Training

Training is now in full swing. Due to work and family commitments Robin and myself are only able to train together twice a week in October but will up this to three sessions in November. When not together we are running, swimming and traversing on our own. Due to the nature of the challenge it’s important that we get our bodies used to consecutive efforts. So off to the wall we trot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to pound up the same 4+ routes over and over and over again.



Ready for another ten?

In the middle of a climbing wall packed with climbers going about their business we stand at the same 4+, climbing through the same 15 or so moves. Everyone else stands, studying routes, pushing through hard moves, psyching themselves up and trying that blue route on the arête and pushing themselves to the limit on one single attempt while we carry on climbing, up and down, up and down. I too would love to be trying that blue route behind me but instead I carry on climbing the same route. I guess that’s part of the challenge, the mental focus to take on the mundane over the exciting. This training is a challenge, but a challenge that is so far removed from a normal evening at the wall that it feels like we are partaking in an entirely different sport at times. However strange it is to be training in this way, it comes with a feeling of accomplishment as we finish our hour and a half stint with 110 climbs under our belt and a feeling of relief that we are making progress.

Paul