Training Log Archive: Bash

In case you've ever wondered what it would be like to get caught in a flash flood... This one was on Maui.

Some days you feel like you're in a Salomon running video - as if you're flying through old growth forest with Anna Frost and Kilian Jornet while your feet bounce lightly over a bed of pine needles.

And then there are days like today. For some reason, I've had extra trouble with heat and humidity this year, and today was another steam bath. It feels like running is unhealthy on days like this - not sure whether it's the humidity or the air quality or maybe it's mild asthma (which I've never had, to my knowledge). Anyway, I survived but didn't have much fun.

Trying to make lemonade from the lemons, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to test Sugoi arm coolers and a Columbia cooling T-shirt, neither of which have seen much use. I didn't wet them down since I wanted to see how well they worked if I just got sweaty. The arm coolers worked pretty well - much more effective than the T-shirt, which felt the same as any sweat-soaked shirt. To be fair, the back half of the shirt was covered with a running pack. I also suspect that a cooling sports bra would be more important than a cooling T-shirt. Is it possible that Harps has one and that's why he likes hot weather so much?

Bottom line: I could see myself using the Sugoi arm coolers more often, partly because they also eliminate the need for sunscreen on arms.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/sugoi-arm-cooler

I parked at Finnerty Sideroad and Centreville Creek Rd. and ran (slowly) over to the Bruce Trail, through Glen Haffy and up to Hwy 9 before taking a more creative (and slow) route back. I met exactly one group of people on the trail. Everyone else in Ontario was probably lying on a dock by a refreshing lake or sipping a frozen Margarita.

Are you a Super Recognizer?
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/01...

If you're curious, take the quiz! I got 8 out of 14 so I'm not too good but apparently I'm better than Oliver Sacks was. I predict 'Bent will beat me.
https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_e3xDuCccGAdgbfT

Slightly less furnacelike today so I did some Bash 'n' Crash 500 intervals. It's been way too long and I hope to do more speedwork - not because I'm that concerned about speed but it would be healthier to have a little more intensity in my training. Because of the heat, I only tried to run them at 10K race pace instead of my usual "fast as I can" interval pace so it's not a fair comparison but I've sure gotten slower over the past 5 years! 500 meter trail intervals were 2:32 to 2:36 today but my PR was 2:05. It sucks getting older but it sucks a lot more if you don't, so I won't complain. My gimpy foot was just fine in these lower-drop shoes on relatively flat terrain.

I opened my Swiss Army knife incorrectly today. :( Turns out I use my right index finger for a lot of things.

In reviewing my AP log for the first 8 months of 2015, I realized that I spent more time doing orienteering volunteer work on just one day last week than I've spent orienteering all year. That'll probably happen again today. Yikes.

Hot, steamy Harps weather today. (I mean that the *weather* is hot and steamy. You'll have to make up your own mind about Harps!)

For those of us who were thinking about it, the North Face Endurance Challenge Championship (San Francisco) 50-miler is now sold out with a waiting list.

In the short term, 'Bent and I and several other friends so far have signed up for 50K at The Bad Thing.
http://www.racethebadthing.com/

With 4 months left in the year, I looked back at my 2015 training goals today. There is one that has been on the list for the past 3 years - finish a 100-mile trail running race. As some friends know, I've been feeling ambivalent about this goal for the past few months.

I've built up this year with 50K, 100K and 90K races, and I spent my recent birthday doing an 80 km technical trek. I could have signed up for the Haliburton 100-miler next weekend but the truth is, I didn't really feel like it.

I think I wanted to finish UTMB because it's such an incredible, spectacular journey through three countries around the highest mountain in Europe - not because it was 100 miles. It used to be that a 100-miler was the pinnacle of ultrarunning but now there are 200-milers and more so it's just another stepping stone.

For now - and possibly forever - I'm not planning to take that step. I won't get to do that many more ultra races in my life, and I enjoy the 80-125 km distance range so that is what I will focus on in my trail running. I also hope to get back to more races that aren't running, and more outdoor experiences that aren't races.

There are lots of beautiful trail runs in the 100K-ish range all around the world. Time to get looking! :)

Our class went for a longer paddle tonight because Susan thought she had seen a bald eagle perched in a tree beside the quarry. And she was right! Cool!

Beautiful warm evening for our largest SUP yoga class ever. Sadly, there's only one more class for the year unless we get a heat wave in late September. It's been great to have Funderstorm here so often.

We finished off the class with headstand attempts. 'Bent achieved his first headstand tonight and, not coincidentally, had his first spectacular splash into the quarry. My headstand is getting pretty solid.

Most of the class went for a yummy Thai dinner afterward.