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.