What with shit weather and a unhealthy dose of paranoia that I will become fat and weak now I have a baby, I started to hit the boards quite a lot.  In fact looking back through my book after a shit session I had been hitting the boards every day for some time.  In fact I had 5 rest days in the last 53 days.  And I managed to wonder why I was tired.  What a prick.


So last night in the Indy after greasing off and having quite a lot of pain running through my shoulders and neck, I had a little rant and was given a crash course in finding trigger/ pressure points, and low and behold for the first time in 2 weeks I can move my head without it hurting!   Its a miracle Hallelujah etc.  So that's good and I will call the unplanned time on 'Conditioning' have a week of de loading before ramping up the intensity for a month, badabing, I am in a training cycle without the shit bit of building your base.  Its that simple right?


After a few years of reading books, printing articles and stuff I am starting to think it might be.  The thing about training is a lot of people talk about it, a few people plan it and hardly anyone sticks to a plan.  You can search around and find people telling you front leavers wont give you tension, pull ups are a waste of time running is too catabolic, lock off training is inefficient, bachar ladders hurt you, weights make you too big,  campusing is for fools, basically everything is shit.  I am starting to think that this is because climbers are a negative bunch, who all want to spend their time hanging out on huge blocs in the desert and instead end up at Ravens Tor or Parisellas dodging the drips doing eliminates, and populating the internet.  So what should punters like me do?  Well "everything works but nothing works for long" is possibly the best bit of advice I have been given I think.  So mix and match, try hard, keep making it harder and cross your fingers you don't get hurt is about as scientific as I am going to attempt this time.


I keep looking back at my yearly aims and I hate the fact that they are basically the same as they were at the end of 2010.  So something isn't working.  In fact the best season I had involved not going to sleep much and a lot of sniffing.  I cant see that this is how Olympians train, so I guess there must be another reason.  Maybe I was too fucked to get hung up about it, "don't think, feel" all that shit.  You can tell you have lost your way when 1-5-8 becomes the highlight of your year I mean its not even 1-5-9 for fucks sakes.


Anyway I think I am going to have a rest try to train, and crush the shit out of 3 projects in the next couple of
months.  Then the weather will turn it will be cold and crisp, and I can start to work the next ones like a rat on a wheel...    

Life changing!

Well I guess I have some news.  Not that it will be of any interest to most of you but the future wad James arrived 3 weeks ago.  He is ace and did 1-5-9 yesterday.  Not really, I waved him at a beastmaker but he showed less than no interest.  However I am convinced that anyone who can vomit their own body length must have a strong core.  Plus the fact that on his first walk he found a 3 star Project for me, hopefully he can keep that up.


Recent trips out were First to Angel bay, where we did Muscle bound, a much better than it looks problem.  
We also did the little roof immediately at the bottom of the approach path.  I am sure this will have been done before as its the first thing to dry when you get the tides wrong like we (I) did.  Although the Photo should show my intentions clearly enough.  Chris suggested the name Abu Dabby, as the crux is not dabbing.  The link across from the starting hold of Manchester dogs would go to someone I am sure.

Abu Dabby 7a.  Photo Chris Davies

Apart from that I have been going to the Mill, and have started to create a structure to my home training.  I have never really done much at home before tending to be out and about whenever I am off work, but given the fact that my 2 projects at the moment would be fine if I could hold the swings, and Core is probably the easiest thing to train at home it could all work out marvellously.  

The strangeness continues with a session in the mill last night that was shockingly good, so good in fact that I wish the weather was better then I could do something.  Then I heard that Pete had done the Ogwen Project at 8b in the rain.  Fucker, guess even weather is not a good enough excuse anymore.  Must try harder!

Shit weather and a good effort
Photo Ray Wood

So there we are, for some strange reason I actually appear to be climbing OK ish.  Hopefully I can get the big aim of last year done soon.  I feel unusually positive about it at present, then well then I don't know. I guess we shall see.