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Power Club DCXLVIII VIth to XIIth of JVNE (Read 4455 times)

Duma

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Great achievement - nice one John!

tommytwotone

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M - A 24 hour stable weather window presented itself and I decided to make an attempt of the Bob Graham Round starting that day at 11pm. It was a tough decision as I didn't feel physically ready and I had already done a fairly big day in the hills the day before.

T - Leg 1 went to plan although I didn't manage to shave any time off the slow 23 hour schedule. Leg 2 was tough as I think my body was struggling to eat/digest though out my normal sleeping hours and I felt a bit sluggish and slow on what is the most runnable leg. I did manage to shave off 25 minutes from the 23 hour schedule though. Leg 3 to Wasdale is a beast and just breaks you down. It is hard to maintain any sort of pace over extremely rocky and technical ground. I lost the 25 minutes I had gained and probably 15 minutes more. I set off hard on leg 4 trying to make some time back. This was going well for the first 3 peaks and then I bonked hard and was swaying everywhere like a drunk. It seemed like it was all over for this attempt as time was slipping away and I was getting slower than normal hiking pace. Eventually, I had a stern word with myself and realised based on the weather, and the fact I couldn't indulge in a full 24 hours to myself (not including all the other prep) every summer holiday, that this attempt had to be it and I had to at least try to finish in under 24 hours. It is amazing what the body can do and once I had managed to hold a couple of gels down and I was moving fast again and arrived at the final road crossing with 4 and a quarter hours to spare to do a 3 hour leg. This took the pressure off the last leg back to Keswick and I just had to keep moving and not get injured. My girlfriend joined me and basically dragged me back to Keswick to finish in just over 23 hours. Really happy to finish the Bob Graham which is something I first conceived about 5 years ago when I started doing a bit of trail running in the Black Forest in Germany. Lots of it felt terrible at the time but already I only remember an epic day out in the fells! 107km +8,460m (you can do it in less than that but I guess some of my lines were not the best!).   

W - A bit of hiking.


I don't know what's more impressive there, the Bob Graham round itself, or the fact that the next day you went and did "a bit of hiking"!

If that were me I think I'd be in bed for about a week after...

Coops_13

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T: G1. Hangs: 20mm HC & OH 7s BW, +15lb, +30lb, +40lb, +50lb, +60lb, +65lb*2. Kilterboard 45deg 1V4, 4V5, 1V6, 2V7. Shoulder press 45lb, bicep curl 40lb, chest press 50lb X6 *2sets. Sent long-standing V6 project and first tow V7s since injury!

W: G1. Legs. Squats 175lb X5 *5. Bulgarian split squats 65lb X5 *3. RDLs 60lb X2 X5 *3sets. 10 mins Stairmaster

T: Guanella Pass. Went straight to Love Matters V8 and managed to resend it third go while warming up. Tried the top of Life Matters V8 before sending that next go too! Tried Beyond Matters V8 a bit before heading back to Mind Matters boulder where I pulled on Toxic Shock V8 a few times but was feeling tired so called it after a storm passed through


S: Mount Evans. First time here this season. Warmed up on Ladder V2 (best warm-up in the world?). Spent most of my skin and energy putting time into Bierstadt V9/10, amazing overhung compression, beta-intensive boulder. Managed to link first four moves and did move five in isolation. V keen to return when a bit stronger. Moved on and flailed around on some anti-style easier boulders before heading home

S: Lots of walking round Vail Mountain Games

Great week, feeling like I can pull and try hard again!

SA Chris

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Really happy to finish the Bob Graham which is something I first conceived about 5 years ago when I started doing a bit of trail running in the Black Forest in Germany. Lots of it felt terrible at the time but already I only remember an epic day out in the fells! 107km +8,460m (you can do it in less than that but I guess some of my lines were not the best!).   


Insane effort, well done. Have you done everything for it to be an official round?

shark

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Would be interested to hear what people do on longer trips for keeping strength up. I’m thinking that maybe a session of my max hangs (well 85%) ones a week might be beneficial. Perhaps at the end of a sport climbing day when I’m already warmed but had a bit of a rest walking back to the van. I’ve really felt a lot weaker than 7 weeks ago having done a lot of onsight sport climbing. Can still get up things but climbing is sloppier.

I’ve found that doing a short warm up that includes a few recruitment and speed pulls before going climbing is both good for getting recruited and keeps my max hang strength up

shark

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Well done John - especially with such minimal support.

M. Mingulay. 2 routes/7 pitches

T. Mingulay/ 4 routes - 3 of which were new ones. 7pm on boat to Barra. Drank too much.

W. 7.15am ferry to Oban. Back in Sheffield at 8pm

T.

F.

S. Set off at 8pm to catch 3am Channel tunnel train

S. Arrive in Briancon at 3pm

Hot here in Briancon. 10 day Family trip with the Barker’s

Duma

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You bastard Shark ;-)

Paul B

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Hot here in Briancon. 10 day Family trip with the Barker’s

Road biking then?

JohnM

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Really happy to finish the Bob Graham which is something I first conceived about 5 years ago when I started doing a bit of trail running in the Black Forest in Germany. Lots of it felt terrible at the time but already I only remember an epic day out in the fells! 107km +8,460m (you can do it in less than that but I guess some of my lines were not the best!).   


Insane effort, well done. Have you done everything for it to be an official round?

No, unfortunately not. It would nice to be in the club and even go to one of the dinners but it takes a lot of advanced planning and usually has to be at the weekend for enough available pacers and support. I was happy to go last minute based on the weather which was perfect for the whole day!

Stabbsy

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No, unfortunately not. It would nice to be in the club and even go to one of the dinners but it takes a lot of advanced planning and usually has to be at the weekend for enough available pacers and support. I was happy to go last minute based on the weather which was perfect for the whole day!
While the club thing might be nice, I’ve got loads of respect for this approach. When it comes down to it, it’s a personal challenge unless you’re one of the elite few that might trouble the record. The only experience that really matters is your own. If I ever get round to giving it a try, I’d probably go down the same road.

SA Chris

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Agree. The logistics look painful, especially if you aren't local.

James Malloch

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Would be interested to hear what people do on longer trips for keeping strength up. I’m thinking that maybe a session of my max hangs (well 85%) ones a week might be beneficial. Perhaps at the end of a sport climbing day when I’m already warmed but had a bit of a rest walking back to the van. I’ve really felt a lot weaker than 7 weeks ago having done a lot of onsight sport climbing. Can still get up things but climbing is sloppier.

I’ve found that doing a short warm up that includes a few recruitment and speed pulls before going climbing is both good for getting recruited and keeps my max hang strength up

I do quite a few hangs before climbing but no real pulls. Do you do these on an edge?

James Malloch

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Fingerboarding after a climbing day before a rest day can help. Also, try routes that are way too hard for you once a week or at least every ten days. If your max RP level is 8a or whatever, why not try an 8b or an 8c? They have parts that are at least as hard as you max bouldering grade.

Cheers 👍🏻 I’ll try the fingerboard approach first, but May try some harder things too. Though other than Ceuse we’ve not spent a lot of time at any venue, even with 2 weeks in Margalef we only once went to a sector more than once. So I generally just try easier things based on how we’ve been climbing. But I do need to get better at deciding to try something harder too…

Fultonius

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Not much chance to update last week as I'm on my phone with shit 4g in Llanberis pass this week.

General summary - my recent focus on very low-end aerobic endurance plus going climbing seems to have paid off. Fitness for trad seems to have come back nicely and head ok.

Had a Ratho session on Thursday with a 7b o/s and double laps on 7a/6c. Lactate threshold seems to be around the 6c+ mark just now. Would like to up that to 7a in the short term and 7b long term. Feel like I'm building a better base for the autumn / winter so hopefully I can pull all metrics up a bit for next year!

Highlights from Wales:

Had a bit of a struggle on Killercrankie (E5) and ripped tiny cam (grey c3) from the second crux but climbed it well next go ground up. Not chalked so it felt no pushover for the grade. A tough route for me and chuffed to do it clean.

What a Difference a Day Makes. Never  any desperate moves but certainly a test of that aerobic base...

Kind Wad - just followed Si, but it flowed well and I climbed it well. Great route!

The sun on Rhoscolyn. Was a bit warm and windless yesterday, so we messed around until it was in the shade. Amazing steady fun E3. Half tempted by DWS on Electric Blue but the start seemed too sketch at low water.

4 more days and a great forecast, we really lucked out this week and pleased with the switch to nWales rather than NW Scotland!


jwi

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Fingerboarding after a climbing day before a rest day can help. Also, try routes that are way too hard for you once a week or at least every ten days. If your max RP level is 8a or whatever, why not try an 8b or an 8c? They have parts that are at least as hard as you max bouldering grade.

Cheers 👍🏻 I’ll try the fingerboard approach first, but May try some harder things too. Though other than Ceuse we’ve not spent a lot of time at any venue, even with 2 weeks in Margalef we only once went to a sector more than once. So I generally just try easier things based on how we’ve been climbing. But I do need to get better at deciding to try something harder too…

I think it is a good idea to try really hard things on long trips not with a view to do them during the trip but to figure out how hard they are. If you have not tried an 8b or 8c or 9a or whatever, how would you know what you need to improve to do them?

abarro81

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+1, though for me it's also about the mental burn-out. If I'm trying to do things every day it can be quite stressful, so some days either bouldering or just playing on things you know you're not about to do can be good as easier days for the mind.

 

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