Training Log Archive: Bash

"Adventure Racing is life compressed in time and amplified in intensity. Communication, relationships, conflict and teamwork are intensified immensely. When you distill the essence of these down they can be applied to our professional, personal and family lives with profound effect." - Ian Adamson

Hansel, Getawaystix and Dr. Wells started running the Killarney Loop shortly before 9:30 this morning. SPOT GPS tracking is available at this link.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots...

Started at Centreville Creek Rd. where the K2 climb starts on the Bruce Trail side trail, ran up to the stile on the main Bruce Trail, then south to Innis Lake Rd. (out via main trail, return via side trail) and north to Hwy 9, then back to the stile and down K2. I think my legs are nearly recovered from last weekend's race. It's disconcerting how much better I can run in shade vs. sunshine - gotta keep trying to acclimatize to heat, I guess.

I rarely run with tunes in the forest but with 'Bent's injury and my upcoming 50K, I will probably be doing a lot of long runs alone, so I brought the iPod and it was great. Glad nobody drove by when I got back to my car and did a celebration dance to some old school rock 'n' roll. :-)

'Bent and I took our mountain bikes up to Dufferin Forest where (surprisingly, given its proximity) we've only biked once before. We headed out with no plan and a rough knowledge of the area from racing there. We had a great time randomly exploring the deserted trails - a hilly mix of flowy single track, thigh-burning deep sand, and semi-bushwhacking through unmaintained/logged sections. Rewarded ourselves with iced lattes and Dufflet treats from the great Italian place in Mansfield, "On Your Forks".

I wanted some race-specific training for Logs Rocks and Steel so I did Logs Rocks and Steel! Well, that was the plan, anyway. Bob and I ran the nice new 14K trail running section that starts from the Frost Centre. Click on the little globe to see our run/paddle route.



Not surprisingly, the race course took us to high points.



No, not *that* high. (Although if the fence hadn't been so tall, we would have taken a detour up there.) The race course also took us onto the Steep Rock Trail.



It was stinking hot so when the trail came right down to the lake, we had to swim. Bob scared the crap out of me by leaping off a cliff. He lived. (Turns out it's a popular cliff jumping spot.) I felt much better running once I was soaking wet - must remember that if LR&S is on a hot day.



Bob was rocking the SLAB-2 XT Wings he wore to win Ultimate XC.



I really liked the ridge run we did in LR&S last year but this is an equally - arguably more - beautiful trail run with more variety in terrain.





Bob did a pretty good job of keeping up on the hills.



We came out to a quiet gravel road where we were passed by one car. They were waiting with their window rolled down when we got to the top of the next hill. "Would you like a couple of bottles of cold water?" Oh my God, I don't think icy water has ever tasted so good. Bob had run out by then so he was super-grateful. You sure meet some nice people in remote places!

A little trail work will be required on the 2K section near the end that follows an old logging road. The working nickname for this section is "Wilderness Traverse". Adventure racers will feel right at home.



More swimming at the TA then onto the paddle. My camera is waterproof but unfortunately the pics still look foggy when the lens is wet. Gotta figure that out.







Compared to last year, the paddling section is more technical, meaning that racers have to negotiate typical Canadian obstacles like rocks, a beaver dam, logs and two portages in the 750-800 m range in addition to several shorter ones. There are some distracting blueberries along one of the portages.



My new kayak portaging system (shoulder and hip paddling on cockpit) was OK but not great. I could probably get away with it in the race but I'm not sure I want to. It was awkward dealing with the paddle, which wouldn't fit inside the boat and had to be carried separately. I was jealous of Bob's canoe-style portaging. After the first couple of lakes, he feigned intense interest in trying my kayak, thus forcing me to carry his lighter SRS kayak over the remaining portages. His boat has frightening initial stability but decent final stability, and it really flies if you put your core into it!



Thunder rumbled and rain pelted down as we approached the final portage from Sherborne Lake to St. Nora Lake. We stood and ate snacks until the storm abated, then portaged and paddled back to the van (TA2) in sunshine. The family we met at the far end of the 800 m portage had only seen a few drops of rain!

We got our bikes out, refilled bladders, donned our cycling gear and tied kayaks on the roof rack in preparation for the 50K mountain bike ride. The heavens opened again and we jumped in the van for 10 minutes until the rain faded a little, then headed out and finished a few final things. But the storm returned with a vengeance and we spent 15 more minutes in the van as lightning flashed and heavy rain slapped the windshield so hard it wouldn't have been safe to drive. It eventually dawned on us what a fine idea it would be to change our focus for the day to event marketing - hang a few posters in nearby establishments and test some of the excellent local food. So as soon as the rain diminished from "ridiculously heavy" to "medium heavy", we tossed our bikes unceremoniously into the van and abandoned the 2nd half of our planned training session.

In spite of the weather cancellation, it was a fun day playing in Ontario's beautiful northland! Richard and I will have to go for a bike ride this weekend instead.

Just an easy test of the bike after a few adjustments. Went at high noon to increase the HTFU factor.

Mid-year report card on the training goals I set in early January.

Pass:
1) So far, I've logged 60% of the 450 training hours I'm aiming for in 2010.
2) To mark a mid-year milestone after losing 17 lb, I've cleared out a good chunk of my closet and given it all away. So if I screw up, I won't have anything to wear.
7) Mountain marathon - check. 24-hr rogaine - check, and another one coming up soon. 50K trail race - registered for October.

Fail:
3) I've logged exactly half as much strength training as I intended to, and I'm only aiming to do a measly 1 hr/week. Pathetic. This happens every year.
5) & 6) No early morning training and not getting enough sleep. Mom says I failed naptime in kindergarten. 'Bent keeps reminding me of this.

Borderline:
4) As suggested by some of you, I've tried to build hill intervals into runs by attacking hills along the way. Speed intervals aren't going so well. I'll need to get Crash to drag me out early in the morning when she goes.

Hard Core DVD with Caron. It's a little too hot for this in our house right now, but if Valerie can do it in Washington's stifling heat, I can do it too.

While watching the Colbert Report.

Photos of injured riders from Tour Stage 2. So sad. Tyler, I had you picked to win a stage this year! (As of last night, he was planning to start Stage 3 with a fractured wrist and sprained elbow.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycli...

I read in one article that a motorcycle crashed and spilled fuel on the road before riders arrived, but nobody else mentioned that so it may be an urban myth. However, a lot of riders and team managers said there appeared to be something like oil on the road.

Results are up for the Creemore Vertical Challenge. STORM won the 50K in a field of 75 runners. Get this... his time was 4 hrs 19 min, and his margin over 2nd place was 23 minutes!!! Wow. (Not that he wanted it that way!) I was 9th of 54 women in the 25K, and 45th of 118 runners overall. Last year I was 23rd of 38 women and 74th of 99 runners overall. Really happy with the improvement - although I need to pay more attention to my biking for awhile.

I had to talk myself into going outside on this smoggy 32C day but I'm glad I went. It's going to be a long summer and I need to banish my hot weather demons. I didn't want to breathe in too many fine particulates so this was just an easy ride through the Palgrave single track. I focused on technical skills and didn't push any harder than I needed to. There is a *lot* of poison ivy in there, which adds an extra layer of technical challenge, i.e. I had to try to stay on the narrow dirt track without veering into the greenery. No need to bring a snack - there were raspberries and black raspberries everywhere. When I got home, I'd lost 3.5 lb compared to my morning weight. That's bad, right?! I am *such* a bad judge of how much water I need to drink.