UKC

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_fit_club_week_904-7728...

Posters:

AJM

Somerset Swede Basher - that is certainly a week of cashing in, nice one! Have to regained normal human form now after your weekend gin composition?

Derek Furze - that’s a lot of driving, but sounds like a great day out at Gogarth - must have been a great intro for your American partner!

biscuit - well done on Empire! It’s a nice place down there. Empire was one of those I never got on when it would have been a hard redpoint and then I got tied up in saving it for a decent onsight or flash go. I suspect it’s back at the hard redpoint level again for me these days, if I’m lucky!

Ian Parnell - very much an opposite week to last week with a lot of rock volume. It’s nice when you get out and can feel the difference from training isn’t it.

Ross Barker - sounds like a nice day up at the sheep pen - I have memories of trying that link on my one visit several years ago and finding I got very stretched out sideways and kept leaving a foot too far behind. Such a nice place.

Ally Smith - good effort - 8A in a session is very solid

Tom Greenham - sounds like a great mountain day, very jealous

Tigh - still looking for the next objective? A quiet week seems well deserved I think…

Tyler - it’s not a gentle walk up to sheep pen is it. I think when we did it my son was about 6 months old so we had a baby rucksack to lug up there. If only there was a way to make your fingertips stop bleeding!

Steve Claw - only a couple of sessions, but pretty different from the sounds of it. Which 8a?

Small Step - I think that point about keeping track of the ups as well as the downs is very fair - it’s easy to focus only on the downsides isn’t it. 

AlanLittle - I wouldn’t have expected that either - pleasant in the sun would have been my guess

mattrm - you decided to commit to the bigger stuff then - nice one. A rest week well deserved I think!

mrchewy - sounds like quite the work week. And 4.5kg weight loss is good progress…

Randy - sounds like you’re managing the challenging balance of high “life load” and keeping going with training well. Fingers crossed it gets better soon

Thanks AJM. Similar week as the weeks before, so not that much to report. Interestingly, despite training very little at the moment,  my strength numbers are still improving. This again comfirms that more is not always better and that i am still recovering well. I've also tried to adjust my training load a little bit dependent on my stress level, and moved sessions to the next day when necessary, which has paid off.

Thanks Andy, yep, human status reaffirmed this week.

Mon. Headed to Tom's Cave to try the 7C on the left but it was wet so tried to link Hannibal into Lecter instead. Pleased to repeat Hannibal but couldn't do Lecter's big move back right on the link.

Tues.5km run with the boy.

Wed and Thurs. Rest.

Fri. Gordale after work. Two working tie ins on Cave Route Right. Managed the first 2/3rds in a link but not got a sequence above that.

Sat. Back to Gordale, one working go then a successful redpoint of Cave Route Right (7b+). Nice that there's still some residual fitness left over from the winter given that I've only really bouldered for the last 3 months. Noticed in the log books that Ally onsighted this, that's impressive! We had got up early and were done for 11am so headed over to the Lakes as my partner only has 3 Wainwrights left. Raced the incoming rain up Kilnshaw chimney AKA "Little Big Bastard ". (Grade-2) then walked from Red Screes over to Middle Dodd and back. About 500m ascent all in.

Sun. Lots of rain yesterday evening and over night didn't leave us hopeful but the sun came out in the morning and we were racked up at Gimmer for 7.30am. We did Ash Tree Slabs (VD) and then 'C' Route (S 4b) but the <5% chance of rain seemed to be bobbins and the rock definitely went from damp to wet again so we headed down and home. Another 500m ascent day if you include the climbing too.

CRR is great isn't it. I still think it's one of my favourite two 7b+s in the UK.

Yes. Completely different outing to the crimp sprint style we get in the Peak. It was amazing how it went from 'this is ridiculous' to 'I think I'll go for a redpoint' within a few tie ins. Nothing was actually that hard once I'd worked out where to put my feet but it took some working. What is the other one?

More by accident than design I think I have arrested the decline…

M: 1hr 43 mins on bike. 

T: Got back on the skin shredding proj, TR to warm up then two RP goes. First one I failed to set up for the move so sat on the bolt then did the move solidly. Second go tape rolled off and turned into a bit of a blood bath! Did Battleground (7a+) afterwards by way of consolation (although I nearly slipped off the jug at the top as tape didn’t stem the flow!)

W: Big day with Tom, a qualified success. I chickened out of Munich Climb because of extreme ming however the logbooks show it’s had a few ascents this year so backing off was probably more to do with a lack of moral fibre. We did manage two scrambles, three crags and four routes including Belle Vue Bastion (VS 4c) which we both agreed was a 4 star belter.

T: Gardening for my dad, so not a proper rest day 
F: Ogwen to Pen y Pass via Y Garn and Glyder Fawr  This was partially training for Fi’s Tour du Mont Blanc but I’d always been curious about this descent, worth the recce as it turns out it’s easy to get lost in poor visibility….

S: Had some drain issues to sort in Manchester so went to the Depot on the way home. As usual I flashed a load of reds and failed on a few others. I hurt my shoulder on one and was instantly surrounded by concerned staff members offering me an ice pack! I took this as a sign to stop and save some skin.

S: Was going to meet some friends at Penmaen Head but that was curtailed by more drain issues which, on balance, is no bad thing (for my skin and arms but not my bank balance) as I’m meant to climb tomorrow

Gates of Greyskull (7b+), at lulworth. Because who couldn't love super steep jug hauling by the sea

Thank you AJM,

I was looking at the routes on Lion Rock - Lion Sleeps tonight, Shadow Walker and the E6 Taming The Lion.  They all seem really hard, apart from the E6 that seems doable.  However, I haven't done anything really hard in sometime and am currently 1/2 a stone heavier than my normal low point.

Busy few days this week and despite the hot weather, have managed to time things to stay in shade and get a fair bit done.  Finger joint hurts after hard climbing, but pulley feels ok.

M -Nothing

T - Shunting in Avon - Gymslip (E4 6b) done direct at the start, my Critical Path (7b) shunted again to confirm that I can again operate on small crimps.

W - Avon - Swung leads on Men of the World (E5 6a), Led The Bilk (E4 5c) and followed Castillos des Arenas (E3 5c)

T - Wintours - Hot day - Swung leads on Wurlitzer (E1 5c) and Firefly (E3 5c)

F - Avon - getting really hot so some easier bits Wintersol (E2 5b) and Curtain Call (E2 5c)

Sat-Sun - Rest

Good morning everyone, hope you're all doing well.

Haha yes, that is easily done. My sequence just involved a quick cut and replacement of the heel every couple of hand moves so that if never gets too far. The last bit of the trav as you meet Dog Shooter is tricky though as the holds get smaller, so I'm opting for a shouldery move between the good ones instead. Might be harder from the deck though, we'll see...

A really good week from me. Ate reasonably well, a nice climb in a new location, plenty of rehab and stretching. I should start incorporating those wrist stretches from not too long ago as well.

Last Week:

Avg weight 79.5kg

M - Groin, hamstring and hip adductor stretches.

T - 19mm F3HC pickups, 8x5s @ 17.5kg. Felt strong and healthy, to the point that it was weird!

W - Groin, hamstring and hip adductor stretches.

T - 19mm F3HC pickups, 8x5s @ 17.5kg. Still felt decent but not as good as Tuesday - glad I didn't bump up the weight.

F - Rest.

S - Groin, hamstring and hip adductor stretches.

S - Tal y Fan. Pleasant day out. Didn't get loads done but the classics Dolmen (f5+) and Megalith (f7A) were rather nice indeed. Pizza and ice cream to finish, oh yes!

Next Week:

Weather looks nice so would like to be out a lot, but failing that, there's the usual routine.

M - Stretches.

T - Climbing/rehab.

W - Stretches.

T - Climbing/rehab.

F - Stretches.

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.

Thanks for the stats Andy.

Weight - 13st 12lbs
STG - 50 mile ultra

MTG - Winter ultra

LTG - 100 mile ultra next July

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - 4k run

T - Rest

F - Rest

S - Rest

S - 4k run

Weekly kms - 8 kms

Diet status - Iffy

Again, didn't really do much.  Just got out for a few short road runs around the local estate.  Otherwise been a nice week.  Last week of school for the lad.  Had a BBQ with neighbours at the weekend.  I'll hopefully push the kms a bit more next week.  Get a proper mountain 10k in and see how the rest goes.

Cheers AJM - a great week in the Lakes with lots of fun activities and managed a few family walks, either with mk2 in a rucksack carrier or on metalled paths with a pushchair. 

Week 29

M – Nothing but a promenade at Grange-over-sands. Moved into different accommodation in Bassenthwaite.

T – Gentle core while the squiggly one snoozed: 2x75 crunchies and 2x150 scissor kicks. Brought a new softshell from the good folk at Needlesports. 

W – A lap of Derwent water on the ferry, with short walks at each landing stage. More evening core: 2x100 crunchies and 2x100 scissor kicks. 3x10 push ups. 

T – 3km Walk up Latrigg fell, carrying mk2 in a rucksack. Mk1 summitted and returned without assistance (apart from demolising our stash of chocolate fingers). Longer walk in the afternoon around Mirehouse and Bassenthwaite Lake. Again, fully self propelled Mk1 making for her longest day out (5 miles total?)

F – Walks around Aira Force and Ullswater before an evening drive home from Lakes.

S - Unpacking faff and lifted a dozen paving slabs to start foundations for new shed

S – Volume board session: 16x BMs 6A+ to 7A+. Then more digging. 

Hi fitties. Thanks for the stats, AJM.

A pretty decent week, with a good mix of climbing, running and hill mileage. Not so much structured training, but this was balanced by a lot of manual jobs that probably provided similar stimuli!

Week 29:

M: Strength & Core. Rehab.

T: Road run. 5.8km, 51m vert, 4:32/km. Short and hard.

W: Trad in Ogwen. A fun session of classic routes with Tyler, including Belle Vue Bastion (VS 4c) -probably the best rock route I've done so far this year!

T: A few more hours rebuilding the board. Good conditioning!

F: Bouldering. Quick post-job sesh on Yates. Encouraged to get back to last autumn's high point but still too scared to commit to the top. However, now this sesh has got me feeling comfy getting to that high point I'm more confident to just go for it next time.

S: Bouldering. Short sesh at Almscliffe en route to a Christening up north. Ticked a few 6A+s but no success on the main event (Pattas), despite some enjoyable progress. Too hot really.

S: Trail run. 16.1km, 529m vert, 7:28/km. A bit of a mixed session... nice to revisit some old favourite routes around the NY moors, but slowed down by an episode of hay fever/asthma. 

Week 30:

M: Strength & Core. Rehab.

T: Run. Rehab.

W: Climbing.

T: Climbing.

F: Climbing.

S: Run. Rehab

S: Strength & Core. Rehab.

STG (end of August):

Get back to averaging 72kg from 76kg (down to 75).

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.

Hi, back from two weeks in the Peak District with the family. Only got a couple of runs in but they were good ones still working towards the 50km ultra mid August. 

We also got lots of walking in and would average around 15k each day, up hill and down dale. I did get a quality run in too. Started off from the camp site at Castleton, ran/walked up Lose Hill then along to Back Tor and Mam Tor. Along Rushop Edge to Lords Seat and Brown Knoll then on to Swines Back, along the Skyline and down the zig zag path into Edale. All in it was a 22k run but with lots of elevation it was a tough but very enjoyable outing.

Yesterday was another distance progression run out on my local trails. Just over 35km, Heavy legs after 2 weeks of lots of walking made for a real battle of a run. Low point was at 12k in, all hot and sweaty, legs wanting to give up and thinking "f**k im not even at 15 k yet and there is another 20 to go after that!!! However i dragged my sorry arse all the way round and another good experience of fighting the mental battle as much as the physical one 

Thanks Andy

Another busy week at work - and then working on the boat all weekend till late. Pushing the limits for me here but seems to be coping.

Did 1hr a day of ME massage and twists etc. Also included are some deep (for me) squats and other mobility stuff.

Tue - lunges and the static start long jumps.

Thu - jumps again.

Weight - every day around 95.1 - 95.3kg, so held the 4.5kg loss. Focus on this getting lower this week, with a mixture of fasting and high protein, plus calorie restriction.

Need to ideally do more exercise after work but this week I'll be working on the boat in the evenings... we'll see.

Thanks Andy, buoyed by last week, I was able to test that physical confidence a bit more this week.

Mon – Achilles rehab

Tues – Home Woodie. Warm up problems, then 4 ‘replicas’ of boulders I’m struggling on. A hard narrow box pinchy thing, an easier narrow pinchy thing, a long lunge, and a pocket thing. Flailing and felt weak. Achilles rehab

Wed – Homemade block 6 cm wide: 10 secs at 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg, 12.5kg, 15kg, 17.5kg (L 10 secs, R 5) x 2. Wide (11cm) pinch on Lattice wooden block: 10 secs 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg (L 9 secs, R 7), 10 (L 7, R5). Finger lifts 10 secs 2 finger drag front 2, middle 2, 10kg, 15kg, 17.5kg. Right hand, usually my strongest, felt weaker throughout. Achilles rehab

Thursday – What do you do when its 26 degrees? Go to Burbage to try to top rope an E6 of course. A couple of fun light-hearted efforts on Nosferatu (E6 6b). Couldn’t do the crux move so not rushing for the headpoint!

Fri – 3 x 20 twisting crunches, 1 leg bridge, supine windscreen wipers. Achilles rehab

Sat – Snatched a quick 40 mins at Hollin Hill. Very condensaty and I struggled. Eventually managed to get up Paleolithic (f6A+) again. Achilles rehab

Sunday – Amazing day on Anglesey. Started at Porth Dafarch with Fisherman's Friend (HS 4a) and Yellow Brick Road (HVS 5a). Both very good, the latter is steep, has brilliant positions, great protection and worth at least 2 stars maybe more. Then persuaded my partner to belay me on Centrefold (E3 5c) at Rhoscolyn. It’s been 26 years since I first did it. Such a phenomenal route.

Reflection - Neck still very stiff and achy so couldn't run, but managed regular if short stimuli during week and then a really enjoyable day out yesterday. I was a little unnerved when we’d scrambled round to Fallen Block Zawn at how steep and intimidating it felt. Centrefold was quite damp in places, and the start took 4 goes before I committed. Had to get a bit rowdy on the crux section but really pleased that the mind and body responded positively.

We continue to hide from the sun. Out early this morning to do a route, back to the flat for lunch & siesta, now heading out for another route in the evening.

Rain forecast for tomorrow though

Thanks AJM for the stats.  I hope it is helping your own discipline!?

First week of back to work proper, which (I am delighted to say) was great!  If nothing else, this employment hiatus has demonstrated that I really don't want to retire yet,  which is very positive.  As I am only doing one day a week, it does feel like a good position.

Mon - work in practice

Tues - admin, but did a cycle of finger block repeaters late on.  Pleased that despite a gap of a few weeks, was able to do these at 21.6 kg with no problems.  

Wed - party preparations

Thurs - a session at Harpur Hill.  Made the mistake of starting in the sun and then following it around, so a bit debilitating, but managed a few things.  Noted that motivation was eroded by conditions and not having much to target.  Could have got more from a mileage day, but too hot for that really.  Did seven or eight things.

Fri - party catering.  Lots of cooking, checking forecast, putting up gazebos, organising the bar, cleaning and sorting on.  Daughter A arrived at nine pm, so we went down the pub to listen to a band who had just supported The Blossoms.

Sat - daughter B arrived early afternoon, so we set up the sound system and lights before putting on some tunes and making a 3 pm start on pre-party drinks.  By this stage the forecast was a bit grim, but by the time things got going properly at 7.30, it wasn't too bad.  One of two heavy downpours, but the weather protection worked to keep the open air vibe working throughout.  Fifty people had a load of fun - finished by 4 am.  Tried Happy Tuesdays for the first time.

Sun - up at 8am for the big clean up.  I think those Happy Tuesdays may be very effective.  In the interest of science will continue diligent research.

Planning a couple of days in the hills Wed and Thurs.

This sounds like a big day in a big week!

A bit of a dispiriting week, to be honest. I got an encouraging report from the physio, and more advanced exercises to do, but my ankle has definitely gone backwards since the first go doing them. I never got any sharp pain or anything whilst doing them, but my ankle just seems to be grumbling a lot day to day in a way it hasn’t for weeks. On the actual exercises, some of them feel ok even at the more advanced level and some of them don’t. But definitely feeling like it’s gone backwards overall. Climbing feels further away.

Monday - physio first thing. Decent progress report and more exercises to do. Did some ankle rehab in the evening.

Tuesday - nothing

Wednesday - ankle rehab am. This involved some new more dynamic stuff and my ankle was a bit sore afterwards. In the evening, a good fingerboard session, on the 10mm edges, another kilo or so upward progress (88-89kg)

Thursday - rest, ankle still a bit sore

Friday - ankle rehab

Saturday - fingerboard session but it was all feeling slippy. Pulled hard but no great shakes.

Sunday - busy day doing other stuff, tired.

Hi AJM, thanks for the comment about the ‘ups’….I wonder if the downside focus is because of a kind of inbuilt hindrance bias.
I hope in the days since you put up your weekly report that your ankle has turned a bit towards better…

For last week things relatively calm and composed…good progress on the PTSD front…learning more and more to accept certain limits, which in turn lowers expectations – including the foggy notion of ‘healing’…

Mon: bit stiff & sore, just stretching
Tue: light plod, brief hang board session
Wed: hang board session
Thu: wall, Thalkirchen, 12 routes, 7 lead wall + 5 autobelays; new routes, moved quite well, ANS / phobia stuff only on two routes; seems things are settling down, ANS mostly in the ‘tolerance window’…the oscillation to the extremes seems to be narrowing
Fri: upper body stretching / strength work
Sat: hang board session
Sun: continuing the hiking season – Kaiser. Durchholzen to the Pyramidenspitze (1997 m), descent to Kufstein, ca. 1300 metres up, 1400 metres down…dizzyingly hot…enjoyed the ‘ice bath’ at the end of the tour in the Kaiser stream all the more…

Good weekend to all

Cheers Andy. I do hope your ankle takes an uptick soon. They can take a very long time and stay reactive for ages. 

I didn't post last week. A symptom of what I'm about to report I think.

I had my usual week until Friday when I put the clips in a route, it felt good and I was hoping to send next go. I belayed Rachel and had lunch and then came to climb and genuinely couldn't get any try hard going. I stopped at the crux, felt totally exhausted and couldn't even be bothered to get my clips back.

Looking back the previous month had been busy and I had plateaued in my performance. I had been getting out 3 times a week and initially I felt the benefit of that, but that seems to have stalled. 

Physically (other than the neck) I feel totally OK. It seems to have been a running out of try hard motivation.

The break feels like it's done me good and I'm keen to get back climbing and try hard. I am going to re jig my training and drop to 1 decent gym session a week, 2 redpointing days and 1 short board session (I've definitely lost some power since just routing). Let's see if that busts the plateau.