Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I went to Boot Camp to let Caron kick our butts. Small class tonight with just Barrie and Jill so we chatted as we sweated.

I feel like I've been going non-stop since mid-September. Just a little work left on Star Tracks and Wilderness Traverse before I can catch up on sleep and house tasks. Feeling zonked today but looking forward to an active autumn!

Event: Star Tracks Mountain Bike Adventure
 

I left Albion Hills yesterday evening in darkness and returned this morning at first light. I felt a little nostalgic for the snow we had before last year's Star Tracks Mountain Bike Adventure. Today I put out the final controls in torrential rain, knowing we'd lose some participants when they woke up to see the weather.

Impressively, almost every registered participant showed up! And we had 4 people show up to register on race day, which wasn't great but better than I'd expected. Never doubt the hardiness of adventure athletes! We had a 50% increase in registrations over last year with especially good growth in our Family team division and our age 60+ category. Great to see so many AR and orienteering friends and sorry that my race duties prevented good catch-up conversations.

Things went about as smoothly as we could have hoped, other than the rain. Participants had a great attitude about it and seemed really proud of their mud-splattered finish line photos. Fortunately, nobody got seriously hurt on the slick trails - they probably hydroplaned if they fell. The rain stopped early in the race so we were able to stand around the campfire in clean clothes afterward, roasting marshmallows and baking German-style campfire bread (thanks, Heidi!) Some of us made it to The Church Pub in Palgrave eventually, although it took awhile to get the final racers in and collect all the controls.

Thanks to my co-conspirators Mick and Laura, our mapper Nick and our race day volunteers Heidi & Hanna, Ilona & Peter and 'Bent. Thanks also to Coach LD, Arthurd and Veinbuster for helping us by picking up controls, and to Tom Koster of Velofix Halton for bringing his mobile bike repair van to support Star Tracks.

Photos are available on Facebook in a public album so you don't need to be on FB to see them.
https://www.facebook.com/stars.orienteering.3/medi...

Ilona Dobos also posted some terrific photos on Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dobos3645/sets/72157...

Mick and I split up the work to put out controls for Star Tracks tomorrow. I ran around (really just jog-walked) with a backpack stuffed with control stands that extended way over my head - bristling like a porcupine. It was an incredible autumn afternoon. The only bad part was cranking my ankle during an early bushwhack section when a decaying log collapsed. I'm not sure how bad it is yet - not the worst I've had but it was a funny twist and it hurts.

It was great to see Funderstorm and Greg D camping near the Chalet. We decided we should have planned a group camping trip with Night Mountain Bike O before tomorrow's main event.

Fingers crossed there won't be too much rain tomorrow. The trails are dry and will be just fine for riding. Looks like it should be mostly over in time for our post-race campfire.

#TrumpDrSeuss is trending on Twitter.

"Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Probably Canada."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-trumpdrseu...

Spent two hours driving around Caledon picking up delicious prizes for Star Tracks on Sunday. Online registration closes at midnight tonight; there will be race day registration for $5 more.

Mick and LJ are working on this today on their 10th wedding anniversary!
https://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/2572

Hard Core Live with Caron. 'Bent came along for the torture too.

It's sooo good for me.

Another run to Albion Hills to check out some feedback from Nick de St. Croix, who tested the Open course yesterday. Although my route was very different, the stats for today's run are almost identical to yesterday's run except for one thing - temperature. It was 6C warmer today and I felt terrible. What a wimp!

It is absolutely spectacular this week. Unfortunately, the forecast for Sunday has just changed to rain but there is plenty of time for it to change to something else again!

This one nearly killed me. I think I was dehydrated going into the class.

The Star Tracks Mountain Bike Adventure is happening this Sunday! Our hottest category in 2016 is the Family team division on the Novice course, where adventure racers will share their love of nav sports with their kids. We even have an intra-family battle this year as the Gally Boys take on the Gally Girls.

Wokitoki and Coach LD are returning to defend their titles on the Open course but they've got some tough competition. Come out and make it even tougher! :)

Marshmallows will be provided for the campfire. Forecast is perfect. [Edit: It *was* perfect. And maybe it will be perfect again if we wait a day or two.] Autumn leaves are spectacular. Online registration is open till Friday night. Limited race day registration is available for a higher price.
https://stars.whyjustrun.ca/events/view/2572

"Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"
by Donald J. Trump.
https://rottingpost.com/2016/03/25/stopping-by-the...

I ran down to Albion Hills to check on a connector trail that doesn't always exist. It's there this year so we'll add it to the Star Tracks MTBO map for this Sunday. While I was there, I headed across the park to flag the one Novice control I'd forgotten last week, then I took a circuitous route home. The leaves were perfect!