Wednesday Jan 30 |
 | Road Running 1:10:00 [3] | |
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| Out with Scooby, Goose, and Rocky for the Wednesday night run. Chilly and slippery. I went down twice but with no injuries thankfully. Great route through town picked by Rocky. We avoided the wind most of the way except for a few blasts on the way back. |
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| C • Icebugs! 3 |
Sunday Jan 27 |
| Note | |
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| Walked around the Hoover Dam and then down the Vegas Strip! Weird place! |
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| C • Fun Trip! 1 |
Saturday Jan 26 |
| Trekking 4:30:00 [2] | |
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| Up into Zion from the south. The West Rim Trail. Another amazing day and we were really lucky since a big storm came in the next day and made trekking in some of the canyons dangerous due to flash floods. We started heading up toward what they call Angels Landing. This is a spit of rock that has a trail on it that they told us they were advising people to use crampons on at this time of year. It could be icy. COULD BE!!! THIS WAS A DEATH TRAP! I haven't been there in the summer but from the views I got I can't really see wanting to go out there when there was no snow. Pete got a little further than I did before we decided that the National Park service was trying to do a little population control of their own. Holy crap. I will try to post a photo of here. We talked to a local who said it really wasn't bad in the summer - there are chains to hang on to but there is a 1500 foot drop on either side and it can't be wider than a sidewalk at some places. I just looked up some stats and a 53 yr old man fell off last summer to his death and amazingly that is only the 6th death since 1983. (I just checked another site that said that there have been 7 other deaths since 2006 so who knows but if you are looking for a thrill head to Angels Landing!!) Anyway we continued on along another ridge and down into another canyon before trying to make it to the top of the Colorado plateau.
Here is where things got interesting. We heading into a canyon that doesn't see any sun and so there was a lot of snow in the bottom - most of which had come off of the canyon walls above. We went from walking on rock to wading through waist deep snow. We lost the trail and tried to climb up the canyon wall which wasn't easy at such a steep angle. I started to get nervous about sliding snow and the fact that we had no idea where the trail was so I made us turn around. Maybe it was fine and maybe we would have found the trail but all I could see were canyon walls heading straight toward the sky so I was out of there. The trek back was quick since it was mostly down but we got back to Angels Landing in time to see about 5 teens heading out onto Angels Landing. We watched to see if the bravado would get them in trouble with Pete whispering in the background (turn around guys, turn around). They got to the spot where Pete got to and after a discussion turned around thankfully. There is a spot where there are no chains and one slip and you're gone. No thanks.
Great couple of days in Zion and the nice thing about this time of year is that there are not many people to be seen. And none except for us who want to go wading into waist deep snow! |
Friday Jan 25 |
| Trekking 5:35:00 [2] | |
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| Hiking the Zolob Canyon Trail in the northern part of Zion National Park. AMAZING. We had great weather and the road opened just as we got there. We had the trail to ourselves and trudged through the snow which was only a couple of inches high in to see Zolob Arch. The scenery was amazing and we had to trek back in the dark because of our late start. Luckily we remembered to bring our headlamps and once it got really dark we were treated to quite the star show. |
Thursday Jan 24 |
| Road Running 1:30:00 [4] | |
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| Decided to torture myself by running uphill toward the mountains outside of Salt Lake. I didn't hit the nordic centre again as it was a bit of an ordeal to get there and thought I would see the city of Salt Lake on foot instead. Not terribly exciting but I guess the real bonus is living near the mountains. Some nice houses up out of the city and you really have to get up there to breath any oxygen. The brown cloud in the city is really horrendous. |
Wednesday Jan 23 |
| Classic skiing 3:30:00 [4] | |
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| I will put this at a 4 since I was up at 8000ft and really feeling it. I was definitely hitting 5 though on the uphills. Got some really bad waxing advice from the young girl (25) working at the nordic centre so that added to the effort. What can I expect from someone who grew up in Vermont and asked me if I lived right in the city of Ontario!!! SHE GREW UP IN VERMONT FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!
A great day at Solitude outside Salt Lake City. The sun was beaming and there was no-one on the trails! I have to admit I was jealous of the skiers gliding down the slopes though when I was leaning over my poles trying to keep my heart from jumping out of my chest. |
Tuesday Jan 22 |
| Road Running 3:00 [5] | |
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| Running through the Denver aiport with a down jacket on trying to catch our connection. Of course we were at opposite sides of the airport and of course when we got there our second of two flights was delayed again.... |
Sunday Jan 20 |
| Classic skiing 2:15:00 [3] | |
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| With Slice and DogRunner on the trails north of Meech Lake. It was a bit colder today but the sun was out and we went a little faster today. Still having trouble gripping on the uphills so we rewaxed and it made a huge difference. I got a little cocky on one of the downhills and almost took out to other skiers on a bridge. They looked terrified but I managed to pull it together before I went down in a blaze of glory! Great day again and boy do I wish I lived back up there. That place is heaven! |
Saturday Jan 19 |
| Classic skiing 4:30:00 [3] | |
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| Slice, Phatty, STORM, and myself headed up to Ottawa this weekend to get in some ski time in the Gats. We crashed at DogRunner's house and then met up with La Femme, Phatty Jr., Frantz, Monsieur Beaudry, and MaxGrab at O'Brien for a nice long ski up to McKinstry Hut. We tried out some more rugged terrain and had a lot of fun watching people descend some pretty hairy downhills and then hit the more manicured trails up to the hut. La Femme and DogRunner had on monster packs for ski marathon training so I was mighty impressed with their stamina! DogRunner packed us all lunch and we refueled before our trip back. A great day and although the conditions were borderline poor according to the Ottawa folk I was thrilled with the snow. We weren't moving that fast but I was tuckered out by the end of the day for sure.
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Wednesday Jan 16 |
| Classic skiing 2:00:00 [2] | |
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| With Bash, Slice, and Coach LD out at Albion Hills. The conditions were not great but again I am just happy there is snow. Great way to start the day and of course Slice and I hit the Palgrave cafe for a latte and some chili/soup after - yum! |
Tuesday Jan 15 |
| Orienteering 50:00 [2] | |
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| Checking control locations with Bash out in Glen Haffy. Had to change the course a bit as some of them were too close to private property. Lots of snow up there though. |
| Trail Running 28:00 [2] | |
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| The non-navigating portion of our Glen Haffy excursion. |
Monday Jan 14 |
| Road Running 1:10:00 [3] | |
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| Hit the country roads for a run. Still some fatigue from the weekend so it felt like a 3 but was the speed of a 2......I'll have to do some stretching tonight while Phatty and I watch another episode of 24 the first season. A patient gave it to me and now we are hooked.....we promised ourselves that we wouldn't go looking for the second season for at least another month or so. Why does there have to be 24 bloody episodes??? |
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| C • 24 3 |
Sunday Jan 13 |
| Orienteering 2:45:00 [3] | |
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| Back out to Glen Haffy for some more course setting. The controls that Slice and I didn't get to are great but still may be a little far. Phatty, Bash, Bent, and Goose all headed out on a trek while I played in Glen Haffy. Nice day with the trees covered in frost. My feet froze again and the crusty snow was a bit of a pain to run/trudge through after a while. |
Saturday Jan 12 |
| Classic skiing 2:10:00 [3] | |
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| Slice and I headed up to Hardwood Hills to show the peeps how to really classic ski. Okay I just REALLY have to get out before the ski marathon and considering what the weather has been like it wasn't bad. I was just glad there was snow. The Salomon reps were kind enough to let us demo skis all day so we didn't have to rent and really helped me to decide which skis to buy. We did one skate loop after we had done two classic loops and that just meant suffering for me. I definitely need some lessons on technique!!! So back to the classics for another go before scarfing back some lunch. And yes now my hip flexors are very sore. |
Wednesday Jan 9 |
| Orienteering 2:00:00 [2] | |
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| Slice and I headed out to check out the course we are setting for the next Thomass Race. Unbelievable how much snow has disappeared. Things are wet! Our feet froze up and we are going to have to change a few things since even we were unable to locate our control points and if we couldn't find the landmark then who could?
Still have to test the rest of the course and make sure it won't be too tough for Hansel, Phatty, and Tiny! We decided to skip some of the controls so we could run for a bit on trail to try to warm up - oh and we also had to hit the Palgrave bakery for a Soy Mocha Latte. We waved at Bent's office when we drove by but he probably didn't see us!
Will finish the course this Friday and then get some vets to test it. Bash? |
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| C • Looking forward to it! 7 |
| Road Running 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| Out with the Wednesday night crew. We decided to hit the roads since some of us forgot our lights and we weren't willing to risk major injuries on what is likely a slippery trail. We still lost one on a hill although I was so far back I didn't see it. In my old age I am starting to realize the importance of not doing silly things like running down a hill with no light just in case I fall and break a wrist and can't work.
Great to be out and there were six of us tonight! |
Tuesday Jan 8 |
| Road Running 35:00 [3] | |
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| With Phatty around B-Town. |
Monday Jan 7 |
| Core Conditioning 20:00 [3] | |
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| So Phatty and I decided to join the world of "Hard Core Mondays" but we did take it easy on ourselves and only did half of the video for the first time. Last time we did the whole thing right off the bat and couldn't laugh, cough, or sneeze for about four days. |
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| C • Good Choice! 1 |
Sunday Jan 6 |
| Orienteering 1:11:00 [5] | |
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| Morningside Thomass. Great race - hilly and hard. I was dying! Managed to see Phatty out there for a bit but split from him at the end of the second box and paid the price. Overshot from up high and had to come back to it. Not much in the tank today but pretty accurate minus the one near the end. |
Saturday Jan 5 |
| Snow running 1:26:00 [3] | |
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| WIth Phatty at Palgrave for the first bit. Knee deep snow - why didn't we bring snowshoes? I couldn't keep up a run so I whined until we went on the roads. Didn't have any ski equipment (yup have to work on that for the ski marathon) so couldn't ski. Bummer since the snow is disappearing rapidly. I was hurting today.....hate to think that a couple of lazy weeks render me useless...ugghh |
Friday Jan 4 |
| Snowshoeing 50:00 [2] | |
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| With Coach LD for a quick one on the Humber River......I then ran a little bit around town... |
Wednesday Jan 2 |
| Trail Running 1:10:00 [3] | |
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| With the Wednesday night crew! |
Tuesday Jan 1 |
| Trail Running 40:00 [3] | |
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| On the lake while the boys were kiteboarding. Slice, La Femme, DogRunner, Kelly, Aaron, and myself heading into the wind on the way out and had a little push on the way back. |