Training Log Archive: Bash

As a substitute for a run, I thought 'Bent, BazingaDog, AdventureDog and I could go out in the sunshine as a family for a few snowshoe repeats of Blue Mountain near the Orchard Chair.

Conditions couldn't have been more perfect for our expedition but mistakes were made and B-Dog escaped from 'Bent and bounded up a steep ski run out of sight, ignoring all entreaties to turn around. The next few minutes went the way these things always go - stress building as he didn't reappear and my imagination running wild. If he kept running, it wouldn't take him long to find a road or an active ski run. There was no way either of us could chase him up Blue Mountain on snowshoes so we could only stay on our route and hope he showed up again.

A few minutes later, he appeared beside me, having climbed up from below. No idea where he was in between. He had a small cut on his right rear foot that left blood in the snow. It didn't seem to bother him but we cut our outing short when it kept bleeding.

'Bent drove the dogs back to THABC and bandaged up BazingaDog. I ran back from Blue Mountain so I could salvage a bit more of the workout, which was originally supposed to be a long run.

Goose and Coach LD joined us at THABC yesterday so we could all get to Highlands Nordic first thing in the morning to enjoy another last (maybe) ski of the season. Almost all trails were open and snow coverage was excellent - a few bumps and twigs but almost no bare patches. We're not used to skiing in strong April sunshine. It was magical!









AdventureDog stayed home with BazingaDog because dogs aren't allowed at Highlands. He took it well though; he is one cool dude.

Tarno and Jacquie invited us to visit their spectacular new place near Highlands for lunch and a snowshoe with Koko the adorable viszla. Jacquie is an impressively speedy snowshoer. I tried to be all cool and pretend that I wasn't gasping for breath.

Pooch hike through mashed potato snow.

Smugmug has acquired Flickr - wow!

When winter arrives in April, you have to go with the flow. AdventureDog and I went for a nice, easy-but-hilly lunchtime snowshoe hike off-trail in Palgrave West.



Just to document this for future reference, here's what it looks like around our house. This is not soft, fluffy snow; it's a dense layer of ice pellets as heavy as concrete. I've heard of someone whose windshield cracked when a piece of this stuff slid off their car roof. In my case, it just knocked off the windshield wiper.

Hard Core Live with Caron - 'Bent and I haven't been getting out to these classes this winter and we could sure use it.

C3 Yoga Class - surprisingly hard work. Well, not *that* surprising after all these years.

BazingaDog's training program has been working well; he is easier to control than he was even two months ago. I rarely used to risk injury by running with him but today he whimpered and gave me The Look. He remembered that I took him on the canicross harness when Coach LD and I ran in Collingwood, and he was a Very Good Boy that time.

So I had no excuse; I changed my plan and ran with him on the very snowy trails of Palgrave East. At times, running with Brody on harness felt like being on a treadmill that was going too fast - especially fun in spiked shoes with 10 cm of soft, mashed potato snow over an uneven base. At many other times, one of us - not to single anyone out - took an unscheduled break to sniff a tree or pee on a stump to mark territory.

We met Slowrunner and later we met Crash with her two pooches. The latter encounter was a little scary at first. B-Dog dashed off the trail after Sadie and it wouldn't have taken much for him to slam my face into a tree trunk with the short canicross line. But he didn't and it was great to catch up with Crash. In these soft conditions, it was never going to feel like real running so at least B-Dog and I had some bonding time.

Kristy's Boot Camp - 2nd last one before the studio closes until the fall. :(

Ski fail! It snowed all morning, often heavily, so I thought a lunchtime ski would be in order. Nope! There was enough rain overnight to turn our beautiful white trails into wet concrete with occasional slush fields. The snow looked so good that I wasn’t prepared for my skis to slam to a halt as I started down the first hill. Oh well, we’ll always have yesterday...

Physio, Foothab, running-specific stretches and leg strength