Siurana... and further motivational issues

So the weekend in spain was great. Managed a really steep and short 7b+ second try which felt great and had some goes at a really powerful pocket 7c but couldnt do it. Also flashed an easy 7a and nearly an awesome 7a+ So progress I'd say.
However, that was a month ago. Since then I have done nothing and have just been doing lots of eating and drinking. Weight up, motivation down, rain up then down.
Not sure how I am going to crack this one. I really need to be near a wall....

Ardeche and Motivational Issues

Had a great long weekend out with Rene, Virginia and the ankle biters. The campsite was great with the crag just the other side of the river. Nice. Ollie had a mega time with the other kids racing on their bikes and falling over in puddles.
Managed a 7b after a number of goes and tried another one but did not really spend enough time on it. To tell you the truth they both felt desperate.
Rene on the other hand was climbing really well and managed his first 8a the backstabber. Not bad considering he was up at 5am each day with Ben.
That was about over a month ago and since then my motivation has been severely lacking. Have not been to the wall at all. However, I am off to Siurana this weekend so have spend the last 4 days hanging off my fingerboard and drinking protein drinks. I reckon I will weigh a ton by the time I leave. I am going to try an 8a called Anabolica which I tried donkeys years ago. Will let you know how it goes....

Up to sheffield for an arse whupping

Went up to sheff for the day and went to Raven Tor with vickie and Joe. Got a bit of an education in hard bouldering and a harsh dose of reality. Tried a 7a+ route which I was nowhere near. Was totally desperate. Did a font 7a boulder problem which actually felt much easier but there you go.

Vic very nearly did a font 7c which was very impressive (see below)...

Much work yet to do methinks....

UPDATE... Vic just did the 7c (2 days after I went up) which makes her officially nails.

Weight: Just hit 12st 8lb for the first time in about 7 years.

Fantastic day in Dorset

Had a mega day down in Dorset on Sunday with Simon and Canadian Rob (aka Ron Burgundy).

We left at 7am and went to Portland and did a couple of 6as, 6bs and the 6c I failed on last time (felt pretty steady this time).


(6c below)

I was going to get on a 7a or 7a+ to see how I got on but they were all busy so we popped off to Conner Cove for a re-match with the Congar. Ron and I both did it and Simon took a good and a not so good fall. See below:

Ron then put in the effort of the day and having only really been climbing outside a few times and having only lead about VS before today went for it on Freeborn Man (6c). And he made it! I think we were all more scared than him. Was one of the best efforts I have seen, and I am shamed to admit I bottled getting on it. Next time!

Was a fantastic day. Great weather. Great people. Great climbing. Great pub. Bloody long day though, getting back at 12:30am.

Trip to Portland. More bouldering progress

Went down to portland last week and got my arse whipped. I basically have no stamina.
I did however do Reptile Smile (6a+) which was about the best route of this grade i have ever done. It was mega but got very pumped.
I tried on a 6c but failed. Am going back this weekend to see if I can make any further progess. I having been hanging off my finger board all week to practice getting pumped.

Bouldering: Did a v7 at the wall! mad problem, but seeing a cant do a single v6 i would say it is easy v6 at the outside. All the same, progress is apparent and I am feeling stronger all the time. Can finally stick 90deg lock offs on jugs.

Weight: now down to 12st 12pounds. If I lose 3 or 4 more pounds i will have lost my stone!

Further progress - getting stronger

Did two burly 5s. Maybe try a 6 next week?
Weight below 13st now (but not for long i fear)
Maybe do Freeborn Man in a few weeks? Makes me feel sick thinking about it.
Bloody Blogger keeps deleting what I have just typed, hence the brevity.

Progress update

Have now broken into the V5s. I managed 3 on thursday though the fingery type rather than the burly type I should be working on. Went bouldering tuesday and thursday last week and found I was better at the second session so it looks like my body can now handle more frequent training.
I really feel like I am starting to climb now. The boulder problems feel more like real problem rather than just hauling around on jugs. If I can get some of the burly 5s next week I will really feel like I am on my way.
The issue I have is lack of time to actually go cragging. According to the family diary I only have 2 weekends to go climbing. Not sure how I am supposed to climb and 8a like that...
Suprisingly my weight seems to have bottomed out at about 13st 1.5 pounds. It just doesnt seem to be going down any more but this might be because I am starting to put on a lot of new muscle weight.

Dieting

The diet began this week. I decided that the sore shoulder i have, and my general progress will be helped by losing weight.
My diet involves the following rules:

• Normal Breakfast
• Sandwich wrap (low carb) with no fat (chicken no butter) for lunch
• Small no fat dinner
• No snacking
• No booze other than friday and saturday

I am bloody starving all the time but in less than 1 week have dropped from 13st 8lb to 13st 3lb. I am targetting 12st 7lb and so far it looks like i will be below 13st next week.

Apparently I have to do this process quite slowly to avoid stressing the body and making it turn any food i do eat into fat.

One more session at the wall with Simon but didnt do great. More v4s but still no v5s. 4 day rest then try again. I did a bit of research on what I was doing when I went to Hueco Tanks back in 97. I did some v8s third go so I have a looooooong way to go to get back in shape. bummer.

Progress thanks to el fingerboard

Just had a nice week holiday in Corsica and spent the week before and after using the fingerboard. Have figured out how to actually make it work for me. Basically hang of the edge with 2 hands with feet on a chair placed through the other side of the doorway. This gets a really good pump going. Also doing semi-one arm pullups (left hand 2 finger pocket, right hand jug) seems to help.
Went to the wall tonight and really felt like there was some real progress. Did 3 v4's (couldnt do any before) and did a load of v3s which now felt pretty easy. Slight pain in shoulder. Must watch that.
Most noticable was that i didnt really burn out very quickly thanks to the fingerboard forearm training.
Onward and upwards!

Baseline trip to climbing wall

Went to the london bridge bouldering wall last night.
This trip should serve as a reasonable benchmark to judge my progress by.
It seems that over the last 2 weeks i have gained enough fitness so that my hands dont simply uncurl from jugs after a few problems and I can get a proper pump. But that is about it.
It seems I do better at the technical problems than the power ones (which is not surprising as i am weak as a puppy). I need to work on the power problems.
For reference sake, I was able to do technical V3's pretty much first go, but was unable to do any power V3's at all. I will see how the fingerboard\pullup training helps this.
I reckon I need to be able to boulder v7\8 to be able to do an 8a so a very long way to go indeed.
It was a fun trip though!
Let me re-iterate; this blog is very much for my own reference and motivation. I reserve all rights to make this blog as dull as dishwater, and am under no illusions that the info here is of any interest to anyone but me :)

Swanage - Getting my feet wet

OK, I have been back climbing at the climbing wall for, 2 weeks and it is now time to attack some real rock.

We went off to Swanage for the weekend with Caths brother Simon, and dragged the (many) kids to the crag. They were very accomodating and it was all rather nice in fact.

On Saturday Simon and I nipped off to conner cove to do some deep water soloing (new thing for me) and scared ourselved silly downclimbing to the bottom down a diff. We both did Troubled Waters (HVS 5a) which went ok, then I tried the Congar (E2 5c) which was soaking wet. Basically either I fluffed the crux or am totally rubish or perhaps both, but ended up in the brine (see below). It was a totally exciting experience and am really keen to go back.

Next day went to Hedbury and the kids did a route, Cath waltzed up a 4+ which looked really hard, and I did Moves For The Masses (6a+) which was really fun and went without too much bother. It was nice to know I can do 6a+ ok and it gives me a nice starting point to build from. Its a hell of a long way to 8a from here though.

Fingerboard!

Ok, I must be keen because for the first time in my life I have bought a finger board.
I am still trying to figure out what the hell to do with it but it is a step in the right direction.
Once I figure out a training routine beffiting someone of my physic and weakness I will post it up here.
I bought this one and it is currently bolted to the wall of our (rented) kitchen doorway.
If anyone has any ideas of good fingerboard training plans please let me know.

Once upon a time there was a fat man....

Inspired by Geraldine Taylor's achievement of climbing her first 8a at the age of 54, I have decided to undertake an experiment:
Is it possible for an overweight, London based, mid 30's family man who hasnt climbed in 7 years to climb an 8a? And if so how long will this take?

Basically on hearing about Geraldines remarkable acheivement I decided perhaps I should not write myself off quite yet. So before I begin let me give a bit of background:
Until I moved to London (the fateful 7 years ago) I had climbed pretty much all my life. I became reasonably good but never actually succeeded in climbing an 8a. I managed trad mountain routes to E6, grit to E7 and sport to 7c+.
I am 34 years old and have basically spent the last 7 years sat on a sofa eating pizzas and curry, and drinking wine and beer. It has been fun, but those days are now over.
Lay your bets.....