T minus 2 mounths

I know I should be consolidating, I know this is where I can make a real difference,  but truth be told I am bored.  I got good and steaming drunk Friday night, Saturday I feel a hundred years old, my elbows and back are sore.  I feel sick, I have consumed vast amounts of empty calories in booze and sugary shit, I have fallen into the resting habit.  Then I watched the World cup being streamed, all I can now think is that Dmitry wouldn't eat that, he wouldn't drink this or smoke that, and that's why he climbs like a machine.  And he did, it was really fucking impressive.


So its T minus 2 months now, technically only 6 weeks to the original finish point but to make up for the 4th month when my tweaks and aches sent me outside I have added on the 2 weeks.  So what have I got left to give?  Well that's obvious really isn't it , fags and booze!  An average night will see me sink several hundred calories in alcohol, and an average day will see me through 12.5 grams of Virginia's finest.  Neither of which will help me in any way, plus they are very expensive habits these days.  Now the drink I like, but think with a bit of effort I can knock that on the head,  the smoking well I have no doubt that will prove to be a little more tricky.  Still one thing at a time so for now I am aiming for T Total.  


I have a few things that I want to check out outside over the next 4 days off if the weather plays ball.  If it rains then its back to the boards with a vengeance.  The cold water treatment has been really helpful for my fingers, seems to have almost been magic!  I had a mill session before a quick visit to the cave to meet Katz for a session, I would guess I am 5% down on my best at that point, I had trained a lot of days on though, so hopefully this few days off will have got it all back into shape, although I am under no illusions 4 days rest where you re pissed/eating lots will not help.


Today I session in the Indy, I can now confirm that I have lost a fair bit, according to Mr Bompa
"for the inactive athlete, the rate of strength loss per day can be roughly 3-4 % for the first week"
Fuck that seems pretty quick isn't it?  Adding 2% for being a pig and drinking loads I make that between 14%  and 18% strength loss...  So you need rest days to recover and supercompansate but every rest day costs so much!  Now I am just so confused I guess this really is a game of two steps forward one and three quarters back.  And another case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. 

This last bit should be taken tongue in cheek, I realise there are far more variables involved.  The main point of this post is that I have to believe in what I have done.  It was easy 2 months ago, now we are reaching towards the end, panic and fear that it will not work creep into my psyche.  In the conversion phase before the main competitive season is where most people get injured, probably through pushing on too hard trying to make up the short comings of their training.  When in reality you must stick to the plan, whatever will be will be.

Variety is the spice of life...

So last night I decided to clean out the little 45 degree woody at the Indy.  After my morning core session CJD turned up so I could kill him in the weights session, then he returned the favour on the wood.  This little board is where most of our training was a few years ago before the MOD kindley funded our boulder, so I have fond memories of it.  I am pleased though, he wasn't too far ahead and he had 4 rest days while today was my 13th day on.  My body is having a mini rebellion at present, think I am just getting paranoid as my neck shoulders and fingers are all switching round with various degrees of pain from day to day.



The Indy 45 a lovely little thing sadly normally buried behind a pile of holds.

 I had my first mill session for a while a few days back, I had lost a fair amount of finger strength and raw power with all the pesky outdoor plodding, but all in all it was not as bad as I thought it would be.  Its been quite a while since all this summer of the Mill started, its been fun and I have certainly learnt a lot of stuff that I will do differently next time.  Hopefully I will make it through these last 2 months without a catastrophe, and the winter sun will play ball.  I remember reading a Rich Simpson thing somewhere where he reckoned it didn't matter if he failed as he knew he had put all the effort in he could.  At the time it seemed ridiculous to me, failure was... well it was failure and it could only be my fault.  Now I think I am starting to get the point. 

"failure is not fatal, success is not final, it is the courage to continue that counts"

Fuck me, I have gone too far I think Winston Churchill was talking about the mill.

If knowledge is power

Then I am getting stronger. Thanks to one of the Indy regulars I know know lots more words about training and diffrent ways to stick all the shit together to end up stronger fitter and just generally better. Now to put it into practice.



Other than reading loads of training books, I have continued in the rehabiltation of the finger.  This has involved going outside as I know I will lose all pretence of self control if I go to the mill.  After a good start this week has brought home to me all that is shit about climbing outside in the summer in the UK.  Grease midges and rain.  As he says in Good morning Vietnam its hot and wet, this is not a good combo.  As I had made plans ages ago with Chris to go the to South Lakes for a couple of days, we did our best  to ignore reason and went anyway.  We arrived and went to trowbarrow as it had the best chance of being dry, the shelter stone was wet on top and so red wall saved us, fortunatly I had forgotten the guide in the car otherwise I suspect I may have chucked my toys out of the pram within 2 problems, as it was I got to give them my own grade for the time being, generally +2.  All was not lost though as we both did Shallow Grave which was awesome, by this time the shelter stone had dried out and so we tried Vitruvian man, never have I adjusted so many times on the holds of a problem, no amount of chalk, megajiz or brushing would improve the buttery texture of the holds.    And then it was raining again, the spot pad was used as an umbrella to keep the top holds dry, 10 minutes later I linked it all first try, trying hard to keep the faith we went to Woodwell which had condensed, fairy steps which was foul, and then to the pub.  At this point home was my preferred option but Chris doesn't get that many away days so he was far keener, off to spend the night at Raven Tor. 

In the morning it all seemed pretty good so off we went to Stoney for a warm up, I was shit Chris was terrible.  After an hour on Pinch 2 I was getting better and given grease and sunshine and the fact I was bouldering before midday had given me enough excuses to feel OK.  Next stop was to go to try Andronicus up the road.  I went to check we were in the right place, pronounced it a bit seepy but OK.  An hour latter I fell of the 7c arete thing going for the last move with piss wet feet and hands  from the start which was soaking wet not a bit seepy.  At this point home was the place to be and off we went.  What a fucking shit trip, £40 to drive 400 miles look at wet rock do a couple of problems taking 20 times as long as on a cold day and sleep rough.  Honestly with a combined age of 71 you would think we might know better.    I guess there is no fool like an old fool.

The following day I decided to go to the cave to continue the fun, I was shit in there as well.  All in all I will be glad to go back inside.    

An ascent...

In the last month or so since I posted Ive been up and down,  I had some dental problems so for a couple of weeks I had been taking a lot of pain pills, lots and lots of pain pills.  When I had the offending teeth ripped out I thought thank fuck for that I can get back to unrestricted beautiful pulling in the mill, 24 hours later my middle two fingers on my right hand were swollen and sore.  FUCK FUCK triple FUCK.  Over the years I have been very lucky with finger injury's only having one minor thing about 5 years ago, but having seen plenty of other people lose months to them I was gripped to say the least.  Fortunately after 3 weeks of minimal climbing icing and squashy balls, with tape I felt I could climb OK as long as it was open handed.


Yesterday CJD was going to the cave, with nothing better to do I phoned James and we went down the coast for a social.  At this point I was planning on Stella in the sun and taking the piss out of Chris and James.  Warming up on left wall I remembered I do enjoy climbing with James as everything is suddenly very very funny.

The three of us climbed there a lot the year Chris did East Coker and I failed to do Clyde so it was nice to be out and about.  James decided to do Lou Ferrino having previously fallen off matching the finishing slot, I decided it would be a good idea to see if I could deal with that before trying anything else.  Getting to the 2 finger pocket feeling good I decided to turn right and head along Greenheart, through the undercuts and feeling fine I missed the jug at the start of Beaver Cleaver, a rest another go confused I fail leaving Lou Ferrino with a foot pop on the shiny slimestone.  Another rest I start to feel nervous, I can clearly do this, it was the first V12 I ever did all the moves on, for about 10 years its been something that could go, for 6 years its been something that should go, for 2 years its something that I dropped the last move on.  So third go up and over straight through bish bosh it was piss, all those circuits in the past and turns out I just need to do 5 move problems in the mill on a 30 board, or maybe its the weights or perhaps the pull ups or could be the running or core.  I guess training really does work and sometimes it all comes together with good skin and decent conditions, or maybe because I had no intention of trying it I couldn't sabotage my attempt.   Regardless first time in the Cave in 7 months and a tick, somethings working.

Some deliciously shit footholds I made for the mill, ah dear mill I will return in a few short weeks.                

Good and bad shit - In the Mill

Good shit

A campus board breakthrough, they dont come along very often do they!  I reckon it would be 6 or 7 years since i did my first 1-4-7 on a standardised campus board.  So it was very gratifying to my summer of power to do 1-5-8 the other day.  Unfortunately Leroy and I built the board under the influence a few years ago so the spacings do vary between 225 mm and 215mm so its not quite perfect but it will do me for the time being.  Lots of people say that campus boards are bull and dont transfer to the rock very well being about a trick to the movement etc etc.  Well it makes me feel like I am improving, and that feeling helps me to keep going to the mill on dry and dusty days, or wet and rainy mornings. 



4 of the 5 Swallows that hatched in the rafters have left the nest and made it out without the rats or cats getting them.  The other judging by some feathers was less fortunate.  I will miss having them to watch while I am resting, the parents trying to push them off the beams to make them fly was cool.

More tricks that mean nothing but maybe work something, the one arm campus lunge.  Basically as with the one arm pull up this is something that I have always seen people like Higg and CJD doing so wanted to  do it myself.  So far progress is slow, but I have got the trick bit sorted so can do one on the juggy fingerboard, now to apply it to the proper campus rungs.  I can hit it but not catch it, therefore it must be working my contact strength. 

Bad Shit

The mill toilet, some fool thought it was a good idea to shit in it, clearly they had no idea it stopped flushing about a year ago.  I take my mill guardianship quite seriously at present but there is no way I am dealing with this one. 

Post session Vino, almost certainly not a good athletic plan but a tasty one.                                    

  

No Pain No Spain Video from Boreal

No Pain No Spain from Boreal Video on Vimeo.

I must be one of the few who were glad to see the rain, every time i saw anyone in the sunny weather they ask that same question you been out at all? I was training in the Mill and the Indy so that when cold weather comes back I will pull the rock down around me crushing it to tiny slivers of diamonds, but that's not really an answer is it. I started to get used to slightly pitying looks as though i have missed the point. The point is sweating sliding and being eaten by insects does not make for a good time as far as I am concerned. Instead I have been hanging around in a very quiet dusty old mill falling off. Its quiet in there at the moment no electricity, so no lights and no radio, but gains are coming slowly, and this is good. Most of April I was working on the system problems on the 30 degree board now I have moved over to the newly systems 50 degree

board. Its tricky at the moment as I don't really know the problems yet so have little concept of a good or bad session. Fortunately I have made good gains on the campus and finger boards, so i take this as meaning I am moving in the right direction. Occasionally I go too the centre of the 50 board to try some normal problems, progress is being made towards my Mill 7c goal, I think the first one to go will be Danny's Foetal Recall, unfortunately this is 7b+/7c so wont do at all.





I did go for a short play outside to make sure I remembered what rock feels like, the one session at Jerry's was funny as all the holds felt weired and bumpy not like smooth wood at all. This time I went to check out Dyers Barotrauma. I can only say that I think it may be a bit morpho...

Anyway that's all, and all there is likely to be for a while as I cant be arsed to write about how I pulled on cunt and em, reached to liquid and jumped to beauty before trying to slap brute and drop into Brutus and jump for 9 bar (possible mill 7c/+) anymore than you can be arsed to read about it.

When I returened from a mercy trip to the shop (tobbacco for me chocolate for fatty), Doylo had been playing with my camera, not sure why but he would appear to think I want a picture of his pubes so I thought I would share that with you all.