Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I went for our first ever Christmas Day canoe paddle. Our family is at Deerhurst Resort where we had expected to be skiing and snowshoeing. However, there's no point arguing with Mother Nature. This was fun too.

Although there was no snow, the water was still cold so we wore our dry suits. No other boats were on the water while we were out there so we would have been on our own if we'd dumped.



We didn't see any other vehicle driving north with a canoe tied on top.



'Bent tested the new improved GoPro he got for Christmas.



Fairy Lake, Huntsville



Canal between Fairy Lake and Peninsula Lake



Deerhurst Resort and the famous "Cartoon Map" hill, known and loved by many adventure racers.



Peninsula Lake





The sign is accurate.



I feel sorry for Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Club. When there is no snow over the Christmas holidays, it's tough for winter-oriented businesses to make profit on their year.



(Time deducted for photography.)

So windy that there were whitecaps on the lake and trees dropping branches. We decided to postpone our outdoor activities. Great timing to hang out with family anyway!

"O tragic irony..." (From This Hour has 22 Minutes)

'Bent and I went to Caron's annual Christmas yoga class with live music by professional musician Patrick Dilkie, whose Dad, Trent Dilkie, is in our class.



It's a pay-what-you-want fundraiser, this year supporting our local hospital in memory of Paula Coats, wife of Don Coats who owns Caledon Hills Cycling. She passed away suddenly in the spring. Paula and Don were both in our yoga class.

This is our most calming holiday event every year and usually the last one before we move into family gatherings so the timing is good.

This has felt like a "cautious" holiday season, if that's the right word. A year ago, the beautiful music in this class made me weep. I knew Dad was slipping away and the holidays were going to be heartbreaking. He passed away a few minutes after Christmas ended.

The old holiday feeling will come back one day but I'm not there yet. Dad loved Christmas and I know he would want us to carry on the traditions and celebrations - to toast him with a glass of egg nog, put on a silly Santa hat and sing carols with gusto. I'll try, Dad. I'll try.

Interesting concept...

Implementation Intention: an improved strategy for obtaining goals by specifying the when, where and how portions of goal-directed behaviour.

An exercise-related example in a 2002 study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology:

- The control group was asked to exercise once in the next week. 29% of them exercised.

- Experiment group 1 was given the same task, along with detailed information about why exercise is important to health (i.e., "You’ll die if you don’t".) 39% of them exercised.

- Experiment group 2 was asked to commit to exercising at a specific place, on a specific day at a specific time of their choosing. 91% of them exercised.

The Trail Runners Toronto group took a road trip to Palgrave Forest this morning so 'Bent and I went to welcome them and go for a run. Nice people and great to see some familiar faces. As suspected, they're pretty quick so I dropped back to keep track of stragglers since it's easy to get lost in there. One of them was feeling rough so I went to head off the faster runners so we could pick up a van key from one of them, then I escorted the sick runner back to the parking lot before rejoining the group at a later point.

My knee has been a little stiff since I smashed it on a rock two weeks ago, and it has felt funnier since Thursday night's yoga class so I must have tweaked it. Today it felt like meniscus pain so when we reached a meeting point where some of the group wanted to go back to the cars, I offered to lead them back to the main trail, then I headed for home. Fingers are tightly crossed but I'm icing my knee and it is really sore now. Sigh.

Ambit start/stop button wasn't working consistently again so I guess I'll switch to my other watch. Today's distance was probably 10% farther since twisty single track is always under-measured.