[shark]

11.13

M.

T. Home warm up Tor Busy with strong couples. Cave padded out. Banter good but would have preferred to be on my own to focus better. THFML 3 decent burns from crux of: 1 almost getting to pinch on cross thru 2 losing tension with foot on pinch 3 getting Lf in niche. Good progress compared to Friday.  Crag X. JR dry. Some ineffectual goes on the start of that then Moff.

W.

T.

F. Home warm up. Teeming down till early PM. Tor for about 2pm. Had high hopes. Still, warm, humid. Chalk not sticking to fingers. THFML. Cross thru at about third attempt. Felt good when I did it. Only got the crux once in about a dozen tries  . Came off getting tor on pinch. Did some work trying to refine the toe release but nothing new came out of it except to reinforce how useful lifting heel of LF was to drill toe into the foothold just before release. Disappointing session as had expected to link crux section.

S BW 3x3 pull-ups FC, HC and Drag deadhang 10, 10 and 10 secs supinated one arm locks on half pad edge  foot-on and on bar foot-off +12.5kg FC HC snd Drag 10, 10 and 10’secs 3x2 pull-ups FC, HC and Drag +17.5kg 3x1 pull-ups 10, 8 and 10secs +25kg FC 6 and 3 secs HC 6 and 3 secs and Drag 8 and 6 secs. Deadlift single 122.5kg nearly fell sideways  as there was an additional 7.5kg on the left 🤦‍♂️then over ambitious attempt at 140kg - lifted it two inches

S.

Desperate  to get the breakthrough link of the crux section on Bens. Whilst  performance is at about PB level on both the Fingerboard and Bens I’m not getting improvements. Does that mean I’m stagnating or consolidating? 

Limited alcohol - one beer and a shared bottle of wine this week - but weight remains  stubbornly high - 4kgs above where I normally am for time of year.

Two weeks till France.

[Fultonius]

Bit of a hiatus from me recently, so I'll just summarise the last month more generally.

Had a trip to the dolomites last week in July. Will probably write up more on the long hard and free thread, numbers:

Day1: Epic fail at Val di Mello - too ambitious with too little time. Did some consolation 6a slab pitches.
Day2 rain, EPIC rain.
Day3: less rain, drove to Sass Dlacia and got a few 6a/6b pitches done, tried a 6c+ but it was pretty wet in places, got pumped trying to hang around below the crux on wet jams and punted off.
Day4: First bigger route - Tofana de Rozes    Il Vecchio Leone e la Giovane Fifona, 7a x 7 pitches, sparsly bolted.
Day5: Back to the Tofana!  This time for one of the big routes for the trip - Sognando L'Aurora, 7b+, 17 pitches / 630m. Flashed/onsighted most of the climb except for the two cruxes which Simon led, pulled on a couple of bits of gear to save big swings if I punted off / time pressure, and one QD grab when leading P14, 7b. Mega route.
Day6: fucked, but forecast for last day was iffy so forced ourselves up Finlandia at Cinque Torri. Good route, but had a mare. Not recovered.
Day7: Heavy thunderstorms overnight, wet crags but dried up quickly enough to have a bash at another multipitch "sport" route to be fair this one was mainly more regularly bolted. Via Priz, 7b, meant to be 9 pitches, but we only did 4 and bailed (had long drive to get close to Bergamo for early flight next day). Went a bit wrong on the crux (thanks rockfax) and spent some time punting around on the crux. Simon took over and it took about 20+ goes to get the crux. He reckoned 7c, that's when we realised the topo was way wrong and we should have gone right on the new bolts.

Next week - weirdly low mood, energy, not sleeping super well.
Week after, much the same. Didn't climb, very little exercise in general until Friday when I went climbing with Andy at Ballater: Led, E1, E2, E3, E1, seconded E3 & E3. Fun day, not climbing super well but ok.
Sat: iffy weather all morning, finally cleared up at 4pm and we darted back to the pass. Seconded Andy up Blutered (E1), set up a top rope for working Drumbo / Drambui (E6). 4 working goes, 3rd one I did it clean placing gear (tricky/crux) and considered leading, but thought better off it and then subsequently had a mare on my last go to get up to strip gear/ropes etc. so glad I hadn't gone for the lead!
Shite sleep, so not feeling great (also grumpy / low mood again). Seconded Andy up an E2, then led an E3 I've not done before, went well, cruising. (Larup Head). followed Andy Anger & Lust (he'd tried the right hand finish but couldn't figure it out so went up the original.
I had a rematch, in the full sun (mistake) on Lech Gates (E4 5c (now 6a?), 11 years after my last wild ride from the top of the crag.
I was rather dismayed to be fighting and struggling on the mid section, thin fingers, no feet and power squirming to get up to some flared and lichenous jams. Odd I thought, but I was too pumped to consider the what this implied. 
I got to the all too familiar "resting" point just below the top and, again failed to find the crucial sequence. Andy came up after and said "well that's a lot harder now the big wobbly death block has gone.....!!!

Tuesday 15: Dumby. Warm up, very nearly repeated Mestizo ss (7A+) and would have if I'd tried again but didn't want to burn myself out. Then had 2 working goes on top rope on Requiem (E8). Second time on it, climbed the lower crack well up to the crux. Spent a while trying to figure out beta that works for me (everyone else's doesn't due to bunchedness and ankle issues. Will be a long proj if I commit fully to it.... Good fun, so happy to do it anyway.

Friday: Tunnel wall, back railway children, F7c that I nearly got last year but punted off post crux just from not having a solid sequence dialled. Bolt2botl to warm up, then 1 working burn, 1 proper rp but punted off before the crux due to have shit beta for the traverse, but worked out good beta for everything. Last go was clearly tired as I punted off low - great route, but hard for the grade? Keen to get back and finish it off.

Today: hungover - stayed out way later than planned, fun night but just can't deal with the hangovers any more. Going to Dumby later with low expectations.

Summary of this years training - all the base endurance work got me in great form for the dolomites - even on the last 7 pitch, 500m already climbed I was feeling ok. I did need grab a draw at the crux, due to route reading error. However, my "climbing foo" isn't as good as it used to be, getting a bit more mentally shut down at cruxes and not seeing the possibilities. When I'm half a grade or more below my limit I'm really enjoying it - trad, sport, runouts whatever - calm and fun. But I'm struggling a bit when I'm pushing my grade, getting more stressed than I used to and not getting the my old feeling of having a wave of upward gravity flowing me upwards. Think I probably need to just drop the grade for a bit.

Not sure why I felt so shit/tired/low energy on return from the trip as I never felt like I'd gone super deep into my reserves, didn't feel ill etc. just a total post trip slump, longer and harder than I've ever had before. Need to work on my mental game.

[Dingdong]

A deload week for me as I prep for my next block of training which will include some French Contrast Training doing pull-ups in prep for The Joker this grit season.

M - rest

T - one arm engagement iso 3 sets 10 seconds +10kg, one arm engagement lifts 4 reps 3 sets +10kg, no hang lifts 50kg, 6 sets each arm, density lockoffs 30 seconds 8 sets, shoulder rotations 8kg 12 reps, wrist curls 8 reps 3 sets

W - was meant to rest today but went to wales for the weekend, went to try Jerrys roof but did bus stop fairly quickly instead doing the Mantel and Topout in the dark, spooky.

T - went to work diesel power, managed last two moves and got close on the first 3 moves. Got spanked on ultimate retro party and was unpsyched by the amount of turdage under the cave. Went to marchlyn in search of higgs problem, got lost for an hour and eventually found it but was too gassed to finish it

F - rained all morning, went marchlyn which was dry, did higgs problem fairly quick, 3 star problem. Need to go back for it the sit next time it isn’t blowing an absolute Gail, went to a few other crags but got rained off

S - massive storm overnight ruined sleep, everything soaked, we were meant to go parisellas but were way too low on psyche and wet from the night before so sacked it off and came home

S - got some proper sleep. Headed out on the grit esoterica and cleaned and put up 3 new boulders, one of which was a right banger. Excited to go back for the sitter which I reckon could be 7B+/C!

[Coops_13]

M: Legs and Chest. Bulgarian split squats. Bench press. Overhead press. 20 mins peloton

T: Lincoln Lake. Second session on King Critter V10. Feeling a bit out of shape and unacclimatized but good to get on it. Left hamstring sore from legs the day before (doh!) so struggled on the two crux moves (both involving L heels). Psyched to return.

W: Bench press, Incline chest press, Chest fly, Shoulder press, Bicep curl, Diagonal raise, Svend press. 30 mins peloton

T: Warm-up OA hangs down to -25lb RH, -20lb LH. Board session, using new Bwow holds - very slick

S: Lincoln Lake. Third session on King Critter V10. Still took a while to get second move right but figured it out. Started going from the bottom but skin was getting sploogey. Managed to pull it out of the bag end of session. Boulder felt solid, almost fell off the easy top :D Second V10 - psyched!


S: 3.4mile hike round Betasso Preserve. Bench press, Bulgarian split squats, Inclline chest press, Shoulder press, Bicep curl, Diagonal raise, Svend press. 20mins peloton

[duncan]

Not sure why I felt so shit/tired/low energy on return from the trip as I never felt like I'd gone super deep into my reserves, didn't feel ill etc. just a total post trip slump, longer and harder than I've ever had before. Need to work on my mental game.

You've got the palmarès and I probably don't need to tell you but big route Dolomites climbing can be demanding especially if you're not quite 'on it': wild exposure, chossy rock, awkward descents, threat of the weather crapping out with little warning all add up to a non-trivial mental load. You've done some great routes - do contribute something to LH+F - and in a year's time you won't worry about feeling like you're in a deeper hole than usual.


M to T - Omaha beach: swam in the sea, walked along the foreshore. Thought about my Dad who was asked to volunteer to be a landing craft pilot in 1943. He’d have been attacking one of the beaches further east in June 1944. He declined only to be posted to the arctic convoys, probably less risky overall but dragged on for much longer. I think my disinclination to jump into the cold sea derives in part from some of the stories he told me as a child.
F - Drove home. Fingerboard: 14mm edge: 3 finger drags, 4 finger crimps. A good session after a few days rest: 3 fingers on this edge is a new high for me I think.
S - Swam 500m in the murk.
S - Fingerboard: 14mm edge: 4 and 3 finger drags and crimps.

A good break, now for some climbing.

[Fiend]

Last week's STG: Take a rest day - yes but then too many. Touch base with several friends to try to maintain contact and be more involved with positive experiences together - no but did meet a few anyway. Re-introduce myself positively to some local climbing online groups to try to have more options to be involved with local climbers - no, and worsened things by daring to post on an (admittedly beginner-focused) FB group encouraging people to do trad onsighting. Other aims depend on weather / temperature / etc - but try for a good mixture of challenging / community-orientated - a bit. The usual: Shoulder rehab x 3- no, stretching x 2- yes, falling practise if I do routes indoors or out - yes!, finger edge pull-ups (unless I'm trying anything hard the next day) - n/a.
MTG - keep incrementally regaining capability, do regular increasingly large falling practise, try to stretch bi-weekly, keep rehabbing (and moderating training if needed) to avoid injury, try to rally support and inclusion amongst climbing partners.
LTG - regain physical capability for F7a o/s, F7b+-ish r/p, to be able to take into trad, try to regain some confidence in going further afield.


M - Rest. Needed but should have done stretching / rehab.

T - Active rest - photos / 1 easy route in Wilton 2. Sleepy.

W - Indoor bouldering @ Depot. 32/35 Reds, 28 flash, 4 2nd/3rd go, 3 DNF (due to fatigue at the end). Shoulder rehab before, full stretching after. Sleepy and out of breath between problems earlier on, eventually perked up when the diet pepsi kicked in, and then totting up the numbers realised why it had felt such a beefy session - had to fight hard on some too. Pleasing.

T - Evening sport @ Lime Kiln Quarry. F6a+, F6b+, F6c, F6c+, F7a - AND 6 practise falls, which worked great. The F7a was a retroflash of something I'd failed to onsight in 2019 before my climbing went to arse, and thought must be F7a+ back then (probs hard 7a). This time it was hard but I was able to recover better (I think the volume is helping) and go for cruxes confidently (I think the falling practise is helping). Fingers felt worked afterwards.

F - Active rest - photos / farting around in Egerton. A bit frustrated.

S - Rest. No climbing plans. Took a supportive friend to Formby beach. Should have done stretching / rehab and/or should have had a board session or similar in the evening. Low mood later.

S - Sport @ Stony Bank F6b, F6b+, F6c x 2, F6c+. A little bit of falling practise on one route. A bit of burl but routes felt fairly comfy and fun. Had anxious sleep and low mood to start, but managed to do a stretching session before going out. Better after.


Mixed week. Early rest days were okay. Depot circuit good, these do tend to perk me up. Lime Kiln probably the best moral boost I've had this year in terms of feeling okay on an adequate level of sport AND managing to break into falling practise outside. Felt I could have done more later in the week and had a small mental health blip. Shoulder rehab inhibited by needing to buy more therabands. The lime sport has inspired me to keep trying with my own climbing though.


Next week's STG:  Take less rest days. Buy more therabands. Touch base with several friends to try to maintain contact and be more involved with positive experiences together. Re-introduce myself positively to some local climbing online groups to try to have more options to be involved with local climbers. Make some plans for the weekend. Make some plans for the autumn. Do just a bit of climbing / cleaning in Lancs. Get another challenging circuit / boulder session in. See if I can try hard again outside on a rope. Try to do some trad falling practise or longer sport practise falls.
The usual: Shoulder rehab x 3, stretching x 2, falling practise if I do routes indoors or out, finger edge pull-ups (unless I'm trying anything hard the next day).

[Steve R]

M. Cleans, high pulls, push press, split press.  Crimp block 20mm pulls.
T. 90 min hike followed by meteorite spotting once dark.  Saw a few good 'ns.
W. Squats, front squats, box jumps, step ups.  Crimp block 20mm pulls + easy aerocap at wall.
T. Wall pm.  Crimp block pulls + tried newly set problems.  Fingers felt good, Felt pretty good generally but inevitably tired legs from yesterday
F. Deadlifts.  Rewarding being a total novice as progress is so fast - wasn't able to get 140kg off the deck last week in first deadlifts session but felt fairly steady working up to a rep of 160kg today which is a bit more than 2x bodyweight and is deadlifting goal achieved faster than expected.  Also did bent over rows and some kettle bell rows.
S. Duck Boulders, NYM.  Long time since I'd been here but was really impressed.  Nice cons with awesome wind.  Enjoyable circuit on great rock doing problems up to 7a.   
S. Rest. Just some stretching.

Really enjoying trying and learning something new with the weight training stuff.  Something I've been interested to try for a while.  Will keep going with it for a couple more weeks before switching to 'just' climbing stuff again.

[shark]

A deload week for me as I prep for my next block of training which will include some French Contrast Training doing

Didn’t read like a deload week!

What’s French Contrast Training? Cool name, although not quite as cool as Coop’s Bulgarian Split Squats.

[User deactivated.]

A deload week for me as I prep for my next block of training which will include some French Contrast Training doing pull-ups in prep for The Joker this grit season.

Isn't it essentially just a foot assisted 1 to 4 campus in terms of pulling strength, just on very poor holds? From my armchair (having not tried it but knowing you can already bust out 1 armers), it's going to be all about finger strength and technique.

[SA Chris]

M- not a whole deal.
T - Punted about on Lower Boltsheugh, did a few things I can usually do, got annoyed failing dismally on others.
W - bit of weights, easy fingerboarding
T - bit of stretching
F - hiked Beinn Bhreac (Munro 23) with family. Weather was marginal, but introduced the kids to the cycle approach to Derry Lodge, as I expect they will do it a few times. Weather then turned to looking OK, so got on the boggy path, was all fine, just cold wind and low cloud at the top. Started pissing down as we left Braemar.
S - lie in, work BBQ. Managed not to injury myself on mechanical bull.
S - morning surf, waves went to shit as i paddled out, nasty crosswind chop. Evening session at good old Dyke's Cliff, traverses and eliminates. Kyle's first visit, he committed to the section over the notorious pool, looked pretty pumped but held on.

[Dingdong]

A deload week for me as I prep for my next block of training which will include some French Contrast Training doing pull-ups in prep for The Joker this grit season.

Isn't it essentially just a foot assisted 1 to 4 campus in terms of pulling strength, just on very poor holds? From my armchair (having not tried it but knowing you can already bust out 1 armers), it's going to be all about finger strength and technique.

I tried it the season before last and was able to pull onto the holds, establish and throw for the top but I was very far away from hitting the lip I think my explosive power may need some work. It may just be that it’s already improved over the last couple seasons so we’ll see. I think it’ll be a fun training experiment anyways!

[Dingdong]

A deload week for me as I prep for my next block of training which will include some French Contrast Training doing

Didn’t read like a deload week!

What’s French Contrast Training? Cool name, although not quite as cool as Coop’s Bulgarian Split Squats.

It was quite relaxed compared to my normal training week 

French contrast training is where you do a set of 4 exercises close together. Usually done as a compound lift such as a deadlift, followed by a plyometric followed by a less heavy deadlift which is then followed by an assisted plyometric. It essentially tricks your muscles into expecting a heavy load but then firing harder when it doesn’t find any load.

For me, I’m going to do it for pulling explosivity:

3 pull-ups at 80% of 1rm (+45kg)
20 seconds rest
3 explosive pull-ups
20 seconds rest
3 pull-ups at 60% 1rm (+35kg)
3 band assisted pull-ups 

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - double volume AM session.
Tue - tired from a few days of partying. Double volume AM session.
Wed - light weights. Short on time.
Thu - boxing bag. 36°.
Fri - regular weights. 37°.
Sat - boxing bag. 38°.
Sun - weights. 38°.

[Duma]

Nice work on King Critter Coops, looks brilliant.

Dingdong, shame you got soaked, was glorious from Saturday midday on the Lleyn, and got sunburned in Bethesda on Sunday!

M - swimming
T - run, 6k, hilly, trail, 32 min
W - am, TCA, 90 mins. Elbow rehab while warming up then finished the 4 whites I didn't manage the week before last. Fair bit of cycling around town during the day, enough to feel worth mentioning.
T - Ogmore bouldering, Flying Fish boulder. Flashed Old Man's Beard 7A (soooft, 6C really), Travesty Left 6C+, and Travesty 7A. Did Flying Fish 7B first go but it shares the finish of Travesty. Fell off the low start a bit, got reasonably close but the little crimps were starting to bite so switched to Mushroom Roof 7B but was too spent by the time I had the beta sorted. Quick dip after, top day.
F - eve drive to Lleyn, terrible journey, M5 shut twice, took nearly 2 hrs longer than expected. Full on gale at exposed campsite, barely any sleep, just glad I had the van and wasn't in a tent.
S - Gale still in effect, but showers cleared by late morning. High tide and big swell meant delayed start, got down to Ysgo after lunch, just as awesome as last time I was here nearly a decade ago. Warmed up with the lovely Super Cheers 4+ and Nirvana 4, then moved over to The Ysgo Flange 6A, Flange Arete 6B+ (tricky high step , nice flash from Elyse), then the Closer block, did Brain Spray 7A, Closer 6A+, Grapes of Raf 6A, and Unmarked Grave 6B. Ollie was keen for The Ysgo Crack so while we had the pads out we both did Johnny's Slab 6B next door. Then along to Popcorn Party, I'd done this last visit but Ollie and Elyse were working it, and I managed Popcorn Hangover 7A+ in the meantime. Scraped up Jawbreaker 6C with the last of my beans to finish an excellent afternoon.
S - Caseg Boulder, did the 2 lovely 4s and Hanging Prow 6A to warm up, managed the traverse Tramwyliad Caseg 6B+, felt like I was a bit close to the top which isn't in, but couldn't work out anything lower that felt like the right grade. Then round to Caseg Groove 6C+, what a brilliant problem! Ollie knocked it out quickly but I really struggled on the first move, eventually changed shoes and reverted to original beta and managed to stick it and go straight to the top, lovely. Lots of failures on The Gimp 7B before bowing to the (hot) conditions and going for a swim instead of trying to bone tiny edges. Another excellent day to complete a lush weekend with good mates.

71kg

[SA Chris]

Impressive you have enough skin to climb anything after a day at PY. Sounds like a good trip.

[Fultonius]

Not sure why I felt so shit/tired/low energy on return from the trip as I never felt like I'd gone super deep into my reserves, didn't feel ill etc. just a total post trip slump, longer and harder than I've ever had before. Need to work on my mental game.

You've got the palmarès and I probably don't need to tell you but big route Dolomites climbing can be demanding especially if you're not quite 'on it': wild exposure, chossy rock, awkward descents, threat of the weather crapping out with little warning all add up to a non-trivial mental load. You've done some great routes - do contribute something to LH+F - and in a year's time you won't worry about feeling like you're in a deeper hole than usual.

All valid points, I guess the main surprise for me was that the trip felt fairly low stress compared to some previous big trips - easy abb descents on 3 routes, relatively low stress scree off the Tofana, never felt I had to dig too deep mentally (seeing as we didn't get on Il Pesce). After the month in Chile I was on a high for weeks, haven't felt better in years!

No big deal though, just idle pondering.

Got very close yesterday to a quick rp of Bad Attitude at dumby, a notoriously sandbag 7b (if you use the true original line up the arete) but conditions we slimy and I was not firing on all cylinders. Should go quickly next time.

[Duncan Disorderly]

Sorry, dog ate my homework... Club:

M: Kayak around Poole harbour int rain...
T: Battleship - Decided I needed to just get summat done so stickclipped up a F7a+ to warm up rather than seraching out something else. Quick play on a TR then went easily first RP. That's how it's done - Need to remember that when climbing with the Energizer Bunny do not get dragged into their quest to onsight everything and stay in my lane! Sun came round and psyche ebbed - belayed then drove home.
W: Nowt
T: AW with daughter - Played on the MB, few 6A+'s
F: Nowt
S: Stanage North - Lots of short problems and solos up to 6C.
S: AW with daughter - Same vibe as Thursday.

Nice trip to Portland - Didn't get a huge amount done but nice to finally do a F7 on the island as I'm not sure I've ever done one (I've only been a down couple of times since being capable and both times wasn't firing on all cylinders)... Need to up the mileage and volume as got a month in Kaly looming (1 month and 4 days to go - sure I'll get fit out there but still!)