Training Log Archive: Bash

The Carbons and I climbed a mountain with Conrad Anker in blizzard conditions before sunrise. True story!

For those who aren't into mountaineering, this is like playing pick-up road hockey with Wayne Gretzky - or shooting a few hoops behind a school with Michael Jordan.

Extra points because the expedition started inside the nice, warm Banff Centre with a cup of free trade organic Kicking Horse coffee.



Then we headed up the snowy tourist trail and made our siege on Tunnel Mountain.



The lights of Banff were twinkling below.



We got past the crux and reached the summit ridge at first light.



Conrad is known as a talented, versatile mountaineer, and he was kind enough to share one of his gear secrets - a coffee thermos you can sip from as you climb.



Naturally, we had to get summit photos with Conrad.





We weren't the only ones to think of this!



We had to make good time down the mountain to get seats for the films. I've been trying not to run this week but hopefully it won't hurt if I cheat a little. We chatted with a couple of people from True Outdoors who know Urthbuoy.

Today's other highlight (outside of the films) was an all-day snowstorm that hasn't stopped yet. Winter has arrived in Banff!

Banff Mountain Book Festival - excellent presentations, and I'll be flying home with about 20 kg of new books.

Nice dinner with Flight and Chris! Snowfall warning for tomorrow...

Banff Mountain Book Festival today :))



The Carbons met me at the Calgary airport.







Dinner with Zoolander then we met up with Philly Cheesesteak and Ian McNairn.

We all attended an evening presentation with Apa Sherpa, who holds the Guinness world record for the most climbs of Everest - 21. He really wanted to be a doctor but he was forced to start working as a porter when his Dad passed away when he was 12. His focus now is a foundation to help young Sherpas get an education.



Then we saw "Beyond the Edge - Everest in 3D" which blends film and photos from the first climb in 1953 with modern photos, video and re-enactment. It was absolutely spectacular and seems like it should have been impossible to create.

#OMGisthatsimonfromboundless?

#theotherfourpeopleinthisphotoarewayfasterthanIam

#dontpeoplelookattractivein3Dglasses

#lovespendingtimewithfriends

#missyoubent

#hashtagsaresilly

I had to make a tough call today between training or buying ingredients for Coach LD's birthday dinner. I made the right choice. :)

So far only one Tree Hugger teammate has made it onto Canada's Olympic team, and now I am pleased to report the first Tree Hugger to star in a short film selected for the Banff Mountain Film Festival Radical Reels. Congrats to Logan Tacoma! In all the years we did the 24 Hours of Summer Solstice, I think he was our fastest rider. But he never dressed like this when he raced with us...

Looking forward to seeing more films starting tomorrow with Carbon, Carbon's Offset, Zoolander, Slice and Flight!

I'm going to avoid running this week before Monday's appointment with Dr. Larry Bell. It was supposed to be a running assessment, not an injury assessment, although it will end up being a bit of both. I'd like to go there relatively pain-free.

In the meantime, I've been doing 90 flat floor heel drops a day, wearing my new orthotics for walking, and doing a whole bunch of alternating hot/cold foot baths. Perhaps I should also offer the leftover apple berry crisp as a sacrifice to the running gods.

Today's not-running activity was paddling on the kayak erg. I did a lot of this last winter when I was training for Tierra Viva. It drove me crazy at first then I began to look forward to the podcasts. Today it was "Under the Influence" about the effect of colour on product sales and advertising.

Little known fact: The original pink building insulation was supposed to be red - a marketing gimmick to distinguish a boring product - but the colour came out wrong. The company knew they were selling to men so they went back to the usual white insulation for the next shipment. Contractors asked if they could order more of the pink insulation instead. The rest is history; it turned out to be a highly profitable decision.

A few 1-minute planks (because I want to be like Carbon's Offset some day) and some Superman-type stuff. No time for more today, unfortunately.

I'm part of a fad! The latest fitness craze is... Sleep. The average person (American?) gets 6 hrs 40 min per night.
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/recovery/The-...

Downhill trail running technique - good article by Salomon Flight Crew member Dave McMahon.
http://www.breathemag.ca/healthy-living/fitness/ho...

Beautiful day - sunny and cold - and the single track in Palgrave is in great shape. Some of the double track is quite wet from the recent rain so it is best avoided. There have been some changes to the bike trail network since the Palgrave adventure running map was made so that might be a good project some day.

(Used bike computer data.)

Hard Core Monday had to be postponed after I made apple berry crisp and took too large a helping by "mistake". Four hours later, I still feel full.