Today was arguably the hardest session I’ve had year-to-date. I failed six times on a two V6 problems at First Ascent Uptown, but flashed all three of my V5s. Here are my stats:
| Warmup | 15 pull-ups | |
| Training | ||
| Grade | Outcome | Points |
| V0 | 0 | |
| V1 | 0 | |
| V2 | ✓ | 2 |
| V3 | ✓✓✓ | 9 |
| V4 | ✓✓×✓ | 13 |
| V5 | ✓✓✓ | 15 |
| V6 | ××××× | 5 |
| TOTAL | 44 | |
| Cooldown | 10 pull-ups 30 forearms |
|
| Recap | 10 sends, 6 failures |
2018 YTD
- 97 sends (+10)
- 31 failures (+6)
- 265 pull-ups (+25)
- 115 pushups
- 66 biceps
- 12 triceps
- 50 forearms (+30)
- 30 shoulders
- 230 ab reps
Super happy with this climb for a number of reasons: I broke 40 points, had 6 sends at V4 and V5 grades, and didn’t feel too tired after having had a series of tough sessions I the last week. The only area where I was disappointed with this climb was in that I failed one time on a V4 — I attribute that failure to not giving sufficient rest between sends, but either way, it went on the log. Now that I’ve logged nine workouts in the year, I’m getting the hang of my system and how to use it most effectively for my climbing progression. Here are a few things I’ve figured out by now:
- For every two lighter climbs, I push myself to have a harder 40+ point session. This allows ample rest in between sessions and for me to continue pushing myself.
- Logging helps hold yourself accountable to pushing your upper limits — there is no escaping trying that V5 or V6 for me right now since I’m held accountable by my prior logs.
- Keeping a climbing log makes climbing sessions even more fun with gamification. What I love most so far in logging each of my sessions is that I’m competing against myself. I get the benefits of knowing how hard I went last time and can adjust accordingly and try to beat my prior high score. Right now my highest score has been my 48 point session from January 15th. There’s something about knowing what your personal best is and having the numbers behind that high score so you can start working on crafting the “perfect session” to beat that mark.
Interested in starting your own log? I’ll write a post soon to quickly highlight how I set up my log. It’s a simple system where I use a moleskin and Pilot G-7 pen. Once I hit my ten workout mark, I’ll start thinking about how I can run analysis on my sessions YTD and track my progressions from a more macro lens.
January is almost over and it’s crazy to think I’ve already logged 9 sessions in the month. I’m going to shoot for 12 by end of month, so that I can average climbing 3X/week for the month of January. No better way to start out 2018 than that!
