Training Log Archive: Bash

The plan was to run the short stretch of gravel road to Palgrave East then run home on trails, aiming for an easy 8 km. The road was bare, wet and muddy but once I got on trails, there was so much ice that I wished I'd worn Kahtoolas. For the most part, I stayed vertical but there was no way to push off on the back foot. I got caught by some stealth ice hiding in leaf litter and crashed onto my hip with a knee twist. Nice.

So I headed back to the dirt road. I started on the closed section of Duffy's Lane but it was icy too. Then I tried Finnerty but two cars flung mud at me in the first 30 seconds. So I ran Duffy's Lane north to the mailbox by Hwy 9, a quiet stretch that mostly attracts local traffic.

I'm doing a snow dance. Please join me.

Post-run foothab and balance.

Year End Review, Part 1

2019 wasn't a great training year but it was a step up from 2018 when my annual training hours dipped 150 hrs below average. In the past two years, other priorities reduced my time available for training and affected my mood and motivation. In last year's review, I wrote, "I'll need to learn to train when I don't feel like it - or maybe there's a way to convince myself to feel like it. I'm not sure how one does this."

I'm optimistic that I'm on an upward trajectory, and I think I can get back on track in 2020 with some goals and structure to help with motivation.

There's plenty to criticize about my 2019 training but there were also some positives and reasons to celebrate. Our regular trips to Collingwood meant more XC skiing. 'Bent and I forced ourselves to do more skate skiing and learned to like it - a little, sort of. :) In July we spent an amazing week trail running with friends in the Rockies, aka "Canmore Camp", my biggest fitness boost of the year. I was 1st woman in the Orienteering Ontario O Cup Series and Storm The Trent, and Middle Distance age group champion at the Ontario Orienteering Champs. Browner, K-Way and I won the female team category at Raid The Hammer. I finished the 50-mile Québec Mega Trail, my longest run in more than two years.

But I'm most proud of the 101-km CCC mountain race at UTMB. My training plan fell apart when life got in the way so I winged it from a fitness perspective but I did not wing the other aspects of preparation or execution. I'm happy that my experience, mental focus and endurance from past years of training got me through it. I didn't expect to fail but I didn't expect to succeed either, which made the finish line especially sweet.

This year I've learned that it's possible to do more with less training than I'd ever imagined. Our bodies are amazing and resilient, which is great for emergencies but not something to rely on. I was darned lucky to avoid serious injuries.

Part 2 of the Year End Review will be "Training Goals", which I didn't write in 2018 or 2019. I think that will be key but it will take longer to think through.
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2019 Training Hours by Activity + 2019 Report Card
(2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets)
**Boring to read unless you are Future Me.**

Total Annual Training Hours = 387.5 hrs, 2256 km, 59,332 m climb
(333, 468.5, 495, 494.5, 470, 557, 505, 612)

I didn't set a target for total hours. I'd like to get back to the 450+ hour range but the 1 hour per week increase over 2018 was a good start.

2011-2013 training totals were higher than 2014-2017 mostly because of overnight/expedition ARs. The real drop happened in 2018 and 2019.

Top Five Activities - 2019

1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 193.5 hrs, 1153 km, 39,924 m climb, 93 sessions
(145, 222.5, 250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
Two mountain ultras - Quebec Mega Trail 50 miler and CCC 101 km.

2) XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 45.5 hrs
(26, 20, 30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)
Stayed local. This may have been the most skiing I've done in a year without a ski vacation.

3) Paddling - 33 hrs
(30, 32.5, 17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)
This included our trip to Algonquin Park with Timato, K-Way, Mick, Laura and all the kids.

4) Trekking - 27 hrs
(17, 47.5, 10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)

5) Tied:

Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 21.5 hrs
(45, 53, 33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)
This is incredibly low. Half my 2019 biking hours were logged on 5 days in April in Sedona. Biking was the sport that I pretty much gave up this year when I was short of time. This number doesn't include the biking in two adventure races - but the totals in other years didn't include AR biking either. I have a great bike so 2020 must be different!

Strength + Yoga - 21 hrs
(30.5, 59.5, 82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
Target was 80 hours and I can feel the loss in strength and mobility. The Personal Best Fitness Studio and Caron's Yoga/Core classes used to help me get this training in. In their absence, I obviously haven't been great at motivating myself but the other option is to drive to town and pay money, which seems silly when we have so much fitness equipment at home. I need a plan.

Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2019 list:

Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 17 hrs
(23, 18.5, 36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)
Although I've been on the board of Orienteering Ontario for years, I don't orienteer much. If I lived in Norway, I'd probably orienteer once or twice a week but in Caledon, it's easier to do other sports.

Adventure Racing - 14.5 hrs
(8, 8, 18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)
I still think of AR as my primary interest but there aren't many opportunities close to home. I'm the Assistant RD at the only overnight AR in Ontario so I never get to race it - oh well. :)

Dipped into Caron's 10 Minutes 2 Zen Series on Youtube. It's been a looong time since I've done any yoga and I'm sore from yesterday's circuit training, as expected. Ouch - but it felt helpful.

C3 New Year's Day workout and breakfast:

I chose the circuit training class with Luis Lopez rather than the spin bike or outdoor run options since I hadn't done any fitness classes in 2019. Boy, could I ever feel the lack of training! I did pretty well on the arms/legs/back exercises but my core strength needs a *lot* of work. As expected, box jumps don't come naturally to someone who has no fast twitch muscle fibres but it was impressive to watch Luis, a former competitive diver, jump up there as light as a feather, almost without bending his legs. It will be interesting to see how sore I am tomorrow...

Afterwards, we watched pro triathlete Taylor Reid try out the new C3 endless pool. Of course we eventually made him turn it up to Level 10 current and do the butterfly, just for our entertainment. This could be a good way for 'Bent and me to improve our swimming skills. They are going to add a video camera with software that will allow you to review your stroke with a replay 30 seconds later.

Short run around Palgrave West on lumpy snow and ice - great proprioception work! I haven't decided on the details yet but I think 5K training runs will play a role in my 2020 training plans so I figured I'd do one on Day 1.

On New Year's Eve 30 years ago, I started dating this guy. He's still hanging around - I guess I'll keep him. :)

Family run through Palgrave East and West in honour of New Year's Eve. After two days of depressing rain and fog, it was fantastic to wake up and see fresh snow coating the ground and trees.

'Bent ran with BazingaDog on a leash while AdventureDog ran free. We did a little bushwhacking in Palgrave West but spent most of our time on trails with a base of hard ice covered by 3-7 cm of fluffy snow. We usually had sufficient traction with our spikes but there were a few slippery bits. It was a great finish to a very difficult year.

Short run before we met Neil for dinner and Star Wars. 'Bent and I rarely work out in the Adventure Basement at the same time, partly because we choose different entertainment while we work out. Today I watched Mountain Outpost trail running news on my iPad while 'Bent watched "Mighty Trains" on the Discovery Channel. If he were 7, I'd know exactly what to get him for Christmas. :)

Snowy, icy and muddy run around the Osler snowshoe trails with Dee and ‘Bent. We explored a side trail and found the connection to Pretty River that I’d wondered about. What a great area!