Today: 8 freezing reps on a high bar covered with snow, -21 degrees Celsius. More inuring than training.

Haven't been doing more than 1-2 sets 1-2 times a week, similar to today. Just occasional run ups with high bars. No weight training outdoors after aerobic sessions at all. Too much of a risk of getting a cold, plus 5-set weight sessions just don't fit with 1-2 hours of training. I might be able to complete them, but gaining would be another matter.

Ended a long aerobic session near a high bar and aimed for 8-rep sets. Felt exhausted after the first set (with a heart rate of 85%!) and did just one more. Not even a fleck of soreness the next day.. no pain, no gain

As my aerobic training capacities have raised, it seems to be significantly harder to maintain the strength-training capacities required for the Challenge. The only solution (excluding putting on a hold) seems to be separating the different training types on separate days or mornings/evenings. We'll see after the holidays whether there's time and moxie for that.

Went for a walk in the forest and happened to stumble on a.. high bar! How lucky! It was an old school stadium in full-snow. Classic greco-roman 196m/214yd oval with a presently white grass-field in the center.

The temperature is back to 0-degrees Celsius and I could easily grab the bar with my bare hands. That felt comfortable! I grabbed as wide as I could (say, 1,5 shoulder-width) and went for happy-go-lucky 7-7-7 over reasonable rests. Isn't that an X-mas present?

Rather early today, bf lunch. As I'd been awake for more than 8 hours already, I can not hide behind the back of MG.

Anyways, the numbers:
8-7-8-7-8 (planned)
8-7-6-5-5 (actual)

Temperature on the high bar was -13°C (8°F), they had the snow-cannons turned on and I was packed in double clothing.

Seems, that the grip of the bar and the grip overall has significant effect on the pull-ups. Today, I did the first sets with huge gloves and noticed that it's significantly harder to maintain proper technique and good speed for pulling. Though painful to the skin, felt at home with usual thin gloves.

Snow, frost and icebreeze. Freshest air possible. In other words - ideal conditions.

8-6-5-4-7(8) with 180s rests. Energy still for only 3 sets, feeling exhaustion in the last 2. The first 8-rep set took a lot of air out of me, felt like could have been able for maybe another rep, but not more than 2 reps more. In the last set, pulled only up to half-way and had to stop suddenly. The gravity just seems to come unexpected.

7-6-5-6-6(7!), 180s walks. The pull-ups have improved technically, giving a straight-line movement and a clean stop in the lowest position (it's easier to control the negative movement compared to previous weeks). Partly as an addition from the technical improvement, I was also able to complete the sets more faster with an improved pulling speed and with shorter breaks while fully extended.

This is it. The weather forecasts predict strong and cold winds due to the high-pressure areas from the continental regions. The last easy pull-up session is now behind me. 5-4-5-6-7 over 120s. Its only pushing through the storm from now on.

Lightweight session today (due to still-lasting DOMS from the test-day). Decided to go for endurance, doing a pull-up after each 30-32 seconds, about 26 minutes in a row. Easy enough to bring a girlfriend with you. Targeted 50 repetitions in total and got the training done with a medium effort - the muscles started feeling "full" after 40 repetitions, being a challenge through 47-50.

Enjoyed the alternative and would

Although using gloves, the cold bar felt like frozen ice in my palms today. My palms heated the metal up in a few minutes (the temperature wasn't really below zero, rather 1-2°C) and since it was actually raining, the strong wind should probably be accused for the freezing first impression.

In fact, there is no bad weather, but only bad clothes. Thats giving enough good reasons for avoiding crowded and airless indoor training, e.g.: