Training Log Archive: Bash

The woman who originally placed 8th at Around The Bay on the weekend was wearing two chips - one for herself and one for a male friend. “This is something that is personal that people may or may not understand,” she said. Um, no, you don't get to play that card.

Also, she missed the 20K split - just zoomed straight from the 15K timing mat to the 30K finish line, running the final 15K in an unbelievable 50 minutes after taking 1:07 to do the first 15K. Pretty impressive for someone who ran ATB in 3:23 two years ago! Her story - that she was hurt and got help but just wanted to cross the finish line - might have been a tiny bit believable if she hadn't already been caught cheating with two chips. What amazes me is that people don't realize how hard it is to get away with cheating. She wasn't the only one caught.
http://runningmagazine.ca/around-the-bay-30k-disqu...

Midday run on gravel roads plus a 2 km test of the Palgrave East single track, which was mucky and slow and will need to dry out a lot more. For some reason, I felt great today. I chatted with two men who are coming back to Palgrave Forest tomorrow to do some drone filming for a Stephen King movie. "We need shots of the wilderness!" Cool, apparently I live in the wilderness. :)

This was my first run in the redesigned Salomon Sense Ultras. So far, I really like them! Lightweight, comfortable, stable and a relatively wide toe box. The tread isn't as aggressive as my beloved Speedcross but it was fine for today. While it's still muddy here, I should test them on a steep hill and see how it goes.

Home workout

The trails around here are sloppy after all the rain - even the rail trail - and I feel bad about damaging them. I could have done a road run but didn't feel inspired because it was miserable out. So I watched the final part of Eco Challenge Morocco 1998 and forced myself to keep running on the treadmill until it was over. I did four 4-minute intervals at what felt like 5K race pace although the treadmill didn't agree.

Some highlights from Eco Challenge:
- Exciting final leg!
- Young Mike Kloser and his team totally surprised when they made the top 10 and started moving up. (I won't give results in case anyone wants to watch it on Youtube.)
- Young, short-haired Paul Romero in his first race. Their rookie team Epinephrine won a lottery for the final spot available in the race. Young Karen Lundgren wasn't interviewed as much but she was there too. They did well in spite of Paul having to duct tape his sore quads.
- Young Rebecca Rusch was already the Queen of Pain.

Lost Person Magnet again today: On a Toronto sidewalk full of fashionable people who clearly live there - which I clearly don't - a stranger approached me for directions to the Novotel. Maybe my compass was hanging out of my purse?

Hockley Provincial Park route starting with the three side trails. I caught up on news from Dee, Mrs. Gally and Aud for the first 5.5 km, then sent them ahead so I could run at my own pace. That's twice as long as I'd thought I would last before waving the white flag so it's all good. I'm happy if I break 2 hrs on this loop but I missed by 18 seconds today. I'll blame the mud!

I took a break at the top of the loop to help a lost hiker. Does anyone else on AP feel like a magnet for lost people? I sometimes wonder if my forehead is engraved: "Just ask me how to get there!" It's understandable when I meet someone in the woods but last week a shopper blocked me at the top of an escalator in Sears to ask the way to the main mall rather than asking an employee. I didn't mind but I had to wonder: why me? And yesterday in Caledon East, I spent a long time with a lovely elderly lady who had tried to drive to Lakeshore and Parklawn in Toronto and ended up 40 km north before she realized something was amiss. She needed simple directions that didn't involve any 400-series highways, which was a challenge worthy of any navigation race I have done! I didn't want her to feel bad; I imagined my Mom in a similar situation. (Although my 84-year-old Mom would have whipped out her smartphone and used Google Maps, or else she would have programmed the GPS in her car. Then she would text me if she had any concerns. Techno-Mom!)

Reel Paddling Festival in Waterloo with Funderstorm, Browner, STORM, DD11 and Charlotte. First time I've made it to this one and there were some great stories!

AdventureDog and I went for a sunny run around Palgrave East. The trails were 85% bare or lightly snow-covered, and 15% glare ice. There wasn't much mud because it got cold again last night. The trail was uneven with frozen footprints and bike tracks so it was a challenge for the ankles.

The lower inside part of my right knee got tweaked when I fell at Hockley on Sunday, and I could still feel it today. At the time, I was more worried about my hip since I'd fallen hard on it twice in three days but it seems fine. Note to self: Try to stay upright.