Training Log Archive: Bash

Road, rail trail and a bit of off-road trail riding in Glen Haffy with 'Bent, who probably shouldn't have tempted fate while his back is recovering. Very little traffic on the roads, and nice hills to keep the heart rate up. My bike has a lot of new parts after its expensive trip to the shop, but it is still running ragged in the back chain ring. 'Bent has played with a few settings, and we're hoping my next ride will go more smoothly on the steep uphills. Nice to get out before the temperature hits 35C later today - yikes!!

While watching le Tour

I'm feeling unmotivated in this hot weather. Environment Canada has officially declared the first half of 2006 to be the hottest weather in Canada since they started keeping records.

I've entered next weekend's 25 km trail race in Owen Sound - the Damn Tuff Ruff Bluff Run. Hopefully that will give me some short-term inspiration. With my bike in the shop and 'Bent's back too bent to paddle, I've been limited to running and strength exercises lately.

Spent a couple of hours splashing around my parents' swimming pool with 'Bent, BulletDog and ThunderDog (only logged a bit of it). The pooches thought it was absolutely the best thing we'd ever done. BulletDog learned how to fling herself off the side of the pool in a doggie belly flop as she competed with ThunderDog for their floating toy. ThunderDog wisely ran around to the pool steps every time we threw the toy, thus minimizing the risk of getting her nose under water, which she hates.

I tested out the swim training fins that Gazette lent me for the upcoming Endurance Aventure race, which has a discipline called "adventure swimming". The fins work really well, but it's tough to plan how we are going to approach that section of the race until we see the course. Pack rafts and collapsible paddles are also an option. Whatever aids we use, we have to carry with us on our trek.

Woo hoo! Who'd have believed that we could book a 4-day backcountry canoe trip on a couple of our favourite lakes in Killarney with just two weeks notice in mid-summer? :-))

Trail, off-trail, and a bit of country road running in the Glen Haffy area. It was SO hot, and I went up and down the escarpment several times during my run. When I got to Coolihan's Sideroad, I added a 1 km hill interval on the road in honour of the TDF riders going through the Pyrenees today.

I only managed to run through the middle of one poison ivy patch today, but that'll probably be enough to get me banned from donating blood for another month. My ankle didn't feel great in the off-trail sections, even with the brace on. Even with a temperature of 30C, I didn't feel warmed up until I'd been running for 45 minutes. I wish I was a sprinter - it would take a lot less time to train!

Here's something that adventure racers and orienteers might not know... I had an appointment to donate blood yesterday, but they turned me down because of a 2-week-old poison ivy rash that is nearly cleared up. I'm pretty sure that poison ivy has no systemic effects, but perhaps blood donations are rejected because some people scratch their rash and get an infection. So... after my meeting with the nurse in the little private booth, I had to walk the full length of the auditorium to the door past all the nice volunteer ladies, who were probably making secret bets on whether I had eaten too many British (mad) beef pies, obtained a tattoo, or slept with a transsexual.

While Jon Stewart interviewed John Dean about the new Conservatives

Road run to the north end of Palgrave to avoid the logging next door, then a trail run in the conservation area. I made sure BulletDog had a couple of swims in the ponds, and now she is all fluffy, damp, and snoring happily beside me.

The signs have gone up to close the north half of the red trail (and surrounding areas) for logging for the next 2-3 months. Nothing was happening today yet. Good thing, because I ran through that whole area first, then found the sign at the far end.

Hard Core Monday, rescheduled to Tuesday because of last night's post-rogaine debriefing session at Wadd Squad HQ. 'Bent gets to skip this week's Hard Core because of his back problem. He was standing up a lot straighter this morning, and I hope he'll be able to attend next week's Hard Core Monday. It's not as much fun by yourself!

Back to the rogaine session... About a dozen people came and shared their routes, stories and lessons learned from the North Am Rogaine Champs. Lots of fun to see the different approaches. Nev-Monster's Mom's team built a tent out of tarps and slept in the woods for much of the night. Others returned to the Hash House for a pasta dinner, a good sleep, and bacon and eggs in the morning before heading out again. Another team kept going all night and scored one third of their points in the 8 hours of darkness. My partner, Backwoods Girl/Neeno, helped us to have what was probably the lowest amount of elevation gain per point collected. The coed adventure racing team who had the best result from our club did virtually all their navigation in straight lines, just following a bearing between controls. They had the highest number of points per kilometer, but probably set the record for elevation gain.

While watching the Daily Show

I haven't been calling myself "injured" in my log, because I have been quite active, and it would sound silly. However, I first turned my ankle in late April, then I really did it in in mid-May. Since then, I've needed to wear an Active Ankle brace for all trail running and biking. I've occasionally tried to go without it, and something always happens to make my foot hurt, so I know it's not ready for that. I don't like the idea of having this weakness, but the Active Ankle has enabled me to do everything I've wanted to, so far. The only down side is that it is time-consuming to change shoes in adventure races, because I have to move the brace to the new shoe and do it up again. I've been told that ankle injuries can take a really long time to heal. I guess it's time to look for some specialized exercises to strengthen it, in addition to the ones that I'm already doing to keep my knee in line (literally).