The Honey monster works as a recycling officer for Tameside council, and from time to time opportunities arise for her to do some overtime, usually delivering leaflets or even distributing recycling bins. These opportunities seem to be really well paid and require little or no thought, so when they come up, she usually jumps at the chance. Last night was one of these opportunities, which I capitalised and went to Rubicon. I planned to warm up there and go to Cressbrook, but there was no wind and approx 16 degrees so figured it would be dingy and rubbish - stayed at Rubicon.
Bit of a reunion - first of all Ed Robinson (who doesnt count, as he never went away, but of course is now a fiance...) then Simon and Aaron. Its always a pleasure to catch up with people you havent seen for ages, but I do sometimes worry that I am gabbing too much when I should be climbing. This leads me to cut short my sentences or finish conversations as I feel I havent done enough climbing. Which is rude.
Ed has just been away to San Sebastian, and I am about to go away to Ibiza for five days. Its amazing that you honestly believe when you first climb after having even such a short time off that you will be rubbish, and you will have lost loads. Honestly, it stresses me out thinking that I will have to spend two weeks getting back to where I was when I get back from holiday! Obviously, this mini break in ibiza is too short to matter (I hope) but its on my mind when on holiday. I dont know how these people who take two months off a year cope to be honest - although some sport science thinking seems to suggest that its the way. Resting is the most important part of training and all that. TC used to say that I did too much and that I was overtraining. I argued it was allright for him as he had built his base level up so that he didnt have so much to do to improve, whilst I needed to put the effort in. Then in the last two years I definately do less, and I think I am climbing better for it. Then you hear about stuff like Rich Simpson doing two sessions in a day - 35 hours of climbing a week! So, I dont know what the answer is.
News on the school front : Seb sent out a mail saying that the council had carried out a fire assessment on the building on friday just gone. We dont know the results of this yet, but cynically it would appear the council have found a device with which to empty the building. Certainly it will not meet any sort of fire regulations, so it seems possible that the fire people will insist the building be closed as it presents a risk. At best, some sort of smoke alarm may be fitted. Discontent is growing amongst the campaigners as endless red tape and bureaucracy drags on. There is to be a meeting on the 14th to discuss the future. The three endpoints are :
1: Destroy the boards
2: Relocate (private)
3: Relocate (public - boards go to a wall)
Gavin makes an interesting argument; that the whole philosophy of the school in the first place was a collective of like minded individuals creating an elite training facility which would take standards to a new level. The boards themselves and location are, in effect, irrelevant. Certainly, there are lessons to be learnt, such as the nature of the holds, the angle and so on, but we shouldn't mourn the loss of the board itself - this is an opportunity to create afresh. I think some outcomes are assured. These are that the school as we know it is on borrowed time and that subs for members will likely go up if the board continues elsewhere.
1 comment:
5 days off is nothing I had about 8 off after my recent font trip and that was fine. I seem to remember reading (Horst maybe?) that de-training starts after about 10 days? which I can believe. I reckon its just your timing thats off after a five day period, that and some nerves. Enjoy your holiday and remember beer makes you fat ;)
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