One of the things that I’m really lucky to experience in my role of coaching, is vicarious enjoyment through other peoples’ successes. Two climbers that I’ve been working with for a while now, are Stu Littlefair (you can read a little more about him here) and Luke Tilley. Both climbers are brilliant to work with because they understand the concept of proper hard work and dedication.
When I first met Stu properly, I was amazed by his incredible strength, but also his stamina for the opposite reasons! Working for Stu, creating periodised training programmes to try and even out some of the imbalances, has been really good fun (he probably doesn’t see it that way though!) and in the end very rewarding for me, personally. To see him break the Aerobic Power record on my Lattice Board (used to assess the energy systems of sport and comp climbers) this week, was massively inspiring. So thanks Stu, you’ve spurred me on to work harder!
Secondly, to hear that Luke hit the podium in the finals of his recent European Youth Cup in Russia was great. For at least the previous 3 years before going to Uni this year, he’s worked incredibly hard with his training. Almost anything that I throw at him, he just laps it up and gets on with the graft. That base, seems to have paid off this year still, when he’s not quite had the time to utterly beast himself 24-7. As such, his depth of experience and training is still coming through. I hope he continues to push into the Senior events to inspire more out there.
For me, it’s been a bit of a dark month. My finger injury has really pushed me hard and I’m feeling a little lost with where I’m going right now. I might have to go back down a path that resembles the picture below. Perhaps no bad thing if it looks like that?!
Itaca Nel Sole, gorgeous 8a finger crack.
Tom Randall Climbing 