Review of Climbing Goals for 2008.
Tue Dec 23, 2008
722 Words
Back in January I set myself some goals for my climbing in 2008. The results at the end of the year were mixed, which means that I succeeded with some of my goals and patently failed with others. The was:
* Onsight Grit E2
* Redpoint f6c+
* 10 weekende+ trips in UK
* 5 red problems in a day in font
* 80 kg weight
* build climbing wall
* get driving license
OK, so, I managed to do the following:
* get driving license
This took a lot longer than I had anticipated. 4 tries sucking up a lot of time an money. In the long term I really believe that this is the most important thing for improving my climbing, so it was worth the sacrifice of time and cash to get it completed. That it took more that half a year longer than I had hoped impacted some of my other goals significantly.
* 5 red problems in a day in font
I over achieved on this one, ticked 8 red problems in one day on my trip to font in September. I had only the one trip planned, and it went really well.
* 80 kg weight
OK, this is a bit of a mixed report. I got down to my desired weight by September, and maintained it close to that level, but in November everything went pear shaped, and I'm back up to a little under 85Kg. The lesson though, is that I can get to that weight. I just need to go running more!
Now, the things I didn't get to do:
* Onsight Grit E2
* 10 weekende+ trips in UK
These two were basically because I didn't have time, money or access to a car. A deluge of weddings (6) absorbed much of my free time. I'm not too bummed about this.
* Redpoint f6c+
Ahh, close, so close. I almost onsighted a 6c indoord. Got to the last hold, fell off trying to hang the last hold. Am confident that a few more trips to the gym would have seen me getting this goal. I actually dropped training for a long swathe in the second part of the year, and only started focussing on this goal towards the end. Earlier focus would have seen me get closer.
* build climbing wall
Again, my fingerboard seemed to be doing OK, and I didn't have the energy to try to build a wall. I will relist this goal for 2009.
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* Onsight Grit E2
* Redpoint f6c+
* 10 weekende+ trips in UK
* 5 red problems in a day in font
* 80 kg weight
* build climbing wall
* get driving license
OK, so, I managed to do the following:
* get driving license
This took a lot longer than I had anticipated. 4 tries sucking up a lot of time an money. In the long term I really believe that this is the most important thing for improving my climbing, so it was worth the sacrifice of time and cash to get it completed. That it took more that half a year longer than I had hoped impacted some of my other goals significantly.
* 5 red problems in a day in font
I over achieved on this one, ticked 8 red problems in one day on my trip to font in September. I had only the one trip planned, and it went really well.
* 80 kg weight
OK, this is a bit of a mixed report. I got down to my desired weight by September, and maintained it close to that level, but in November everything went pear shaped, and I'm back up to a little under 85Kg. The lesson though, is that I can get to that weight. I just need to go running more!
Now, the things I didn't get to do:
* Onsight Grit E2
* 10 weekende+ trips in UK
These two were basically because I didn't have time, money or access to a car. A deluge of weddings (6) absorbed much of my free time. I'm not too bummed about this.
* Redpoint f6c+
Ahh, close, so close. I almost onsighted a 6c indoord. Got to the last hold, fell off trying to hang the last hold. Am confident that a few more trips to the gym would have seen me getting this goal. I actually dropped training for a long swathe in the second part of the year, and only started focussing on this goal towards the end. Earlier focus would have seen me get closer.
* build climbing wall
Again, my fingerboard seemed to be doing OK, and I didn't have the energy to try to build a wall. I will relist this goal for 2009.
So what goals should I set for myself in 2009? My long term goal is to redpoint an 8a by the age of 40. That means I need to improve 7 grades in the next 5 years. I think I'm going to have to get my weight down again, and get my strength up. I'll also have to take into account that I am going to be getting married, and will have some other time commitments in the new year.
Bouldering:
I'll have potentially one trip to Font in 2009, in the Spring. I'm going to set a single goal for this trip, climb font 6a. Preferably climb La Marie Rose. This is a major climbing goal for me, and hopefully by focussing specifically on this I can achieve it. It will also mean lots of bouldering in the new year to up my contact strength, which I actually like.
Trad:
Probably getting any trad climbing done would be good. The number of trips last year totally didn't work out, and if anything the wedding next year will take a bit of time, so let's say 4 trips over the course of the year, with an E2 onsight. I'm also going to say that if I find myself within distance of Quietus then I'll have a pop at that.
Indoor/Sport Climbing:
I need a more refined set of goals. They are going to be:
6c by March
6c+ by July
7a by November
Running:
OK, going running and getting generally fit can really really help, so I'm going to pin my goals at a modest 15km a week. Every week. Except on my honeymoon ;)
Training:
I'm going to keep my training diary up to date on uk climbing.com, but more than that I'll post a weekly update on this blog. And that should be it!