Training Log Archive: BashIn the 28 days ending Feb 28, 2014:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| « | » |
| » now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday Feb 28, 2014 #
Note
slept:8.0
At 12:30 tonight our time, Billy Wells and Una Hall (each racing solo) will start The Race 24-hr multisport event in Ireland. It looks like there will be live updates once the race begins. Go Canadians!
http://therace.ie/index.php/the-race-2014/course
http://therace.ie/index.php/the-race-2014/course
Note
Looks like Brittany (2nd from right) and the other cross country skiers may have had fun in Sochi.
4 PM
Snowshoeing 22:00 [1] 1.5 km (14:40 / km) +45m 12:45 / km
shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Quick trek near home to enjoy the brilliant sunshine, blue sky and crisp temperature.
5 PM
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
Thursday Feb 27, 2014 #
Running (Treadmill) 20:12 [3] 3.0 km (6:44 / km)
slept:7.0
Too gusty for the forest so I made a reluctant return to the treadmill to see how my foot would respond to running three days in a row. It seems happy enough so far. Now to see about running farther... (But not on the treadmill. The kilometers crawl by on that thing!)
Power Yoga 26:00 [3]
Note
15 Excuses Overheard at Trail Races
Yup, I've heard them all. (And I've used #7 but I really meant it!)
http://trailrunnermag.com/people/culture/1209-15-e...
Yup, I've heard them all. (And I've used #7 but I really meant it!)
http://trailrunnermag.com/people/culture/1209-15-e...
9 AM
Note
Began the day with Level 5 intensity driving. Near-whiteout on slippery Hwy 9, and the cargo van behind me was following too closely and unable to stop in time when we came upon a long line of stopped vehicles. As I looked in the rear view mirror with horror, we both made the decision at the same moment to pull onto the shoulder. Since I actually had control of my vehicle, I had just enough time to change course. The driver ended up right beside me, and there was no collision. When he looked over at me, I cast what I hope was a withering glance. And then I got the heck off the highway and changed my doctor's appointment.
The entrance to Hwy 400 was closed. Turns out there was a 96-car pile-up but nobody hurt too badly. Wow!
http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/ninety-six-vehicles-invol...
The entrance to Hwy 400 was closed. Turns out there was a 96-car pile-up but nobody hurt too badly. Wow!
http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/ninety-six-vehicles-invol...
Wednesday Feb 26, 2014 #
4 PM
Running (Country Road) 31:53 [3] 5.21 km (6:07 / km) +80m 5:41 / km
slept:8.0 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
Snowy run on rolling gravel roads around home, focusing on some of the form issues that have come up with Dr. Bell and with Sheldon. I haven't been doing many runs on consecutive days while I've been going easy on my bad foot but very soon I'd like to get into a routine of running Tues., Wed. and Thurs. with Wed. as a medium-long run. I made today's run short since my body first needs to get used to running more frequently. Baby steps. But UTMB is 6 months away so it's time to ramp up to see if I'm going to be able to handle it.
5 PM
Strength & Mobility (Core and Balance) 15:00 [2]
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014 #
4 PM
Running (Icy Park Roads) 1:08:58 [3] 10.26 km (6:43 / km) +173m 6:12 / km
slept:7.75 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
I wanted to run on relatively even ground without playing Russian Roulette with speeding cars on blind hills, so I tried some of the roads in Albion Hills Conservation Area. A few cars went by but nobody was going too fast. Mostly, I was running on ice but luckily, I have no spectacular wipe-outs to report. My Snowcross have really earned their keep this year!
My legs felt good in spite of lingering post-Sheldon-workout upper hamstring soreness from Sunday. Cardio felt good too. I won't know about my stupid foot until tomorrow.
It looks like it may be possible to do some trail running there on packed crusty snow. The double track is out of bounds since it's groomed for skiing but it looks like people have been biking and running on the single track.
My legs felt good in spite of lingering post-Sheldon-workout upper hamstring soreness from Sunday. Cardio felt good too. I won't know about my stupid foot until tomorrow.
It looks like it may be possible to do some trail running there on packed crusty snow. The double track is out of bounds since it's groomed for skiing but it looks like people have been biking and running on the single track.
5 PM
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
The whole enchilada.
6 PM
Note
I learn so much by watching the Colbert Report. World Science U is about to launch - free online science courses, some of them at the university level. First up: Einstein's Special Relativity.
http://welcome.worldscienceu.com/page/s/splash
http://welcome.worldscienceu.com/page/s/splash
7 PM
Note
From The New Yorker: Arizona Confronting Awkward Realization that Gay People Have Money, Buy Stuff
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzrepo...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzrepo...
Monday Feb 24, 2014 #
6 PM
Note
slept:7.25
As my Olympic withdrawal sets in, I was thinking about a good lesson I learned from watching (and watching and watching). Ski Cross gold medalist Marielle Thompson talked about going off the last jump and thinking, "I'm going to win an Olympic gold medal!" Then she quickly shut that thought down: "First I need to land this jump and cross the finish line."
Figure skater Patrick Chan reported a similar thought during his performance. After landing the difficult quad-triple jump at the start of his program, he got excited and thought about what it would mean to win Canada's first-ever gold medal in men's figure skating. And then he made errors in a couple of elements in his program and ended up winning silver.
Some of the ex-athlete commentators said similar things. When the athlete is in the middle of an event, they need to think about their sport, the process, the technique, and all the usual things they focus on. They cannot think about results or implications of what they are doing. Even if we're not in the Olympics, that's good advice.
I've blown a few orienteering races when I allowed myself to think, "Wow, I'm navigating perfectly today! Only two more controls! I'm going to do well!" And, of course, I almost never do when that happens. On the flip side, I've saved a few nav races by explicitly shutting the results out of my mind, e.g. when I've blown an early control but have put it behind me and finished the race anyway. I've been surprised to get a decent result in some of those races because other people made mistakes too, and I felt less stress in the latter part of the race.
Along the same lines, I listened to an interesting Trail Runner Nation podcast while driving today. The guest was Lanny Bassham, a past Olympic gold medalist in shooting. His specialty is mental management (which he stresses is different from sports psychology), and they talked a bit about his book "With Winning in Mind".
He has talked to many gold medalists in different sports, and he says a common theme is positive self image. After a race, think about your performance in terms of what you did well. Think about aspects of your sport that you will do differently next time. Don't think, "I suck."
Also, rehearse your starts, and rehearse how you're going to respond to predictable and unpredictable types of adversity.
He also says that our parents have a huge influence on building our mental management processes. Instead of asking, "How did you do?" when the kid gets home, ask "What did you do best?" That's because it's human nature to dwell on errors and adversity when someone asks how we did. The next question for parents to ask is, "What did you learn?" The idea is to frame our personal responses to sports events positively and imprint a positive self image in our brain.
I might buy the book but I think I'll read some of his blogs first before I decide. Here's one on making use of the pressure of competition. He talks about the danger of thinking about outcomes rather than the process of doing your sport well.
http://www.mentalmanagementstore.com/06/uncategori...
Figure skater Patrick Chan reported a similar thought during his performance. After landing the difficult quad-triple jump at the start of his program, he got excited and thought about what it would mean to win Canada's first-ever gold medal in men's figure skating. And then he made errors in a couple of elements in his program and ended up winning silver.
Some of the ex-athlete commentators said similar things. When the athlete is in the middle of an event, they need to think about their sport, the process, the technique, and all the usual things they focus on. They cannot think about results or implications of what they are doing. Even if we're not in the Olympics, that's good advice.
I've blown a few orienteering races when I allowed myself to think, "Wow, I'm navigating perfectly today! Only two more controls! I'm going to do well!" And, of course, I almost never do when that happens. On the flip side, I've saved a few nav races by explicitly shutting the results out of my mind, e.g. when I've blown an early control but have put it behind me and finished the race anyway. I've been surprised to get a decent result in some of those races because other people made mistakes too, and I felt less stress in the latter part of the race.
Along the same lines, I listened to an interesting Trail Runner Nation podcast while driving today. The guest was Lanny Bassham, a past Olympic gold medalist in shooting. His specialty is mental management (which he stresses is different from sports psychology), and they talked a bit about his book "With Winning in Mind".
He has talked to many gold medalists in different sports, and he says a common theme is positive self image. After a race, think about your performance in terms of what you did well. Think about aspects of your sport that you will do differently next time. Don't think, "I suck."
Also, rehearse your starts, and rehearse how you're going to respond to predictable and unpredictable types of adversity.
He also says that our parents have a huge influence on building our mental management processes. Instead of asking, "How did you do?" when the kid gets home, ask "What did you do best?" That's because it's human nature to dwell on errors and adversity when someone asks how we did. The next question for parents to ask is, "What did you learn?" The idea is to frame our personal responses to sports events positively and imprint a positive self image in our brain.
I might buy the book but I think I'll read some of his blogs first before I decide. Here's one on making use of the pressure of competition. He talks about the danger of thinking about outcomes rather than the process of doing your sport well.
http://www.mentalmanagementstore.com/06/uncategori...
Sunday Feb 23, 2014 #
Event: O Cup #4 Ukrainian Club
11 AM
Orienteering race (Crusty Snow) 31:25 3.96 km (7:56 / km) +104m 7:01 / km
slept:6.75 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
O Cup #4 UKR
Earl Bales Park, Toronto
Organizers thoughtfully delayed this race until 11 a..m. since it would have been unfair to Canada's Olympic hockey team to draw away so much of their TV viewing audience to do a popular orienteering event.
This was the first O Cup race of the season that I was allowed to run, which was a treat. I haven't run on uneven ground very much in recent months so I've got my fingers tightly crossed that my foot will feel OK tomorrow.
The trails were mostly packed down and runnable, although there were frozen foot holes that could turn our ankles if we weren't careful. When we ran across snowy open fields, it was some of the hardest work I've done in a long time - tough, breakable crust over heavy, shin-deep snow. Earl Bales also has a downhill ski centre so there were some hills!
Toward the end, when the snow running was the toughest, I noticed Val coming up behind me, which inspired me to push to level 5 intensity, which I rarely do. (Thanks, Val!) I think I was the first woman but it's an age-gender handicapped race so that's only semi-meaningful. I came home with a nice bottle of ice wine. Lots of fun. Thank you, Eugenius and UKR!
Earl Bales Park, Toronto
Organizers thoughtfully delayed this race until 11 a..m. since it would have been unfair to Canada's Olympic hockey team to draw away so much of their TV viewing audience to do a popular orienteering event.
This was the first O Cup race of the season that I was allowed to run, which was a treat. I haven't run on uneven ground very much in recent months so I've got my fingers tightly crossed that my foot will feel OK tomorrow.
The trails were mostly packed down and runnable, although there were frozen foot holes that could turn our ankles if we weren't careful. When we ran across snowy open fields, it was some of the hardest work I've done in a long time - tough, breakable crust over heavy, shin-deep snow. Earl Bales also has a downhill ski centre so there were some hills!
Toward the end, when the snow running was the toughest, I noticed Val coming up behind me, which inspired me to push to level 5 intensity, which I rarely do. (Thanks, Val!) I think I was the first woman but it's an age-gender handicapped race so that's only semi-meaningful. I came home with a nice bottle of ice wine. Lots of fun. Thank you, Eugenius and UKR!
2 PM
Running (Drills) 30:00 [3] 3.0 km (10:00 / km)
Strength & Mobility 45:00 [2]
Sheldon Persad's Running Strength Session #2, focusing more on the lower body this time.
http://www.personalbest.ca/workouts-events-camps/m...
Funderstorm, BugsinTeeth, WandAR, 'Bent and I were there again. It was definitely harder work than last time but I guess we have to expect a greater challenge as graduates of Session #1. ;)
Good stuff - Balance, Agility, Drills, Plyometrics and Strength. When we have limited time, we're supposed to focus on Balance and Strength. Like last time, I've counted some of our track work as running, although I'm sure our real distance was less (but more work than regular running). Fun! Also, we got to visit South St. Burgers and Running Free before the class and Starbucks afterward. For country folk like us, that is really hitting the big time.
http://www.personalbest.ca/workouts-events-camps/m...
Funderstorm, BugsinTeeth, WandAR, 'Bent and I were there again. It was definitely harder work than last time but I guess we have to expect a greater challenge as graduates of Session #1. ;)
Good stuff - Balance, Agility, Drills, Plyometrics and Strength. When we have limited time, we're supposed to focus on Balance and Strength. Like last time, I've counted some of our track work as running, although I'm sure our real distance was less (but more work than regular running). Fun! Also, we got to visit South St. Burgers and Running Free before the class and Starbucks afterward. For country folk like us, that is really hitting the big time.
Saturday Feb 22, 2014 #
Note
slept:6.75 (rest day)
Canadian Adventure Racing Association booth at the Outdoor Adventure Show. Nice to see some AR friends and (if we're lucky) some future AR friends!
Friday Feb 21, 2014 #
Note
slept:6.5 (rest day)
Thursday Feb 20, 2014 #
Note
OK boys, our women's teams won gold in 3 events in 24 hours. Your turn now. Go Canada!
(Oops, I see that CO already posted this on Facebook!)
(Oops, I see that CO already posted this on Facebook!)
4 PM
Running (Country Road) 41:02 [3] 6.03 km (6:48 / km) +65m 6:27 / km
slept:7.0 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Snowy road run near home. I tested the new Yaktrax Run traction devices just to have a change from my Snowcross. They're OK but the traction isn't as good, and sometimes the wet snow clumped up under my heels. The only reason I got them is that sometimes you think you'll be able to run in regular shoes but you end up somewhere where you'd rather not. These are small enough to carry along and aren't as hard core as the Kahtoola Microspikes, which would have been overkill today. Snowcross would have been the right choice. Again.
This run was shorter than planned because:
1) Hockey overtime
2) Major leak at the place where I'm housesitting
3) Driving wet snow
The snow was an issue because I didn't have glasses or goggles, and it was coming at me so hard that I could only see by squinting one eye slightly open - not the best situation on a hilly road in low visibility conditions for drivers. Fortunately, one of the drivers I encountered was 'Bent, and he didn't hit me.
Big excitement today. Only 1 lb to go to meet my March 31 deadline. I think I'll have cake to celebrate.
This run was shorter than planned because:
1) Hockey overtime
2) Major leak at the place where I'm housesitting
3) Driving wet snow
The snow was an issue because I didn't have glasses or goggles, and it was coming at me so hard that I could only see by squinting one eye slightly open - not the best situation on a hilly road in low visibility conditions for drivers. Fortunately, one of the drivers I encountered was 'Bent, and he didn't hit me.
Big excitement today. Only 1 lb to go to meet my March 31 deadline. I think I'll have cake to celebrate.
7 PM
Strength & Mobility (Core) 22:00 [2]
Hard Core Live with Caron. Small class due to the weather.
8 PM
Power Yoga 49:00 [1]
Various shoulder stretches built into all the poses. Ouch, that's my kryptonite.
Wednesday Feb 19, 2014 #
4 PM
Snowshoeing (Deep Snow) 42:30 [2] 2.0 km (21:15 / km) +113m 16:34 / km
slept:8.0 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
I'd hoped to get in a ski before tomorrow's Rainfall Warning but by the time I could get out, our beautiful powder had turned to wet concrete so it was nicer for snowshoeing. With such heavy snow, it was a better day for strength than speed so I just hauled myself up and down a few local hills.
Meanwhile... I've become a mad snow raking fool! I also tossed up two roof panty hose salt bombs, which is not as easy as it sounds on the Internet. Kind of like doing a basketball free throw with a heavy medicine ball - if a medicine ball were as flexible and awkward as an overweight snake and needed to end up in a perfectly straight line in a roof valley. It took a few tries for each one, followed by fine tuning with the snow rake - very careful adjustments to avoid tearing the panty hose. Functional fitness! After being cautioned about the ice avalanche risk, I wore safety gear today.
Meanwhile... I've become a mad snow raking fool! I also tossed up two roof panty hose salt bombs, which is not as easy as it sounds on the Internet. Kind of like doing a basketball free throw with a heavy medicine ball - if a medicine ball were as flexible and awkward as an overweight snake and needed to end up in a perfectly straight line in a roof valley. It took a few tries for each one, followed by fine tuning with the snow rake - very careful adjustments to avoid tearing the panty hose. Functional fitness! After being cautioned about the ice avalanche risk, I wore safety gear today.
6 PM
Strength & Mobility (Legs, Glutes) 30:00 [2]
Time to resume my old leg strength routine in addition to all the physio. Feels good but I've lost strength for sure.
9 PM
Note
Bobsleigh athletes seek sponsorship.
Tuesday Feb 18, 2014 #
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
slept:7.0
The February Challenge officially ended for me today. I got outside but spent my time cleaning up snow and ice, which was a nice change from cleaning up water and drywall chunks inside - both at our place and at our friends' place where I'm house sitting.
It would have been another amazing day in the woods but given that I started antibiotics today, maybe it's time for a break.
It would have been another amazing day in the woods but given that I started antibiotics today, maybe it's time for a break.
3 PM
Strength & Mobility (Snow raking) 15:00 [2]
In the display at the front of their store, Canadian Tire has snow shovels of every size and colour, huge bouquets of snow brushes, and stacks of 20 kg bags of sidewalk salt. After a careful search, I located their only snow rake in the gardening department tucked at the bottom of a big display of summer landscaping tools - because *that's* what we're supposed to be buying now.
It's no wonder I'd never heard of a snow rake! Canadian Tire clearly doesn't care about them. How is it possible that I learned about snow raking from (gasp) an American?!
After I managed to get the 5 meter rake assembled using cartoon instructions, this turned out to be a surprisingly good workout - lots of upper body effort with arms lifted above the shoulders. I was warned not to do much snow raking alone where the roof is steep, and I can see why. The raking set off some avalanches ad brought down a few heavy ice chunks. It is awesome, even though it only removes the snow, not the ice. With the insulating snow removed, I'm hoping some of the thick ice dams will melt in the sun and rain later this week. When 'Bent is home, we can tackle some of the scarier portions of the roof since there will be one spouse available to call 911. ;)
Next step: Locate panty hose to fill with salt, as per Cristina's suggestion. The salt was easier to find than the panty hose since I've used it more recently.
Leak #3 sprung today, this time in a room that has never leaked before, and it's coming out of a light fixture - oh joy. It's been a long time since we've had leaks but we spent a lot of money 10-15 years ago on different contractors who promised to solve our problem in different ways, and finally one of them did - until now. I suspect something went awry when our siding was replaced last year.
It's no wonder I'd never heard of a snow rake! Canadian Tire clearly doesn't care about them. How is it possible that I learned about snow raking from (gasp) an American?!
After I managed to get the 5 meter rake assembled using cartoon instructions, this turned out to be a surprisingly good workout - lots of upper body effort with arms lifted above the shoulders. I was warned not to do much snow raking alone where the roof is steep, and I can see why. The raking set off some avalanches ad brought down a few heavy ice chunks. It is awesome, even though it only removes the snow, not the ice. With the insulating snow removed, I'm hoping some of the thick ice dams will melt in the sun and rain later this week. When 'Bent is home, we can tackle some of the scarier portions of the roof since there will be one spouse available to call 911. ;)
Next step: Locate panty hose to fill with salt, as per Cristina's suggestion. The salt was easier to find than the panty hose since I've used it more recently.
Leak #3 sprung today, this time in a room that has never leaked before, and it's coming out of a light fixture - oh joy. It's been a long time since we've had leaks but we spent a lot of money 10-15 years ago on different contractors who promised to solve our problem in different ways, and finally one of them did - until now. I suspect something went awry when our siding was replaced last year.
Monday Feb 17, 2014 #
Note
Happy Family Day to all!
12 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 1:30:05 [3] 8.13 km (5.4 kph) +175m
slept:7.25
Another bluebird day! We did a lot of bushwhacking through powder in corners of Palgrave West that we rarely visit because they're hard to travel through in summer. It was a great workout to haul ourselves up hills between saplings, relying heavily on our poles.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a binding - and today that was 'Bent. So we made our way to the nearest broken tracks and enjoyed an easier ski home. Conditions are still absolutely perfect!
I'm still not feeling 100% but 'Bent is well on his way to recovery. We weren't healthy enough to do any big expeditions over the long weekend but given our two leaky ceilings, we needed to be close to home anyway. I'm house sitting for a friend who also has a leak so I'm getting pretty good with the buckets and towels.
Although I continued doing 5K+ on foot outdoors this weekend, I decided on Friday that two weeks was long enough for this year's February Challenge so I'm not going to make any special effort to keep it up. Time for different priorities in the second half of the month.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a binding - and today that was 'Bent. So we made our way to the nearest broken tracks and enjoyed an easier ski home. Conditions are still absolutely perfect!
I'm still not feeling 100% but 'Bent is well on his way to recovery. We weren't healthy enough to do any big expeditions over the long weekend but given our two leaky ceilings, we needed to be close to home anyway. I'm house sitting for a friend who also has a leak so I'm getting pretty good with the buckets and towels.
Although I continued doing 5K+ on foot outdoors this weekend, I decided on Friday that two weeks was long enough for this year's February Challenge so I'm not going to make any special effort to keep it up. Time for different priorities in the second half of the month.
Sunday Feb 16, 2014 #
2 PM
Snowshoeing hills 1:59:35 6.03 km (19:50 / km) +285m 16:02 / km
slept:8.5 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Another gorgeous day! 'Bent, BazingaDog and I went snowshoeing at Glen Haffy. We mostly bushwhacked up and down hills in deep snow; it felt like we had big suction cups on our feet! That was just to get a better workout though; there are several nice snowshoe tracks to follow.
Photos of a boy and his dog. Oh, and also his wife.
Photos of a boy and his dog. Oh, and also his wife.
Saturday Feb 15, 2014 #
4 PM
Snowshoeing (Trailbreaking) 11:00 [2] 0.7 km (15:43 / km) +20m 13:45 / km
slept:6.75
Warm-up and cooldown to and from the main trails, mostly breaking trail in powder.
5 PM
Snowshoe Running 48:12 [3] 6.0 km (8:02 / km) +105m 7:23 / km
shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Sunset snowshoe run around Palgrave East and West on another beautiful day. Technically, today would be more beautiful if 'Bent and I were both feeling 100%, and if water weren't leaking from our ceiling into buckets in two different rooms on opposite sides of the house. But I digress.
I met a friendly fat biker and a couple of hikers accompanied by an outgoing vizsla dressed in a fashionable coat. Other than that, no one was out. I'd foolishly forgotten my gaiters and had to stop a few times to remove ice chunks from my shoes. I ended up with a blister on my heel anyway - entirely my fault so I can't complain too much. Lots of fun anyway!
I met a friendly fat biker and a couple of hikers accompanied by an outgoing vizsla dressed in a fashionable coat. Other than that, no one was out. I'd foolishly forgotten my gaiters and had to stop a few times to remove ice chunks from my shoes. I ended up with a blister on my heel anyway - entirely my fault so I can't complain too much. Lots of fun anyway!
6 PM
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
Friday Feb 14, 2014 #
5 PM
XC Skiing - Classic 47:03 5.51 km (7.0 kph) +95m
slept:7.0
I was close to dropping out of the February Challenge after a busy day that included a walk-in clinic visit to get an opinion on the almost-but-not-quite cold I've had for the past 4 weeks. I suspected an inner ear problem, and the doc suspects the same. Hey, maybe when I get better, my balance exercises will seem easy! My poor Valentine 'Bent was hit hard with a real cold yesterday so our holiday weekend will include even more Olympic TV watching than expected.
I knew skiing would make me feel better so I took BulletDog for a quick sunset tour of Palgrave West on tracks that a few of us have made. If you look up "Joy" in the dictionary, there's probably a photo of BulletDog leaping about on a snowy day so it's very rewarding to have her company. For the first half, she insisted on running in the tracks ahead of me. Unfortunately, I had better glide than she did so I had to stay alert and ready to stop or veer to the side. Because she's 11, we took a few breaks to let her catch her breath. Then the little ingrate pooped in the tracks. Twice! With a whole forest available on either side! So I had to do some extra trail clearing work - sigh. At least she had fun.
And then home to watch the latest incarnation of the Curse of Canadian Male Figure Skaters at the Olympics. A silver medal is still a win but oh my gosh, that was heartbreaking.
I knew skiing would make me feel better so I took BulletDog for a quick sunset tour of Palgrave West on tracks that a few of us have made. If you look up "Joy" in the dictionary, there's probably a photo of BulletDog leaping about on a snowy day so it's very rewarding to have her company. For the first half, she insisted on running in the tracks ahead of me. Unfortunately, I had better glide than she did so I had to stay alert and ready to stop or veer to the side. Because she's 11, we took a few breaks to let her catch her breath. Then the little ingrate pooped in the tracks. Twice! With a whole forest available on either side! So I had to do some extra trail clearing work - sigh. At least she had fun.
And then home to watch the latest incarnation of the Curse of Canadian Male Figure Skaters at the Olympics. A silver medal is still a win but oh my gosh, that was heartbreaking.
8 PM
Note
News from Sochi: Based on her first two Olympic races, an excited Brittany Webster has been assigned to the anchor leg for tomorrow's XC ski relay! She was added to the Olympic team at the 11th hour when other countries decided not to use all their spots, and she's not on Canada's national team at the moment. This must feel so sweet. :)
Thursday Feb 13, 2014 #
Strength & Mobility (Core) 21:00 [2]
Hard Core Live with Caron.
Power Yoga 52:00 [1]
I was tempted to stay home and watch Olympics but I really needed to stretch everything out so I'm glad I went - even though tonight was one of Caron's "Hard, Harder, Hardest" sessions.
11 AM
Note
Who does UTMB? In 2014, about 40% of race starters will be men aged 40-49. Half the participants come from France or Spain although 67 nationalities will be represented on the start line. Per capita, there are twice as many Canadians as Americans.
One statistic is *very* different from North American ultras. Only 8% of us are women. Last year was the same, and I felt like I'd gone back to engineering school all over again!
http://ultratrailmb.com/page/227/Statistiques_insc...#
One statistic is *very* different from North American ultras. Only 8% of us are women. Last year was the same, and I felt like I'd gone back to engineering school all over again!
http://ultratrailmb.com/page/227/Statistiques_insc...#
12 PM
Running (Country Road) 1:07:08 [3] 10.27 km (6:32 / km) +171m 6:02 / km
slept:6.0 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
Snowy, icy road run in brilliant sunshine. It felt great to bump up the distance a little. I tried to focus on strong feet and strong core, both of which are central in my physio exercises. There isn't much traffic but it still feels a little too much like Russian Roulette on blind hills with the big snowbanks we have right now. I'll need to find another way to do runs over 5K.
1 PM
Note
Tree Huggers alumnus Brittany Webster kicked butt today in the Olympic Women's 10K Cross-Country Classic event. She was the top Canadian of four women and finished 42nd of 75. At this level, a top 50 finish is a reasonable goal for her so this was a triumph. For once, we got lucky with the coverage, which featured her skiing into the stadium and around to the finish line. Yay!
Wednesday Feb 12, 2014 #
3 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 1:21:08 [3] 7.02 km (5.2 kph) +149m
slept:6.0
Another ski around Palgrave West on a bluebird day. I purposely didn't rewax my skis, thinking that I could get an extra upper body workout. It worked. At least 2.5 km of this ski could have been logged as "Floundering in Knee-Deep Powder Without Grip - Level 5". Some of that was bushwhacking on the west side of KBash Woods, where I haven't explored in a couple of years. Still waiting to win the lottery so I can buy that 100 acres some day. (And since I never buy a ticket, it will be a very long wait.)
I spent another 1.5 km on trails where I was the second skier on shin deep, powdery tracks, and about 3 km on faster tracks that had been skied by several people. I met the conservation area staff on the Bruce Side Trail with chainsaws, which bodes well for the future. Palgrave Forest and Wildlife Area is still closed due to hazard trees so they were polite but not effusively friendly. I suppose they'd rather not have to worry about skiers when they're knocking trees down, and that's fair enough!
I spent another 1.5 km on trails where I was the second skier on shin deep, powdery tracks, and about 3 km on faster tracks that had been skied by several people. I met the conservation area staff on the Bruce Side Trail with chainsaws, which bodes well for the future. Palgrave Forest and Wildlife Area is still closed due to hazard trees so they were polite but not effusively friendly. I suppose they'd rather not have to worry about skiers when they're knocking trees down, and that's fair enough!
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014 #
5 PM
Running (Country Road) 38:17 [3] 6.0 km (6:23 / km) +74m 6:01 / km
slept:7.0 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
Sunset run on snowy roads. I was feeling good after Dr. Bell tried to bend and break me earlier today. It's cool that he can show me physical proof of changes over the past 3 months - improved range of motion, etc. I can also see changes in my physio exercises, e.g. my bad foot is now better at some things than my good foot so I need to work equally on both sides. It hasn't been a quick fix but things are moving in the right direction.
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
Monday Feb 10, 2014 #
Note
Seen on Twitter: "Russia has oligarchs but Canada has moguls." :)
12 PM
Snowshoeing (Deep Snow) 1:24:35 5.03 km (16:48 / km) +103m 15:15 / km
slept:7.5 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Thanks to the February Challenge, I had to drag my tired, post-race legs outside to do 5K of something! BulletDog and I went snowshoeing on and off-trail in Palgrave West on another snowy, sunny day. Most of the time we were breaking trail, even on the Bruce Side Trail where I'd expected it to be packed down. Most areas off-trail were so deep that I had to fight to lift my knee for each step. Hello, hip flexors! I love that kind of snowshoeing but it takes forEVER to do 5K of it, and I had to monitor how hard BulletDog was working too. At age 11, she needs breaks (even though she doesn't know it) so I mixed in some trail sections to let her catch her breath.
3 PM
Strength & Mobility 10:00 [1]
Snow shovelling and firewood hauling logged @50%. No longer is 'Bent's van snowed into the garage, and if there is a fire, we can now get out the side door.
6 PM
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
Did all my physio in preparation for tomorrow's appointment with Dr. Bell. There has been a lot of improvement over the past month, however, running is harder on my foot than anything else so I'm still worried about it.
9 PM
Note
Training advice for walking in ultras with a couple of UTMB references. Canadian ultrarunner Charlotte V. has done these treadmill sessions, and now she just glides uphill when she's hiking.
http://ultra168.com/2014/02/10/walking-in-ultras-s...
http://ultra168.com/2014/02/10/walking-in-ultras-s...
Sunday Feb 9, 2014 #
Note
Stars W.A.R. photos from Nick - thanks!
10 AM
XC Skiing - Classic race (Groomed & Ungroomed) 3:00:16 [4] 23.18 km (7.7 kph) +346m
slept:5.75
Stars W.A.R. - winter adventure race
'Bent's GPS track
http://ar.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?sessioni...
Nick must spend all year thinking up clever twists for this fun ski and snowshoe navigation event. Seriously! He's probably staying up late tonight to jot down a few ideas for the next one.
'Bent and I were racing together and spent awhile yesterday planning gear options. We knew we were getting separate ski-O and snowshoe-O maps, both of them score-O style. Nick confirmed that racers could pick up controls from either map using skis or snowshoes. We had some extra gear with us depending on how the race course turned out, but our default plan was to ski with snowshoes in our backpacks so we wouldn't need to come down the escarpment to transition. We hoped to start with the ski-O map and ski to as many controls as possible, even off-trail where we could, and we'd drop our skis so we could snowshoe to controls when necessary. We wanted to front-load our race with skiing since there would be nicely broken snowshoe trails to most of the controls later on, and the snow was deep!
The race course design fit well with our tentative plan. There were several combinations of controls where the point values were doubled if we hit them in a particular sequence without hitting any other controls in between. This was a neat idea that motivated competitive teams to go back and forth on the map since they couldn't pick up all the controls in a particular section at once. Teams with less energy didn't need to bother doing that.
Only a few teams started on skis, including Mick and winter-loving Harps. 'Bent and I decided to go for some bonus points, which meant a lot of skiing early on until we'd visited 4 controls in sequence. We hooked up 'Bent for towing when we had long, flattish stretches but my skis were faster than his so I had to be careful not to crash into him! We broke trail on some marked shortcuts between main ski trails but the snow was so deep that it wasn't always faster.
Leaving from the northwest corner of the black skate trail, we were able to ski to one of the snowshoe controls, then we dropped the skis and snowshoed to two more controls before returning for our skis. (So technically, I should be logging 1 km of snowshoeing that took us 20 minutes but it doesn't seem worth it!) We decided to take another long ski to get 239 on the east side - a 50-pointer - but we probably should have descended the hill and picked up controls on the flats instead. At most, we could have scored 30 more points (less than 5% of our total) so it wasn't a big deal.
We arrived at the finish 16 seconds late, incurring a 10 point penalty in exchange for our final dash to pick up a 20-pointer.
What a fun day! So many different strategies, teams spread out all over the course, perfect winter conditions, lots of controls in different terrain. Thank you, Nick and FunRun for all your work! Great to chat with friends afterward too.
We'd missed seeing an SI punch that was hanging away from a flag, so we'd hand-punched a box on our map instead. Thus our results weren't fully automated, and we benefited from an adjustment after the awards ceremony. Final tally - 670 points, 2nd Masters, 6/22 overall. Congrats to Frankenjack and Getwaystix on blowing the field away with another win!
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B74L7H_66ec-TzBkZ0...
P.S. After telling DD11 how to lock his Ambit so the button wouldn't get bumped during races with bushwhacking, guess who forgot to do it this time. So I've got 2/3 of the race logged but I had to use 'Bent's numbers.
'Bent's GPS track
http://ar.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?sessioni...
Nick must spend all year thinking up clever twists for this fun ski and snowshoe navigation event. Seriously! He's probably staying up late tonight to jot down a few ideas for the next one.
'Bent and I were racing together and spent awhile yesterday planning gear options. We knew we were getting separate ski-O and snowshoe-O maps, both of them score-O style. Nick confirmed that racers could pick up controls from either map using skis or snowshoes. We had some extra gear with us depending on how the race course turned out, but our default plan was to ski with snowshoes in our backpacks so we wouldn't need to come down the escarpment to transition. We hoped to start with the ski-O map and ski to as many controls as possible, even off-trail where we could, and we'd drop our skis so we could snowshoe to controls when necessary. We wanted to front-load our race with skiing since there would be nicely broken snowshoe trails to most of the controls later on, and the snow was deep!
The race course design fit well with our tentative plan. There were several combinations of controls where the point values were doubled if we hit them in a particular sequence without hitting any other controls in between. This was a neat idea that motivated competitive teams to go back and forth on the map since they couldn't pick up all the controls in a particular section at once. Teams with less energy didn't need to bother doing that.
Only a few teams started on skis, including Mick and winter-loving Harps. 'Bent and I decided to go for some bonus points, which meant a lot of skiing early on until we'd visited 4 controls in sequence. We hooked up 'Bent for towing when we had long, flattish stretches but my skis were faster than his so I had to be careful not to crash into him! We broke trail on some marked shortcuts between main ski trails but the snow was so deep that it wasn't always faster.
Leaving from the northwest corner of the black skate trail, we were able to ski to one of the snowshoe controls, then we dropped the skis and snowshoed to two more controls before returning for our skis. (So technically, I should be logging 1 km of snowshoeing that took us 20 minutes but it doesn't seem worth it!) We decided to take another long ski to get 239 on the east side - a 50-pointer - but we probably should have descended the hill and picked up controls on the flats instead. At most, we could have scored 30 more points (less than 5% of our total) so it wasn't a big deal.
We arrived at the finish 16 seconds late, incurring a 10 point penalty in exchange for our final dash to pick up a 20-pointer.
What a fun day! So many different strategies, teams spread out all over the course, perfect winter conditions, lots of controls in different terrain. Thank you, Nick and FunRun for all your work! Great to chat with friends afterward too.
We'd missed seeing an SI punch that was hanging away from a flag, so we'd hand-punched a box on our map instead. Thus our results weren't fully automated, and we benefited from an adjustment after the awards ceremony. Final tally - 670 points, 2nd Masters, 6/22 overall. Congrats to Frankenjack and Getwaystix on blowing the field away with another win!
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B74L7H_66ec-TzBkZ0...
P.S. After telling DD11 how to lock his Ambit so the button wouldn't get bumped during races with bushwhacking, guess who forgot to do it this time. So I've got 2/3 of the race logged but I had to use 'Bent's numbers.
Saturday Feb 8, 2014 #
Note
Caledon's Brittany Webster competed in her first Olympic event today: the 15K Skiathlon. She was 2nd of 3 Canadians, 51st of 61 skiers. I'm hoping we can see her cross the finish line at the next race. The cameras left the finish line for awhile to follow the leaders and returned in time to show the arrival of 53rd place. So close! Oh well...
11 AM
Running (Country Road) 34:28 [3] 5.32 km (6:29 / km) +69m 6:05 / km
slept:7.5 shoes: Salomon Snowcross
Road run that felt like a trail run on a snow-covered gravel road with only 3 cars in 35 minutes.
Friday Feb 7, 2014 #
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 15:00 [1]
slept:6.25
9 AM
Snowshoeing (Deep Snow) 1:32:24 5.35 km (17:16 / km) +157m 15:03 / km
shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Manisa invited 'Bent and me to go snowshoeing behind her place on the same big block of private land where we skied with GYaneff a few weeks ago. It was a perfect winter outing - sunshine, deep snow, trail breaking, hill climbing, views, running downhill in powder, bushwhacking, open fields, wind chill and conversation.
12 PM
Note
First Ascent of Mount Driveway.
10 PM
Note
UTMB Race Reconnaissance and Ultra Preparation with Kilian Jornet and Seb Chaigneau.
http://www.overstims.com/Race-reconnaissance-part-...
http://www.overstims.com/Race-reconnaissance-part-...
Thursday Feb 6, 2014 #
5 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 55:16 5.36 km (5.8 kph) +85m
slept:6.5
I've been taking part in the February Challenge group on Facebook. The founder of the Challenge, Ken N., suggests that people set a minimum distance of 5K to run each day but participants modify the challenge to suit their circumstances. The non-negotiable part is that you have to do some minimum distance every day. My version of the challenge is to do at least 5K on foot outdoors every day - running, skiing or snowshoeing.
Time was tight so I snuck in a ski around Palgrave West at sunset, mostly breaking trail through dense snow over my boots (oops, forgot the gaiters) and enjoying 2K broken by 'Bent on his commute this morning. I met 'Bent and BulletDog skiing home from work. At 11 years old, BulletDog doesn't get to go to work as often as BazingaDog but she looked very proud and energetic coming home after her day as Official Dental Dog.
Time was tight so I snuck in a ski around Palgrave West at sunset, mostly breaking trail through dense snow over my boots (oops, forgot the gaiters) and enjoying 2K broken by 'Bent on his commute this morning. I met 'Bent and BulletDog skiing home from work. At 11 years old, BulletDog doesn't get to go to work as often as BazingaDog but she looked very proud and energetic coming home after her day as Official Dental Dog.
7 PM
Strength & Mobility (Core) 18:00 [2]
Hard Core Live with Caron
8 PM
Power Yoga 55:00 [1]
Lots of hip and shoulder stretching and strength. Given that I yanked my torn rotator cuff in an unfortunate ski pole incident today, I had to back off on a few things but it was a great class otherwise.
9 PM
Note
10 Reasons Not to Run an Ultramarathon :)
http://trailrunnermag.com/training/ultrarunning/ar...
#7 It’s unhealthy.
It is absolutely impossible and preposterous for someone to run 100 miles in a day without stopping. It has NEVER been done before. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You will be crippled. Ask your doctor. Your knees will lock up forever. The last step you ever take will be across the finish line and then you are DONE. People don’t even like driving 100 miles! Don’t do it. You’ll probably die.
http://trailrunnermag.com/training/ultrarunning/ar...
#7 It’s unhealthy.
It is absolutely impossible and preposterous for someone to run 100 miles in a day without stopping. It has NEVER been done before. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You will be crippled. Ask your doctor. Your knees will lock up forever. The last step you ever take will be across the finish line and then you are DONE. People don’t even like driving 100 miles! Don’t do it. You’ll probably die.
Wednesday Feb 5, 2014 #
2 PM
Snowshoeing (Deep Snow) 1:35:31 5.14 km (18:36 / km) +131m 16:29 / km
slept:7.5 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
Another day, another blizzard. The first order of business was to excavate the pile of snow by our front door to find my rugged MSR Denali Ascent snowshoes. When we bought them a long time ago, we bought the add-on flotation tails to make them 20 cm longer in deep snow. Although I've carried the tails around as emergency gear, I've never installed them before. Today seemed like a good opportunity. It took some fussing and forcing to get them to click into place, even indoors with warm hands, but finally I headed out.
Maybe they work better in the mountains but I lasted a grand total of 6 minutes before returning to ditch them. The tails have no teeth so they slide easily, like skis. Not surprisingly, the snowshoes tilted forward because my feet were attached near the front so I felt like I was going to pitch onto my face. I also kicked myself hard in the ankle a few times but I can't blame MSR for that! :) If I'm going to snowshoe in deep snow very often, I'll need to dig out my big old wooden snowshoes.
Naturally, I couldn't get the stoopid tails off so I had to excavate deeper into the pile of snow by our front door to find 'Bent's snowshoes. Success.
Travel was extremely slow and absolutely wonderful. Snow was still falling, and it was so deep that it was like walking with anvils on my feet at times, even with the help of snowshoes.
Mostly I explored off-trail in Palgrave West. Even though I'm there most days and would usually be able to pinpoint myself exactly on the orienteering map, there were a couple of times when I was wandering in areas that are difficult to travel through in summer, and I didn't recognize where I was. I wasn't concerned, just followed random routes and animal tracks until I hit a familiar place. In both cases, I was a little surprised by where I ended up. Cool.
I spent a bit of time creating a snowshoe track beside 'Bent's ski tracks, hoping to attract people on foot to walk on my trail instead of his.
Note to GHOSLO: I think I may have found Lawren Harris' "Winter Woods". ;)
The snow stopped shortly before I finished.
Maybe they work better in the mountains but I lasted a grand total of 6 minutes before returning to ditch them. The tails have no teeth so they slide easily, like skis. Not surprisingly, the snowshoes tilted forward because my feet were attached near the front so I felt like I was going to pitch onto my face. I also kicked myself hard in the ankle a few times but I can't blame MSR for that! :) If I'm going to snowshoe in deep snow very often, I'll need to dig out my big old wooden snowshoes.
Naturally, I couldn't get the stoopid tails off so I had to excavate deeper into the pile of snow by our front door to find 'Bent's snowshoes. Success.
Travel was extremely slow and absolutely wonderful. Snow was still falling, and it was so deep that it was like walking with anvils on my feet at times, even with the help of snowshoes.
Mostly I explored off-trail in Palgrave West. Even though I'm there most days and would usually be able to pinpoint myself exactly on the orienteering map, there were a couple of times when I was wandering in areas that are difficult to travel through in summer, and I didn't recognize where I was. I wasn't concerned, just followed random routes and animal tracks until I hit a familiar place. In both cases, I was a little surprised by where I ended up. Cool.
I spent a bit of time creating a snowshoe track beside 'Bent's ski tracks, hoping to attract people on foot to walk on my trail instead of his.
Note to GHOSLO: I think I may have found Lawren Harris' "Winter Woods". ;)
The snow stopped shortly before I finished.
Tuesday Feb 4, 2014 #
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 25:00 [1]
slept:6.0
Bellxercises - to borrow a phrase from FB.
Note
Treadmill 1% incline myth has been debunked again. Unless you run faster than 7:09 miles (a little over 4 mins/km). And some of you do.
http://www.runnersworld.com/treadmills/biomechanic...
http://www.runnersworld.com/treadmills/biomechanic...
12 PM
Snowshoe Running 41:00 [3] 5.0 km (8:12 / km) +80m 7:36 / km
shoes: Speedcross 3 Climashield - pur
1 PM
Snowshoeing 1:01:26 [2] 3.33 km (18:27 / km) +110m 15:50 / km
shoes: Speedcross 3 Climashield - pur
Snowshoe tour of Palgrave East and West. I included a 5K snowshoe run in the middle but what I really love to do on snowshoes is random bushwhacking, sometimes following animal tracks. With the snow this deep, it's not possible (for me) to do that while running. So I compromised by doing long forest bushwhacks for my warm-up and cool down. More snow on the way - wow.
4 PM
Note
From the Globe and Mail: Childless Couple gets Grief for Posting too many Vacation Photos on Facebook
They received an anonymous letter from a "friend": "It’s a little upsetting seeing, hearing and reading about someone’s vacations all year while we all can’t afford one,” the letter read. “Go have some kids and don’t be so selfish as to only think of yourselves all the time."
Uh oh! I post most of my photos here, not Facebook, so I hope I'm not offending any AP friends. I guess the people who don't like that stuff don't read this log anyway.
On Facebook, it is also fair to say that some people post too many photos of their kids. In case you're wondering if it's you, it's not - at least not if you're one of my Facebook friends. The APers I know exercise restraint on FB and often leave me wanting to see more photos. (Especially Leanimal!) However, I've had to hide the status updates of some FB friends who share every single kiddie detail on a near-daily basis. I usually reinstate them after toilet training is complete. By that time the novelty of parenting has worn off a bit, and the details they share aren't as gross. :)
They received an anonymous letter from a "friend": "It’s a little upsetting seeing, hearing and reading about someone’s vacations all year while we all can’t afford one,” the letter read. “Go have some kids and don’t be so selfish as to only think of yourselves all the time."
Uh oh! I post most of my photos here, not Facebook, so I hope I'm not offending any AP friends. I guess the people who don't like that stuff don't read this log anyway.
On Facebook, it is also fair to say that some people post too many photos of their kids. In case you're wondering if it's you, it's not - at least not if you're one of my Facebook friends. The APers I know exercise restraint on FB and often leave me wanting to see more photos. (Especially Leanimal!) However, I've had to hide the status updates of some FB friends who share every single kiddie detail on a near-daily basis. I usually reinstate them after toilet training is complete. By that time the novelty of parenting has worn off a bit, and the details they share aren't as gross. :)
Monday Feb 3, 2014 #
Note
slept:7.75
News for people collecting UTMB points... In the past, if you saw a race on the qualifier list for last year, you could write the organizers and get it added to this year's list without too much trouble. But now they are re-evaluating the point values of qualifying races so if you don't see your event on the 2014 list, you need to contact the folks at UTMB to get the ball rolling.
I had been looking at the Bel Monte Endurance Run, where several Ontarians have earned UTMB points in the past. In 2013, the 50-miler was worth 2 points and the 50K was worth 1 point. Although the race course hasn't changed, the UTMB folks have changed their opinion on its level of "semi-autonomy" (course layout and frequency of aid stations). It turns out that in 2014, the 50K isn't worth anything, and the 50-miler is worth only 1 point.
You can write UTMB directly with race details to try to get it added to the list of qualifiers. You may need to involve the RD if info is missing from the website, but RDs don't always care whether their event is a UTMB qualifier so if it matters to you, it's easier to take the lead on it. More info is here.
http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/17/Qualifying_rac...
I had been looking at the Bel Monte Endurance Run, where several Ontarians have earned UTMB points in the past. In 2013, the 50-miler was worth 2 points and the 50K was worth 1 point. Although the race course hasn't changed, the UTMB folks have changed their opinion on its level of "semi-autonomy" (course layout and frequency of aid stations). It turns out that in 2014, the 50K isn't worth anything, and the 50-miler is worth only 1 point.
You can write UTMB directly with race details to try to get it added to the list of qualifiers. You may need to involve the RD if info is missing from the website, but RDs don't always care whether their event is a UTMB qualifier so if it matters to you, it's easier to take the lead on it. More info is here.
http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/17/Qualifying_rac...
12 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 1:12:25 7.31 km (6.1 kph) +123m
Mid-day ski around Palgrave West on one of the most beautiful days all winter. (I've probably said that a dozen times this year so far!) I stopped in a few places to look at the scenery. Our tracks from yesterday were reasonably quick but it was just barely possible to see dimples in the fluffy snow where we'd made tracks on Saturday. So today was a mix of trail breaking and track skiing. Some snowshoers had trampled three abreast and ruined our ski tracks on the Bruce Side Trail but 'Bent reported that they had cleaned up some big fallen trees so they are officially forgiven!
There's a big widowmaker on Thinker's Hill so we'll have to steer clear on windy days.
There's a big widowmaker on Thinker's Hill so we'll have to steer clear on windy days.
8 PM
Strength & Mobility (Physio logged @50%) 5:00 [1]
Foothab. Just in the past week, I've felt a change in my injured foot. Less pain, duller pain when I get any, more arch strength. Maybe I'll be fixed some day...?
Sunday Feb 2, 2014 #
Note
slept:8.25
Running Strength - Sheldon Persad http://www.personalbest.ca/workouts-events-camps/m...
11 AM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 1:05:18 5.46 km (5.0 kph) +135m
The snowstorm ended during the night, then Groundhog Day dawned cloudy. I don't think any groundhog saw his shadow in Caledon but apparently Wiarton Willie did, which means 6 more weeks of winter in Bruce County. No risk of running out of places to ski anytime soon!
'Bent and I did a lot of trail breaking on skis, including bushwhacking through rolling forest in snow that sometimes went up to our knees. Not fast but loads of fun. Amazingly, we met someone *else* bushwhacking on skis with two dogs bounding alongside. 'Bent knew him - Steve, the Wheelies' tenant.
Conditions are unbelievably good, and there's more snow in the forecast for Wednesday. I never say this but we don't really need any more snow - not that I'll complain if it comes. This weekend's Stars W.A.R. is going to be a blast!
'Bent and I did a lot of trail breaking on skis, including bushwhacking through rolling forest in snow that sometimes went up to our knees. Not fast but loads of fun. Amazingly, we met someone *else* bushwhacking on skis with two dogs bounding alongside. 'Bent knew him - Steve, the Wheelies' tenant.
Conditions are unbelievably good, and there's more snow in the forecast for Wednesday. I never say this but we don't really need any more snow - not that I'll complain if it comes. This weekend's Stars W.A.R. is going to be a blast!
2 PM
Running (Drills) 30:00 3.0 km (10:00 / km)
Strength & Mobility 50:00 [2]
A group of adventure racers descended on Sheldon Persad's Mini Day in Markham - Funderstorm, BugsinTeeth, WandAR, 'Bent and me. These are 90-minute running strength sessions that Sheldon (coach and co-owner of Personal Best with Barrie and Caron Shepley) puts on three times over the winter. 'Bent and I attended one last year and really enjoyed it. It's a fun mix of balance, agility, running drills, strength, stretching and a quick evaluation of running form flaws. Nice group of runners - lots of laughs. Great to have some friends there this year.
We will have to exchange some e-mails to try to list everything we did. Sheldon suggested doing something similar twice a week at home. I have no idea how to log it so I'm logging part of it as running drills and the rest as strength, with a little time deducted for water breaks, etc. No idea on distance but I'm trying to log distance with all my running this year so I picked a number.
In Sheldon's quick analysis of my running form, he noticed that my left arm doesn't move as much as my right arm, which felt obvious as soon as he mentioned it. Interesting because it's my left foot that is injured, and I've been favouring it. Given that arm and leg movements are related, that may be the cause. When we did a test, my left leg appeared to be dominant. That's interesting too because Dr. Bell said I'm mostly a left-footed runner, which seemed weird since I know I haven't been pushing off properly from the injured left foot. But that could be why that foot gets into trouble.
Afterward, we stopped by Running Free. (Actually, we went there before the session too but I had a nice chat with Billy Wells instead of looking around one of my favourite stores.) I decided to try on Hokas so I could run around the store and feel those thick soles I've heard so much about. No dice. Hokas don't fit my feet. I'm so used to being able to wear every type of Salomon shoe that it hadn't occurred to me that I might have a Salomon foot! Oh well, there are worse problems to have. :)
We will have to exchange some e-mails to try to list everything we did. Sheldon suggested doing something similar twice a week at home. I have no idea how to log it so I'm logging part of it as running drills and the rest as strength, with a little time deducted for water breaks, etc. No idea on distance but I'm trying to log distance with all my running this year so I picked a number.
In Sheldon's quick analysis of my running form, he noticed that my left arm doesn't move as much as my right arm, which felt obvious as soon as he mentioned it. Interesting because it's my left foot that is injured, and I've been favouring it. Given that arm and leg movements are related, that may be the cause. When we did a test, my left leg appeared to be dominant. That's interesting too because Dr. Bell said I'm mostly a left-footed runner, which seemed weird since I know I haven't been pushing off properly from the injured left foot. But that could be why that foot gets into trouble.
Afterward, we stopped by Running Free. (Actually, we went there before the session too but I had a nice chat with Billy Wells instead of looking around one of my favourite stores.) I decided to try on Hokas so I could run around the store and feel those thick soles I've heard so much about. No dice. Hokas don't fit my feet. I'm so used to being able to wear every type of Salomon shoe that it hadn't occurred to me that I might have a Salomon foot! Oh well, there are worse problems to have. :)
Saturday Feb 1, 2014 #
11 AM
Snowshoe Running 1:00:39 6.52 km (9:18 / km) +86m 8:44 / km
slept:7.0 shoes: Salomon XR Crossmax CS pink/gr
BulletDog and I went snowshoe running in Palgrave West a few hours into our Snowfall Warning. There's lots more to come, and then I'll want to go skiing. :)
The Bruce Side Trail was nicely runnable in most places - 5-10 cm of fluffy snow on top of packed snow. When we *weren't* on the main trail, we were breaking trail in dense powder ranging from ankle to knee deep. I tried to run as much as possible but some of it got quite anaerobic, even just walking. I'm still teetering on the edge of illness so I didn't want to push too hard.
We met 'Bent and BazingaDog skiing home from the office. Joyful greetings were exchanged by all.
The Bruce Side Trail was nicely runnable in most places - 5-10 cm of fluffy snow on top of packed snow. When we *weren't* on the main trail, we were breaking trail in dense powder ranging from ankle to knee deep. I tried to run as much as possible but some of it got quite anaerobic, even just walking. I'm still teetering on the edge of illness so I didn't want to push too hard.
We met 'Bent and BazingaDog skiing home from the office. Joyful greetings were exchanged by all.
6 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Ungroomed) 46:28 4.04 km (5.2 kph) +86m
Easy ski, breaking trail through Palgrave West. I left at sunset without a headlamp, much to 'Bent's chagrin. It worked, just barely, because of the reflection from the snow although the last part of forest was fairly dark. ('Bent helpfully texted me on the trail to point this out.) I had my iPhone flashlight just in case but it never got to that point.
Our neighbour's big searchlight was easy to see from a long distance - grrr. These are the same neighbours who started the 70-acre forest fire a few years ago by burning waste on an empty lot owned by someone else who wasn't happy about it. Some people may not be cut out for country living. If you need to install 4 bright streetlights along along a relatively short driveway, and you need to leave them on all night, and you don't care that they ruin the night sky for yourself and your neighbours, then maybe you'd be happier in a big city where seeing the night sky was never an option. But I digress... It was a lovely ski, and the snow was still falling gently. And our other neighbours are all fantastic.
Our neighbour's big searchlight was easy to see from a long distance - grrr. These are the same neighbours who started the 70-acre forest fire a few years ago by burning waste on an empty lot owned by someone else who wasn't happy about it. Some people may not be cut out for country living. If you need to install 4 bright streetlights along along a relatively short driveway, and you need to leave them on all night, and you don't care that they ruin the night sky for yourself and your neighbours, then maybe you'd be happier in a big city where seeing the night sky was never an option. But I digress... It was a lovely ski, and the snow was still falling gently. And our other neighbours are all fantastic.
9 PM
Note
Welcome to February - looks like the trend is continuing!
