Note
slept:5.0
Year End Review, Part 1:
2017 Training Hours by Activity + 2017 Report Card
Boring to read unless you are Future Me
Total Annual Training Hours = 468.5 hrs
(495, 494.5, 470, 557, 505, 612)
Target was 525 hrs and I was well ahead of that in mid-September. Then a combination of race organization work and an injury put this goal way out of reach.
The main reason for the decrease in recent years is that I haven't done an overnight or expedition AR since 2013. Excluding AR races, my annual training hours have remained fairly consistent.
Top Five Activities (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets):
1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 222.5
(250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
Training for and running Ultra Tour Monte Rosa put this on top of the list. I hit my 2017 running target but an autumn foot injury prevented me from doing more.
2) Strength + Yoga - 59.5 hrs
(82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
I made a big effort to increase this in 2016 and kept it up until mid-2017 when I got lazy. I felt better when I was doing more strength/mobility/yoga/physio so I'll make that a 2018 goal.
3) Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 53 hrs
(33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)
Yay, new mountain bike! Hoping to bump this higher in 2018. Also, I need to get back on the trainer in winter.
4) Trekking - 47.5 hrs
(10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)
Not a training activity that I plan or think much about but we were lucky to spend time in the mountains this year.
5) Paddling - 32.5 hrs
(17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)
This was a surprise but it shouldn't have been. Paddling hit the top 5 because we did the Big East River X 40K canoe race, Nipika Lodge trip and a 5-day Killarney canoe trip.
Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2017 list:
XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 20 hrs
(30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)
Sadly, it wasn't the snowiest winter. So far, things are looking much better for 2018.
Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 18.5 hrs
(36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)
This may be the first year I did more snowshoe orienteering than regular orienteering - and some of my regular orienteering was in the snow too. For a long time, my orienteering involvement has been mostly volunteering, not doing. That's OK.
Adventure Racing - 8 hrs
(18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)
This is another sport that has become mostly volunteering rather than doing, even though I still think of it as my primary interest. I wish there were more AR events in Ontario. There are so many other fun things to do close to home that it's hard to get inspired to travel a long way for an AR. In the meantime, I'll keep on having random outdoor adventures and training individual AR disciplines. Luckily, AR friends are still willing to join me for adventures!
Overall, I'd say it was a great training year until mid-September. When I came home from Ultra Tour Monte Rosa, I felt good but got consumed by Wilderness Traverse and Star Tracks, and decided it would be OK to take some time off. It felt like my right heel issues were caused by some tightening up or scar tissue resulting from that period of low activity - not by UTMR. My left ankle is normally my gimpy one but I turned my right ankle a couple of times at Nipika Lodge in July so I think my right foot is dealing with the same issues I've had on the other side. It's not fixed yet but it's doing a lot better after an easier autumn and a lot of physio exercises.
'Bent was feeling bored with ultrarunning in early 2017 so we added a couple of different races for variety - the Mohican 100K mountain bike race and the Big East River X 40K canoe race. Both of these were lots of fun and inspired us to change our routine a little to get ready. We were fortunate to travel to some cool places in 2017 and we had some awesome non-racing outdoor adventures with some of our favourite people. That will definitely be a goal again for 2018. :)