Training Log Archive: Bash

Kristy's TRX Boot Camp - Decided not to do the double boot camp tonight because I'm doing Stars W.A.R. with 'Bent this weekend, i.e. not at my pace!

If you're looking for a different workout, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is currently live on Facebook with a State of the Union Physical Fitness Test. The Late Show staffers are doing flies in this photo because he said "America". They just finished a bunch of burpees because he said "Immigration" and "Crime" a few times. Much healthier than the drinking games some American friends were planning.

Btw "Tweet Squats" are squats where you hold your smart phone in both hands and use it as you squat.

Snowshoe run around Palgrave West with AdventureDog - probably the best way to enjoy 8 cm of fluffy new snow on top of glare ice and lumpy frozen crust. I planned to do a few repeats of uphill strides at the end but I felt so tired running up Raspberry Hill the first time that I just headed for home. Sunday's run is still in my legs! It was a spectacular winter day that reminded me of why we named this trail the Charlevoix Route.

Fun, chatty long run with Browner in the Hockley Valley. There was lots of ice on the trails, particularly when we got into the park, so we ran in Kahtoola Microspikes except for the gravel road sections. It didn't feel as bad as I was afraid it might, which is a good sign. We had a yummy brunch at the Black Birch afterward.

Fortunately, *one* of us made sure our STORM buff showed up in the photo. ;)

AdventureDog and I ran around Palgrave West on a glorious day. Unfortunately, the footing was less glorious. The surface was a mix of hard crust, breakable crust and rock-hard glare ice hidden under a skiff of snow. We didn't always stay on trails and we did 500 meters of nasty bushwhacking in one area.

Other than that, I was pleased with the run; it's a slow pace for most people but under these conditions, it's a good pace for me and - more importantly - I felt great. I have a 60K race coming up next month and haven't trained the way I usually would. I have no ambitions other than not hurting myself but that is a very important ambition!

My regular boot camp with Kristy. More cardio than usual. I got light headed during the burpee sequence.

I stayed for Caron's Bike Boot Camp, which happens 15 minutes after my usual boot camp. This was an attempt to compensate for skipping my long run on Sunday after KingIsak chased me to the finish line and used up all my energy for the day.

This boot camp is designed for weight loss so it was constant cardio as we moved back and forth between the bikes and strength exercises on the mat and floor. I will do both classes in the same evening again but it was surprisingly tough so it's not a decision to take lightly, i.e. I can only do it if I'm feeling good, and I should probably not run 10K in an icy forest as a warm-up!

This is the part of the Bike Boot Camp where we did strength exercises. I feel wiped now so apparently this was a good evening.

BazingaDog had minor surgery today and is doing well. When the vet called me to pick him up, I discovered that our road was sheer ice. Stupidly optimistic, I used my AWD to drive up Noxon Hill, which committed me to going the rest of the way to the highway because there was no way I could come back down. Conditions improved a little after the next terrifying downhill but maybe it just seemed that way because it was flat. On the way back, I drove a long way around to the other end of our road but it was blocked with pylons because three cars were stuck on that section. So I drove back around to our usual route and took the flat part of our road to the Palgrave East forest parking lot, where I abandoned my car. Then BazingaDog and I did a 1 km run/hike home on the icy road, diving into the snow bank when a police car, tow truck and Fedex truck (?!) went by.

Toronto O Cup #3
Erindale Park, University of Toronto - Mississauga
Official race time was 38:16 but I'm using GPS time here.



This is an interesting place for orienteering with a mix of forest, steep slopes and a university campus. We ran directly from the start into the first of two O Cup boxes and everyone had to descend a steep, slippery slope to reach the open flats by the Credit River. Because we'd been told the pre-race briefing would be held indoors before the start, I'd decided not to wear spikes. That was a mistake; it was a perfect Snowcross day. After some skidding through snow and mud on the first steep slope, I decided to toboggan down part of it on my bum. It worked.

There were lots of large burrs in the first O Cup box but I think the orienteers have got it all cleared out for U of T now. After visiting B and A, I scrambled back up the slope where there were 7 mandatory controls around the university buildings and open spaces. I like campus sprints and this part went well until I couldn't see #6 where I expected it. Then KingIsak dashed in toward the control, which was blocked from my view by a tree. I punched right behind him, then we headed in opposite directions to get around a wide building to reach #7. I got there first by a few meters and he called out, "Left was better!" Then we headed opposite directions into the 2nd O Cup box and the race was ON.

I ran almost half a kilometre in the snow beside an icy trail on my way to control "a", then descended a steep slope to the flag. I especially regretted my footwear choice in this section! When I scrambled back up the hill, I saw two runners through the trees heading right to the place where I expected control "b" to be. Perfect, I wouldn't even need to look at the map again! But when the runners emerged from the trees, they turned out to be deer. To their credit, they *did* run right past the control.

Then there were just 3 more campus sprint controls, two of them in snow off-trail. I had been waking up the controls so I knew I was in the lead but there was a 400 m run to the finish on pavement after the last control so anything could happen. I heard footsteps behind and didn't dare look back - just ran as fast as I could. I made it with KingIsak just a few seconds behind saying, "I've never seen you run that fast!" It was fun to be pushed that hard. Based on his handicap, he could have dropped more controls so he could have won easily.

Great fun - thank you, TOC!
Results

I'd planned to do a 2-hour run later in the day but there was no way. I don't usually run O Cup races at high intensity and I felt totally knackered by mid-afternoon. So I did Rodney Yee Yoga for Flexibility - better than nothing.

Snowshoe run at Scenic Caves, mostly on packed trail although we snuck off-trail for a little more fun. Beautiful day - although much too warm for January. We had a tight schedule with a furniture delivery promised some time in the highly convenient 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. time window.

Family dog hike from THABC just after sunset. We found a trail near the bottom of our street that links Cranberry golf course to the Georgian Trail, which will be awesome - at least in winter. The snow was soft so chasing AdventureDog got my HR up a bit. Eventually I put my headlamp around his neck so I could see him when he dashed off ahead or into the bush. Poor BazingaDog still has to walk on leash.
(GPS data is adjusted since I messed up the start/stop.)

TRX Boot Camp with Kristy - lots of balance built into tonight's strength moves. I really need that, especially on my right foot - the one that is now my gimpy foot after years of my left foot holding that honour.

I finally wrote up the Snowshoe Raid - busy week! Lots of photos, none of them mine. :)
https://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/pe...

Skied around Palgrave West with AdventureDog. The snowy forest looked amazing but ski conditions weren't great because the flash freeze created a rock hard layer beneath about 8 cm of snow. We had fun but now I'll wait for more snow.

4 X 4 min intervals while catching up on Jamil Coury's videos.

Then I cooled down with this.

Hike with 'Bent and dogs to explore around the new Tree Hugger Advanced Base Camp in Collingwood.

Dontgetlost Snowshoe Raid
Pretty River Provincial Park

Browner and I teamed up for one of the chilliest Snowshoe Raids ever!

AG! got some great pics from the start. The fresh snow in the forest was spectacular.





There had been a lot of rain followed by a flash freeze so the streams were running and the snow was heavy beneath a fluffy surface layer. Conditions weren't fast but we moved pretty well.

(The next photos are Derek Carpenter's.)



We did a loop of controls in the northeast, then made our way down the western half of the map until #50, when we headed to Pretty River Road. (I'll photograph the map and add it later.) Everything went smoothly except for valuable #53 where I led us off the trail too early and happily trotted up a spur when the contours actually showed a reentrant if the map was read correctly. We lost about 10 minutes but it was a 100-pointer so it was worth the extra time.



The grand finale of our plan involved crossing the Pretty River in the southeast part of the map close to the finish line to get 40 and 41. We'd planned this to be 25% of our point total so everything was built around having enough time for it.

I don't mind crossing streams in winter but the recent rains had raised the river level so there was rushing current with some open water and - more concerning - patches of ice over and under the water. Browner and I spent 13 minutes walking and running along the river bank and one of its tributaries, looking for a safe crossing point. We tested the crossing of a minor feeder stream where I broke through ice in my snowshoes and went in knee deep. We weren't keen to take the risk with the river itself and many other teams made the same decision. A few did cross, including both our husbands! Unfortunately, there weren't any other controls nearby so we headed for the finish early.





It was a fun, beautiful day in the woods and our truncated route earned us the female masters win.

Congrats to STORM and Gally, who took the overall victory in a field of 101 teams!



And congrats to 'Bent and Hammer, who placed 2nd overall in spite of their late arrival and sizeable penalty.



I love these game faces!



Congrats also to Mrs. Tiny and Heidi, who were 1st of 41 female teams.



Big thanks as always to Bob and his team of volunteers for a terrific time and a challenging race course. It's never easy and everyone has fun!

2018 opened up wide this morning when I was unsuccessful in the CCC (101K race at UTMB) lottery. It was my 2nd consecutive attempt so I had 2 tickets and about an 80% chance of getting in, and I hadn’t spent any time considering alternatives. Time to start! I’ll need to think about earning qualifying points again too. Boo.

Looking forward to future training opportunities and explaining some missed training over the last couple of months, here's my Christmas present to myself:



Although the jacket and sunglasses will continue to be used on most winter days, this is a (distant) photo of a dog-friendly condo in Collingwood that will allow 'Bent and me to extend our maximum-8-hours-away-from-home window to new parts of Ontario. We love Caledon and will stay home most weekends but this is close enough that we can even go for a day trip, hike the dogs, then go exploring in new territory. The paddling, swimming and hill training are better than home so we might get there more often in summer than winter since we don't downhill ski or snowboard. A number of outdoor friends are up there regularly, and we're looking forward to spending more time with them and with visitors to our guest room.

The condo closes tomorrow, it's completely empty, and we've invited STORM and Browner to stay with us this weekend for the Snowshoe Raid. So I have a few tasks on my to-do list but it's all good stuff. :)

'Bent and I met Browner, STORM, Funderstormin', DD11 and T Rex Breakfast at Albion Hills for some fat biking in the cold. The boys and girls split up for most of the ride.

I started out riding T Rex's husband's Norco, size medium, and it worked well for me. I don't think a fat bike is in the cards but I'll remember that in case I get a chance to rent one some place else.

The company was excellent and the Albion Hills were as hilly as advertised.





For the first hour, I used a Darth Vader mask since I've been feeling the beginnings of frostbite lately. After that, my cheeks felt warm enough to handle the cold so I got rid of it.



The guys found us and we rode a final short lap together before the rental bikes had to be returned (photos "borrowed" from DD11's Facebook).





Browner tried an interesting photography angle; I'm curious to see how it turned out!



This was a good workout! I missed my clipless pedals on the climbs. Great to spend time with friends even if sometimes we were just trudging up big hills together. :)

'Bent, BazingaDog, AdventureDog and I went to the C3 snowshoe trek in Palgrave Forest. The group split up into smaller groups who wanted to go different paces. We teamed up with the Reids, their dog Barley and James Hunter. We kept up a good hiking pace with occasional running on downhills. Our 3 pooches had an amazing time. Our family photo only includes A-Dog's hind end - typical dog posing!

It was a glorious, frigid winter day and there were too many good options. But why make a decision? So I planned a winter triathlon consisting of at least 1 hour each of snowshoeing, XC skiing and running from our house. I set up an indoor transition area where I could change footwear, drink water (which I didn't have to carry) and adjust layers.

The first discipline was snowshoeing. I stayed in Palgrave West and for the most part, I bushwhacked off-trail and it was beautiful. There's a fair bit of fluffy snow so it was a good effort in spite of my slow pace.

The 2nd stage of my triathlon was XC skiing. I stayed on trails in Palgrave East and West, many of which had been well-used by non-skiers so the tracks were virtually non-existent.

While snowshoeing earlier, I kept using my hands to warm up my cheeks to prevent frostbite so I took drastic measures for this round. "Luke, I am your father."



Wildlife highlight: I surprised a hawk who attempted to take off from the snow carrying an eviscerated bunny (I think). It didn't work. Perhaps the dangling piece of intestine threw off his flight path. He landed quickly and casually watched me pass by, hoping I wouldn't get hungry and steal his dinner.

My phone rang near the end. I answered it and it was a research company wanting to discuss "issues that are important in Ontario". I said, "The biggest issue in Ontario is that it feels colder than -30C with windchill and I'm in the middle of the forest with my mitten off because I thought this was a real phone call." He let me go without protest.

Stage 3 was the run. It's not possible to run into the forest from our place right now without trampling ski or snowshoe tracks, so I ran a short distance along our road to get to Palgrave East, where the fat bikers have packed down a lot of trails. The toughest section was the part of Duffy's Lane that is closed in winter; it would be fine for skiing or snowshoeing but it wasn't packed down enough to make running pleasant.

It got dark while I was out there but the coyotes stayed quiet so I managed to stay brave enough to finish the hour instead of dashing for home. This was a fun way to deal with my indecision!

The Glen Haffy lost puppy I searched for on Tuesday was found this morning in apparent good health after 5 nights out in this frigid weather!

An avalanche closed the only road into Zermatt today. This security camera video gives you a feel of what it would be like to be caught in it - something we seldom see in avalanche videos since they're usually taken from a distance. The scary part starts about a minute in.

Foothab basics

Puppy Hunt:

Sierra, a 10-month-old standard poodle puppy, was frightened by another dog in Glen Haffy yesterday and ran away from her owner. As of this afternoon, she had been missing for 24 hours, and there was much online discussion as community members checked out different parts of the park.

Based on the direction she ran, I thought it was worth checking an area away from the main routes - a mix of seldom-used trails and bushwhacking. I'm calling it snowshoe running because I ran when I could but there was some very slow terrain, shin-deep snow and a dicey stream crossing. I'm not sharing my GPS track because part of my route felt like it might be on private property.

I called her name and checked the animal tracks, which were mostly deer. I found evidence of a canid walking alone but the tracks seemed too large for a puppy. It was getting dark and chilly after I checked around the fishing club structures so I bailed out and ran gravel roads back to the car using my headlamp to warn cars and search for poodles. It turns out there was a possible sighting around the same time in a back yard near the northwest part of the park. A resident is sure she saw Sierra with her dog but she ran away when the woman opened the door. We have another extreme cold warning so I hope it's true that she's up there, hopefully heading toward the village of Mono Mills.

Year End Review, Part 1:
2017 Training Hours by Activity + 2017 Report Card
Boring to read unless you are Future Me

Total Annual Training Hours = 468.5 hrs
(495, 494.5, 470, 557, 505, 612)
Target was 525 hrs and I was well ahead of that in mid-September. Then a combination of race organization work and an injury put this goal way out of reach.

The main reason for the decrease in recent years is that I haven't done an overnight or expedition AR since 2013. Excluding AR races, my annual training hours have remained fairly consistent.

Top Five Activities (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets):

1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 222.5
(250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
Training for and running Ultra Tour Monte Rosa put this on top of the list. I hit my 2017 running target but an autumn foot injury prevented me from doing more.

2) Strength + Yoga - 59.5 hrs
(82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
I made a big effort to increase this in 2016 and kept it up until mid-2017 when I got lazy. I felt better when I was doing more strength/mobility/yoga/physio so I'll make that a 2018 goal.

3) Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 53 hrs
(33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)
Yay, new mountain bike! Hoping to bump this higher in 2018. Also, I need to get back on the trainer in winter.

4) Trekking - 47.5 hrs
(10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)
Not a training activity that I plan or think much about but we were lucky to spend time in the mountains this year.

5) Paddling - 32.5 hrs
(17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)
This was a surprise but it shouldn't have been. Paddling hit the top 5 because we did the Big East River X 40K canoe race, Nipika Lodge trip and a 5-day Killarney canoe trip.

Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2017 list:

XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 20 hrs
(30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)
Sadly, it wasn't the snowiest winter. So far, things are looking much better for 2018.

Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 18.5 hrs
(36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)
This may be the first year I did more snowshoe orienteering than regular orienteering - and some of my regular orienteering was in the snow too. For a long time, my orienteering involvement has been mostly volunteering, not doing. That's OK.

Adventure Racing - 8 hrs
(18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)
This is another sport that has become mostly volunteering rather than doing, even though I still think of it as my primary interest. I wish there were more AR events in Ontario. There are so many other fun things to do close to home that it's hard to get inspired to travel a long way for an AR. In the meantime, I'll keep on having random outdoor adventures and training individual AR disciplines. Luckily, AR friends are still willing to join me for adventures!

Overall, I'd say it was a great training year until mid-September. When I came home from Ultra Tour Monte Rosa, I felt good but got consumed by Wilderness Traverse and Star Tracks, and decided it would be OK to take some time off. It felt like my right heel issues were caused by some tightening up or scar tissue resulting from that period of low activity - not by UTMR. My left ankle is normally my gimpy one but I turned my right ankle a couple of times at Nipika Lodge in July so I think my right foot is dealing with the same issues I've had on the other side. It's not fixed yet but it's doing a lot better after an easier autumn and a lot of physio exercises.

'Bent was feeling bored with ultrarunning in early 2017 so we added a couple of different races for variety - the Mohican 100K mountain bike race and the Big East River X 40K canoe race. Both of these were lots of fun and inspired us to change our routine a little to get ready. We were fortunate to travel to some cool places in 2017 and we had some awesome non-racing outdoor adventures with some of our favourite people. That will definitely be a goal again for 2018. :)

9th Annual Waterfalls of Hamilton run

Sunny, snowy, chilly trail run in the Dundas Valley - although not an extreme cold warning after all. I started with a group but dropped back after 'Bent, Trav, Rox and BazingaDog passed us since I was afraid AdventureDog would run after them. After waiting for awhile, I continued on with Kris G. The moment I let A-Dog off leash, he was off like a flash. Didn't even look over his shoulder when I called his name.

I kept calling him for the next few minutes, then texted 'Bent to see if A-Dog had taken the correct turns at the trail junctions to find him. It took awhile, then I received an answer: "He is being good." That was nice to hear although I would have settled for, "He's alive". :)

Kris and I had a nice, chatty run, then headed back to the Hottage for a yummy New Year's brunch and lots of great conversation. Many thanks to Trav and Baloney for continuing this lovely tradition. It's a fantastic way to kick off a new year. :)

The most important foothab exercises are soleus stretches and one-legged balance with knee raised and eyes closed. It takes about 10 minutes to do all the combinations and I'm going to try to do this daily for awhile.