Training Log Archive: Bash

LoTox sent a message that the 24 Hrs of Summer Solstice mountain bike relay had to be called off at midnight due to very bad weather! That made it a 12-hr race instead of 24 hrs, which is too bad after all the work Chico Racing put into it, but Mother Nature is always boss. I'm told that the slowest people were taking 3 hrs to do their laps (I usually take just over an hour), and some people did their laps as a long hike-a-bike. Wow. We did the race every year from 2001 to 2008, and there were some rainy periods, but mostly we've been very lucky. The race has always gone the full 24 hrs when we've done it. But in 2000, the year before we started doing the race, they had to stop at 6 a.m. for similar reasons. I like Chico, and we seem to be a good luck charm for him, so I guess we'd better sign up for next year!

Oh right, about the riding... 'Bent and I went down to Albion Hills to check things out. Naturally, the weather was awesome by this morning. We chatted with Mr. Gally and saw some friends' cars, but most people were at the awards ceremony, so we came back and did some rail trail riding before heading to Father's Day lunch.

'Bent and I ran to Albion Hills to check out the action at the 24 Hrs of Summer Solstice mountain bike relay. This is the first time in nine years that we haven't done it, and it's such a terrific event that we couldn't stay away. Crash drove by and offered us a ride, but we figured we'd better get some training in if we weren't going to race.

Unfortunately, today is the complete opposite of ideal bike racing weather. Rain, rain, mud, rain, mud, puddles, chilly - yuck. Everyone was smiling, but I heard a few people hinting that they might not do all their night laps. I risked my non-waterproof camera for a few photos of the race course.









After each lap, there was a long line-up at the bike wash station.



That's where we found Tommy Hillflyer completely covered in mud.



Here's a close-up.



But it wasn't all mud and rain. We also got to see a bunch of friends! Here's Mike Elvidge of the Terranauts.



And my teammate from last weekend, Mrs. Gally, along with shy cutie, Wee Gally.



A regular teammate, ThreePinJim.



And bride-to-be Lori Toxopeus.



And the Three Tenors from Caledon Hills Cycling.



We didn't find Rocky, Harper or Mr. Gally, even though we looked, and we only saw Crash while we were running on Duffy's Lane. So we may need to go back tomorrow!

When we got back from Albion Hills, I was a bit hypothermic, and I wanted to shower all the mud off right away. But - our power went off for 4 hrs just as I stepped into the shower, and in the country, the water goes off when the electricity goes off. So I could only dab the mud off with a washcloth and water bottle. What a letdown! This also blew apart our plans to watch a movie on the trainer (instead of skidding around in the mud like our friends). I tried riding with my iPod and found that it worked surprisingly well as I tried to match my cadence to the beat of the music. 'Bent was laughing at me as I sang along, danced and even did one big organ solo while riding.

'Bent and I hosted the Blaze Run from yesterday afternoon to this afternoon. We depend on volunteers and support crew to keep us racing, so it's nice to have the opportunity to help other racers out. The athletes and volunteers were terrific guests. They were in excellent spirits, and the athletes were still turning in some great runs after 72 hrs. Most of us got by on minimal sleep - there was plenty of action through the night as runners arrived and departed. The incredibly organized, patient Travellinga rejigged the running and driving schedule again and again in response to changing circumstances. Laptops, Blackberries and cell phones were constantly in action. 'Bent and I each did some driving to shuttle athletes to and from the race course.

Unfortunately, most of the racer groceries didn't make it to our place, and we'd only bought some treats to supplement their meals, so the pickings were slim for 20+ people for dinner and breakfast. Apologies to the people who had to have chocolate milk in their tea! Our shallow well lasted until the final hour, then the water finally ran out. Only 'Bent and Hansel had the sad experience of stepping into the shower and finding it dry. (Um, not at the same time.)

Photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/BarbJCampbell/Blaze?au...

Looking forward to cheering on the runners overnight!

A few notes while waiting for the Blaze Runners to arrive late this afternoon...

1) If you did the 2008 Coast Raid, or if you liked the scenery in the photos, check out the movie that inspired the event director to hold an adventure race on Quebec's beautiful Lower North Shore - La Grande Seduction (known as "Seducing Dr. Lewis" in English). It's a fun comedy in French with English subtitles, and it won all kinds of awards.
http://www.zip.ca/Browse/Title.aspx?f=titleId(1153...)

2) Four days after bushwhacking through seas of healthy poison ivy, it looks like I've escaped unscathed. I had a good soapy wash right after coming out of the woods on both Saturday and Sunday (attracting some funny looks in the Rattlesnake Point washroom, but at least I wasn't the only one doing it!) 'Bent, who seems immune to PI, was kind enough to clean my two pairs of contaminated shoes. Phew, I was anticipating disaster.

Rainy day, so I biked indoors rather than damage the trails. Watched The Daily Show and part of the Colbert Report.

Might have lasted longer since it was feeling like a good workout, but when the Colbert Report ended and a stoopid game show started, I lost interest.

Short trail run in my new Five Fingers "shoes". Didn't want to overdo it the first time out. I was alert for trail debris and didn't look at the scenery much. Uneven ground, small sticks and soft pine cones felt OK, but pointy rocks and hard pine cones hurt. The soft ground on Swamp Trail felt really nice. I was surprised that it felt so similar to regular running, other than occasional bruising from a stone on the sole of the foot. (The soles feel a little tingly now.) The only time it felt substantially different was going uphill. I was running on my forefoot then, and the back of my foot felt "loose" and unsupported - although not in a bad way. It just reminded me that I needed to consciously keep my foot in the right position. Interesting!

Distance note: Short Bruce Loop via long way through F&M's = 3.1K

Results from TOC's Sunday event just came out, and 'Bent and I were the top Coed team with 314 pts - yahoo! Our strategy for maximizing points while minimizing effort due to our fatigue from ESAR seemed to work. We got three fewer controls than the 2nd place team, who had 278 pts. And we only got one more control than the 3rd place team, who had 233 pts. That makes a rogainer's heart glad. :-)

Leanimal and I went out on the HVT for a Crossfit run, stopping at various bridges to use them for pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, squats and whatever else we could think of. Both of us are fatigued from the weekend, so I'm sure the workout felt a lot harder than it actually was! It was good to get out anyway. It was my first time training in serious summer heat - I sure haven't missed it!

The 4 bridge stops

The Blaze runners started in Tobermory at 1 p.m. this afternoon. They'll start arriving at our place on Thursday morning, and we'll serve as one of the base camps for 24 hrs.
http://www.adventurescience.ca/blaze

You can follow the location of the Blaze runners here. It looks like Team Old Guys is the only team transmitting to the map.
http://adventurescience.ca/blaze/follow-the-team.h...

Took ThunderDog for a hike in my new Vibram Five Fingers KSO "almost barefoot" shoes. Thanks to T-Dog's route choice, we ended up in gnarlier terrain than I'd planned, including some bushwhacking, but the shoes were fine. The strangest sensation was going through a field of tall grass and having to push hard against grass between my toes. Looking forward to trying a run - but today my legs are trashed from the busy weekend!