Training Log Archive: Bash

Beautiful, peaceful sunset ski around Palgrave West. Our old tracks were a little icy so I detoured around a couple of steep hills but mostly I enjoyed the speed. I broke trail on the Charlevoix Loop, which had only been used by coyotes and deer since the last snowfall. Apparently, everyone else can read the new No Trespassing sign. I'd cleared some fallen trees from the bottom of one hill a few days ago, which turned out to be good timing because today I missed the turn and ended up in the runaway lane leading into the New Trails. (They are thus named because we only discovered them 18 years ago!) It was pretty dark in the forest by the time I got back.

And then a Major Event - pizza delivery to our house! In the 21 years we've lived in the boonies, food delivery has rarely been an option. The dogs were over the moon.

A few repeats of General Running Conditioning Circuit #1 from Strength Training for Runners

As a workout, snowshoe running is right up there with skate skiing for me. It's pretty hard for me to do either sport while carrying on a conversation. Fortunately, AdventureDog wasn't too chatty today. We did a run around Palgrave West on my new Dion snowshoes. Our friend Derrick Spafford sells these running-specific snowshoes, and I've always been curious about them. When they went on sale recently, I decided to add to my outdoor gear collection. :)

My first impression is that they feel good. I'd need to switch back and forth with my Atlas Race snowshoes to see if I can feel a difference. I think they're less springy so there was less snow thrown up onto my back - although Atlas promotes their springiness as a speed advantage. I kicked my left ankle with my right snowshoe half a dozen times so I wonder if they have a different shape. I suspect that indicated a problem with running form, given that I never kicked my right ankle with my left snowshoe. Anyway, they worked just fine and I'm looking forward to testing both sets of snowshoes a little more.



AdventureDog said, "Stop taking pictures and start running. Woof! Woof!"

Sneak peak at the family photo I'm going to use in our Christmas letter. Storm took it during Saturday's Loree Forest hike so I've added it to that log entry too. It's rare to get all four family members looking at the camera. :)

Sunday's storm took us from bare ground to decent ski conditions because it started with ice pellets, which gave us a good base layer. It looks like conditions might be reasonable for a few more days. :)) This was our back yard today.



I went for a midday ski behind our house, starting in Palgrave West then heading to Palgrave East. In recent years, Palgrave East has attracted more fat bikers and winter hikers so our ski tracks often get trashed, which isn't as much fun. But now that the ash trees are dying in Palgrave West and the trails are blocked in a couple of places, I'll be crossing Duffy's Lane more often and hoping that the different trail users can learn to play nicely together.

It was beautiful and peaceful today. I saw lots of footprints and tire tracks but I seemed to have the place to myself.





Ready to break trail in Palgrave West. Note the dying ash tree overhanging the trail in the middle of the photo.

Browner, Jackie and I ran at Pretty River in wind and freezing rain while 'Bent, Storm, Tarno and Mr. Gally ran a wee bit faster in the same area. They had 4 dogs to chase, which undoubtedly helped. We had the Tarnos' Koko with us until halftime when we ran into the boys. Then she abandoned us due to our poor route choices, and Contour joined us to keep tabs on Browner.

It was one of those days when the weather looked horrible when we were sitting indoors looking out the window but once we were outside... the weather also looked horrible! It was actually kinda fun, other than all the ice scraping when we got back to the cars.

[Although the distance, time and elevation gain seem right, the first part of my GPS track is missing from the map. We ascended on the east side, passing the easternmost pond in the park.]

Storm, Browner, Scout and Contour visited us at Tree Hugger ABC in Collingwood for 'Bent's birthday weekend. Our pooches enjoyed it as much as we did! Today we hiked at Loree Forest, taking a few detours at 'Bent's suggestion. (Not that he knew where the detours went, really.) We had 10+ minutes of excitement/terror when Scout took off like a shot into thick forest chasing a large coyote. We're not sure who would have won but she finally returned unscathed - PHEW!!