Training Log Archive: Bash

STORM and 'Bent had planned a Hockley Loop so I invited Browner to join AdventureDog and me for a Hockley Provincial Park run. I figured we could get in some great climbs in preparation for the Dolomites but we couldn't do the entire Hockley Loop since we wouldn't want the boys to wait around. Well, I got half the plan right... :)

It was a surprisingly beautiful day on the trails. We had sunshine in spite of a rainy forecast, and our Kahtoola Microspikes worked well on the deadly skating rink hills. It was great to catch up with Browner. AdventureDog behaved really well.

I figured the guys would take longer than usual in the icy conditions, and since 'Bent's previous PR for Hockley was 2 hrs 40 min, we would need to add about 50 mins to the usual HPP run. So we checked out the 3rd Line hill, which is accessible from the Hockley trails; I've always wanted to record it on my Ambit. It turns out to be a 100 m climb in 1.5 km but it's a twisty gravel road so we had to watch for traffic - not that we saw much. Next time I think I would only do a repeat from the northern trail access (80 m climb in 1 km).

Then we headed back via Hockley trails. After all our climbing, the last 5 kms seemed to go on forEVER. (Sorry, Browner!!) AdventureDog was the only one who held his pace and I had to push to stay close to him to make sure he didn't scare any hikers on the ice. (It's surprising how many people are afraid of dogs so I always want to be close enough to call him back and grab his leash.)

Unfortunately (?) STORM and 'Bent set a new PR for the Hockley Loop of 2:29 (!!!!!) so they had a loooong wait at the parking lot while Browner and I hauled ourselves over the final few hills and dreamed of our upcoming brunch at the Black Birch.

We exceeded our goal of 600 m vertical by a lot, thanks to my over-enthusiasm. Looking at the GPS track, I can see ways to increase the average climb per km. We did 723 m in 20-ish km today. At Lavaredo, there will be 250 m more climb in 20 km on average. Yikes.

This was a heavy training week with a focus on hills - 2450+ m in the past 7 days, all within an hour of home. I guess there will need to be a lot more of that! Looking forward to an easy week coming up. :)

'Bent, Coach LD and I drove up to Highlands Nordic early to catch the cooler part of the day. The temperature was forecast to rise above freezing by 11 a.m. and stay up there until Monday night. Sigh.

Classic track conditions were variable - mostly hard, sometimes icy, sometimes blown in with powder since the wind was so strong. I had moments of good grip but mostly it was a day for good glide and lots of herringbone. For the last 6 km, I switched to waxless racing skis. They felt slow but it was a treat to be able to kick and glide with every stride.

Sudden, Lia, and Dr. and Dr. Tarno were there enjoying the snow. It was great to have company for our carpool. Thanks for sharing your snacks, Coach LD!

Tonight's Robbie Burns dinner featured a few Attackpointers, past and present.

Our hosts, Goose and Coach LD



'Bent and Mike



In addition to this fashionable outfit, I also had a plaid cape (aka our Christmas tree skirt).



Most importantly, Crash cooked the haggis!

'Bent and I went to Mississauga for a session with Jeff Stapleton, the running coach I saw last week. It was fun and we've got a bunch of exercises to work on. I got a full length pair of Barefoot Science inserts so now I'll be able to try them in all my shoes to see if they work for me.

Caron's Hard Core class

Class

Mrs. Gally was craving some winter and I was craving more hills so we did a snowshoe trek (with a little downhill running) around the Anderson Tract - the northeast corner of the Hockley Loop known for the *tches.

We mostly bushwhacked. In most of the forest, there was just enough snow to use snowshoes but they kept us above the woody debris and the big cleats were essential on the steep slopes where we were slipping and grabbing saplings. In this terrain, the Ambit distance measures low. I'll be interested to see what Mrs. Gally's Garmin recorded.

Note to runners: This part of the Bruce Trail is currently less icy than Hockley Provincial Park since it is less used. I probably wouldn't need Kahtoola Microspikes for traction in here right now, although they would be fine. I would want spiked shoes or Yaktrax for occasional ice patches on the steep hills.

We were aiming for 500 m of elevation gain but when we got to 535 on our way back to the cars, of course we had to go for 600 m because we like nice round numbers. We rewarded ourselves with a yummy lunch at the Hockley General Store. Hope Mrs. Gally made it back to work in time!

AdventureDog and I ran a different Hockley Provincial Park route, skipping the first side trail to get more elevation for the same distance. Earlier this week, there was a lot of rain followed by a freeze and a light dusting of snow.

As of today, parts of the Hockley trails are runnable in regular shoes but there are many patches of rock-hard ice, especially on hills, and enough rocks and roots have been exposed that it could really hurt to fall. I used Kahtoola Microspikes with Speedcross and had perfect traction. I don't think spiked shoes would have been enough for me on the worst bits.

I noticed the tracks of other trail runners ahead of me. A couple of them used Yaktrax - regular and running style - and someone appeared to have a pair of homemade screw shoes. I noticed some of their tracks slipping on steep hills but their dog had terrific traction, as did mine. :)

On the way home, I stopped for a couple of errands. AdventureDog slipped out of his car harness like a little Houndini and ate $10 of Gorgonzola cheese packaged in a large amount of Saran wrap. :( So now we're on "watch" for a few days.

Rain turned most of our snow into slush, puddles and ice. There were wind warnings nearby and we got some wild gusts for about 5 hours in the middle of the day. It's the first time in 1.5 years that I seriously considered the treadmill. But I want to be comfortable running in every kind of weather so I forced myself out the door and - as always - it really wasn't that bad once I got outside. The road was a mix of ice, goopy mud, slush and gravel - not quite a trail run but close, and safer on a windy day.

22 weeks till Lavaredo - yikes!

Instead of circuit training tonight, we did everything on the floor or on our mats, sometimes using sliders or Tabatas to up the ante.

I'd brought the Tree Hugger princess tiara from the Dollar Store, which we used to keep in a gear bin to remind us all to "suck it up, princess". It was a hit! Several of us took turns wearing the tiara for different exercises we found tough. It works best when people volunteer for it. When you're already wearing the tiara, you can complain as much as you want!

Ontario Ultra Paddling Points Series - cool!
http://oupps.ca/

On the way back from town, I tried my new skates at the Palgrave Mill Pond. I had the place to myself on a sunny day - awesome! I'll need thicker socks but the skates worked pretty well. It's been years since I've had freshly sharpened skates so when I tried my first spin, I went down instantly.

This is such a nice outdoor skating pond, managed by a volunteer in the community known as the Palgrave Angel with some assistance from the Rotary Club. There's a barrel full of hockey sticks, a container labelled "Pucks", a few benches, half a dozen nets on 4 cleared rinks, a skating loop, a few shovels and a porta-potty. I'll take some photos next time.

O Cup #4 - TOC
Earl Bales Park

Great to see so many friendly faces on a Sunday morning. When we got the maps, I saw that my handicap wouldn't be a big help on this race course, which made for a relaxing - if sometimes inattentive - run.

Conditions sure were different from the last time I raced at Earl Bales in deep, heavy snow. Some of the ground was bare and frozen but there was a thin layer of snow in the woods with patches of ice all over the place. I was really glad to have metal spikes! Some of the slopes were steep and slick, and I was super cautious and even sat down and slid a few times. An injury now would be really bad timing for Lavaredo. The uphills felt decent and I may have done the first pull-ups of my life using saplings. ;)

The terrain was surprisingly varied for a small city park and the course design was interesting. Congrats to Mick on his victory and a big thank you to Wilberto, Barbara, Amber, Malcolm and Svatka for their hard work!

Making progress with the pain and immobility around the first metatarsal on my left foot. I haven't seen Dr. Bell in a long time but I still do his kinesiologists' exercises, although not often enough.

This one's for Harps.

First trip to Highlands Nordic this year! We bought our season's pass back in April but there haven't been many snowy days when we've been able to get up there. Lots of friendly faces - Almageddon, Dr. and Dr. Tarno, and Mr. and Mrs. Sudden and Lia.

Naturally, I kicked off the season with a skate ski because it's my absolute favourite thing.

And then I switched to classic skis - ahhh. :) It was a spectacular day with snow coating the trees, ice crystals drifting down and sunlight making it all glitter.

It was the first time I'd used my good racing skis since the Birkebeiner and apparently, I've forgotten how to wax. Very little grip but at least my glide was excellent from the leftover professional Norwegian wax job. I wasn't carrying the warmer grip wax that would have solved the problem but on the bright side, it forced me to focus on technique to eke out every little bit of grip.

It didn't matter though... it was beautiful and a ton of fun! Looking forward to getting back out again soon.

We went to check out the Hockleycrest Trails I discovered on Facebook this week. You couldn't wipe the big, silly grins off our faces. It was so exciting and unbelievable to discover a previously unknown XC ski network just 15 minutes from home in an area that tends to get more snow than we do. I was jumping up and down in excitement (just before I fell on some ice) saying, "This changes everything!"

There isn't much snow anywhere right now so the trails haven't been groomed recently but there is terrific signage with some "you are here" map boards spread through the network. The Bruce Trail and its side trails form part of the network so some trails are a little treacherous (hilly and twisty) like parts of Kolapore but there are also relatively flat trails for less experienced skiers. There will be a nice skate practice loop when a little more snow falls.

We met the Tai Chi maple syrup crew and learned that you can buy maple syrup there in the spring. Bonus!







There is no charge to use the trails but there is a donation box and a strong recommendation to purchase a Bruce Trail membership, which is fair enough (we have one).

I loved skating as a kid and I'm a fan of competitive figure skating but it's been years since I've had skates that didn't hurt my feet and freeze them. So even though I barely skate anymore, I splurged on these "recreational" figure skates lined with Thinsulate. I won't be doing any triple axels in them but if they make skating more comfortable, hopefully I'll do it more. There is a natural ice rink in the hamlet of Palgrave when conditions are good so I'll have to see if it is open!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/reebok-boa-figur...

P.S. I see Canadian Tire has just knocked 30% off - probably as soon as they saw me leave the store.

Foothab

Orienteering Ontario TOC O Cup #4 is this Sunday in Earl Bales Park in North York. Hope to see you there!
http://torontoorienteering.com/wp/?page_id=899

AdventureDog and I went to Glen Haffy for a Bruce Trail run hoping for better conditions than Palgrave since it's 100 m higher in some areas even though it's only a few kms away. It was great!

We unexpectedly met Slowrunner at the start so we ran together and chatted for the first 3 km as she warmed up for her hill repeats. Big feathery snowflakes swirled all around.



(AdventureDog was having more fun than his facial expression shows. He didn't like stopping for even a minute.)

A-Dog and I continued across Coolihan's Sideroad while Slowrunner turned back toward her hill. It was a winter wonderland! There were small spots of exposed, rock hard ice on some of the hills so I had to be careful but there were far more times when I was slogging through 15-20 cm of fluffy powder. It would be great to ski over there right now.





I hope I held back from running long enough to allow my cold to recover. I did an abysmal job of that during my Cold-apalooza in the fall. So far, so good but I won't know till tomorrow. I felt surprisingly good - as if the strength training might actually be doing something.

I fixed a small section of the data where I forgot to turn on my GPS after stopping to play "Chase the Snowball" with AdventureDog.

The infamous Tabata version of Caron's core class. There was some whimpering in the back row.

Tougher-than-usual yoga class with pose progressions. Lots of strength-y stuff.

Excited! A Facebook post just led me to discover the Hockleycrest Ski Trails blog.

If you've run the Hockley Loop, you've seen Dave's Pinnacle and Sally's Pinnacle on the southeast corner. Dave Moule and Sally Cohen are tremendous supporters of the Bruce Trail who live on the east side of Airport Road.

Goose and I met Dave out doing trail work a few years ago and he mentioned that he was trying to set up some skiable trails around the Bruce Trail where it passes through his farm. I thought he just meant some self-groomed trails for his own family's exploration, similar to what we have around here. But it turns out there are now groomed trails for skate and classic with daily snow condition reports, just 15 minutes from our place - and we didn't know! I doubt there is any fee although I'm sure Dave will want users to buy Bruce Trail memberships.

Looking forward to checking them out! Coach LD, have you been there?

Caron's boot camp with 'Bent

At the silent auction at the C3 banquet, I bought a session of running analysis and coaching with Jeff Stapleton, a coach and exercise physiologist in Mississauga.
http://www.naturalrunning.ca/Bio.html

I used the certificate today. Coach Jeff is a barefoot runner, which isn't my thing, but I hoped there would be common ground, and there was. He identified some of my weaknesses, most of which I was already familiar with, and it was interesting to see his different ways of addressing them. He's very energetic and enthusiastic - always moving, e.g. "Run backwards beside me, matching my stride!"

One of the themes was fighting my body's tendency to hunch forward - to slouch, sit at a desk, drive a car, ride a bike, etc. There were a number of exercises and stretches that extended my spine and pulled my shoulders back. By the end of the session, when he tried some of the same tests on me, I could feel I was more "vertical" and balanced. (Then I hunched over the steering wheel and drove home from Mississauga.) It's great to have some things to work on and I'm going to take 'Bent with me for a joint session next time.

Although he didn't sell me on running Lavaredo barefoot, I did buy some of his Barefoot Science insoles, which Dr. Larry Bell had mentioned before too.

Thanks to Hermes' talented brother Derek, I've added a few photos to my Snowshoe Raid report.

Not surprisingly, my cold flared up a bit after yesterday's race. 'Bent and I went for a family snowshoe hike with BazingaDog and AdventureDog. There's a lot of ice around here, most of it hiding under a few cms of snow. :(

DontGetLost Snowshoe Raid - 10th Anniversary Edition

Hard to believe it's been that long! In the early days, results were calculated from manual punch cards (an experience I was lucky to enjoy) and we were all packed like sardines in the Horseshoe Valley XC Ski Chalet. It was tons of fun back then and Bob keeps finding new ways to make it fun and different. A few people have returned to race all 10 years, including APers AdventureGirl!, Hammer and Timato. Thanks for all your work on SSR, Bob and DontGetLost.

Dee and I teamed up once again and worked through a few different strategies. One of the twists this year was that Matrix points could only be claimed if we returned to the Aid Station at the northeast corner of the Matrix within the first 2.5 hours. After a longer uphill run from the start than planned (the buses couldn't get up the hill to the intended start), we entered the Matrix.



Dee went to 2 and 9 while I picked up 1, 4 and 6. I was surprised to see so few other people in this section, and I did more trail breaking than expected.

We'd picked a somewhat daring meeting point - the place where the east-west trail south of 9 (hopefully visible in the snowy terrain) left the forest and entered a rough open area. I had a false alarm on my way there when I reached a different rough open area. The trail wasn't there and I couldn't leave the Matrix box without my teammate, so I scrambled along a snowy slope to stay on the legal side of the line - until I realized my error and headed south again. We arrived at the designated spot at the same time - phew.



With Simpy, Jocelyn, Mrs. Tiny and Heidi, we headed south along the fence line to 191, then continued south to the valuable 224 and 201. We met Hermes and DoubleDown along the way. Dee and I used our incoming snowshoe tracks to leave 201 and travel most of the way to the snowmobile trail where we ended up back with most of the same crowd. Hermes and DoubleDown took off at high speed, and Simpy and Jocelyn weren't far behind. We headed to the hilltop of 236 with Mrs. Tiny and Heidi. We were far enough ahead of schedule that we briefly considered going east to 234 but fortunately talked ourselves out of it.

From here, we planned to go due north to the Aid Station for our post-Matrix check-in. We picked up 242 on the way, then did the agonizing climb up the escarpment to the Bruce Trail. Dee has an injured hamstring that is extremely painful and the hill climbs were particularly hard on her today. She is so tough though! Luckily, that was our last big climb for the day.



Mrs. Tiny and Heidi had the same plan until this point and we were pleased to see them turn east when we got up to the plateau. They are a faster team with excellent navigation so we had no chance unless our routes diverged at some point.

We ran up to the aid station, punched in our five Matrix controls and headed east to pick up controls on top of the escarpment. We figured this would be safer in the later stages of the race since it would be easier to estimate our time to the finish without any big climbs to worry about. The overtime penalty was large this year - 30 points per minute - so no one wanted to be late.

We visited 231, 230 and 229, then we hopped on the Bruce Trail and ran around to 227 at the lookout. We made a tough call to get 225 (50-pointer with a 35 m descent/ascent) instead of the closer 228 (25-pointer). After that, we knew it would be a push for the finish. Our original plan was to approach the finish by following the Bruce Trail from the east but that committed us to running all the way through Petun Conservation Area within the 3-hr time limit, and I chickened out.



So we ran west to the Aid Station, then north to the bend in the road before diving into the conservation area for 186 and 190 on our way to the finish. Timato and Nosnhoj flew past us on the final downhill, looking great on their way to a podium finish.

It was such a great time playing in the snow and my teammate was awesome as always. If we had it over again, I think I'd choose the same route - and it's not often I say that. We were both warm enough, we both forgot to eat, and I didn't drink nearly enough since I had trouble reaching the mouthpiece through my new hose insulator. Further experimentation is required.

Huge congrats to Harps and Logie on the overall win out of 96 teams with 1475 pts! Such sweet irony that the victory went to a man who hates winter. ;) Congrats to Hammer & Tarno and Timato & Nosnhoj for completing the overall podium, and to Gally & STORM and Hermes & DoubleDown who rounded out the top five. Trav & Christian were 6th overall, Dee & I were 7th with 1,000 pts, and Mrs. Tiny & Heidi were just 25 pts behind in 8th - yay, girl power! 'Bent and BGY would have been next if they hadn't arrived 3 minutes late - but they did, so they were 15th.



The weirdest highlight of the day was finding a compass draped over a branch in the middle of the woods. We decided to bring it back for the Lost & Found. Turns out, it was Bob's compass from setting the course!

I almost never take BazingaDog into the woods by myself but he looked *so* sad and bored that I had to try.

He is 90 lb of pure muscle with 4-leg drive and unpredictable bursts of power in random directions. It's risky to hold his leash in your hand since he can yank it out so 'Bent usually puts a harness on B-Dog and attaches it to himself using a strong waistband. There's supposed to be a quick release but I couldn't find it. On the bright side, if B-Dog had taken off, they would have found my body attached to him.

I was just planning an easy snowshoe trek to avoid aggravating my cold. Having B-Dog attached added some extra balance and strength work to the mix. Other than the moment when he rolled in deer poop, it went pretty well - always on the edge of something dangerous possibly happening but it never did. Maybe I'll risk it again sometime. He will be 5 in March so he is past the craziest part of his puppyhood.

Guess I'd better come up with something in January even though I don't have any big ideas.

Year End Review, Part 3 - 2016 Training Goals

1) Races
- Finish Lavaredo Ultra Trail (119 km) in June and at least one other ultra.
- At least one other 24+ hr event that isn't an ultra, e.g. an adventure race, rogaine, mountain marathon or Muskoka River X.

2) Health - same goals as last year, just keep improving
- Average 7 hrs sleep daily.
- Get down to race weight by March 31 (8 lb down from Jan. 1 weight).
- More protein in diet (Need to revive long lost cooking skills - I've been spoiled by my non-meat eating chef, 'Bent.)

3) Targets
- 200 hrs of running + snowshoe running
- 80 hrs of strength training, physio exercises and yoga
- 550 hrs of total training

4) Work from a written training plan each week.

5) Plan more mini-adventures like our Killarney Loop trek and New Year's Eve winter camping trip. There aren't as many ARs on the calendar as there used to be but Ontario and surrounding areas are still full of adventures and fun, adventurous people!

Sore throat started mid-afternoon. Noooo!!

AdventureDog and I went for a midday ski in Palgrave West. I did more trail clearing in new areas but was able to enjoy the benefits of yesterday's work too. We did a little bushwhacking that involved way too much scrambling over fallen trees. We only have about 8 cm of fluffy snow on top of ice, frozen ground or forest debris so I guess it's better to stick to trails for now. Beautiful day. AdventureDog loves skiing although sometimes he gets excited and runs uphill toward me while I'm skiing down. Luckily, I missed him every time.

Sunset/moonrise ski out the back door - the way winter is supposed to be! I wondered if I was being too pessimistic by choosing rock skis but the snow wasn't very deep even though it was fluffy and beautiful. This was only Level 2 because I stopped about 30 times to move sticks and logs off the trail, but that's a good investment for the future. Wonderful.

C3 Boot Camp, which is the real deal - as in, the couple I usually work out beside are both military commanders. I am getting stronger! Except my abductors. They are feeble. Here's the one I was really bad at. Caron made us do a lot of them - "then hold for 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, then lift...."

Event: OOA O Cup
 

OOA O Cup #3

We awoke to grey skies and pouring rain so I wondered what it would mean for O Cup attendance. Impressively, the vast majority of racers showed up - even the ones who signed up late and hadn't paid yet. I'm proud to be part of a community of so many adventurous people!

I like days like this since it forces me to test clothing and gear that I might need if I encounter these conditions in the wilderness or in a race. I couldn't remember the last time I put on rain pants, even though they've often been in my pack just in case. I didn't race in them; it was actually quite warm if you were moving - but chilly when you stopped, especially soaking wet.

Harps, DoubleDownon_11 and Sid had worked hard to put this event together on behalf of Orienteering Ontario with support from DontGetLost. It was loads of fun! We were parked at an arena so we could go indoors to change and get warm but it only took a few minutes of running before we were splashing through creeks and scrambling up mucky slopes on our hands and knees, grasping at saplings so we didn't slip backward. It was such crazy "little kid" fun that I burst out laughing a few times.

It's not a huge area and much of it is flat, but the designers had used it well and created an interesting course with lots of variety. I ran slowly in the sloppy conditions but I mostly ran in the right direction and took advantage of my large handicap so I think I finished in the top 10.

As always, it was great to see friends in real life instead of online. Huge thanks to Mrs. DD11 (Lex) for the delicious chili. Between that, the hot chocolate and a couple of cookies, I was too full to go out for lunch.

Thanks to all the organizers for a morning of slip-sliding fun. I wish mud runners and obstacle racers could try a race like this - the real deal instead of a "canned" adventure challenge.

Year End Review, Part 2
Report Card on 2015 Training Goals

I finished my two major goal races - the Birkebeiner (54K classic ski loppet) and the Eiger Ultra Trail (101K mountain run, shortened to 90K due to a dangerous storm).

Even though it's been on my list for the past few years, I realized partway through 2015 that I didn't really want to run 100 miles. I wanted to run UTMB because it was a cool experience, not because of the distance. So I didn't achieve that goal but that's OK. I might try a 100-miler again some day but not just to go that distance.

I averaged 6.6 hrs of sleep daily - less than my goal of 7 hrs - but I smartened up and averaged 7 hrs of sleep for the last 12 weeks of the year. There's nothing like a good illness to inspire you to take better care of yourself.

I added a little more protein to my diet but not enough. That will be on the list again this year. I need to cook more.

I missed some of my training volume goals - by activity and overall - largely due to a nasty upper respiratory bug that hung around for October and November, turning into bronchitis along the way. When I felt better for a few days, I'd make the mistake of pushing too hard, then I'd get sick again. It's hard to be patient.

The one thing I didn't even try to do was write a couple of missing race reports, both from Aug. 2014 (UTMB and World Rogaining Champs) before a tough autumn. Even though it's long past the time when anyone else would care, I like looking back, checking details and looking at photos. So that still needs to happen.

This year's overall Training Goals Report Card grade is "Meh"+, a bit better than last year.

Slush, ice and mud run from our place to the Caledon East Community Centre to hear the lunchtime speaker at the C3 Mega Day. 'Bent was there for the morning bike trainer session so I carried a backpack with a change of dry clothes and shoes, knowing I could get a ride home. It was a surprise treat to see Bill Trayling and chat for awhile.

We got some detailed info on sports nutrition and hydration from the Canadian distributor of Infinit Nutrition. I asked if he could highlight any new info on sports nutrition that reflected a recent change in thinking. He said that top athletes are able to process more calories than previously thought; Lionel Sanders (Ironman winner) can take in 500 calories per hour, all in liquid form. Someone like me will probably be fine with the 200-ish calories that I usually aim for though.

Seen on Twitter: 'Marriage is texting each other "Do we need anything from the grocery store?" a bunch of times until one of you dies.' ;)

Fun Friday night snowshoe expedition with Funderstorm and Mrs. Tiny. We wandered around the southeast corner of the Hockley Loop where there are several Bruce Trail side trails as well as the main trail. There are some steep hills since there are old ski resorts on either side of 5th Line. We mixed it up with some bushwhacking, trail hiking and mountain climbing - at least, that's what it felt like. We found all kinds of interesting animal tracks and some gorgeous trees. It's a pretty area, even in the dark!

Mrs. Tiny had never been to the Black Birch restaurant so we corrected that problem. Fun evening out - thanks for making the trip, ladies. :)

You can register until midnight for the Orienteering Ontario O Cup #3, happening conveniently (for many of you) in Oakville this Sunday morning.

This is the first-ever Harps-DoubleDown-Sid joint venture. Come on out and show them some love!
http://www.orienteeringontario.ca/wp-content/uploa...

P.S. There are rumours of delicious post-race chili.

Another headlamp run in Palgrave West. If there was any doubt, this confirmed that running on our lumpy, crusty trails without snowshoes is bad for my knee. I'll have to focus on trails that are better used and have a more even surface, like many in Palgrave East. Or maybe winter will come so I can ski!

Caron's core class. Ouch. She said this one might hurt more in class but we should have fewer sore muscles later. We'll see...

First class of our winter session. I had to coddle my knee here and there.

It's slower running on snowshoes - especially off-trail - but it's easier on my sore knee. AdventureDog and I did a quick tour of Palgrave West, turning on a headlamp for the final km.

Pushed hard - this felt like a good workout. I'm trying to do more paddling to make up for the fact that I haven't been doing any skiing. I'm getting ready to use poles for mountain running later this year. I listened to another TA1 podcast. Eventually, I'm going to remember the World Champs as well as JayXC does. ;)

Miscellaneous - deadlifts, calf lifts, physio. I was trying to limit myself to muscles that I didn't push too hard last night at boot camp. I discovered that my calves *did* get used so the calf lifts didn't last very long.

Year End Review, Part 1:
2015 Training Hours by Activity
Kinda boring unless you are Future Me looking back on this.

Top Five (with 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets):

1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 188.5 hrs (204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
2) Strength + Yoga - 65 hrs (65.5, 52, 36, 30)
3) Trekking - 64.5 hrs (38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)
4) XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 60 hrs (38, 45.5, 55, 28)
5) Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 37.5 hrs (34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)

Total Annual Training Hours = 494.5 hrs (470, 557, 505, 612)

It's mind blowing that I spent more hours O-volunteering in the past two days than I spent doing the sport last year! I didn't do any 24-hr rogaines, which normally bump up my orienteering hours.
Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 13 hrs (57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)

Training was pretty much on track until mid-September, then went off the rails until December due to a combo of demanding volunteer projects and 2+ months of a bad cold that dragged on and turned into bronchitis.

My big races were the Eiger Ultra and the Birkebeiner ski loppet, and this year's training activities reflected that. Some winter running time was replaced by classic skiing but I felt equally well prepared for summer mountain running. Skiing is more fun and lower impact; too bad there hasn't been enough snow to do the same this year.

The big increase in Trekking hours can be attributed mostly to our hike around the La Cloche Silhouette loop, although I've been including hilly treks in my training program because longer ultras include hiking.

I'd like to fit in more mountain biking. The huge drop in hours in recent years is linked to the types of events I've been preparing for, not a lack of interest.

Yay, Obama.

Headlamp trail run on hard, lumpy snow crust. My knee is sore again so I don't think it likes the lumps. The smoother Dundas Valley trails didn't bother it. Aside from that, it was a great run - very chilly but my layers worked well.

I was happy to have spiked shoes except for one moment. I began to step over a shin-high wooden barrier to enter the conservation area, and one of my spikes got caught in the wood just as I shifted all my weight forward. There was a moment of complete disbelief when I couldn't move my raised foot so I pitched forward over the barrier into one of my famous face plants. Kinda funny.

Caron's boot camp night. The problem with vacations is that they give her too much time to think! 'Bent kicked me in the stomach with both feet when we started a partner exercise - a technique issue. Better me than someone else, I guess!

7th Annual Waterfalls of Hamilton Run

Thanks once again to Trav and Baloney for generously hosting this fun and highly delicious event to kick off the New Year.

AdventureDog and I ran mostly solo around the Dundas Valley, hiking most of the steeper hills. I chose a non-standard route around Hammer's excellent new map to prevent ADog from taking off to find 'Bent and the Fast Boyz. I tried to measure the full height of K2 with my Ambit but it looks like the trail is under construction at sea level so we didn't quite get it all. I think we'll need to come back for some winter hill training since the Dundas Valley trails stay in better running condition than the ones around here.

After the run, we were treated to the usual amazing feast of excellent coffee, waffles, baffles, bagels, soup and much more. AdventureDog was a good party guest - nice to see that. It was great to chat with old friends and meet some new ones. After hearing about so many interesting plans for 2016 (at least two guests are aiming for the Olympics - wow!), I'm feeling inspired for the year to come.

'Bent, BazingaDog, AdventureDog and I went to the Anderson Tract in Hockley Valley, aka the home of the Three B*tches. We climbed a bunch of hills since we need to get our bodies ready for real mountains in the spring. Nice family outing!

Happy 2016! We awoke to a lot more snow - and it was still coming down, as was our tent.







We learned the down side of our enthusiastic snow shovelling when we put up the tent yesterday - lots of snow to be shovelled again today. In these photos, Browner and Storm were shovelling away the snow we'd piled onto the flap around the bottom edge of the tent to stop air leaks.





It felt like quite an accomplishment to take down the tent, fold it up and squeeze it into its bag with poles.



We took down our own tents and got ready to snowshoe back to the vehicles.









It was a spectacular morning to hike out.













We took a shortcut across a wetland. I think there's a boardwalk here in summer but I guess they remove it. It was a little risky!







We said goodbye to Goose and Coach LD at the parking lot.

Our hike out was so fast that Browner, Storm, 'Bent and I decided to do a short snowshoe bushwhack to enjoy the snow a little longer. Then we headed to Gravenhurst for a big Second Breakfast.

New Year's Winter Camping: The Video
Great job, 'Bent!