Ardvorlich Action.

Albeit action of an easy pottering kind - all I'm suited for at the moment, and the right path of action to work back to some sort of climbing confidence.


Ardvorlich is a sweet wee crag indeed. Two adjacent sheer slabs formed from a hummock that pleasingly shelters them from the nearby road, thus combining easy access with surprising tranquility. I've been inspired to go for a few years, ever since seeing a good cragshot from Magpie (back when she still joined in with climbing), and got there the other day. A brace of sport F6a/+s provided the optimum low level to appease my slothful spirit, and the delicately crinkled schist provided a good reawakening of rock sense after a winter that has perhaps been overly-focused on TCA training. I left a few routes to go back for (albeit ones that will need trad gear or pre-placed slings to bypass the sporadic but utterly ludicrous death bolting that spoils a couple of routes).


Actually I think there is no "perhaps" about over-training. My elbows are tweaky again, this time particularly the right one. I haven't been as worried as I should be about this, and am now just about realising the potential for catastrophic suckage this could be entail. Last time it ruined my 2008 summer, and this time, although I have recently upped my training and general levels of activity, my climbing and fitness are even more fragile. The one thing I have in my favour is prior knowledge of how to deal with this, and have already started massaging, taping, and eccentric wrist curls. Time to incorporate icing, and hope that an increasing focus on routes, exploration, and fitness training will avoid the worst of injury.

This, and that.

Not a lot going on at the moment but that's going to change pretty soon. This week I have had gayflu and it has been pretty gay but fairly shortlived. After a pleasantly energetic week last week I knew it was best to rest and did so quite diligently - the mediocre weather helped too.

The cold has mostly abated, still a bit sore and snuffly but it's out of my head now. Somehow I seem to have missed the "feel considerably better but still hack up great solid lumps of phlegm" stage which is a little disappointing.

Last night I went bouldering at Dumby. I'm really syked for routes at the moment but then again also syked to get a couple of hours out full stop after a day stuck indoors. It had changed from a glorious spring day to a cold spring evening. I kept my t-shirt on and just managed to warm up by the time it got dark. Cold fingers, very sluggish, no energy after gayflu. Only to be expected really. Naturally Dumby is particularly harsh punishment for someone in this ailing state, so I was rubbish. But it was exercise and there was some good news - my tweaky finger has been feeling better all week and was fine last night despite a few crimpy and pockety things. That is good. I reckon it was raving the previous weekend - 4 hours of wild mal-coordinated arm-flailing must have got plenty of blood to my digits.

This week I do have some exciting plans - going out to Sicily from Tuesday morning to Friday night to join a veritable clan of veteran climbers out there who invited me along. More Euro-lime is not my first choice and if the weather was remotely decent (naturally it's not) I'd rather just have a couple of days in the Highlands BUT given the forecast and the opportunity and it does look rather nice in the photos, it would be churlish to refuse. Coming back on Friday night I go straight up to Northumbria for Squirrel's weekend bonanza which might be an Official Burd's Tradding Weekend or something of the sort. All of which is cool but it is avoiding actually climbing in Scotland which is partly why I'm up here!! Hopefully mid-late Spring will be good.

Fuck off finger injury.

This odd finger thing I have is becoming persistently annoying. Right hand ring finger (mmmm, ring finger......), tweaked it on Monkey Spanking a while ago, and I'm not sure how. It's a bit of an odd one: sore-ish when crimping, but sore-er when pressed or twisted or crammed into a pocket. Sore around the sides as well as in the middle. Responds well to arnica, massage, and sometimes to "clicking" it. It could be that I've bruised something as well as / instead of tearing it??

It's possibly the least problematic injury I've had compared to a middle finger A2 tear, golfer's elbow, shoulder impingment, broken foot etc etc, all of which properly stopped me climbing and required a slow return. However it's still of some concern not least because I am syked, doing pretty well, and keen to train as well as climb. It seems pretty managable for Easy Trad (tm) when it's scarcely affected, and even some bouldering or sport is okay. Harder stuff and indoor training seems a problem, partly because of the "pressure" issue and partly because it's hard to predict what will worsen it.

So I should be looking at ways of less damaging ways of training of which I suppose there are many: falling practise, laps for stamina, focusing on technique / steadiness, flashing easier problems, swimming, running, hillwalking etc. Not as much fun as just being able to go for it, but some of those are actually more beneficial to me anyway!!

So this is me...

...fucking crippled.

I've had some medical check-ups in the last few days - vascular surgeon and haematologist appointments, with the usual anti-coag and doctor's appointments in between. I had some long discussions with the vasc and haem specialists, following a second MRI Venogram in December, and the summary is:

- My IVC (main vein from my lower body to my heart) is sealed and there is no possibility of opening it (this was to be expected).
- The clots in my legs are dissolving slowly, and will continue to dissolve over the next couple of years but...
- ...they are still present and are likely to be there for years if not lifetime (this is contrary to what I was told in Sheffield).
- The iliac veins in my pelvis are completely blocked and could remain blocked permanently.
- The surrounding collateral veins are taking up the blood flow and will develop over time (a long time?).
- There is nothing chemical nor mechanical which can be done to open these veins up nor speed up the process.

All of which explains why:

- I'm currently at 30% of fitness for running, and 20% for walking uphill, there has been little progress with this.

Which fucking sucks.

As if ONE fucking sealed major vein wasn't enough.

I asked a lot of questions and got the same answers each time: There is nothing that can be done, and my body will dissolve some but probably not all of the clots over time. What fitness I'll get back is completely unknown - it is likely to be more, but no-one can predict how much more. I'll be on warfarin for life, and continuing exercising a lot will be beneficial in helping clot dissolution and over-developing the collateral veins.

All of this encourages me to train hard, push myself harder, go on more trips, explore more, and tick BIGGER FUCKING NUMBERS. As much as my often-fragile mental state will allow - but whilst this might have ruined my leg fitness, it's not ruining my life nor my climbing.

Fitness shitness...

A big deal for me at the moment for obvious reasons. I've been thinking about my climbing and general physical activity plans and progression at the moment, and fitness - or the lack thereof, in fact not only the lack thereof but the seeming inability to regain any - plays a big role.

Not least because I've got to get up to Sron Na Ciche Eastern Buttress, Stac Pollaidh, Beinn Eighe Far East Wall, Bonaid Dhonn, Garbh Bheinn, Aonach Dubh, and The Cobbler (and maybe some of that Ben Nevis and Cairngorm granite nonsense too) somehow.

Hmmm.

Walking 20 minutes uphill (40+ minutes for me including rests) recently was murderous and little improvement over previous months. Walking 2 hours (5 for me?) is hard to imagine.

For many years I've stuck to roadside outcrops through choice and personal preference. Now I have to stick to them through necessity. But although there's hundreds of inspiring places to explore like that in Scotland, I don't want to be restricted to that, and to be clear, I don't want to be permanently crippled.

I'm going to see the vascular surgeon tomorrow. In an ideal world it would go like this:

Mais oui Monsieur Fiend! Now that the clots should have fully dissipated, we have this new exercise regime that will get you back to full fitness in a few months...

Oh bien sur, we can operate and drill out that stupid spasticated IVC in your chest and replace it with a piece of vein that actually works, pas du problem...

I doubt that's going to happen though :S. But I do really need to find out how things can proceed and progress from here.

Fucking hillwalking.

Yeah what FUN. Legs and lungs burning after 5 minutes, every step feeling like I'm going to puke my lungs inside out, having to collapse and rest every few minutes before my pounding heart knocks out my balance and I fall over. Whose fucking great idea was this??

Oh yeah, it was mine.

And all of the above crippled flailing around indicates I do really need to do it.

My climbing fitness has come on well, general walking is okay, strength is good, swimming fine, skiing fine too despite my legs getting a bit achey, running is....bad....but not nearly as bad as hillwalking. Hillwalking sucks and I suck at it. However climbing doesn't suck and I don't suck much at it, and unfortunately a lot of climbing is found on top of hills, so really I need to be able to walk up to get to it. So I'm going to have to keep trying I guess...

I think next time I'm gonna take my discman, I've got enough death metal and gabber to fit my mood. This will help take the pain away...

666

The number of the beast except of course I'm not very beastly at the moment hence ticking a load of 6s in Costa Blanca instead of the socially more acceptable 7s, HAH.

The trip was good, 5 days of weather ranging from fresh and breeze and great for climbing to roasting warm and good for lounging in between climbs. The total amount of daytime rain was about 3, not hours or minutes but droplets whilst driving to a crag. 5 days of short climbing afternoons, long nights asleep, and pretty good sport climbing mileage. 6 things of note:

1. I really really really like going on climbing trips abroad, even just a short trip, even to the Costa Blanca (a relatively "standard" area). The first day I was a bit jaded with the rock "same old Euro-lime", but after going to a couple of different areas, I properly got into the vibe out there. Lots of climbing, lots of choice, different settings/culture (again even if it is fairly standard) climbing each day, just pure simple fun and pleasure. I could have kept going longer and nearly did (more on this later).

2. 2005 when I was still just puntering along, I went to Costa Blanca and ticked some F6cs. 2008 when I had an injured elbow, I went to Costa Blanca and ticked some F6cs. 2009/10....I went to Costa Blanca and ticked some F6cs. Hmmm. What does it all mean?? Not much progress overall, but then again 4 months ago I could barely walk... And I think I'm putting the effort in - those challenges of some F6cs were genuine and were really enjoyable to climb. It's cool, it may not seem like progress but it's part of the process...

3. The (few) routes I failed on and the routes I found hard were mostly, surprisingly, due to finding crux moves hard, rather than being pumped out of my tiny wee mind. This is quite unusual and obviously means I am WEAK as well as merely unfit. Which gives me a good excuse to go bouldering ;).

4. I had a little shoulder niggle before going away. Over Xmas I tackled it with plenty of massage and stretching. On the Costa Blanca trip with 5 continuous days of climbing, it felt fine. After coming back to the Glasgow freeze and sitting in a coolish room for an hour, it felt achy and tweaky already. Maybe not surprising since Scotland is where Siberians are going for their winter chilling out holidays at the moment!

5. My fitness was generally okay - I didn't get too tired on the routes, and actually after 5 days of climbing felt fine and could have kept going easily. Walking up hills is still FUCKING DESPERATE. I really can't convey in mere words how hard it is to be walking for a few minutes up a hill and feel sick and dizzy with exhaustion. This is despite very slow but actual progress with running. I really need to tackle the uphill walking thing more directly - therefore in addition to bouldering I shall try some hillwalking. Choadtastic!!

6. I still really really really like Chorizo.

You can't have fun when you're weak...

...and bloody hell I didn't know it was possible to get THIS weak!! I should have paid more attention to The Path Of Weakness when I was hanging around with Duncan Disorderly... I've been out climbing a couple of times in Scotland and it feels any progress I'd previously made has been swamped by the logistical mess I'm trying to sort out moving to Glasgow, and the subsequent distressing lack of climbing and training.

The mind is willing, the desire is strong, but the flesh is oh so weak - or more like, oh so unfit. I'm getting unfeasibly pumped on routes I would have considered beneath my dignity as gentle warm-ups a few months ago, and have ended up slumped on a rope or collapsed at the top of a route, hyperventilating with exhaustion on a few occasions. When I'm nauseous with the pump and my vision goes funny on a slabby F6a+ (do grades really go that low??), there is definitely something wrong. And this wrongness is definitely down to my legs and the aftermath of the DVT clots (steep walk-ins are still a multipitch affair), and it is becoming clear that I am hanging on to what little fitness I've regained by a thin thread. I obviously need to keep up with exercise and realise what a long and uphill journey (although I'll stick to flatter walk-ins) lies ahead.

However, there is some hope. This situation is fairly reminiscent of when I broke my foot in summer 2005 and was hobbling back to fitness in the autumn - about the same time as now I was struggling just as hard on routes just as easy... And over winter, I trained, got my strength back, climbed well in early spring and then started my best climbing years ever in that next spring. This time, regaining CV fitness might be a lot harder, but my summer climbing experiences have been a bit more consistent, I've got several years more climbing "wisdom" (yes, really!) and I'm in an area with a better choice of mileage routes (in 2005 I ended up going to Clwyd limestone for a long weekend's mileage....Glen Nevis or Gairloch are somewhat more appealing choices!).

And of course, there's a follow on motto to this blog title:

You can't have fun when you're weak...

...But the great thing about being weak is you can get STRONG!

Climbers are funny...

I was chatting with Paul B the other day, himself a veteran of both injury and obvious climbing enthusiasm. He'd nicely asked how I was doing, and I was able to truthfully say "Okay!" and mention I'd been climbing for the first time (this was when I went to Harpur Hill, a few days after my full discharge). Being the first thing I mentioned, my climbing enthusiasm in the circumstances was equally obvious, and prompted a response of:

"Climbers are funny"

...as we're all so keen to get back into it as soon as possible after injury or other time off, regardless of other peoples' perceptions or medical convention. He has a point, this is a common situation of prioritising a return to climbing. But I have an alternative view:

"Climbers are great"

Okay, clearly they / we aren't - I've long given up my naive expectations that, due to participating in an unusual, challenging, individual and involving activity such as climbing, that climbers would somehow be smarter, more interesting, more liberal and more "outside the box" than the average population, and since realised that climbers are mostly a fair representation of that population with all the idiocy, narrow-mindedness, pettiness and general choadliness that mankind usually displays.

BUT, insofar as having a passion and a drive for that activity, there is a certain amount of greatness on display there - because we have something worth fighting for, something worth striving for, something that makes physical recuperation and physical recovery worthwhile. We can be crippled and down and out and told we'll be lucky to walk properly in 6 months time and are unlikely to climb again and 3 months later we'll be back on the rock, weak and wobbly but full of joy and passion and trying hard to improve ourselves and get are body to heal so we can climb again normally as soon as possible. We'll try hard and we'll keep moving and we'll get our fitness up and we'll do our physio because we have a reason to do so - not just general physical well-being, but a passion beyond that, a passion that puts our well-being to good use.

Every step I've taken, every length I've swum, every stretch I've done, every time I've sat in an awkward position with my legs up so they didn't swell, every time I've dilligently asked the doctors about what I can do to help my healing, every time I've rested when I didn't feel like it, every time I've been conscious to take care of myself, every little bit I've pushed to get my fitness back, it's been because there's something I want that fitness for - living a good life in general, and living a climbing lifestyle....which is pretty damn good ;). I make no claims of greatness, but I feel happy and proud to have this attitude and happy and proud that climbing is a big part of it.

Fine nine, final nine.

The last 9 days have been as follows:

Sat - Climbing trad (Clogwyn Y Grochan, Craig Ddu)
Sun - Climbing trad (Tremadog)
Mon - Bouldering (Cromlech boulders)
Tue - Gentle bouldering (Holmfirth Cliff), gentle swimming
Wed - Gentle swimming
Thu - Climbing sport (Hangingstone Quarry)
Fri - Prolonged swimming, brisk stroll
Sat - Climbing trad (Craig Rhiwarth)
Sun - Climbing trad (Craig Y Merched), long walk

Not bad for someone who could scarcely walk a month ago!! The legs have held up well - the uphill walking on a few days has been hard, and standing around too much makes them swell slightly. Climbing and the associated lounging and faff in between seems fine, apart from bridging type manoeuvres which are too tiring so far. The climbing has been great in general, especially the Welsh Weekends - so nice to get on good trad in great weather.

This last weekend is a bit of a transition point. I'm moving on and doing something useful with myself. More details when relevant. Suffice to say that the climbing will continue, just in a different location - and it felt really nice to go to one of my favourite areas (Merionnydd) that I might not revisit for a while. Hopefully the healing and regaining fitness will also continue!!

Struck down.

Fucking hell.

A week ago, just after rotpunkting at The Tor, and just at the start of a week off, I felt the fittest I had for a couple of years. A few weeks of regular sport climbing and occasional running and a bit of hillwalking, and I felt noticably really good in my body. Lovely.

Today, a week later, I have barely been able to walk for 20 yards without excruciating pain and feeling exhausted, even with a crutch. Stairs have been agony and getting out a chair a major effort.

I have - completely randomly and for the first time in my life - a bout of sciatica, an impingement of the sciatic nerve in my lower back, affecting my leg as well. I have been to see my doctor Simon Connor (no, not THAT Simon Connor!!), and my osteo Kim, and they both say it's not a slipped disc, it's just a general impingement, and it should be fairly short term: A few days of total rest, a few more days of only gentle exercise, and a few weeks until it's totally clear. And it might not crop again for a long time.

Even so, to go from full fitness to being a cripple has been utterly shocking.

In the meantime I've been given 100 Co-codamol, 84 extra strong anti-inflammatories, and 14 Dimazepan - more drugs than a 90s rave!! With this and the doctor's/osteo's advice, the prognosis is fairly good given how grim today has been. And, trying to be positive, it's another useful challenge for me to deal with a bit of a shit time. Hmmmmm!!

The Blog Of Crush.

...maybe I should rename this?? Because I think I'm doing alright with my climbing at the moment :). Two contrasting days around this weekend demonstrated this in a reassuring manner.

On one day, I went bouldering:




...and continued my run of pulling down fairly hard for someone who has spent a year crippled by injury. I'd very briefly tried Hitch Hikers @ Kyloe In The Woods a couple of years ago, it seemed rather hard but maybe feasible. Thus I went back on a whim and on a forecast of howling winds - the latter was indeed the case, I had to wear a t-shirt + hoodie + body warmer + downie just to unpack the mats from the car. In The Woods it was more sheltered but still fresh and flavoursome. I did a really nice warm up of the looonnnng traverse at the far right, then set up base camp beneath HH.

The first goes were somewhat demoralising - initially I could barely hold the crucial sidepull for a couple of seconds, just enough time to get my feet in woefully inadequate places and fall off. Despite the conditions and vibe it all felt overly brutal. Hmmm. Weak!! Dear me. The only course of action was to fight fire with....vacuum. I lay on the mats gazing at the problem for a good while, and after this tactical chillage, pulling on felt a lot easier. Eventually I could experiment with footholds (there are many options within a square foot on this problem!), and found one that worked - straight away I could easily hold and match the side-pull. It was on...

Tick tock, the clock strikes Send O'Clock :)

Naturally, for a problem that revolves around crucial left arm tension (as well as crucial left footholds), it hardly hurt my injured left arm at all. A little bit of mild pain afterwards, and hardly any the next day. On the other hand, wringing out a wet towel produces noticeable pain during the action. Go figure!!

On another day, I went trad climbing:


...and managed to climb proper trad pretty well despite feeling fairly rusty until the last few weeks. This picture is woefully inadequate to capture the irresistible quality of Sub Station Crag, scarcely an hour's drive from the Central Belt and a gentle 1/2 hour walk-in to this superb 40m slab of sheer mica-schist, overlooking the obligatory substation but also substantial views of Loch and Ben Lomond.

Fortuitous mid-March weather ensured it was fresh and crisp, a pleasantly warm sun but a rather cool breeze. Inspiration was immediately high and I got to grips with a few classic mid-grade slab routes. All proper technical, bold, intriguing and involving slab climbing, and the two main lines being particularly bloody brilliant. The old magic was there, not just that I was climbing more okay, but that I was really feeling the sheer joy of climbing and climbing challenges (apart from a minor grumble / swearathon about ambiguous guidebook descriptions...).

My elbow / shoulder were pretty fine on this BTW - although my feet were sore!! On the other hand, I think the running might have helped a bit as I scarcely noticed the walk-in, and didn't have any leg wobbles on these mega-slab pitches.

So, Fiend might well be "back", woohoo *insert MSN-style dismally understated party hat smiley here*.

Sillver lining?

I've got a good dose of the plague that's been floating around. Just a common cold backed with a common cough, but a pain in the arse having it. I don't like being ill - the throat pain and mucus and shit don't bother me that much, the disorientating and debilitating feeling in my head does. I get one or two each year which is okay but still fucking boring at the time.

BOOORRRRED.

But anyway, this does have one minor silver lining, it's keeping me resting. Yup I haven't even been well enough to go out climbing *shock*. So this encouraged me to give my shoulder a full two weeks rest, followed by some gentle pottering recently. It still feels weak and tweeky but generally a lot better. Theraband exercises have helped, very careful management will help from now on.

One disappointment is not being well enough to run either. Hmmm! Yes I've actually missed it. Would have been a good exercise / recuperative distraction, but my lungs have been struggling with day-to-day breathing let alone the puny unfit ambulatory flapping that passes for me jogging. Oh well, soon...

Injury status 15/01/09

Back to see Ozzy today.

In the intervening week I've not climbed at all, been for one good run and a few walks. I've stretched after every shower, done theraband exercises since the weekend, a bit of icing my shoulder, and regular press-ups. Despite some bad, achey nights' sleep, my shoulder has generally felt a lot better, in fact today there is almost no pain and if I hadn't tweaked it I wouldn't know anything is wrong.

Ozzy found more aches and pains in my back, and agreed the ridiculous palm mantel press thing could have been part of the cause for that. His strength tests were better, and better after back manipulating (not as brutal this time). He's pretty positive about it, and that I can do most of the work with recuperative exercises, massage etc. He said gentle climbing would be good at this point. So, errr, I'll do a bit of that then.

Have a bloody cold at the mo. Not too bad but it puts me off running etc. Will have to wait for that to pass, and sulk in the meantime :yay:

Injury status 11/01/09

An annoyingly familiar blog theme / title.

So, shoulder tendon impingment again.

Firstly I went to see Ozzy on Thu. Possibly the most brutal session he's given me, I was out of breath afterwards. It turns out the impingment is this time heavily related to the muscles and tautness beneath my shoulder blade (last time it was further up). After 10 minutes of torture down there it was noticably stronger in his tests. He seems fairly positive about the whole thing, and about my familiarity with dealing with injures (LOL, I don't really want to be that familiar!). I felt a bit more positive to feel how much of an effect loosening my back could have.

Secondly, and since then, I worked out how I did it this time. The evening it came on, I'd been to Cratcliffe in the day. I'd done a little warming up at the warm sheltered side, then spent a while on that slab in the faint but Arctic breeze. Straight after that I'd spent the rest of the evening sitting in the car/pub/in front of computer, scarcely moving. A recipe for stiffening up, at least. BUT I'd forgotten that as part of the so-called "warm-up", Captain Loggstable and I had been doing this slab eliminate with a ridiculous left arm palm-down press on a slopey smear, eventually pretty much taking all one's weight on the locked left arm. Not the sort of motion that specifically causes a problem, but one that would be putting a lot of general strain on the shoulder joint. Didn't feel anything at the time, but take that, add a garnish of deep freeze immediately after, and serve sitting on my arse for 6 hours and it's hardly surprising something went wrong somewhere.

So I'm learning the value of warming down, active rest, and staying loose. Hmph.

At the moment it is a bit sore when I move it in certain orientations, and feels fairly weak overall. I haven't been climbing although I've been for a few strolls. A couple of poor night's sleep has made my back tight, and I'm working on that with some stretching. And today, I managed a 36 minute run with some gentle but distinct hills in. Which I'm pleased with. Onwards with recovery...

Up and bloody down.

The nonsensical roller coaster continues...

Today has mostly been characterised by:

1. B0rked car. This has needed a new wheel bearing, £quite-a-lot, and removal of the damaged prop-shaft, which means it's now running as 2WD not 4WD, but is preferable to replacing it at £quite-a-bloody-huge-amount.

2. B0rked shoulder. The tendon impingement injury I had in 2007, which had completely cleared up, has now randomly re-appeared. Last night I noticed it was painful, and it's even more so today. There's no reason whatsoever for this, unlike last time I haven't been overtraining, I've been doing some balancing exercises (press-ups, running, stretching), and there's no indication anything should be wrong. Yet it is, distinctly wrong and painful.

Physio tomorrow and who knows WTF after that :(

Edit: This is really fucking not good at all :(. Even after taking Ibuprofen and massaging Voltarol into it, it's still significantly painful even doing everyday stuff about the house. I think it could a pretty fucking serious problem :(

Elbow #2359

I had some vaguely thought-provoking experiences with my elbow recently. In general it's been feeling okay and progressing slowly but steadily. It's definitely held up to regular usage and a gradual increase in standards.

Last Tuesday: routes indoors at MCC, massaged elbow well beforehand, warmed up reasonably well but got flash pumped. Thus found the routes quite hard so floundered a bit. But my elbow felt at the end of the session like it usually does halfway through such a session, despite having to do some left arm pulls. Elbow felt okay the next day, better than usual after a wall session. Celebrated by having two good rest days.

Last Friday: bouldering indoors at The Works, ran down thus well warmed up, didn't warm up much climbing, got on some orange problems and probably had the hardest (but not the longest) indoor bouldering session since spring. Elbow felt a mild and "usual" level of tenderness afterwards, but the next morning felt the best it has after a wall session since spring.

Last Saturday: bouldering at Almscliff, massaged elbow well beforehand, didn't warm at all well, did a couple of warm-up problems but not enough to warm into things. Did a few easy problems but was pulling pretty casually at the end of the session. Elbow as tender as normal afterwards and similarly the next morning.

Here's a couple of Almscliff pics (by Will):

Easy little rib thing that I'd never managed to work out before Sat.

Easy other side of Flying Arete, a nice warm up/down.

Last Sunday: bouldering indoors at The Works, didn't warm up, another relatively hard session on purples & pinks, elbow felt a tiny bit sore during it and more sore than normal afterwards and at night. Definitely worse than recent sessions (although not worse than a couple of months ago).

So basically I screwed up a bit in the last session. Not badly - I didn't need to take painkillers, it wasn't sore at rest, and only a bit more tender to touch, and felt okay by the next afternoon. But after some promising sessions beforehand, it was a small step back. Basically due to the main cause of re-injury: Not being diligent.

What I did wrong:
1. 3rd climbing session in a row - I should have recognised the increase strain on my elbow due to overuse.
2. Not warming up on the 2nd and particularly 3rd session. What a knobber!! I should have warmed up well like in previous sessions, absolutely crucial.
3. Not massaging my elbow beforehand - this definitely helps with warming up and readying it for action.
4. Pushing myself a bit too hard. I was getting carried away on Sunday, almost climbing with the, errr, gay abandon I usually would indoors, which is still too much at the moment. This would have been okay if I'd been properly rested and warmed up - but I should have been more careful.

So a lesson re-learnt and a timely reminder before I get too carried away. I sentence myself to the easy green circuit, the very easy salmon circuit, and more swimming!

Progress and plans

So. Been a bit slack with the blogging recently, but less slack with the climbing which is a fair balance I think. More climbing less ranting?? Nah fuck that, more climbing more ranting!!

The elbow....which of course governs my climbing entirely. Almost the entirety of one's climbing involves some force through one's arms and almost the entirety of that force passes through the elbow tendon. Thus it dictates my climbing but at the moment it's dictates seem to....have a certain amount of leeway. I.e. it seems to be holding up fairly well to the average-physio-recommended level of steady use, with mild and proportional tenderness after use which recedes reasonably and responds well to massage and hot and cold treatment. It feels like there is a little bit of slow progress, and certainly it is at a manageable state where I'm managed to climb some pretty decent things without it feeling like I've fucking it up.

So that's progress of a sort. And progress leads to plans. So the plan for this winter is thus, in a vague sort of weather / time / fitness - allowing order:

0. Keep recovering and keep looking after my elbow.
-> Obviously this is the golden rule that other plans are subject to. The priority is to get uninjured, balancing progress out with climbing rather than jeopardising it. Thus any plans must be run through a "will this fuck my elbow?" test first....and what I've listed below is working with the situation.

1. Try to finish off my inspiring but committing Lleyn Mission.
-> This really inspired me last year and still does. It's only in the last month that I've felt enough re-familiarity with climbing to consider it could happen any time soon. I have four routes to go, and I need: plenty of fitness before a Jan 31st bird ban deadline (Path To Rome), some technical competence (Manx Groove and Byzantium), confidence in serious situations (Byzantium and Direct Hit), and plenty of general route confidence (all of the above). Thankfully the cliffs are all winter-suntraps....just need to stay syked, get prepared, and watch the weather.

2. Try to get away to non-grit trad especially Mid-Wales if weather allows.
-> Because it's awesome and inspiring and I love exploring and it will be really useful to get my general route confidence up prior to any Lleyn shenanigans. However the grim dank winter weather probably won't allow this, sobeit, it will still be in the back of my mind.

3. Train what I can train and need to train i.e. get fitter and more stamina.
-> Well I can't train strength, so I have to train what my elbow allows, which thankfully kinda corresponds with what I need to train for trad: general fitness (more running - yuck, but it is useful), stamina (mileage of easy routes indoors - less tweaky more pumpy), also falling practice indoors (scary but I always need it) and technique/footwork (on the grit, for example).

4. Go highballing / micro-routing more in grit this winter.
-> Something I've started to fancy a bit more. Too unfit for hard safe grit routes, too injured to boulder, so why not something in between. Bold little solo routes, not desperate, not too dangerous, but enough of a good "feel" to them. And one of gritstone's specialities - I think I will treat them as short solos rather than highballs above loads of pads. Just my preference.

5. Climb on various different grit crags esp. BMC guidebook stuff and Yorkshire.
-> Why not hey. Looking around and revising guidebooks recently, I've realised there's plenty more to explore and exploration gives me choice and choice gives me fun. I'm kinda syked for random grit as it's climbing therefore good, and also more technical and weird rather than powerful and pully, therefore okay for my elbow.

So...

Get to Lleyn if I'm ready, get to Mid-Wales etc if I can, when weather prevents away trips do some highballing and explore different grit venues, and keep training the right stuff. Simple plans, lots of back-ups, easily fitted in, no real schedule nor pressures. I think that's pretty cool. And if my elbow can't take much climbing, well I can ease off, keep the fitness stuff going, and there's always that list of Easy Trad Plan B venues I had...

Elbow.

Current status:

Mid-Feb 2008: Tweaked elbow (golfer's elbow, join of the tendon inside my forearm to the bony spur at my elbow) bouldering indoors. Elbow felt fine afterwards and kept climbing.
Feb - March 2008: Continued climbing but a mild pain started to build up. Eased off climbing in proportion to pain, but pain continued and worsened.
April - May 2008: Realised (far too late) that I was getting properly injured and eased off climbing a lot more. Pain stayed at a constant level.
June - July 2008: Mostly rested for six weeks until mid-July, started therapeutic exercises.
July - Sept 2008: Eased back into climbing at up to 50% of my usual physical limit. Pain still present and initially no better than before rest. Slowly pain seems to alleviated a little but still prominent and variable.

Physio recommendations:

Physio 1:
- Any climbing usage is likely to re-damage it and slow down or inhibit healing.
- Taking 3 months total rest would likely be a good way to let it heal.
- Intensity of climbing is not so relevant, even gentle use is damaging.
- Recommends icing after any exercise.
- Recommends regular massage with ibuprofen gel.
- Recommends use of an epiclasp restraint below injury site.
- Therapies listed below are all useful although eccentric exercises should be mild.

Physio 2:
- Climbing at up to 50% will be fine for my elbow and possibly beneficial in conjunction with other therapies.
- It will take several months to regain a good level of strength.
- Total rest is not necessary providing I am disciplined.
- Ibuprofen is not recommended for long-term healing.
- There may be some issues with my shoulder / back that should be treated.
- Therapies listed below are all useful.
- Recommends taping and being cautious with epiclasp usage.

Physio 3:
- Climbing at up to 50% will be fine for my elbow and possibly beneficial in conjunction with other therapies.
- It will take several months to regain a good level of strength.
- Total rest would actually be less recommended due to loss in strength and dangers of building back up from scratch.
- If pain is prominent I should drop the level I'm climbing at rather than stop.
- If iced water feels better than icing, I should stick with ice water.
- Ibuprofen does inhibit the healing process (reduces white blood cells).
- Recommends taping across the injury site.
- Therapies listed below are useful.

Other sources (e.g. Dave Mac's writing etc):
- Iced water recommended.
- Ibuprofen not recommended.
- Therapeutic exercises all recommended.

Current therapeutic practices:

1. Ice water bath 2 x 30 minutes daily.
2. Eccentric wrist curls 2 x 3 sets x 10 reps, 5 days per week.
3. Reverse wrist raises 2 x 2 sets x 20 reps, 5 days per week.
4. Press-ups 2 x 20 reps, 5 days per week and/or after climbing.
5. Massage and stretching 2 x 10 minutes daily.
6. Massage before and after climbing.
7. Ice after climbing (or ice water if ice does not alleviate pain).
8. Climb only up to 50% of physical limit and avoid anything further.

(Note that I probably do half as much of the therapeutic practices as is recommended)

In my actual experience:

Good (i.e. less pain):
- Iced water
- Massage
- Eccentric exercises then massage
- Taping across elbow
- Random days when I wake up and it feels fine

Indifferent:
- Climbing steadily (more tender to pressure later in climbing session but reduced to normal within a day)
- Epiclasp below injury site
- Taking ibuprofen when climbing (reduces pain but reduces healing)

Bad (i.e. more pain):
- Sleeping on it funny and waking up with random pain
- Any obviously harder pulling
- Strenuous gardening / DIY
- Regular icing i.e. ice pack

Finally...

What I've done in the last couple of months is monitor the pain and what I can do on the elbow carefully (those being the only - and vague - indications I have of what is going on), and to seek as much advice as possible from different sources. I take all that advice, mix it all together, see what comes out as the average, and then tally that against my physical instinct and what it actually feels like. That more people have said "keep going" than have said "rest completely", I'm not taking that as gospel nor as a carte blanche to climb lots - I realise that caution and discipline are essential. Based on this I am going to keep climbing at a low level, perhaps reducing the level a bit, but making sure that I rest as much as possible and do the therapeutic practices as much as possible.