Training Log Archive: Bash

Caron's Power Yoga for Endurance Athletes Vol.2 with 'Bent.

'Bent and I went to the Outdoor Adventure Show and ran into at least a dozen people we knew, which is always part of the fun. Another part of the fun is discounted clothing - and lots and lots of maps, mostly for free. Yes, I have an addiction.

Some good news is that we had a long chat with Geoff at his booth, and Frontier Adventure Racing *will* be running several adventure races this year. The dates announced so far are all in Ontario, and the next RTN Extreme will be held in Prince Rupert in 2009.

May 3 - Deerhurst adult race (high school race the next day)
Late Summer - Raid The North Sault Ste. Marie
Sept. 27 - Fall Classic

They have a new website, and they'll start taking registrations this Friday for the Deerhurst race - http://www.fastadventures.com/

'Bent and I signed up at the special Show Rate of $350, and anyone e-mailing Geoff over the next day or two could probably arrange to Paypal their entry fee using the Show Rate as well.

We ran into a longtime ARC staff member who guessed (although not 100% sure) that they would not be running any races this year other than the Keen Adventure Sport Games.

Event: Salomon Snowshoe Raid 3 hour Adventure Run
 

If you were there, then you're probably here...

Caledon Navigators members placed 1st overall, 1st Male, 1st Female, 1st Masters and 1st Coed. Not bad for a club whose members don't race much!

Big congrats to my Tree Hugger teammates, 'Bent and Goose, who cleaned the course and finished 5th overall, winning the Masters category with style.

More big congrats to Phatty and AndyCam who pulled off the victory - wow! And thanks to Phatty for all his efforts in helping us build this event to more than 60 teams through our fantastic new Salomon sponsorship.

Leanimal and Slice took a commanding win in the Female category and were one of the top teams overall - but they could easily have done even better. I'm sure they'll explain the sad story in their logs.

Kudos to Rocky for having the courage - as a relatively new orienteer - to team up with Nick, who has raced in at least 10 World Orienteering Championships. And congrats to them both for taking the Coed win.

Scooby had an awesome top ten result too!

And although he isn't a CN member, he is a regular Attackpointer, so congrats also to FB and The Lad for winning the Family category. Honourable mention goes to the team of Hammer and AdventureGirl! who were not far back in 3rd, with AdventureGirl! (my 10-year-old friend) doing almost all the navigating herself.

I went up to Horseshoe Resort today and hung the 42 flags in the northern section of the Salomon Snowshoe Raid course while BobTheNavigator hung even more flags in the southern section of the map. Everyone should be careful near #35 because the ice on the pond is thin, and the alligators are sticking their noses out.
;-)

It was a bluebird day - clear skies and bright snow. I took my jacket off in the first 20 minutes and never put it back on. The first XC skier who noticed me bashing through the woods called down, "You look like a *real orienteer*!" I admitted that she had guessed right, and after we chatted a bit, she asked if she could enter tomorrow's event, but unfortunately it's too late. I gave her our new, easy-to-remember website <http://www.adventurerunning.ca>, and she sounded keen. I need a pocket full of our GHO promotional postcards whenever I hang courses because people I meet often want to know more.

The racers are going to have a blast tomorrow!!

And for dessert... I rewarded myself with a skate ski, even though it meant buying a $16 trail ticket for less than an hour of skiing. I went around the expert trail in the Horseshoe western trail system and had the place to myself after the first kilometer. It was a good reminder of why I need to do more skate skiing. It's impossible not to use a lot of muscles - and a lot of heart rate - if you're going to skate ski up hills. I was feeling a little rusty and wishing that Coach LD or Goose was with me - until Katy's Climb, when I was profoundly grateful that no one was watching!

By the time I headed out, it was only 50 minutes until the end-of-day deadline when "search procedures will be invoked". BobbyTN's car was still in the parking lot, so I hope he made it back in time.

Total Lunar Eclipse

RY's Power Yoga for Flexibility - with 'Bent

Would have done more, but ThunderDog had an ultrasound around dinnertime, and we had to go pick her up when she was done. Turns out our senior pooch is doing just fine - phew!!! I was trying not to let myself get too nervous, but my stomach was in a knot when the vet finally called with the good news.

Coach LD, Leanimal and I headed out onto the Humber River again this morning, but it was a completely different experience from last week! There was less open water - but still plenty, and it looked COLD - and virtually no snow on the ice. Neither my wax nor my poles were capable of controlling my motion predictably on the ice - except when I got to sections of white ice where I broke through to a harder layer - or down to slush. There were a couple of times when I wondered if my out-of-control skis would slide right into the water, taking me with them.

My wonky knee gets unhappy when it doesn't know where my feet are going next, so it started to twinge. Hating to be a princess, I waited about 20 minutes before deciding that I was going to have to turn around. Coach LD suggested that we move up to the floodplain, and that made a huge difference. Mostly we skied on the big loops of land between the river bends, bushwhacking and collecting burrs on our tights. Whenever the river looped toward a steep bank on our side we'd ski down onto the river and climb up the other bank, then continue on that piece of land until we could go no farther. This was much better for my bad knee, my grip and my psyche. I started noticing the fantastic scenery and enjoying conversation again. A really beautiful winter outing - and interesting to see that the character of the river was so different this time. It would be fun to go back and snowshoe in the valley with 'Bent sometime.

Counting the people who entered the Salomon Snowshoe Raid offline, including 14 high school teams, we're now up to 62 teams - well above our estimate. Wow!!

Don't forget tonight's total lunar eclipse.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_luna...

With the world having become an ice rink, Leanimal and I tried something new for our Tuesday workout - we became gym rats! We're outdoor gals at heart, so this all felt a little strange and random, but it was more productive than staying inside and drinking hot chocolate!

We got to chat with Slowrunner, which was an unexpected treat. Conversation is a great way to keep your mind off the boredom of indoor machines.

I limited my time on each activity to keep motivated.

Various blasting machines.

Leg exercises at home

Hard Core Monday with 'Bent was postponed to Tuesday in observance of our new Family Day holiday.

'Bent and I had planned a slightly longer outing, but the gusty wind in the old deciduous forest made us nervous, given that lots of big trees and branches have come down this winter already. Just as well, since the ski conditions were pretty weird after yesterday's heavy rain on top of our deep snow. We don't have an ice crust because it wasn't that cold, but the top half of the snow is very wet and heavy with some ice crystals. It felt more like using a NordicTrack than skiing - none of that feeling of freedom, flying or being at one with the snow. I foresee a lot of snowshoeing this week...