Wednesday Nov 28 |
 | Yoga 45:00 [1] | |
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| Orienteering 1:40:00 [2] | |
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| Back out to Albion to collect most of the controls from the Treehugger race for Bash! Rocky, Goose, Phatty and I were out there and decided to split once again to collect more of the controls. I don't even really need a map anymore since I have basically memorized it. The snow is melting sadly but it was still fun to run around in the woods at night...
Home for our last night with The Bakes before he moves out. To keep with tradition we bonded over a little "ground and pound" on UFC. |
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| C • Thanks! 3 |
Tuesday Nov 27 |
| Snowshoeing 1:00:00 [2] | |
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| With Bash out at Albion Hills. There was less snow than when we went running last week but it was fun to get off trail. It's a good thing I usually have a map and compass with me because I was convinced we were continually heading north until I recognized a trail that I know to be in the southwest corner of the conservation area. I guess that's why they tell you to stay put when you know you are lost. Bash will have some great stories to tell me next week when they are back from skiing out west - no I'm not the least bit jealous!!! |
Sunday Nov 25 |
| Orienteering 47:00 [3] | |
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| The first Thomass of the season. The first 9 controls went okay but then I went into the box and messed up the first control. Slice and I decided we are going to do all of the box controls this year instead of taking our 2 control handicap for being "chicks". I ended up on a trail parallel to the one I wanted to be on and not until I saw a big swamp did I realize this. Yikes. The rest of the race went smoothly except for a bad route choice from 13 to the finish. Still managed to beat Phatty and Hansel though. They were running around somewhere almost off of the map - oops. Fun course and great day for it. |
Saturday Nov 24 |
| Orienteering 1:40:00 [2] | |
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| With Phatty at Albion Hills. We took turns with the map to hit some more of the controls from the Treehugger course that Bash set. I realized how much time I could have saved with a better route choice in the northeast - uggh! I was dragging myself today. |
| Yoga 30:00 [1] | |
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Thursday Nov 22 |
| Snow running 55:00 [3] | |
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| Bash and I decided to take the girlz run up to Albion Hills and although the thought of snowshoes did present itself we opted for runners.....oops. We could have used those snowshoes but it was fun to break trail in the fresh snow. It really was so beautiful! We went in to pick up a control that Bash had placed but not used in the race but it must be under the snow now so we will have to go back in the spring.
The running was tough and had our heart rates up even on the flats. Time to get the skis out....oh yeah I don't have any - PHATTY!!!!!! How is that for a pretty big x-mas present hint! |
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| C • Skis! 2 |
Wednesday Nov 21 |
| Orienteering 45:00 [2] | |
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| Our Wednesday night group met outside Goose's house once again (it took a lot for me to leave the house since it was wet and cold outside but that's the point of meeting people I guess). We started out on the trail and then decided that we wanted to go up to Albion to do more of Bash's Treehugger course. So we turned around went and got a couple of maps and some compasses and headed to Albion.
We picked a route to about 8 or 9 controls and gave ourselves an hour. The boys went one way and the girls the other, the first ones back to the truck were the winners of the big prize money (or just bragging rights). Rocky and I were a little off on the second control but doubled back pretty quickly to get it and from there on in things went pretty smoothly. We turned off our lights at one point to try to scare the guys but I guess they had seen us earlier so there wasn't much of a surprise when we jumped out from behind a tree and screamed.
We avoided the trails for some controls and just took straight bearings - great practice and even managed to run right into a couple of them.....of course when we made our dash for the finish after the last control the boys were nowhere in sight. So we headed out for a second loop and bumped into them just after the second control.
Great fun and I am soooo glad that we all met up to go out in the wet weather. The snow started when we were out there so it looks like winter may be coming before Christmas this year - yippeee! |
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| C • Yay, Girls! 3 |
Tuesday Nov 20 |
| Trail Running 1:25:00 [3] | |
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| Bash and I postponed our girlz run until Thursday and I had a break this morning so I popped up to Albion Hills for a run while the sun was out. I didn't have my map with me from the weekend so I just ran the trails. The weather was great and as soon as I got into the conservation area and ran past the first swamp I saw a blue heron flying one way and I hawk (couldn't see what kind) flying in the other direction - pretty cool!
It's amazing how much more familiar I am with where I am in Albion Hills now that I have studied to orienteering map for the past two days. I actually ran past one of the controls that I didn't make it to and some others that I did. Of course I saw lots of ways that I could have cut off some time but isn't that always the case. I am going to try to get up later in the week to do the full course from a different direction.
I made myself sprint (well what I call a sprint) up some of the hills so that at some point Slice won't have to push me when we are racing together! Hopefully Bash and I get the same weather on Thursday although I hear that snow is coming.
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| C • Thursday run 2 |
| Yoga 30:00 [1] | |
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Sunday Nov 18 |
| Trail Running 45:00 [3] | |
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| With Slice, JG, and Sophia in the trails of Palgrave Conservation Area. We left from Bash and Bent's place and were treated to a wonderful sunny day in the forest. |
Saturday Nov 17 |
| Orienteering 1:29:00 [4] | |
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| Orienteering on a stellar course designed by Bash at the annual "Treehugger and Friends" end of season party. Albion Hills was a perfect location and the weather was good to us. I planned what I thought was an ambitious but doable route and was aiming for over 700 points of a possible 1000. I had a bit of trouble with 40 in the NE corner of the map and that cost me some time. I actually ran right by it but must have been looking at my map at the time -uggh. I saw Slice shortly after this and she had mentioned that she was already having some problems too. The rest of the race went fairly smoothly but because my watch was about 12 minutes fast (I forgot to check it when I left) I didn't know exactly how much time I had left but I knew I was cutting it close. I saw Slice again and we both agreed it was time to hightail it back to the chalet. We decided to try to get 22 on the way in and thankfully Slice pushed me up the hill toward 22 so we could both make it. She did end up being 1 minute late in the end too so I owe her bigtime for that final push! Once we found the control it was a sprint down the "green monster" to the finish.
A great race and good enough for me to finish 1st female with 690 points.
Phatty had a great race too but unfortunately lost his pen in the first few minutes so he had to try to memorize the answers to the questions on the clue sheet. For the record Slice and I told him it wasn't a good idea to attach his pen to a string around his neck from the cap.....we also told him to bring a spare pen but alas he is a man and didnt' listen....and paid dearly. He also lost his clue sheet before the finish so who really knows what he did out there.
The presentations were also great and of course the pizza and socializing was a blast. Thanks again to Bash and Bent and Storm, and Hark Events for putting in so much effort to get us all together....and for a great race!
Can't wait until next year! |
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| C • Congrats to Leanimal! 10 |
Wednesday Nov 14 |
| Yoga 30:00 [1] | |
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| Trail Running 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| With Goose, Rocky, and Scooby on the HVT for a night run. It was good to hear some stories about Ironman and once the boys picked it up on the way back Rocky and I decided we would maintain a pace that we could still socialize at. We also had a good laugh about the fact that both of us had spent the night before on the couch watching back-to-back episodes of CSI Miami.....I won with 4 consecutive episodes to her 3. With "Thumbs of Death" out of the office for the week it was a long, busy day so I had to top it off with a couple of slices of pizza and a long tv session. It's a good thing I don't work full hours every day, I would be very large and out of shape! |
Sunday Nov 11 |
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| Event: Raid the Hammer
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| Orienteering 4:16:00 [3] | |
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| With Phatty and Slice....there were times when I was at a 5 (like the beginning of the race - I am a slow starter) and times when I was at a 2 (like when we were looking around for controls) so I put it at a 3 but more like a 3.5!!!
Great day for the event - perfect temperature. The race went okay for us. We had trouble with a few controls and that really costs you in these races. We had fun bumping into friends out there on the course and when it came down to a race to the finish with a team that beat us in the final sprint last year we managed to squeak in ahead of them for 7th overall and 4th coed. We were quite a ways back from the top 3 though so our mistakes showed. It was a great day though and Slice was a strong addition to our team pushing and towing both Phatty and I.
Can't wait for the THOMASS races this winter to continue working on the navigating. I really don't feel like I can contribute much in these races off the start because I am trying to keep up too much. By the middle of the race though I felt better and was able to contribute.
Of course it was another great event put on by GHO. |
Wednesday Nov 7 |
| Yoga 30:00 [1] | |
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| Trail Running 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| With Goose on the HVT at night. I tried out wearing my glasses running since I can usually hardly see the trail. It definitely helps to be able to see. We heard some coyotes which made the hair on our necks stand up and I think the pace picked up a bit but we didn't see any glowing eyes in the woods.... good run. |
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| C • Night run 1 |
Tuesday Nov 6 |
| Trail Running 1:05:00 [2] | |
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| Out with Bash and Bulletdog along the HVT. Weather was a little chilly but really perfect for running once we got going. It started to rain and the trail got a little slick but nobody went down this week. We were being extra cautious with RTH coming up.... |
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| C • RTH 4 |
| Yoga 1:05:00 [1] | |
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Sunday Nov 4 |
| Trail Running 1:20:00 [2] | |
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| This run was a combination of bushwhacking and running east of Orillia. As is always the case with Phatty and I when we pick a new spot to run it turns into an adventure. We chose a part of the Ganaraska trail near Udney and planned on doing a 12 or 13km out and back. When we got to the trail head there was another car parked there - I was thinking maybe there were some other hikers in there but oh no!!! We started running and quickly the trail was above and then under water...and then we heard shots ringing out. Great - hunters! Luckily I had my favorite orange (Salomon) jacket on and Phatty had his bright red one on so at least we were visible. We ran into a couple of hunters out there and asked them what they were hunting....small game. Oh good but that didn't ease my mind as he was holding a rifle in his hand. So I made the decision that we would run the roads around and back to the car rather than going back on the trail.
On the way back Phatty found a trail that headed straight back to the car but it quickly went under water and into a swamp. Not great since now the only thing visible above the tall grass were our heads and my feet were FREEZING in the shin deep water we had to walk through for about a kilometre and a half. We heard more shots and when we finally got back to the car and were changing out of our wet clothes a shot rang out about 20 feet from us.......we both ducked and hid behind the car but didn't see anyone and it must have come from the house right beside the trailhead.
So we made it out alive and I decided that maybe we wouldn't be back to this part of the Ganaraska trail and would maybe wear brighter orange next time we are on the trails...
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| C • Yikes! 4 |
Saturday Nov 3 |
| Trail Running 50:00 [3] | |
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| From my parent's house in Orillia along the rail trails and some roads...nice day! |
Thursday Nov 1 |
| Trail Running 1:10:00 [3] | |
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| Out on the HVT. Temp was great and for the first time in a long time I actually felt pretty good. That's a good sign since the Don't Get Lost is coming up and I was getting a little worried. At least I know Slice will be there to tow me along when I need it......that's why Phatty and I called in the ringer! |
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| C • Ringer 2 |