drmwc Member

It's odd, I find caving, climbing and scuba all very chilled out activities. I was a nervous type when I was young. I think I must have used up my reserve levels of fear then. I am scuba in diving in the Scilly Islands at the moment. It is lovely. We had a couple of non-diving days to start. I did a lot if walking,…

I explored some cave passage this weekend which, as far as we can tell, was previously unexplored. I managed about 15 metres into the squeeze; a friend managed 30m which was sufficient to link it up to known passage. It was ultra-tight; you couldn't lift your head at all at various points. The photo is me entering the…

I tweaked a finger, so Monday was my last day's climbing of the week. It seems fine now, though. I lifted a couple of times in the week, the details of alarums and excursions are lost to posterity. Saturday Caving. We did Northern Lights at Ogof Fynnon Ddu top entrance. It's quite a big trip; I think it normally takes…

Long time no log... Wednesday I got up early, as I had a 6 a.m. flight to Malta. I am a bit incompetent at international travel these days: I don't do it very frequently. I managed to drop my passport onto an open pocket on my drysuit bag whilst checking the bag in. So I didn't quite make it abroad. I went for a lovely,…

@DiscusTank5 Congratulations! I went climbing yesterday. It was odd, I felt really sleepy and sluggish. (I napped on the train en-route to the gym, which is the fist midday nap I've had in over five years). However, once I got moving I was not too bad. I wasn't brilliant, but I wasn't terrible. I got a couple of v4s,…

Finger boarding 10 hours after a hard climbing session is um... interesting. I'm enjoying the two times a day approach, so I'll continue with it. Friday Climbing, 2 hours. Another good session. Saturday I dropped my drysuit off for repair. I used the train to get there, and shared a junction with Twickenham at Clapham…

I went climbing on Monday. I guess it was a good session. I got two v4s, and many v3s. Most things were a struggle. The first v4 only took about 5 goes; the second took about 20. 3.5 hour session. Yesterday was broadly a rest day. I've started a random idea of doing low intensity hangboarding twice a day, so I did that.…

I went scuba diving this weekend. The first dive was the HMS M2; a submarine with a plane hanger and launching mechanism. She sank with all hands in the 1930s. Our shot line is a bit ropey, and not heavy enough. So it got pulled off the wreck. We spent the first 15 minute desparately swimming against the currentt, praying…

@DiscusTank5 We were diving out of Swanage, in Dorset in the UK. The rock was near there (about 10 minute's drive then a 25 minute walk); we chose it for geographical convenience as much as anything else. It's odd, I have probably around 250 dives on the South Coast of the UK. Swanage is a very popular spot for divers, but…

Saturday Scuba diving. We did the Caratan (30 metres.) It's a pretty broken up wreck, so we were at 30m for the whole bottom time. My drysuit flooded a lot, so it was a bit nippy; I was grateful for my heated vest. 35 minute dive (I was on quite a duff mix of 25% nitrox, as I could only get an air top at my previous fill;…

That is more or less how I do it. I'm rude, so I do it in a squat rack. (I lift in my shed, so it doesn't actually inconvenience anyone.) Wednesday Climbing, 3.5 hours (!). Not a bad session; not outstanding but pretty solid. I didn't get any v5s but got a few v4s. I was still pumped when I woke up this morning.

Thanks Anne and Djproulx. I'm the second oldest regular at my normal climbing gym; the oldest guy is only 1 year older than me (at 52). We're both convinced we're better than the other, so we tend to nearly kill ourselves when we're both in. Today, I lifted weights. It was a bit of a struggle: Jump rope to warm up. OHP 3…

Saturday Lifting. Hangboarding, which was good. I got 6 second repeaters on my smallest ledge. OHP, 3 sets of 5, 35 kgs. DL, 75 kgs. 3 sets of 10. I also got about 15 miles' walk done Sunday Whilst not exercise, I played in a Go tournament. I prefer caving, diving and climbing these days, so I am very out of practice.…

Climbing. 2 hours. This was very good, I got loads of stuff. My scary balance-y slab stuff was good; my dynos and thuggy overhangs were also good. It was odd. I slept badly and had to drag myself to the gym. I was glad I did. Some minor trivia was that the gym played Nirvana, who I saw live supporting Tad in 1989.

I went climbing after work. I was actually in the office. I chose to use a gym about three miles walk from the office; so I ended up on 11 miles walk total for the day. The session was 3.5 hours; I left when the gym threw me out. I could barely walk at this point, so I was close to calling it a day myself. It was a very…

Thursday Climbing, 2.25 hours. Mixed, I was good on slab but lacked power on overhang. Saturday Caving. I did a really fun trip, 7.5 hours total. We did the Croesor-Rhosydd Slate Mine through trip in North Wales. It had quite a lot of SRT, and a zip line. One of the abseils led to a canoe to get over a lake. Here is me on…

Tuesday Climbing, 2.25 hours. I went back to VauxWest, where I had the poor session on Saturday. This session was decent, I was climbing way better. I've not checked the grades on Griptonite (an app which gives individual grades) yet, but I got 4 in the v3-v5 bucket.

I went to SRT training in Reigate. It was good; I got quite a few ascents and descents in; a few rebelays; and one ascent to descent changeover. The changeover was the hardest; it was pretty straightforward to switch onto short cowstail and the descender; however getting the pressure off the cowstail so I could unattach it…

Friday Climbing. 90 minutes. After my mammoth effort on Thursday, I expected to climb poorly. I did (I got a few v3s but no v4s.) Saturday Hike, 22 miles. It was nice. I went after lunch, and forgot to stop (other than peeing twice.) I went to Bushy Park. Oddly, there were no deer. Sunday Climbing. 2.5 hours. I was poor.…

Thursday Climbing, a slightly ridiculous 3.25 session. This started well; I got two v4s quite early. I made good progress on a v5, getting to the final hold but falling at the top. I then got pumped, and probably should have left an hour earlier. I was a bit broken by the end.

Climbing, 2.25 hours. Decent session, I got two new 6bs and session flashed loads I had struggled with before. On a non-workout topic, I handed my notice in recently. My current job has too much admin, and whilst the core work is fun, around 2/3 of the job is admin. My new job looks broadly admin free. It's less money, but…

Saturday We were blown out from diving. Instead, we did a hike from the caravan park to Lizard Point, mainland Britain's most southerly point. It was nice, the weather was good (except for the pesky Easterlies). 17 miles, with plenty of up and down. Sunday It was a bit blowy initially, but the wind eventually shifted to…

Thursday My worst day climbing for a long time. I only had one shoe in my bag, so I drove home. I decided to lift instead, doing: Bench. 3 sets of 5, 55 kgs Deadlift. 3 sets of 5, 120 kgs. (This is just under 2*bodyweight). Hangboarding, my fingers were strong. Friday I only got 4 hours sleep, as we had a 8 hour drive to…

I went climbing. I started badly, with me falling off a super-easy v0 ladder at the start. (It was greasy, honestly!) Things quickly improved from there. I got a huge load graded v3/v4; and two graded at v4/v5. It was my first time at this gym in a long while. It tends to set a load of modern, comp-style dyno boulders. I…

I "lifted" yesterday, deserving the quote marks because I'm as weak as a kitten at the moment. (With a bit of training, hopefully I can promote myself to being as weak as a house cat soon.) Bench 2 sets of 5, 55 kgs. Deadlift 2 sets of 6, 100 kgs Hangboarding Lolwhat I don't even... This wasn't good. Here is a picture of a…

I did a hike. It was really nice. Fitbit reckons it was just over 12 miles with a little over 2,000 feet ascent. The biggest hill takes about 20 minutes to go up. I'm not particularly fast downhill, but up hill I tend to be alright. Someone actually overtook me up this hill, which is fairly unusual. (He was a fell runner,…

Climbing. I went to Vaux East, my first time there in a while. It was a bonkers good session. I got 3 v4s and a shed load of v3s. It was a long session, just under 3 hours. I was doing a v3 overhang at the end on the highest wall, with the crux at the top. I fell embarrassingly three times, and then decided to do easier…

Tuesday Climbing. 2 hours. I was a bit disappointed in the session. I guess it wasn't bad; I got two new v4s and vast horde of v3s. It was all really hard, I didn't flash anything; one the v4s took about 20 goes. This one was about 10 moves, which is long by my bouldering standards. Thursday Climbing. 2.75 hours Again, my…

I went caving for the weekend. Saturday SRT training. This was advertised as advanced, to have rescue practice. But a bunch of beginners turned up. So I a mainly practiced on my own. I went up and down loads, and got decent rebelay practice in amongst other things. It didn't go quite as well for done of the newbies. Two…

It's odd how personalised weight is. I'm also 5 foot 10, but I was really unhealthy at 180-ish pounds. I cut to 140-ish 4 years ago, and have hovered at that level ever since. (I'm currently 142; my highest in the period was 147 and my lowest was 139.) The annoying thing about the loss is feeling the cold a lot more; and…