Training Log Archive: Bash

Stratford Festival for Mom's birthday

Thank you, Gord.

Another hot, humid run - close to 30C with humidex of 35.

A few days ago, Dave Robinson asked if I'd found a way through the "mess" in the northeast section of the Hockley Loop (where the 3 Itches are). Apparently, Dave and WandAR tried to find a way through last week but finally gave up and returned the way they had come. I didn't know about any mess but 'Bent said the area had been logged when he ran the Loop with Leanimal and Goose last month.

I started my run at the north end of that section out of curiosity since it's one of my favourite places for hill training. It's always sad to see beautiful woods being logged but in a managed forest, it's not a surprise. The turn-off onto the Bruce Side Trail single track isn't marked right now but I was able to follow the usual route with the exception of a 30-40 m section where the trail disappeared into logging debris. When that happened, I descended the rest of the bare hillside to the double track and continued.

After the first 900 m, the rest of the trail is unaffected by the logging. I continued south over one more big hill to be sure. Heading back north, I found a detour sign where the logging started. Turns out the Bruce Trail wants people to head north on the East Access Trail and exit onto 15th Sideroad 500 m east of the usual entrance.

There is no detour sign at the usual gate off 15th Sideroad but if you continue farther east, you'll find the gate shown below. This trail joins the blue-blazed Bruce Side Trail with an unmarked left turn onto single track after about 900 m so the Loop distance remains the same with a little less climb. See my GPS track.

If you know the area well, you'll be fine but it's not a good plan to do the full Loop right now unless you're quite familiar with it.



I'm not training for mountains so I ran over to Mono Cliffs for the rest of my run. I took a 9-minute break around the 90-minute mark because it wasn't going to be worthwhile training unless I let the effects of the heat dissipate. I drank a bunch of water, ate another salt pill and a snack, and (most importantly) stood still in the shade until I felt some energy return. That gave me a second wind but I decided to cut half an hour from my plan. Hope this heat wave ends soon.

Afterward, I went to the Farmhouse Pottery Cafe on Hockley Rd. for a thick slice of their awesome strawberry rhubarb pie and an icy drink.

Small GPS adjustment because I messed up the on/off when I stopped to chat with some mountain bikers

Canada's goal for medals at the Rio Olympics = 19
Number of Canadian medals as of today = 21
Great job!!

Around Palgrave East single track on another warm day. In the past, I would have called this a hot day but I've been forced to change my standards. Thank you, Climate Change! I failed to avoid the abundant poison ivy and horse poop so I'll need to glove up and scrub my bike tires and shoes with dish soap. Yay.

There was a community viewing party for the Olympic men's triathlon at Caledon Town Hall this morning. We were cheering for Andrew Yorke, who grew up in Caledon East and belongs to our C3 club.

It seemed wrong to drive there so I decided to run but slept through my alarm - doh! That forced me to keep a steady pace, which was good. I carried a pack that included a thermos of 'Bent's coffee since I wasn't leaving home without finishing it!

Andrew usually starts a little back in the swim, then moves forward on the bike and run; today was no exception. He worked hard with Richard Murray of South Africa, who finished the swim behind Andrew and eventually placed 4th by seven seconds.

Unfortunately, Andrew crashed along with several others during the seventh of eight 5K bike laps. I haven't heard the story yet but one guy was slumped against the barrier with his carbon bike beside him, snapped in half. (He is fine - or as fine as anyone can be when their carbon bike has snapped in half.)

The crowd at Town Hall stared at the screen in silent horror as we realized it was Andrew lying on the pavement on his back with his bike partly on top of him. Fortunately, in the next shot, he was running in cycling shoes, pushing his bike and channelling his inner Froome. After half a km, he got a new wheel and finished the 8th lap with no one to draft. He couldn't dawdle since he would have been DQ'ed if the leaders had lapped him during their final lap. Then he ran 10K in to the finish to place 42nd of 55 racers. Canada's Tyler Mislawchuk, who had been riding in the same group at the time of the crash, finished 15th.

Good for Andrew for getting up and finishing his Olympic race, even though he must have been terribly disappointed and sore. It was a gutsy, classy effort. The poor guy was hit by a car last fall on his final training ride before the race where he'd hoped to secure his place on the Olympic team. Then in May, Canada *should* have secured Olympic spots for 3 men in the final qualification race but they didn't because one of the other Canadians had a minor bike crash and chose not to continue. As a result, there were only two places available on the Canadian team for three well-qualified men. It was a tough call by Triathlon Canada, and Andrew only got the nod a month ago. I'm sure that experience ensured that he will always race to the finish as long as his bike will roll and his body can keep up.

Olympic viewing parties are fun. Who's holding the Tragically Hip viewing party?

When I ran home, it was high noon and for some stupid reason, I thought I should try to maintain the same pace as in the morning. Oh, and I didn't have any water in my pack, just an empty coffee thermos. It went OK for awhile but I took a slightly tougher route, and as I climbed a hill while dripping with sweat in the 30-something humidex, I CRACKED (as Phil and Paul would say). I made a brief stop to bring down my HR, then walked the next few hills until I felt human again.

Now that jury duty is over, we can move on to the next unexpected interruption of our regular activities. 'Bent and I took BazingaDog to an orthopaedic surgeon today and made final plans for his major knee surgery on the Tuesday after Labour Day. He has the doggie equivalent of a torn ACL. Because of the difficult recovery, it will then be 12 weeks until 'Bent and I can both be away from home at the same time for more than a half a day. Lots of tag team days coming up.

Warm-up for strength workout. Clouds were ominous and we had a severe thunderstorm watch so I didn't stray too far from home.

While watching the Olympics. Obviously.

Rain, rain, rain. No complaints because we've been having a drought. Lots of wind and falling branches too. On my next trip into the woods, there will be work to do!

No exciting birthday adventures because I expected to be on jury duty but 'Bent did take me out for a yummy dinner. :)

Jury duty is done! We were instructed to bring overnight bags in case we needed to be sequestered in a hotel but we reached a verdict of Not Guilty before that was necessary.

It was an interesting experience to get a front seat view of our criminal justice system and explore difficult issues with eleven thoughtful strangers who all brought different wisdom and insights to the table. I came away feeling impressed and proud as a Canadian; I'd be glad to go back and do it again some day. (I'm now excused for 3 years.)

Huge congratulations to Charlotte Vasarhelyi for completing her self-supported, end-to-end run of the Bruce Trail in the wee hours! The total time was 16 days and (I'm estimating) 22 hours, which, coincidentally, is exactly how much time she had off work. :) She travelled through some of the hottest weather on record and had to take side hikes off the trail to find food and water. Because of the drought, many potential water sources had dried up. It looked like a tough journey with a much bigger pack than she had for her first Bruce Trail run. Well done!