw again, slipped off move below the break, and wore myself down to the point that i had to go bolt to bolt to get the draws out. Considering the mammoth drive down and early signs of promise, I should’ve been distraught, but it’s such a good route I actually wasn’t that bothered. Hopefully returning before too long to finish it off. Mainly delighted that I’m back on a 7b and it felt ok / fun / not too hard, and that recent shite performance on Portland is mainly down to it not being my favoured style.
T - Drove to Font with daughter. Massively drained from previous day’s antics. Canche aux Merciers. We did first ten problems of the orange circuit. Mostly felt desperate.
W - Roche aux Sabots. Confidence plummeted. Did Passage a l’Acte which I’d done on previous visit in early 2000s. 5+? Felt desperate and terrifying. Other notes reveal recurring themes including “nails”, “couldn’t get off the ground”, etc. I think I did another couple of reds.
T - Isatis. Baking hot. Slightly better progress, though starting to feel v worn out. Tried Rick Hochet and Little Karma - bot felt totally desperate. Daughter was getting into her stride, and though tired too kept on pushing. V proud.
F - Went to Paris. Walked 14km, ate nice stuff, looked for my work in French bookshops.
S - Another rest day.
S - Bois Rond. Did first 6something of trip - Friction et Realite. Tried some harder things. Most still feeling desperate.

Bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Totally syked by Ansteys, and completely set on following Empire with the Direct, then Avenged, LWM, etc as it’s pretty obvious that progression on Empire wall has all the advantages of shared sections / linkups, etc and it’s all such high quality. Going to be much more selective about Portland routes for a while.

Font on the other hand has been eye opening for rather different reasons, illuminating totally shit technique, poor short-term sequence memory, chronically bad footwork and (judging from video footage) considerable excess weight. By the end of Sunday I was wondering about returning home early to avoid further torment. Thankfully, things eventually picked up.