Training Log Archive: Trav

Terrain running through backyards and trespassing as much as possible between Lower Lions Club, Old Dundas and Dundas. Some interesting structures back in there. Fell hard twice. But such are the wages of sin.

C • my frisbee 2

smt in a few inches of fresh pow pow. Not quite a blue bird day, but close. PH and Turbo and the pack o' dogs. It'll be interesting to run on plain trails again; kinda forgot what that feels like

6 times artisan with the ever vigilant deer chasin' Trix. Keeps 'em on their toes. If they had toes.

Sunset run with T Rix. Close encounters of the dog hating kind. Not so pleasant.

C • :( 4

TNT 1,2,3,2,1 figure 8s. Frankensteps. Started slow, got a bit faster, felt good on the 3peat, even keeping up with Pat-hetic and Sudden, but then flipped over to my evil alter ego Darth Fader. Turbo, who had been dogging it most of the evening, breezed by me without much effort. I think a large part of the problem was the fact that my geeked out lizard shoes were so thoroughly out-cooled by Pat-hetic's bright red innov8s and I just lost heart.

Hot yoga with balogna! First time. Felt good.

Sunday morning sunny run before big winter storm number 2 sets in. Valley is dangerous without spikes. With spikes, no big deal, but your feet get pushed around a lot.

Consolation run around the Valley after failing to breakthrough the broken hwy 400. Disappointing, but we made the most of it and had a fine day nonetheless.

C • You were missed. 1

Easy cruise around the valley just to get some fresh air after days indoors. The valley is a giant slushy. If it gets cold tonight, it'll be dangerous as heck in there.

Hotel treadmill hill work. What a hamster wheel this has all become.

6 sets. 5 minutes per set. 6mph. Ever steeper as I went. 8% times 2, 8.5%, 9%, 9.5% and 10%. Held on for 6 minutes at 10%. All the more so because I was also working on cadence. Actually managed to hit 100 beats per minute once, but it's just too goofy a pace. 90 is a much more natural gait for me at effort.

Runners high. Interesting article about the causes of runner's high

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/phys-ed-w...

C • that explains it 1

C • that explains it 2

Intensity/Interval/cadence hotel treadmill workout. Designed by me on the fly. Start at 6mph and 1.5%. After 5 minutes go up .2mph every 30 seconds until you get to 10mph. Hold that for 2 minutes. Which, for me was pretty ugly. THEN knock it back .5 mph every minute, but hold at that new speed for a full minute. This gets desperate at the 9.5 and 9 level. Rescue starts seeming possible at 8.5 and then the clouds part and you drift down to 6mph for a minute. Then 4 bounces back up to 10mph for 90 seconds, but at the 15 second mark concentrate on cadence with the goal of getting to 100 beats per minute (right heal strikes). Best I could do was 97 beats in a minute. Will try to get to 100 next time I do one of these.

C • try this, perhaps 2

C • You in Calgary? 1

Easy cruise with the beast around the valley. I'm calling it. This is the best damn winter in decades. All pretty all the time.

A heartbreaking snowshoe of staggering beauty. The greatest hits of winter splendour, including a first ascent up the south face of K2. Never before been done before. Bender, Hammer and Trav--and T Rix--free snowshoe-ed to the top, pinnacling (yes: we pinnacled--it's a verb; I pinnacle, you pinnacle, etc.) to the sound of trumpets and stringed instruments. Totally amazing Walley that we have at our doorstep.

C • K2 Stats 14

Hotel treadmill hill intervals. 6-6.4 mph at 10% for four minutes. two minutes rest in between at 6mph and 1%. Started at 6, went up .1mph per rep. Hoped to get to 6.5 but ran out of gas and struggled to stay alive in the last rep at 6mph. Heartrate at finish was 176. Haven't seen that in a while.

Hotel intervals. 9 x a minute and a half at 10.5 mph with a minute in between at 1.5%. That last interval in an homage to Spinal Tap, I turned it to 11. I knew the TnT crew would be putting their hearts in it this evening and I knew nothing I did on a treadmill would come close to the extemes of human suffering to be visited on those poor folks, but I could at least salute them with a minute and a half at 11.

C • to those about to sweat and... 14

Put the snowshoes on and with Trix went off into the wilderness to give 'er another go. Up K2 twice just to make it easier for those who come after me.

Savage Morning Training. Conditions were as tough as they could be. Ok, I can think of tougher conditions, but heck, this was tough. At least for me. Heavy uneven snow knocked your feet all over the place. I was DFL for most of the run. Felt like I had slipped back to my hibernation caliber fitness instead of getting the benefit of five weeks of hard workouts. The Great One and Trixifer the Devil Dog had a blast, chest deep in snow most of the morning. Turbo and Bender cruelly taunted those of us who were struggling. Called us made of not dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, but white chocolate. Come on. This is supposed to be fun. Why get so nasty? What's the point of that? Words hurt you know. They do.

C • typical... 9

Artaban. Prisoner of. Times 5. With T Rix. Chocolate? Not me.

Big snow shoe morning. Balogna and T Rix the snow dog and I took full advantage.

My jetpack has arrived. Finally. I've been waiting for this bad boy since the 60s:

Snow day! I'm heading out on the snowshoes now, but if there was a groundswell of support and loads upon loads of folks came by the hottage at, say, 3:30 with snowshoes, I could be pursuaded to go out again.

C • snowpocalyptic snowshoe 10

C • snowpocalyptic snowshoe 1

Double the fun. Hammer and NP came by for another go on the snowshoes including an ascent of K2 from sea level that proved we were not made of chocolate and a careening descent in fresh pow. The best. A bit tough on el Trixo though given that the snow was above her little head.

Little sister loop or some such thing. Relay with Griz on my team. We matched each other stride for stride, beat for beat, lap after lap. Another good one. Hammer and AG! also in appearance and putting in a fine show of grit and determination. T Rix and the Greta One got a bit chippy out there. Some downtime in the Turbo-mobile sorted things out. Frankensteps and coreless Turbocore followed.