UKC

Easing myself into the hosts chair. 

My goal for the next few weeks is to get back into the habit of proper logging - an actual account of what I did on each day on the week, less of this “I did a few rehab sessions and a couple of pull-ups” sort of weekly report. Could I ask you to keep me honest and heckle me mercilessly if I fail?

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week’s thread: 

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fitclub_week_902-77241...

Posters:

AJM

Ian Parnell - how was the indoor session? Glad to hear that the injury was feeling ok - injuries on top of life stresses would just be piling things up

Randy - someone else who sounds like they have ample stress going on in life at the minute, albeit from a different cause. Have you been feeling any better this week?

Somerset Swede Basher - that’s encouraging progress on Hannibal - have you been back on it this week? A week of variety, between the Lakeland crag hunting, the peak bouldering and all that running!

Ross Barker - good work on keeping up the rehab whilst away. Did you go dwsing?

Alan Little - sounds like a very nice weekend! I thought that was good self-analysis - I feel your pain on the work capacity!

Tom Green - that’s a write up with a lot of negatives in it - a bit self critical, or entirely fair? Either way it’s encouraged you to reset priorities so probably a beneficial exercise. Given its only been a few weeks (?) since you’ve been on Yates, I would be inclined to suggest it’s just one of those days rather than a sign of a lack of fingerboarding, I’m not sure I’d expect it to have tailed off quite that fast.

Steve Claw - another week, another big esoteric tick, nice one. How’s the finger doing?

Ally Smith - any progress on the projects this week? Sounds like frustrating conditions and things last week, but it’s all moves in the bank.

Tyler - sounds like a bit of a mixed week, but I often find that’s the case after holiday. How did you get on this week - did you get out? (Be that bike, walk or rope!)

mrchewy - welcome back!

biscuit - looking forwards to seeing your return from the distractions of life…

Tigh - did you manage to summit? How did it all go? Good work on Paradiso…

Derek Furze - someone else whose week was overtaken by the rest of life. How was the climbing this week?

the sheep - mini pork pies are a champion crag snack, so it’s good to hear they work for running too. I went through a phase of trying to do better crag and bike food, I did some decent stuff out of the Feed Zone Portables book, but these days I think the old pork pie would win out for convenience…..

mattrm - how did the recces and the race go?

Yes, felt a lot better this week, but stress again at work crazy this week. Does anybody else has the problem that they are forced to become expert in topics that you never even wanted to get to know

In the end managed to get in 3 quick repeater and lockoff sessions. Elbow is probably close to being 100% healthy again and lockoff strength is also back at the pre-injury level. All in all, i am probably healthy enough to start climbing again, but currently just lacking a little bit of motivation with the autumn season still being 10 weeks away. Hence, i will probably wait another 2-4 more weeks till the motivation comes back and i hopefully have more time.

In my previous job, I used to cherish my ignorance of certain areas of the work, because if I didn't cherish that ignorance inevitably something about the subject would become my problem!

Thanks AJM for taking the reins from Tom. I did indeed get back to the Cave, twice in fact!

Mon. Finally ticked Hannibal (f7C). Also did a new link up that sneaks past all the hard moves in the cave to make a nice steady line Red Corner (f7A).

Tues. 5km run with the boy (his first under 30mins).

Wed. 6km run.

Thurs. Back to the cave and did Red Dragon (f7B+). Managed Lecter Armada in two very overlapping sections too. It was actually my core that gave out before my fingers. Maybe some work to be done there - probably not til the winter though, I'm enjoying going climbing too much.

Fri. Feeling a bit tired so called into Stanage on the way past rather than heading to my standard crag of choice at the moment. Half a dozen 5s and 6s then did Al's Attic (f7A). I looked at this briefly over the winter but the traverse was always seeping. Good to finish it off today. Starting to feel a bit of lurgy by the time I went to bed.

Sat. Lurgy arrived. I had arranged to meet a friend for a mountain bike ride and I didn't want to be flakey so went anyway. A nice mix of technical single track and wide flowing trails. 20km with 400m vert. I was pretty slow and completely broken by the end.

Sun. Did the 4km junior fell run in the morning, felt a lot better but my heart rate went through the roof when I tried to run up hill and my thighs felt heavy.

Next week's looks tricky weather wise and I've got field trips out tues-thurs so will be busy at work. I could do with a rest day tomorrow I'll probably head out anyway as the weather looks poor the rest of the week so may not get another chance. Hopefully if I drink plenty of water and get loads of sleep I might recover enough to get a decent session in.

Welcome back to the hot seat Andy. A fairly quiet week for me.

STG. Lofoten
MTG: Im Extremen Fels ticks in August
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter '25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M:  rest
T:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Another ok but short session: 5b 6a 6a 6b+ 6b 6b+ 6c (attempt, tired)
    Bike 45 minutes
W:  Box step-ups while watching TdF
T:    Bouldering, Einstein. Another lightish but fun session. Did a few recruitment max hangs after warming up, and >90% of my previous pb (self + added weight) felt fairly easy. So that's good.
    Bike one hour.
F:    Bike 2½ hours
S:    Another rainy weekend but no hillwalking: sorting & packing trad gear for Norway.
S:    Worked on my language skills by watching the live TdF commentary on france.tv until it stopped raining, then got on my own bike & headed to Thalkirchen
    Autobelay 6a 5c 6b 6b 6b+ 6b+ 6b 6a+ 6b

Will be on a ferry somewhere between Bodø and Lofoten next Sunday - full trip write-up when I get back at the end of the month

Thanks for the stats Andy.

Weight - 13st 12lbs
STG - 30 mile ultra (July 24) - Done

MTG - ???

LTG? keep on trucking?  stay fit? ummm

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - 6.5 k recce

T - Rest

F - Rest

S - 50k race

S - Rest

Weekly kms - 56.5 kms

Diet status - Pretty good

Got a quick recce in on Wednesday, just to see what the legs were like.  Thankfully all was well. 

The race went pretty well on Saturday.  The weather was pretty grim to be honest.  Started off fairly wet.  Then there were heavy showers throughout the day.  It did finally get nicer mid-afternoon, but that was only for the last hour or so of the race.  Spent most of the race with my coat on.  Did take it off for the first climb, then got pretty cold over the top of the Blorenge, quickly whipped my buff and gloves out.  Was running with a mate, who had a couple of mates with him.  That was really nice, being with a decent group.  Lots of nice chat and it really pulled me round.  I did randomly chat with a few people on the course, which is always nice.  But it's really good (and honestly much easier) to be running with someone else. 

My legs feel pretty good and there's no obvious major injuries.  My big toe is aching a bit and I'm surprised how painful that is.  Otherwise all ok.  All the food stuff was fine.  It's probably not a long enough race that you need to worry too much about that. 

I'm really a bit unsure as to whether or not I want to do the longer races I had planned.  It was fun.  But I'm not really enjoying the DOMS at the moment.  The race was great.  The aching after the race less great.  Also I know that 50 miles (I've done 45 miles in the past) is a lot tougher.  Do I want to go on to 100 miles?  Honestly not sure.  You can't do that unless you really want to do it.

I'd rather be climbing, mountain biking or skateboarding, but they all require more time than a quick 30 minute run a few times a week.  Running isn't 100% what I want to be doing, but it is so convenient.  Less scary than climbing or skating as well.  Oh well.

I agree on Pork Pies tho AJM, great snacks.  Also Scotch Eggs are ace snacks.

Thanks, Andy for taking on the Statistician mantel. So not one but three indoor sessions this week! Return of positive vibes both climbing and running.

Mon – 12mins - 45secs density finger pick ups. Achilles rehab.

Tues – Swindon Flashpoint Wall – first time testing the ‘tweaked boob’. Felt a bit inhibited warming up on some easy boulders up to V3 but no recurrence of any pain, so must have been bruising rather than any tear. Pressed onto the Beast and did the 6a, tthen the 6c and a brief working session on the 7a which felt harder than I remembered. Stopped after short 50 min session. Achilles rehab.

Wed – 24 min run easy. 3 sets x 20; twisting crunches and a sort of one-legged bridge hamstring flexion thing. 12mins - 45secs density finger pick ups.

Thursday – 23 min easy, felt slightly sore in Achilles after - 45secs density finger pick ups.

Fri – Flashpoint. After warming up. Back to the Beast. Got all the way first go on the 7a, to slapping the finishing hold. Another try but stalled at the penultimate hold 30 moves in with no more beans left. Tried a few of the sections of the 7a+ - which feels like quite a step up from the 7a. Tried a couple of V4s, one I got to the penultimate hold.

Sat – Second day on the trot at Flashpoint. Felt a bit creaky warming up, but managed the V4 I failed on yesterday, then headed to the Beast and reworked the finish of the 7a. Guess what? If you use technique climbing is easier! Managed the 7a first go with new beta, and a couple cheering me on. Completed another V4 and tried a few others but called it a day whilst I was ahead. Achilles rehab.

Sunday – 30 min run – slow but 30 mins with no Achilles pain. Yippee!

Reflection - I’ve been down looking after my folks all week. Weighed myself before heading south and I’ve put on 5-6kg from earlier in the year. Not that big a surprise, as I look like one of those whale carcasses that’s been left on the beach too long. Too much feeling sorry for myself and comfort eating. Pretty determined to stop moping and get something done about it. Pleased therefore with this week – little bits but often. Noticeable however how quickly power goes compared with endurance.

Hey Andy. 

Well it was an incredible week. Paradiso was amazing as I mentioned last week but after that the nerves really settled in particularly because we were advised the weather was looking unfavourable. After we climbed up to Tette Rousse Hut they confirmed conditions were not ideal and all forecasts predicting winds that would be too strong for the final ridge section. The next morning we were greeted with heavy snowfall which was good for the couloir in terms of avalanche but the guides seemed nervous about what it meant for the wind and weather later on as it hadn't been forecasted. 

Half way up the initial scramble we broken through the cloud and I experienced probably my favourite sunrise ever. Beautiful but also for the first time this week we had clear skies, beautiful views. 

We stopped briefly at the Gouter hut and then cracked on with climbing the Dome de Gouter. This for me was the hardest section so far. Monotonous, unending and going into altitude levels not previously experienced. But once we crested it's summit we saw the summit of Mont Blanc, sunshine and blue skies and the guides assured us much better winds than forecasted! I was elated but also bollixed tired! But at the same time I felt strong and kinda knew then I was going to make it. Couple hrs later we stood at the top, hugged and I got quite emotional! All four of us summited despite two of the guys suffering a lot from the altitude and at similar times so we could share the moment. Guides were amazing. Can't thank them enough. Overall an incredible experience and adventure which I'm still processing. 

I want to thank everyone in this group for the support. It's been a key part in helping me focus on my training. Each Sunday it's caused me to reflect, plan and refocus my efforts. 

Thank you all. 

As for my next fitness goals. I'll spend the next few weeks doing some light training while I figure that out.  

Have a good week all

Well done Matt. Solid preparation led to a great performance. almost like a running advert for FitClub! 

Superb, nice trip report and photos. That cloud inversion looks like one of those alpine days that feel like there's magic in the air. 

Well done Matt. Not sure how you guys do these ultras. Serious mental strength 

So pleased that you got it done!  Well done!

Hi all, some massive weeks coming in already! Thanks AJM for taking over the next stint of stats.

Although critical, I think last week's self assessment was fair. I've been a bit lost in terms of specific goals/goals that I'm super psyched for and that, combined with life being busier than my previous chilled existence, has derailed training. The weather hasn't helped with climbing goals either! Hopefully appraising all that honestly will help start a new cycle of psyche.

Week 27:

Ended up switching the planned sessions around, which unfortunately led to some being dropped. Maintaining a good rehab and conditioning habit though.

M: Strength & Core.

T: Rehab.

W: Strength & Core. Rehab.

T: Sea swim. Surprisingly hard work out in choppy conditions. Haven't swum for ages and shoulders pretty worked by the time I got out. Rehab.

F: Multi-sesh day! Bouldering at Tan y Grisiau -highlight was Minecraft Wall (f6C) (although defo not 6C!) then hill run over Moelwyn Mawr 8.7km, 447m vert, 9:10/km (legs felt weak, but great to be easing back in to hill running after so many flat runs).

S: Sacked showery climbing off for DIY. Probably a good call, but definitely didn't feel like it! Rehab.

S: Started rebuilding home board. A decent bit of 'natural' conditioning!

Week 28:

M: Hopefully climb -it looks like the one dry day!

T: Run. Rehab.

W: Strength & Core. Rehab.

T: Run. Rehab.

F: Strength & Core.

S: Climbing.

S: Climbing.

STG (end of August):

Get back to averaging 72kg (I.e. lose 4kg)

Average 2 conditioning sessions per week.

Average 2.5 fingerboard sessions per week.

3 big VS mileage days.

Tick Trevor.

3 off E2 list including Hurricane

Yates' Layaway.

Eliminator.

Nice one! Sounds like all that structured training paid off. Glad you had the weather for it. Great stuff!!

Good morning everyone, nice one on taking up the reigns AJM!

Thanks, though now back to reality it isn't being kept up so well. I would've thought routine would make it easy but it turns out it's harder to do stuff you don't enjoy, when you're not in a good mood. Who knew! 

Didn't really go DWSing because I figured I'd get gripped and aggravate the finger (and doing that on something easy would be doubly embarrassing ) but I did have a little jump and swim which is better than last year.

I'm hoping it'll give me a kick to get this bloody finger sorted, but alas I'm so undisciplined, particularly at the moment. Much like you, I would like to extend the request to everyone else to heckle me mercilessly if I'm missing it!

Nonetheless, a decent week from me...

Last Week:

Avg weight 79.7kg.

M - Rest.

T - CB low start - Clever Beaver (V8+). Warm up took longer than usual, but a reasonably productive session. Improved my beta for the first half, and better feet for the crux slap on the stand. Also found a kneebar to static the slap, but I think it might be too strengthy to do after a few moves. My best go saw me three moves from the end, despite catching the sloper poorly. Right middle was only an issue on the dyno to the sharp jug, which aggravated it quite a bit.

W - Rest.

T - 30 mins of "CARCing", swapping hand every 5.

F - Rest.

S - A bit of pootling on the boulders below Anstey's Cove (some gnarly landings down there). Attended an afternoon DWS sesh at London Bridge but opted against trying anything because I figured I'd get gripped on something and crank too hard on the injured finger. Jumped in from about 3m though which is an improvement from my head game last summer.

S - Sand Point. Almost flashed Little Bighorn (V6) but forgot a useful handhold near the end, went quite swiftly after. Worked The Prow (f7B) but was trying it from starting too far right, cursing the poor signal and vague PDF. I was also struggling to stick with any beta for the main section - there were so many options and they all had promise. Totally boxed by the end, wouldn't mind another session next time I'm passing by.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Assess/rehab right middle finger.

Improve wrist mobility.

Improve lower body mobility.

Louisville Lip.

Rigpa.

Clever Beaver SDS.

Nice mate! That's a great effort. Top job. A bit disappointed that you've logged your diet as 'pretty good' this week though... an ultra is the perfect excuse to go absolutely crazy on the eating!

An unusual, but entertaining week somehow.  Thanks to Tom and welcome AJM!  Happy to proof read your detailed weekly submissions as required! 😃

Monday spent in London at the Royal College of General Practice, then Tuesday finishing some bits off for daughter and my Mum.  Back in time for childminding.

Wed - projects at home.

Thurs - headed to Blaenau and it rained for the last three miles.  Dripping when we parked up, so headed to the north coast.  Very windy conditions and somewhat cool, so picked Marion Bach for a quick bit of exercise.  Quite a strenuous place, so it worked.  Path to the place is now very overgrown and the crag is also disappearing under vegetation.

Fri - local hit at John Henry Quarry.  This was better than expected.  Very hot, but did some of the classics, before getting beaten up by Desperate Straits, which was really pumpy - probably a legacy of the previous day.  Need to return to clean this up.  Guide not very clear for many routes here, but some topos online should help resolve some of the other lines.

Wednesday also saw work scheduled by the Royal College, so I've agreed to do Mondays for the foreseeable.

Thank you AJM,

The finger is much better, however I think it will be quite a while before its fully back to normal.  I can now use it normally for most things, but I can not use pockets or twisted jams.  I also can't yet do hard full crimps, and it hurts inside the joint after intense use.

First ever visit to Pembroke this weekend, and weather was good to get a few classics done.

M - Nothing

T - Low Police Profile (E6 6b) on top rope and got it first go. Didn't warm up, so well flash pumped by the top.

W - Return to the legendary Spion Kop.  Ran a shunt on Labour of Love, but the crimping required is too much for the finger at present.  Followed up Love Story (E4 6a) and Cleaned then led Fingermouse (E3 5c)

T + F Nothing

Sat - Pembroke!  Wow, there is a lot of rock there.  Straight in with lead of Sunlover (E3 5c), Swung leads on the beasty The Fascist and Me (E4 6a), then finished up with the more gentle The Arrow (E1 5b)

Sun -  Followed on Under the Influence (E4 6a), Led Too Much Pressure (E1 5a), then finished up by leading Bloody Sunday (E4 6a)

I found all the routes at Pembroke really pumpy regardless of grade.  The steepness and generally large holds is more similar to indoor wall climbing which I have not trained on in some time.  Also the routes are 30-40m which is longer than I am used to.  Must increase general fitness!

Thanks Andy. Distractions are still ongoing, but feel more manageable now as I adapt around them.

1 gym session. 2 sessions at Chapel Head and a wall session this week.

The gym felt good. My first 'proper' session in a few weeks.

I got on Wargames (7b+) at Chapel. The start is blooming burly but did the upper headwall easily enough. Spent a couple of goes piecing the lower bit together and then gave it a blast. I came unstuck immediately at the very wet lower hold. I was hoping towel tactics would work, but it didn't. This left me a bit gassed and I then found the headwall incredibly puzzling and hard. Great ending to the day.

Back 2 days later. Did the headwall a couple of times and it is fine after all. Had a couple of goes but failed at the last hard move each time. It's then 1 more move to a hands off knee bar so should go as soon as the hold dries up a bit. I'm having to spend a lot of time there faffing atm.

2 days later and the heaven's opened. Kendal wall had just reopened the main wall after a refurb so went there.

6b+, 6c, 7a+ fail, 7a, 7a, 7b, 7a+

If I am honest with myself it's likely the refurb set is a bit soft.......

We're off to Anstey's Cove for a couple of days tomorrow. Unbelievably it takes the same time to get there as it does to the Gower. Can't wait as I've wanted to go there for ages. 

have a great time Alan.

Thanks me, good insights

Wednesday - ankle rehab

Thursday - dips, more ankle rehab

Friday - offset pull-ups 4x3 each side, more ankle rehab

Saturday - weighed myself. Weight down from previous measurement, more like 77 than the 81 previously. Fingerboard session, doing 10s hangs on the 10mm edges at 83.5. Then about 5km walk, lunch out playground trip with the kids

Sunday - couple of sets of dips, a good ankle rehab session, and more walking about with the kids.

Trying to get back into the routine of training a bit more this past week with the travel having wound down for a little bit. I took the kids to the wall on Sunday; I probably could have tried the easiest problems but it didn’t really seem worth the risk to potter. Might give climbing something easy a go later this week or at the weekend if the weather ever improves…..

Excellent work Matt

Add a gala pie and sausage roll for the complete “Four pork salad”

Don't Scare the Hare (7b)In reply to AJM:

Props for picking up the baton Andy.

Considering I’m not working done precious little but I am enjoying not doing much (other than the feeling of guilt that I should be doing more).

Week has been mostly characterised by DIY but here again I’m not doing enough. 
Highlight of the week was briefly getting on this which I will go back for as it’s really good climbing despite looking grotty. Really burly physical climbing atypical of the area Don't Scare the Hare (7b) and possibly worth 7b+
Low light was dragging two mats up to Sheep Pen only to be utterly shutdown by everything I tried. Nearly gave my self piles straining to pull myself off the mat on various sit down starts. 

Thanks AJM - incremental progress on projects this week. The 8A+ links feel feasible and will hopefully go with some more sessions?

Week 27

M – Nothing but evening stretches.

T – Boulder. Reworked an 8A I’d tried before but found the rollover too inconsistent, so reworked an 8A+ that I’d like to do with an alternative finish. Made some great links of this, eventually doing it in 3 good overlapping sections, one of which warrants 7C (f8a+?) Then got back on a bugbear 7C+ and although made some progress, the crux seems too shouldery for me? Finished off trying to complete a stamina based 7C training link but pumped out on final section.

W – Rest.

T – Boulder. Warmed up, then reworked 7C finish to 8A project. I found something that worked and seemed more consistent than other methods, but after 3x good goes trying and falling off the finish to the 8A link I wasn’t so sure!

F – Rest.

S – 27km flat road ride. 60min. Felt pretty hard work.

S – Hideous, but essential shopping trip to Trafford Centre to buy new toddler car seat, then evening fingerboard. 5x5 20mm bodyweight pull-ups and a few progressive weighted hangs before 5x sets 7on/3off repeaters at BW+22kg (70% ish). Hard work, but felt like my shoulders were getting more of a workout than my forearms.

Popped to a sport shop in town yesterday to pick up a few gels & such for multipitch energy boosts for Norway, only to find they were selling off DMM Dragonflies for 35 euros apiece. Am now scouring the Lofoten guidebook for thin finger cracks.

And since I have at least one route with a glacier approach on the agenda for later in the summer, I am also now the proud owner of a 25 euro ice screw.

Hi Fit Club and welcome to the chair AJM…

After my last entry, Week 890, things fell apart a bit. Went a few rounds with the ‘black dog’. At times it felt like I was playing around with a puppy, and then whack, a full-blown pounding, a beasting – alas, and this why I refrained from posting here, the heavy rounds in the bout were rung in by training at the climbing wall and making plans for outdoor stuff. A couple of right meltdowns at the wall…lots of tears welled up and by the end of a few sessions the energy had been sucked out of me and I could barely climb…this continued for quite a few weeks, but each time it was in some way a little less intense as the week before…I went gently and tried to be prudent: mainly top roping in my limit grades to keep climbing fit, occasionally leading something…treading warily, letting the dog fall asleep…

Seemed a bit superfluous to come on here: anything of value would have been notes on a traumatised ANS and all that stems from that, pressure, social phobias, compensation / survival strategies etc. Not quite what the Fit Club thread is about. Things have settled down the last few weeks. Thankfully. I have most certainly become more sensitive to what’s going on with my nervous system, the differences in breathing rate and depth, the verbal blah blah in my mind…so, begin again, and: from the here and now… to hazard a guess: the nitty gritty of certain fears

Mon: stretching, hang board
Tue: brief hang board with pull ups
Wed: 8 routes, led three in the limit range: 6b+/6c, 6c+/7a, 6c+/7a….actually ticked the first but I felt quite dreadful on it; certainly climbed better in the last two because I was far more relaxed. Important to note for me was how the nervous system quite clearly had switched modes...this is the kind of thing I need to become familiar with and, perhaps one day, be able to actually regulate, to a degree at least
Thu: upper & lower body strength
Fri: bit of stretching
Sat: long plod, upper & lower body strength
Sun: slightly shorter plod than yesterday, brief hang board session

Wishing everyone a good weekend – or at least as good as it can possibly be…

Paul

Damn! I had assumed you were in Nepal.

Welcome back

Hi Alan,

thanks for the welcome. Hope it's back to stay, week in week out until Nepal...which is in autumn.

Have a great trip to Norway. I hope you find just about the perfect crack for those new cams...got yourself a bit of a bargain!

Your Scotland jaunt sounded really inspiring...
While you were there some sad news came through. You've probably heard since returning, but I'll put the link in anyway:

https://www.bergsteigen.com/news/neuigkeiten/martin-feistl-toedlich-verungl...

Take care up north and enjoy the apres climbing

Welcome back and just to say that is very much what fit club is also about.

It’s much more about keeping us going when times are hard rather than when life is simple.

It’s about knowing people are there, will read, listen and respond without judgement and with understanding because most of us have been there in one form or another.

Posting that you’ve managed to do 1 positive thing in a week full of difficulty and darkness will get more response than an 8a 👍🏻 

There seems to be a self filter on here and it’s populated by genuine people who are trying to do what they can. Ups and downs are all shared (if you want) and it’s all part of the journey.

Don’t feel you can’t post when times are hard, but obviously you also don’t have to if you don’t want to. 
 

Some great sentiments expressed Biscuit 🙂

Great to have you back Paul. Again I'll echo what Andy says about the support Fit Club can offer. Unlike typical social media it feels like Fit Club is a place for unvarnished reality. I don't like to hear that people are struggling but sometimes it's a welcome reality check to realise others are battling away with life too. When they can report that they're keeping their head above the tide and maybe even having the occasional little win it gives me hope too. Here's to the power of climbing to keep us going. 

Hey Andy, ta for this.

Okay - was mad busy at work and struggled with everything. Not sure if that was the aftermath of the 30k cycle ride on top of work or restricting the diet but I was a bit meh.

On Thursday we headed to a festival, The Rising, so all exercise there was dancing. Managed a few hours in the dance tent, drank beer, gin and a lot of bourbon and had a fun weekend. I think I've fixed my M.E./long covid.

So it was a great week in the end.

Weight - 97.7kg on Friday ,so two kg lost this week.

Watched the HR all festival and proper going for it to the techno had me between 105 and 120bpm. Happy with that.

Watching England in the shoot out, it was 120bpm.

Did my daily 1hr massage and physio. Twists etc.

No extra exercise tho but I'm happy, exercise would have been too much and don't want to relapse.

Cheers!

Thanks Biscuit - and thanks also to Derek & Ian ....

I'll take up a variation of the '8a' tick and add - in hindsight it was really important just to keep turning up at the wall even though I suspected that the 'black dog' was lurking there, ready to pounce ...be there with 'it all' and listen more attentively to what was going on....tough phase - but genuine change - sustainable & lasting - takes time, takes its time, and getting impatient with it all - while understandable - is ultimatively counterproductive...

thanks again to all...

Well done to you as well.  Glad you summitted safely.  TBH having done a few 4000ers, I'd say that Alpinism is harder and more tiring.  I think (outside of parenthood) I've never been so tired as I was after the Lagginhorn.  Endless scrambling down choss.  So yeah, the mental strength isn't any different here.  Thanks

Thanks Ian, I really appreciate that.  Came in roughly mid-pack as well, which I wasn't expecting either.  8 hours and 55 minutes.

Cheers AJM,

Another very short report as I have happily been away with the wife and kids all week 😊

Got in 3or 4 swims during a busy week at work. University finding last minute funds before the financial year end so manically clearing labs for a quick refurb to spend the money before it goes. 
 

Got three runs in up to 10k. Bailed on the Sunday long run due to a tight hamstring so will be consolidating whilst on hols 😊