Training Log Archive: Bash

We went to check out the Hockleycrest Trails I discovered on Facebook this week. You couldn't wipe the big, silly grins off our faces. It was so exciting and unbelievable to discover a previously unknown XC ski network just 15 minutes from home in an area that tends to get more snow than we do. I was jumping up and down in excitement (just before I fell on some ice) saying, "This changes everything!"

There isn't much snow anywhere right now so the trails haven't been groomed recently but there is terrific signage with some "you are here" map boards spread through the network. The Bruce Trail and its side trails form part of the network so some trails are a little treacherous (hilly and twisty) like parts of Kolapore but there are also relatively flat trails for less experienced skiers. There will be a nice skate practice loop when a little more snow falls.

We met the Tai Chi maple syrup crew and learned that you can buy maple syrup there in the spring. Bonus!







There is no charge to use the trails but there is a donation box and a strong recommendation to purchase a Bruce Trail membership, which is fair enough (we have one).

I loved skating as a kid and I'm a fan of competitive figure skating but it's been years since I've had skates that didn't hurt my feet and freeze them. So even though I barely skate anymore, I splurged on these "recreational" figure skates lined with Thinsulate. I won't be doing any triple axels in them but if they make skating more comfortable, hopefully I'll do it more. There is a natural ice rink in the hamlet of Palgrave when conditions are good so I'll have to see if it is open!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/reebok-boa-figur...

P.S. I see Canadian Tire has just knocked 30% off - probably as soon as they saw me leave the store.

Foothab

Orienteering Ontario TOC O Cup #4 is this Sunday in Earl Bales Park in North York. Hope to see you there!
http://torontoorienteering.com/wp/?page_id=899

AdventureDog and I went to Glen Haffy for a Bruce Trail run hoping for better conditions than Palgrave since it's 100 m higher in some areas even though it's only a few kms away. It was great!

We unexpectedly met Slowrunner at the start so we ran together and chatted for the first 3 km as she warmed up for her hill repeats. Big feathery snowflakes swirled all around.



(AdventureDog was having more fun than his facial expression shows. He didn't like stopping for even a minute.)

A-Dog and I continued across Coolihan's Sideroad while Slowrunner turned back toward her hill. It was a winter wonderland! There were small spots of exposed, rock hard ice on some of the hills so I had to be careful but there were far more times when I was slogging through 15-20 cm of fluffy powder. It would be great to ski over there right now.





I hope I held back from running long enough to allow my cold to recover. I did an abysmal job of that during my Cold-apalooza in the fall. So far, so good but I won't know till tomorrow. I felt surprisingly good - as if the strength training might actually be doing something.

I fixed a small section of the data where I forgot to turn on my GPS after stopping to play "Chase the Snowball" with AdventureDog.

The infamous Tabata version of Caron's core class. There was some whimpering in the back row.

Tougher-than-usual yoga class with pose progressions. Lots of strength-y stuff.

Excited! A Facebook post just led me to discover the Hockleycrest Ski Trails blog.

If you've run the Hockley Loop, you've seen Dave's Pinnacle and Sally's Pinnacle on the southeast corner. Dave Moule and Sally Cohen are tremendous supporters of the Bruce Trail who live on the east side of Airport Road.

Goose and I met Dave out doing trail work a few years ago and he mentioned that he was trying to set up some skiable trails around the Bruce Trail where it passes through his farm. I thought he just meant some self-groomed trails for his own family's exploration, similar to what we have around here. But it turns out there are now groomed trails for skate and classic with daily snow condition reports, just 15 minutes from our place - and we didn't know! I doubt there is any fee although I'm sure Dave will want users to buy Bruce Trail memberships.

Looking forward to checking them out! Coach LD, have you been there?

Caron's boot camp with 'Bent

At the silent auction at the C3 banquet, I bought a session of running analysis and coaching with Jeff Stapleton, a coach and exercise physiologist in Mississauga.
http://www.naturalrunning.ca/Bio.html

I used the certificate today. Coach Jeff is a barefoot runner, which isn't my thing, but I hoped there would be common ground, and there was. He identified some of my weaknesses, most of which I was already familiar with, and it was interesting to see his different ways of addressing them. He's very energetic and enthusiastic - always moving, e.g. "Run backwards beside me, matching my stride!"

One of the themes was fighting my body's tendency to hunch forward - to slouch, sit at a desk, drive a car, ride a bike, etc. There were a number of exercises and stretches that extended my spine and pulled my shoulders back. By the end of the session, when he tried some of the same tests on me, I could feel I was more "vertical" and balanced. (Then I hunched over the steering wheel and drove home from Mississauga.) It's great to have some things to work on and I'm going to take 'Bent with me for a joint session next time.

Although he didn't sell me on running Lavaredo barefoot, I did buy some of his Barefoot Science insoles, which Dr. Larry Bell had mentioned before too.

Thanks to Hermes' talented brother Derek, I've added a few photos to my Snowshoe Raid report.

Not surprisingly, my cold flared up a bit after yesterday's race. 'Bent and I went for a family snowshoe hike with BazingaDog and AdventureDog. There's a lot of ice around here, most of it hiding under a few cms of snow. :(

DontGetLost Snowshoe Raid - 10th Anniversary Edition

Hard to believe it's been that long! In the early days, results were calculated from manual punch cards (an experience I was lucky to enjoy) and we were all packed like sardines in the Horseshoe Valley XC Ski Chalet. It was tons of fun back then and Bob keeps finding new ways to make it fun and different. A few people have returned to race all 10 years, including APers AdventureGirl!, Hammer and Timato. Thanks for all your work on SSR, Bob and DontGetLost.

Dee and I teamed up once again and worked through a few different strategies. One of the twists this year was that Matrix points could only be claimed if we returned to the Aid Station at the northeast corner of the Matrix within the first 2.5 hours. After a longer uphill run from the start than planned (the buses couldn't get up the hill to the intended start), we entered the Matrix.



Dee went to 2 and 9 while I picked up 1, 4 and 6. I was surprised to see so few other people in this section, and I did more trail breaking than expected.

We'd picked a somewhat daring meeting point - the place where the east-west trail south of 9 (hopefully visible in the snowy terrain) left the forest and entered a rough open area. I had a false alarm on my way there when I reached a different rough open area. The trail wasn't there and I couldn't leave the Matrix box without my teammate, so I scrambled along a snowy slope to stay on the legal side of the line - until I realized my error and headed south again. We arrived at the designated spot at the same time - phew.



With Simpy, Jocelyn, Mrs. Tiny and Heidi, we headed south along the fence line to 191, then continued south to the valuable 224 and 201. We met Hermes and DoubleDown along the way. Dee and I used our incoming snowshoe tracks to leave 201 and travel most of the way to the snowmobile trail where we ended up back with most of the same crowd. Hermes and DoubleDown took off at high speed, and Simpy and Jocelyn weren't far behind. We headed to the hilltop of 236 with Mrs. Tiny and Heidi. We were far enough ahead of schedule that we briefly considered going east to 234 but fortunately talked ourselves out of it.

From here, we planned to go due north to the Aid Station for our post-Matrix check-in. We picked up 242 on the way, then did the agonizing climb up the escarpment to the Bruce Trail. Dee has an injured hamstring that is extremely painful and the hill climbs were particularly hard on her today. She is so tough though! Luckily, that was our last big climb for the day.



Mrs. Tiny and Heidi had the same plan until this point and we were pleased to see them turn east when we got up to the plateau. They are a faster team with excellent navigation so we had no chance unless our routes diverged at some point.

We ran up to the aid station, punched in our five Matrix controls and headed east to pick up controls on top of the escarpment. We figured this would be safer in the later stages of the race since it would be easier to estimate our time to the finish without any big climbs to worry about. The overtime penalty was large this year - 30 points per minute - so no one wanted to be late.

We visited 231, 230 and 229, then we hopped on the Bruce Trail and ran around to 227 at the lookout. We made a tough call to get 225 (50-pointer with a 35 m descent/ascent) instead of the closer 228 (25-pointer). After that, we knew it would be a push for the finish. Our original plan was to approach the finish by following the Bruce Trail from the east but that committed us to running all the way through Petun Conservation Area within the 3-hr time limit, and I chickened out.



So we ran west to the Aid Station, then north to the bend in the road before diving into the conservation area for 186 and 190 on our way to the finish. Timato and Nosnhoj flew past us on the final downhill, looking great on their way to a podium finish.

It was such a great time playing in the snow and my teammate was awesome as always. If we had it over again, I think I'd choose the same route - and it's not often I say that. We were both warm enough, we both forgot to eat, and I didn't drink nearly enough since I had trouble reaching the mouthpiece through my new hose insulator. Further experimentation is required.

Huge congrats to Harps and Logie on the overall win out of 96 teams with 1475 pts! Such sweet irony that the victory went to a man who hates winter. ;) Congrats to Hammer & Tarno and Timato & Nosnhoj for completing the overall podium, and to Gally & STORM and Hermes & DoubleDown who rounded out the top five. Trav & Christian were 6th overall, Dee & I were 7th with 1,000 pts, and Mrs. Tiny & Heidi were just 25 pts behind in 8th - yay, girl power! 'Bent and BGY would have been next if they hadn't arrived 3 minutes late - but they did, so they were 15th.



The weirdest highlight of the day was finding a compass draped over a branch in the middle of the woods. We decided to bring it back for the Lost & Found. Turns out, it was Bob's compass from setting the course!