Training Log Archive: Bash

Rodney Yee Power Yoga for Flexibility

Usually this is all it takes to make my body feel stretchy-bendy but apparently I need a longer DVD on the day after the Giant's Rib Raid.

Since our adventure racing team is called the Tree Huggers, you know that Earth Day is a special one for us. (Even though our team name was intended to reflect our mountain bike skills circa 2000.) Hug your planet today!

Mother Nature has been asserting herself over the past few days. Here are a few of the incredible pics coming out of the Muskoka floods.

Hwy #11 just north of Huntsville



Dam overflowing at Bracebridge



Inside Algonquin Outfitters' Huntsville store this morning

Event: 2013 Salomon Giant's Rib Raid
 

Salomon Giant's Rib Raid
Rocky Ridge, Milton

After last week's crazy ice storm made the woods unsafe and forced the postponement of this event, we were blessed with perfect weather today - cool and sunny. We saw the occasional sprinkling of snow and sometimes broke through thin ice as we splashed through water up to thigh-deep, but it was a beautiful day.

'Bent and I had the pleasure of teaming up with Gazelle. For those who don't know him, Wayne Cassidy was an active adventure racer on the Ontario scene until he and his family moved to Tajikistan six years ago. He raced with the Tree Huggers a number of times, and we've missed him greatly! Even though it had been years since we'd raced together, and even though we've all gone different directions in our racing, things clicked right away. Glad he could join us.

I'm always happiest when the field spreads out after the mass start, and I got my wish early when I chose the wrong trail and made a 3-4minute error on #3. Although I was annoyed to lose the time, I prefer it when our team is alone so this was fine. We saw a few other racers as we approached the butterfly section, and when our teams arrived together at the hub, I asked Escondido which loop he was doing first. It wasn't a competitive ploy; I just thought it would be more fun to do the loops on our own. We amicably headed off in different directions.

Late in the race, we found a junior team in distress who wanted to know where they were. We stopped and showed them but when we saw them in the same spot a few minutes later, one of them crying, we delegated Speedy 'Bent to run over to help and then catch up with us as we continued along the trail. They survived. :)

In the final section of trails near Rocky Ridge, evil course setter Bender had set up a section called the Controlled Blast. Flags were hung at every intersection in the complex trail network, and we had to find the two intersections marked as controls on our map. We did and it was a fun challenge to stay that focused on the map!

I wasn't sure how my body would feel three weeks after Tierra Viva. It took a long time to warm up but my endurance felt like it had gone up a notch. However, a couple of aches started earlier than they should have. I was super cautious on the rocky ground since I need to keep my ankles healthy for running this year.

It was awesome to see TheMinister out there with his son and girlfriend - the group I gave an intro orienteering session to last Sunday. For Matt and Rachel, this was only their second time orienteering, and Matt led much of the way. He even got the Controlled Blast flags correct!

We were 7th overall and won the small Masters category. (Thank you, Tarno, Logie and Untamed New England for staying away! ;) ) Congrats to Getawaystix for leading his team to victory and to Nick, Mick and Ursula for taking 2nd, and to Hammer and Sudden for taking the final spot on the podium.

Lots of fun! Thanks to the many hard working volunteers for always making these races a highlight of our spring.

Great (albeit sad) story from Kissy's log when she put out SportIdent controls for an orienteering meet in Colorado this weekend:

The most exciting part, though, was when the Park Ranger sought me out in the fields of Cherry Creek park because he had had "several" reports about someone setting out "devices" all over the park. As he approached me, he talked into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder, saying "I've made contact. I've made contact." He then asked me what I was doing, and I explained, and then everything was fine. I guess everyone is a little nervous these days.

Before the positive effects of Tierra Viva wear off, I wanted to get back to paddle training. I've been making rough training plans for UTMB, and they include 2 hours of paddling per week - preferably on water - since it's fun and good for my multi-sport side, and it builds strength for using trekking poles. I'm also going to do pole-specific strength training, e.g. triceps exercises on our weight machine, rowing with free weights, etc. I skied a lot in the winter so I guess I've already started.

Today's podcast was a CBC Rewind program on Betty Friedan marking the 50th anniversary of her important book, "The Feminine Mystique". It was shocking to listen to the CBC radio panel discussion on her book from 1964. It was such a different world for women then, and that really wasn't so long ago. They also played a 1982 interview with her regarding a later book, and it was clear that society had changed a huge amount in just 18 years.

That got me thinking, as that overlapped a good chunk of my school years, and, although the biggest changes occurred when I was still too young to be affected directly, I remember how radical it used to be to take the position that women were equal human beings and could have decent careers at all, let alone any career they wanted. It's similar to the way views on same sex relationships and marriage have evolved in recent years.

As a young kid, I was good in school, and I remember being asked one time whether I was going to be a nurse or a teacher. Period. This would have been considered an enlightened viewpoint - recognition that I was likely to get higher education and work outside the home after marriage (although possibly not after kids). But that person still only saw two choices for me.

Listening to the program was a reminder of the completely different world I graduated into when I finished engineering school in the mid-1980s. I believed that all doors were open to me. And yet... 18 years is not even a generation. The world couldn't have changed as much as that - and it hadn't, as I later learned. Yet it was already seen as unfashionable by most women my age to refer to themselves as feminists since that was considered to be old school thinking. I see now how fragile things were back then and understand why older women were so frustrated with our generation.

It explains what got into the manager at my first job - the consulting structural engineer position I was so proud to land with my newly minted masters degree. The head honcho invited me to the company's Secretary's Day lunch along with "the other girls". Lucky for him, I was so shocked that I could barely squeak a "no" out of my mouth, let alone express the other thoughts swirling in my head. And that was far from the last time I encountered unequal treatment on the job.

The other thing that struck me is that you don't have to be much younger than I am to have completely missed this era where the role of women changed so much. If you're under 40 (or over!), consider listening to even the first 10-15 minutes of this podcast (also available on iTunes) so you can hear the 1964 panel discussion. Think of how old your Mom was then and try to imagine her world compared to the way things were when you were her age. Mind blowing.

It's sad when you think of how bright his future once looked - before the unfortunate Indian buffet incident. Recently, Hansel has been spotted wandering alleys in the rain and sifting through garbage.

Nasty wind and grey sky so I wasn't going into the forest today. I ended up making a rare trip to the basement treadmill for a UTMB-specific training run. ;)

I've started reading the new Maffetone book so I warmed up and cooled down a little more than usual before doing some tempo. I'm not far enough into the book to have a real game plan yet.

The buds opened on a few trees here today. I think spring *may* be here - if the snow flurries in the forecast can be ignored, that is.

In a controversial move, Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc has decided to offer 3 qualification points for training weekends where participants run the course over 4 days and learn about skills, gear and techniques needed to complete the race. To apply for the lottery, runners need 7 points and this training weekend would take the place of a 100K mountain race. There are similar, shorter training weekends for the other UTMB races, with fewer points awarded. If this had been available last year, I definitely would have taken advantage!

In response to the backlash, organizers stated that they introduced the qualification points scheme because they needed some way to select runners from the huge number of applicants. If runners had done other similar races, it was an indication that they may have learned the appropriate skills and done the right training for UTMB. Organizers do not feel that is the only way to prepare for UTMB, however, so they feel justified in awarding points for their training weekends. There is still time to get in for 2013.

Simpy and Mr. Reeder have posted the first Tierra Viva race report from our Canadian crew. Well done! MBR were rock stars at this event and it's fun to read the back story.

Yay!! The graduates of Sunday's navigation coaching session have entered the Salomon Giant's Rib Raid. TheMinister has done some navigating before but not for a few years. His son Matt and Matt's girlfriend Rachel will be doing their first-ever navigation event just one week after their only experience with navigating. I like their spirit! They considered calling their team "Two Wongs and a White" but - sadly - went with something else. :)

Salomon runner Kilian Jornet has been named one of Outside Magazine's Adventurers of the Year because of the way he blends mountaineering and mountain running, creating a new sport, in effect.

In the movie "Summits of My Life", he said that he has won all the races on his life list and is ready to move on to new challenges at the ripe old age of 25. It will be interesting to see what else he does with his talents.

A few years after reneging on the Kyoto Accord, the Harper government has withdrawn from the United Nations Convention to Combat Drought and Desertification. (Definitely a controversial topic. After all, some Canadians are *for* drought while others are against.) Canada will become the only nation on earth that is not part of this UN treaty but hey, it will save us a whopping $290,000 per year. Of course, it may cost us more to remove all those Canadian flags from our backpacks before we do any international travel.

According to Elizabeth May: "The rumour in Ottawa is that all our multilateral commitments are under review. I have heard well-connected folks express fear that we may withdraw from the United Nations Environment Programme and UNESCO."

Well, *that* sure is embarrassing.

From Wilderness Traverse: This Thursday evening, there will be a free 2-hr Adventure Racing clinic for anyone interested in learning more. The topics are geared towards longer overnight events. Discussion topics will include: Training, Nutrition, Sleep Strategies, Gear, Teamwork & Efficiency, Advanced and Night Navigation, and Skills Development.

The clinic will be led by Wilderness Traverse organizers and long-time adventure racers Bob Miller & Barb Campbell. Experienced racers willing to share their enthusiasm and advice with newcomers are always welcome. :) Bring lots of questions!

Pre-registration required. E-mail bob"at"wildernesstraverse.ca or call 416-735-4021.

Thursday April 18, 2013, 6-8pm
Hosted at:
Running Free Markham
708 Denison Street
Markham, ON

I wasn't going to run today but yesterday's events made me want to run anyway so I headed around our hilly country block. I've been alarmed by short-term, painful knee twinges during my last two trail runs so I wondered if the more even surface of a gravel road would feel better. Fortunately, it did. Go away, knee pain.

Halfway around, I realized that I was wearing a royal blue shirt with a yellow jacket without planning my outfit to have any significance. Boston had the good taste not to let me run their race so I don't have one of their shirts but 'Bent is wearing his at the dental office today as a tribute.

When I saw a woman running the other way, also wearing a royal blue shirt, I waved then saw it was Caron so I crossed the road for a hug. Three people from our small yoga class were around the finish area when the bombs went off yesterday, including a woman who finished 3 minutes earlier. ('Bent, that was Jean.)

After the block (57:52), I figured I should bushwhack up Mt. Tobler a couple of times to get my run time up to 1 hour, including once from "sea level". After that, I wondered if I should do it a few more times to get my distance up to 10K but a chocolate brownie was calling me so I decided that was enough.

Donning my Raid Registrar hat for a moment: If your team is unable to participate in the rescheduled Salomon Giant's Rib Raid this Sunday April 21, please let me know by Thursday. It's easier for us to defer your entry to Salomon Raid The Hammer on Nov. 10 but I can also ask our club treasurer to mail you a cheque for a full refund. In case the date change allows you to race when you previously weren't able to, registration has been re-opened until tomorrow at midnight. Thanks!