Training Log Archive: nicki

Rest day.
Just the core.

The Rundle Loop.... awesome. A crew of 9, however only Monica and I did the return along Rundleside. 4.5 hours in total including rests so a fast fast trail run. I felt strong the entire time and even put in a bit of tempo effort for the final 1km to see if I still had it in my legs after a whole weekend of running. I think it's finally happening..... the training is really setting in. I am loving every second on the trail.

A bit of rain but otherwise sunshine and blue sky.....not bad after 4 straight days of rain/snow in Calgayr.

Undeterred by weather.....that's what I am!!

Take THAT snowy, blizzardy, shitty May weather.....3 hours of trail running in the mountains. NOTHING was going to stop me from running today. I feel like I've been couped up all week. Had a very awesome run up towards Aylmer Lookout. We had to stop just before the top because of snow (story of my spring) but the lower trail was dry and quiet and beautiful. Great company - Monica and Suzy. I finally feel like the fitness is settling in. I was able to run hard for the whole 3 hours, including the uphills, and still felt fresh at the end.

Tomorrow......long run.

New set, but I'm supplementing with some of my favourites from the previous 6 weeks. Has it been six weeks already? I can sure notice the difference in my running, but alas, I'm still a long way from being an abs magazine covergirl!

May 27 and its snowing. That has got to be one of the biggest running de-motivators possible. Rain, sleet and freezing temperatures.......where is summer?? I'm retreating to bed.

Couldn't be stuffed. My fingers wouldn't grip at all...... I used up all my gripping trying to hold onto the mountain bike handles during the technical portion of the AR. MUST LEARN HOW TO RIDE.

Trekked up to Garibaldi Lake and into an other-worldy winterland. Deep deep snow made for difficult going. Was hoping to scramble Black Tusk but we are about 2 months too early I think. I'm not sure what we were thinking, actually.

C • I was going to suggest when... 1

MOMAR Squamish. I did my first adventure race solo. A fantastic day.

1 km lemans run start up at Quest University and then onto the bikes for a big climb on gravel roads up the mountain behind the uni. Then downhill on Psuga Psuga which was WICKED. I actually rode it all on the sweet Giant Anthem I had rented. Then back up the mountain on access roads and over to the new Nelson Trail. Hard packed, smooth with huge burms and bumps....felt like being on a rollercoaster. I rode it all, but slowly and got passed by quite a few teams. Not stressed because the orienteering was next. Clocked a relatively fast time and passed lots of teams on foot but screwed up a control by about 10-15 minutes.
Then onto Powerhouse Plunge. Black diamond trail and surrended to defeat before I even started and ran the entire thing. It was so technical that I kept up with about 6 teams who were trying to ride it.
Fast in transition at the bottom and glad to be free of the technical stuff, I hammered hard on the gravel roads over to the base of the Chief. Super fast transition again and then I found my happy place on the big haul-arse to Peak 1. A million people and their dogs enjoying the sunny day and long weekend so it was like plowing through a gauntlet of tourists struggling up the mountain. I passed 7 teams on the climb. We then got to do a 50 m rappel straight off the top of the Chief and onto a ledge. Fun times. Lots of air below.

Then we descend the mountain, and transition back onto the bikes, cross the flowing river, and then ride into town for the little sprint orienteering bit at the end.
GOt to ride into town alongside Bob Faulkner which was a highlight in itself.


I think I came 6th girl, with some fast competition ahead of me....mostly they just know how to ride a bike. I still finished in the front half of all the teams. John won.

C • Sounds like fun. Well done... 3

Enjoying a couple of rest days so I can hammer at MOMAR tomorrow.

TT run with a big group - 10 + 2 dogs altogether.....made for a good tailgate. SPECTACULAR evening to be in the mountains. I LOVE being in the mountains on a week night! Did an old classic today (although it was a first for me)......Barrier to Jewel Pass, to Prairie View Trail and loop back around. 12 km, lots of good climbing and a great view back across to Calgary and up into K-country on a p-e-r-f-e-c-t evening. Legs definitely still bagged from the weekend. I hope they recover before MOMAR on Saturday.

Tried to outrun the rain on the way home. No luck......got soaked. Had to go directly to dentist with wet bum!

Love the warm air.

A hot, sweaty night in the gym. I did a new overhanging 5:10 on my first try. That put a smile on my face. Good to be back in the gym after 2 weeks off.

What a weekend!! Definitely one to put in the bank. We were actually out for 5 hours but I didn't log the breaks we took. Minnewanka to Ghost (Devil's Gap). I'm feeling pretty shattered, but that's probably to be expected. Nice and hot out there today. Beautiful. Ran with Leslie, Monica and Mike. Did a key swap with Hugh, Adrian, Chris Curry and Katherine for the point-to-point.

Big day on the feet. Sulphur Mountain, Mt Rundle (to the treeline), then back side of Sulphur. Lots of climb. Actually, it was all climb. Magnificant day to be in the mountains. Spring has arrived.

C • good for you. sounds like a... 2

Ahhhhh........spring.

Against doctor's orders (I just couldn't help myself because it was +20) I headed to the mountains with the usual TT gang to run up Cox Hill. Except there wasn't much running because there is still TONNES of snow up there (even in the carpark). I was micro-analyzing the wisdom of the repeating the exact same activity that lead to the leg injury that I was supposed to be resting and elevating but I kept it protected and all was good in the end. Monica and I turned short of the summit because her legs were starting to bleed and we were both getting cold.

A good night out, though.

C • whats the burn story? 4

Therapy run. Late evening when ordinarily I'd be settling in for the night but instead I went and watch the day end from the top of Nose Hill. 5 times up and down and then a loop around the neighborhood after it got dark. 1:35 of thinking time to make a decision about next year.

flow class.
my icky burnt leg didn't like it very much......neither did the people around me who had an ugly and disfigured shin shoved in their faces during some of the poses.
In fact, I didn't like the class very much today either. It just annoyed me. And it was hot.

I was going to run today but I didn't realise how tired I'd feel after yesterday. All I could manage was an evening walk to Superstore and back for groceries.

Race the Rockies Calgary.
Monica and I cleaned up. 1st overall and beating ALL the boys with much pleasure. We had a great day. Monica is a machine of her feet, leaving me behind on the climbs despite having the flu.

We were the 2nd team on the lemans run up to the top of COP ski hill. We booted it back down, grabbed our bikes and took off to Bowmont Park. Monica said, "Do you think we've gone out too hard?", but she soon changed her mind when we were the 2nd of only 2 teams to make it through the Hwy 1 lights from COP thus giving us a solid 5 minute buffer. The bowmont orienteering run was flawless. Smooth, fast, a good route choice and we were in the clear lead out of that CP.

Back to COP and onto the Paskapoo slopes for more orienteering. We were allowed to take our bikes on that section because it is MTB terrain, but the controls were not on trails and neither Mon or I can mtb very well. We did the whole thing on foot and clocked the fastest time out of anybody. It sure helps to be able to orienteer in these races! I made a slight bad route choice which cost us about 10 minutes.

Then we trudged up to the top of the 50 m ski jump tower and free rappeled down which was wicked fun. Nice to be in the lead and not face the line-ups that ensured shortly after.

Then we loaded up the bikes with out food bank donation - 40 lbs of rice carried on my handle bars (Monica had 20 lbs in her backpack) and we very VERY carefully negotiated the fastest route (Bowness Rd and Memorial Drive) to the curling club to weigh in and drop the food. I nearly hit the pavement a couple of times when the bags got a little unbalanced and started rocking.

The final section was a bike navigation section through the NW of Calgary with UTMs. I quickly took a mental photo snap shot of all the locations and put the map away and we booted around that section fairly well. We found all the controls easily and didn't loose/gain any unnecessary elevation. At the end of that it was just a ride to the finish line back at COP. We had the wind at our backs and big smiles on our faces - especially for Monica who was doing her first AR. I think we were clear at least 30 minutes on the next team once the time credits and penalities had been worked out.

C • I was cheering for you the ... 2

A fast early morning run up on Springbank Hill. Very nice start to the day.

Early morning jaunt in the muddy coulee on two of the permanent orienteering courses here at the ranch.

Still trapped. Weather not improved but at least we are bundling up the kids and sending them outside into the frozen wasteland. Shot baskets in the gym for a solid 50 minutes. Then walked around an orienteering course. Hmmm.....not exactly training. I want to go home.

Very short morning jog in the coulee to check out the temperature and condition of the terrain. Very slippery mud covered in thin layer of ice and blowing snow.

Trapped.
Arctic conditions out here at the ranch. Stuck indoors with 50 grade 9 students and a dead black bear taxidermied to the back wall of the dining room. Not my idea of paradise! Is it May in Alberta or January in Whitehorse?

Rest day. And crazy work day. Was supposed to drive to a ranch east of Stettler but got caught in crazy blizzard and had to hunker down in cheap roadside motel in Red Deer. Sigh!

A nice run up and down and up and down and up and down Nose Hill. My legs are wrecked from yesterday.

30 km in 6 hrs, you ask?
Epic epic day. What was supposed to be a civilized trail run turned into a snowy slogfest. The problem was too much optimism flowing through the group....."it'll improve", "I bet the snow will be cleared off Moose Mountain", "it'll be hard-packed in the trees". NONE of it was true. It was a 6-hr post-holing adventure that had us up to hip deep in wet, crusty snow.. A blood trail was left behind us as our legs got scraped on the ice. All in all, a great day out.

C • wow. I don't feel so bad ab... 1