The truth about exercise

By coincidence, HIIT was featured on Horizon recently, worth a watch:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cywtq/Horizon_20112012_The_Truth_About_Exercise/

Also goes into The Central Governor Theory (where the brain rather than the body limits exertion)  I have a strong suspicion I am toward the 'non-responder' end of the spectrum  of aerobic response to exercise too!

HIIT me!

After reading this interesting blog; http://peakperformance.runnersworld.com/2012/03/a-key-training-question-when-to-add-more-miles-when-more-speed/ I decided I may give this HIIT business a go.  High Intensity Interval Training is basically some very short but VERY hard intervals interspersed with some very easy recovery – in this instance I followed Amby’s suggestion of six x 30sec all-out sprints with about three and a half minutes of walking/jogging in between.  I rarely have need to sprint anywhere so am a little out of practice and felt a bit silly sprinting round the park like a mad man, but sprint I did.  Immediately niggling my right hamstring.  I am also really slow.  As I was running I thought to myself ‘really? is THIS how fast you can run?’.  I guess this training will also increase my sprinting ability, not that that is what it is for or what I am interested in, but you never know when you’ll need to scarper out the way of an avalanche or some marauding chavs.

The niggle didn’t get any worse so I managed the six sprints, getting a bit slower each time.  It hurts.  Though that’s no surprise, trying to squash a whole workout into three minutes of effort will do that.  Now, if the gains are as good as people report but the resultant fatigue less, this could be an important component in my training.  As soon as I get back to commuting on foot three times a week, I could do HIIT on the other two days.

I also realised the old trainers I keep at work are well past their best, squidging all over the place (the ‘cell’ cushioning has all cracked in the heel, stupid design anyway) – although as sprinting is much more on the forefoot, it makes little difference so they’ll do for this HIIT for a while longer in these austere times.

After the worst climbing session in years last night, flailing around on 6as and running out of power almost immediately, I could really do with discovering a HIIT equivalent for climbing...

Post trip summation

I have now been home for four days, since cutting our trip short and retreating in shame from the Great Norge.  Truth be told, it wasn’t a very good trip – actually that’s not fair, the trip was fine with the laughs and comedy disasters that usually occur (including the now mandatory ‘driving the car off the road’ episode), but the climbing were a bit shite.  We climbed eight of 18 days, and only got to the top of four of those eight routes (the easiest four I would add).  That’ s no success rate to write home about – I usually bank on climbing two-thirds of the time (and don’t often consider not getting to the top).

I didn’t even get the chance to climb anything particularly hard.  This was due to backing off routes – a set of decisions I haven’t really had to make before.  I have decided against things as they look to hard before, but never really backed off at the crux pillar due to dodgy ice – at least not on three climbs in a row.  Very frustrating as they probably would have been fine.  Or they could have collapsed, shattering into a million pieces, crushing me to death in an instant.  So I can’t say that I regret the decisions.

Really? The tangle that required me to reclimb a 60m pitch in the failing light

The worst thing about being sat on your ass in a cabin with naff all to do is the feeling of rot.  At a time when I should be at least getting better at ice climbing and probably staying reasonably fit from walk-ins, I am in fact getting weaker and fatter and worse at ice climbing, rock climbing and running.  I do tend to turn to cake too.

I guess I have to think long term – one duff trip over four years isn’t too bad.  It’s just horrible when it is that duff trip.  These things are too expensive in time and money and energy to be duff.  But, such is life, and perhaps it’s a good omen for the rest of the year – now the duffer is out the way.  We are already considering next year – I will be a home owner by then, so the brakes will have to be applied to the spending – a euro-road trip seems like a good idea as it should be substantially cheaper and allow more flexibility to consider conditions.  I have set my sights on ‘Le Dame du Lac’ in Morzine – not sure why as it’s way too hard really...

At least we saw these this year

So in terms of athletic endeavour, now it is time to re-focus on a) running and b) rock climbing  and nothing else.  Today was my first run in to work for over three weeks.  The run itself was a breeze, but my hamstrings are a bit whacked now, low down near the knee.  Every time I run I seem to get aches and pains in different places.  I guess as long as they keep moving around my body there isn’t too much of a problem.

New North Norway Ice

The guideblog has been updated!

Despondency

It's now day three of this...

Norwegian art?

Are these trolls, or just ugly people?

As Nelly once said, 'It's getting hot in here...' 

Nothing to see here, please move on

Went to lake, saw climb, climb had been fried by sun, returned.  Possible big dump of snow tonight, but if not then we may go for Soylafossen tomorrow, a big WI5/6 that involves another pillar that we'll no doubt end up running away from.

Shite ice

Watch this instead.