The Glutton 20:51

I was pretty good this Christmas, I watched what I ate, although did still enjoy myself, kept a check of my drinking and drank a substantial amount of Green Tea. The top food cooked by my mum and the rest days seem to have paid dividends. I felt really strong during todays bouldering session. Up until now I've either flashed or done in a couple of goes all of the problems up until V7. I've felt like my climbing has been flowing well, I've been trying to onsight things and flashed a number of V7s. This has been a great improvement for me as it's something I've struggled with in the past.

Today I decided to put some time into the harder problems. I've spent a session trying some of the moves on the two V10s, which both involve wide slopey pinches on the steepest part of the wall. Other than that I've left most of the other problems alone, except for checking the moves when setting. But the process of setting and checking and setting again left me too shattered to have a proper go at them. So today I set my sights on two V8s, both of differing styles.

The first is one of my creations which has a couple of big moves on good holds and then a very big lock off press to finish. My first go this session saw me at the final move although I dropped 1cm short on the press. Next go crush mode was engaged and it was sent. Next it was time to get on a very crimpy V8 with a cruxy deadpoint move, as soon as I pulled on I knew I was feeling strong and sure enough I hit the hold and it was done. Including testing during setting both of these went down within 6 goes,which I was pretty chuffed with as it is a massive improvement for me to get things done so quickly. Normally due to my prevous lack of flexibility and poor route reading I take a while to figure out the best beta for me. This shows how things can change if you put the effort into training your weaknesses.

I finished my session working the two hardest problems, I felt really good and came close on both. It feels like the Christmas break has opened a door for me, things are coming together nicely. The second part to my regime in the run up to font starts on Tuesday, hopefully this will kick me through that open door.

Merry Christmas 11:03

A Merry Christmas to all of you! Christmas is always a good time to look back and reflect over the year, mine as many of you will know has been a strange one. But I have learnt a lot about my climbing and improved my training methods and can't wait for 2010.

We did get one little Christmas treat in our household as my other half got a well deserved promotion and pay rise a couple of days ago. This is going to help us out a lot, so thanks Old Nic.

I hope this year has been a good one for you, reflect and get ready to crush in 2010. Oh and watch those pounds don't pile on over Christmas!

Worth having a read of Doylo's Christmas Sermon here if you want a little bit of inspiration, that man has been crushing this year!

We Go On On On 14:56

Climbing really is an utterly insane sport. We put ludicrous amounts of energy into trying to improve. In the process putting pressure on parts of our bodies that just weren't built for it and more often than not pressure on our personal relationships (we've all been there). Fortunately my lack of work has meant that I can strike quite a good training life balance. Although it does mean I have to often train on my own, which is quite a miserable experience for a social animal like me. On the plus side however working ten days a month means plenty of training time.

Yesterday saw my third day in a row of bouldering, I've come to the end of my 8 week training cycle and am having a week of pure bouldering before hitting the campus board,Beastmaker and rings. I find that despite thinking that your body will feel tired from training so much, it often seem to adapt and really tune in to what you want it to do. Climbing starts to become the norm. I had a really good session, completed a few more of the harder problems and came very close to linking a V10 which has become a little project for me to sink my teeth into. I really enjoy climbing on it because it involves slightly friction dependent pinches and slopers which I didn't use to do well on. However I set my sights on getting to grips with them and it seems to be paying off.

I love training my weaknesses and seeing improvement, I'm amazed that it took 5 years of climbing to realise that is the best way to improve. I've rested today although it wasn't much of a rest, as I spent it in town doing my final bits of Christmas shopping and Oxford Street was as busy as you would imagine it to be.

Tomorrow morning I'm hitting the wall before heading back to my folks and a well earned couple of days rest before my final training cycle before font begins. And to say that I'm looking forward to the trip is an understatement.

Dividends 07:16

After coming to the end of my first training cycle before Font I'm giving my body a little break from secific training. This is not a let off in intensity, that'll come when I head home for a few days RnR over Christmas. It is however time off campussing, Beastmaking etc. I've bouldered for the last two days and despite a Christmas hangover (my last before the trip) I have felt strong. I have now flashed or done second go all of the problems up to V7, I've had a few goes at some of the V8s + 9s, but many of these were during our setting period when problems were tweaked and changed.

So today I'm going to have a good go at a few of them and then finish my session with some longer problems and link ups. The First part of my training cycle has already paid dividends and my power feels like it is well and truly back up to speed and my fingers feel the strongest they ever have. Much of this is down to hitting the Beastmaker and actually putting time into something which was once a weakness, it's also as a direct result of advice from the Beastmaker boys half of which will be joining me out in Font. I'm sure the crushing form Ned took to the Frankenjura will continue in the forest. Here is a little vid from the boys site of the Nedster pulling down in Germany.

Ned vs schnee from beastmaker.co.uk on Vimeo.

The Smell of Success 08:18

For a variety of reasons I had a bouldering session like none before yesterday. Knowing that Thursdays are usually busy nights and a bit sick of training on my own during the day I decided to train in the evening. I fancied a little bit of Christmas cheer and a chat or two with friends whilst crushing the latest set.

I got there a little bit early and set about having a long warm up. My aim was to try and do about 30 problems in a session to try and get some mileage in. By the time the wall started to fill up I had done about 20 problems. I felt really good,light and strong. My good friend The Lawyer, who I haven't actually trained with for a while, rocked up and after warming up decided that the wall was a little too busy for his liking. With that he dropped what is possibly the worst guff I have smelt in the last 20 years. This was BAD, the kind of thing that causes a commotion when you are 10 years old and sat on the carpet at primary school.

It stunk.

I smelt it straight away and quickly realised that due to his proximity to me I could easily be blamed. This situation could easily have got out of hand as I was stood just in front of two ladies. My arse was about a metre from their faces - had I taken the blame my reputation would have been in tatters. In tears laughing they got up and left, people started to move towards the door, t-shirts over faces.

This really was a flashback to school moment.

I pointed out that there could only be one culprit, a man with a financial situation that allows him the finer things in life. This was something only a foire gras eating, black velvet drinking Lawyer could achieve, a feat completely unattainable by those of us who only frequent M & S food halls in the false hope that there is a reduced section like in Tesco.

With fewer crowds I set about working the harder problems and got fairly close on most of them. They will go, however 'conditions' might have to be better. Cleaner air might help.

I'm going back to training on my own.

Up and At Em' 13:35

I'm on a week off the fingerboards and specific training this week and on a run on bouldering. This is aimed at giving my fingers a break from Beastmaker training and time to recover before I hit them again just after Christmas.

Monday and Tuesday saw me setting the bouldering wall with the legend that is the Halsey and a couple of others. Setting testing and tweaking problems is a mamouth excercise and ends in some long sessions. Hanging out at the wall has also left me with a bit of a cold which I'm also trying to shake off, I've also developed a seasonal injury. A gaping wound in the top of my mouth, which I got from eating an extremely hot home made mince pie. Fucking hurts

Still could be worse.

I'm heading down the wall today to try and get done some of the problems I couldn't fully complete when we were testing and looking forward to it.

I'm not looking forward to the weigh in though......

10 Weeks 10:03

I've just gone through the calendar and planned out my last 10 weeks of training before I head off to Font. The channel tunnel is booked and on February 18th I'll be heading off with Loz for a full month of crushing in the forest. I haven't been back for about three years and can't wait to have a good period of time to get used to the climbing style.

In the meantime though there is still a lot of hard work to put in. My initial training phase is coming to an end and handily will finish just before Christmas. Over the Christmas period I will keep the intensity up, but lay off the Beastmaker to give my fingers time to recover and adapt. Then my second and final phase kicks in as we hit the new year.
The intensity will remain, but I've tweaked a few things. I'm adding a second campus session a week and the rings will come back so that my body strength and power will be back up to speed. The beastmaker will be hit in force with some changes to the excercises I'm doing. I'm aiming to peak just as I hit the forest, so the two weeks before we roll out, sees me scaling back to give my body time to recover and adapt.

The weight has started to really come off these last two weeks and I've noticed the difference. I'm aiming to keep stable around the current weight until three weeks before when I will get down to my fighting weight.

A little taster of a font classic, it wasn't on my ticklist but it sneaked on after I watched this.

Sale Gosse from David Woodman on Vimeo.

Changing The Game 08:05

I've really changed the type of training I've been doing in an attempt to shock the body and see maximum gains before my trip to Font. I hit up my third campus session of my new regime last week. This involves a number of different excercises as well as the classic laddering. One of the new excercises involves me jumping to a rung, catching it with one hand and then hanging it for 3 seconds. On dropping to the floor I immediately jump again this time leading with the other arm. I'm currently doing this on the medium metolius rungs, but one of my goals is to complete a set on the small rungs before my trip.

I also managed to fit in a four sets of Beastmaker sessions last week and the gains keep coming as I managed to again crank out a set of repeaters on the small pockets on the back 2 and failed on the last rep on the front 2. Fingers are the key to my training at the moment and the area I need to put the most into, looking forward to them being strong come the trip.

I am also keeping up with the circuits, I never thought I'd say that. They are good for the soul I feel.

Inspired by Between The Trees I've got my ticklist together for the trip and can't wait to get out on that sandstone. It's been too long since I was last in the forest.

Rain, Wine & Beastmakin' Breakthroughs 09:42

Last Thursday I headed up to Nottingham to see the Ambassador and hopefully head out climbing. Well we got as far as warming up on the grit on Friday morning before it pissed it down and we had to sack it to the works. We had a good long 3hr session on the comp wall before hitting the Motherboard. This was probably the wrong way round as the Motherboard is a little 45 degree monster designed by the Beastmaker boys. It's basically a mirror image of holds on left and right so that when you done a problem one way you can do it on your other side. I still managed to do a fair few problems (even if they were warm ups) and felt reasonably strong.

As the weather looked terrible for Saturday we stayed in Shef and hit the vino, was good to catch up with The Masonator The Baron and Ned, especially as I was pleased to find out those boys will be in Font at the same time as me. Let the team psyche flow. Saturday was a right off, but Sunday however saw an old school session at the Notts cellar.


Despite a cold, which was undoubtedly brought on by a combo of the overnights/crap weather out and a hang over from Friday, I felt strong and crushed a few of tthe old school problems.

I think much of this strength gain is down to getting back into training but mainly training the fingers again. Yesterday saw my fifth Beastmaker session in my new regime and a massive breakthrough. I managed to get through a full set of repeaters on my back two on the small pockets, Boom! This is a massive improvement for me from where I was 6 months ago and I know I'll see more gains in the run up to the trip. Fingers are the least strongest aspect of my climbing so it is where I really need to put in the most time.

I'm psyched for Font and have watched Uncle Somebody's film Between the Trees numerous times now, review coming later.