Training Log Archive: Bash

AdventureDog and I went to our first SUP & Pup session at the C3 Quarry. Caron Shepley is offering these sessions through the summer and donating the fees to the Upper Credit Humane Society.

AdventureDog had never been on a SUP but he is an experienced canoeist, which proved as helpful as I'd hoped it would. As soon as I waded into the water, he jumped onto the SUP. He's used to a wobbly watercraft so that didn't faze him. He sat upright and looked around for the first 15 minutes then he relaxed, lay down and enjoyed the smells for the rest of our paddle. Most dogs handled it pretty well but in my admittedly biased opinion, A-Dog was really a pro. Some dogs refused to sit. One dog insisted on lying on his owner's lap. One dog (with a veterinarian owner) refused to leave the knee-deep water at the beach. About half the humans sat or kneeled on their board to avoid a sploosh. I only saw one dog-human pair go for a swim.

I *might* take BazingaDog next week if I'm in the mood for adventure.

Purr de France, Stage 8

Today we were supposed to grind up a few hills in a larger gear so I did some low cadence climbs in Palgrave West.



Busy today - waiting in line to buy produce (sigh) and applying to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. Just another typical day in Covid Land.

'Bent came home with N95 face. :(

Purr de France, Stage 7

Today was a rest day for most participants but I took Saturday off because the trails were so wet. The joke was on me!



So I had to ride on the trainer anyway. At least that let me catch up on some Youtubing.

I haven't used the TacX Flow trainer regularly in several years, and it's obviously mad at me. It refused to calibrate. I think it's telling the truth about Cadence and Time but the Wattage, Speed and Distance numbers don't seem right. Either that or I've become a pathetic weakling. So I'm just guessing on the distance.

After all the rain yesterday, I caught up on Stage 6 of Le Purr de France with a 2.5 hour ride with 'Bent on the Dufferin Forest trails. We rarely ride there so we relied on Trailforks for navigation, which usually works perfectly. Today, not so much! It's not often that I have to download my GPS track when I get home to find out where I went. I used my phone's compass to find our way back to the parking lot. The silver lining is that we rode farther, even when we were hit by a short burst of heavy rain. (This is the Trailforks map - not our track!)



The gypsy moth caterpillars have defoliated a lot of trees so it was bright on the forest trails. It felt more like early spring than mid-summer. It's the same on some trails here in Palgrave - weird. Also, we had to be careful not to inhale moths! But otherwise, it was fun.









[Time includes lots of navigation stops. Fixed data to add section where watch was turned off.]

It was a perfect day to earn the Summer Scavenger Hunt "What Weather?" badge in Palgrave West. Honestly, I would much rather run in heavy rain than in sunshine with a 40C humidex. But the rules said we had to run in the rain unless we live in a desert. It was wonderful. :)







Running in glasses didn't work so well, lol.





Drowned rat.

Purr de France, Day 5
Flat Stage

Sooo hot - but at least I finally got more than 7 hours of sleep. Since the pandemic started, I've had a hard time falling asleep until the wee hours. Everyone else in our house likes to get up early so I've had a lot of short nights in recent months.

I rode in Palgrave East and West. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere and the F&M Raspberry Patch is at its peak so I had to take a break there.





When I got back to our property, I rode 'Bent's Covid Crusher single track. He really needs to make a video to show it off properly but here are a few photos.

Upper body strength - a mix of TRX, dumbbells and Nautilus machine.

I collected and destroyed a bunch of gypsy moth pupae and caterpillars this afternoon but it was only a tiny drop in a huge bucket. I hope something happens to prevent them from returning next year in these quantities. Otherwise, a lot of trees will be lost - especially oaks, but they'll eat pretty much anything. It's already too late to collect pupae around our oaks. The stupid moths are out. But the females don't fly and they can be squished. We'll be looking for eggs all summer. #Hobbies

Purr de France, Day 4
Mountain Stage

To get some variety in my mountain stages, I stayed in Palgrave West and did repeats on Raspberry Hill. On the way back, I did repeats of raspberry picking. Soooooo hot and humid.

I did a short out-and back to Thinker's Hill. It has that name because our 77-year-old neighbour's father used to walk up there to sit on the bench and watch the world go by.



Back at our place, I was thrilled to see new leaves on some of our trees that were devastated by gypsy moth caterpillars. This is the change in 72 hours. The caterpillars finished defoliating these pyramidal oaks then moved on to other trees.





Now many of the caterpillars have moved to the pupa stage. I'm going to find and destroy as many as I can!

My neighbour came with me to SUP yoga a few times two years ago. She was intrigued enough to buy an inflatable SUP but never took it out of the box. She asked if I would go paddling with her in our other neighbour's small pond but I suggested Island Lake. Considering that she'd never inflated the SUP, and all the various pieces were still wrapped in plastic, things went pretty smoothly.



It wasn't a workout but she was so excited and appreciative that I was really glad we went. She has lived within 15 minutes of Island Lake for most of her adult life but this was her first visit. Now she's been bitten by the bug and is keen to go regularly.



Logged @50%.

Someone wasn't pleased to be left at home.

Purr de France, Day 3
Flat Stage

With hills around us like this one in our front yard (which Raid The Rib racers might recognize), there is no "flat" way to leave our house.





But I tried to spin more and take it easier. I avoided steep hills where I could and followed more double track through Palgrave East. In the end, this Flat Stage was only 15 meters less elevation gain than the Day 1 Hilly Stage. But in virtual races, it's all in the way you imagine it.

Today's Purr de France stage included a leg and glute strength workout that looked good so I gave it a shot.

I was on a roll for a super healthy day when I got the urge to make chocolate cheesecake. Oh well.

This Summer Scavenger Hunt activity was fun - now that it's over - but it was out of my comfort zone! The Night Owl badge involves running for 30+ minutes and crossing the midnight hour during the run.

I was planning to ask 'Bent to join me some time but I got brave tonight and decided to just run around our 10 acres. It seemed like a great idea until I went on the Covid Crusher (formerly the Pandemic Gumby Trail) on our south hill. The dogs at the farm next door saw my light and started barking in a wild chorus like they were heading in for the kill. I know they can escape their fenced property, and they're not always friendly so that added some spice to the experience.

It was wonderful. I love running trails at night - breathing cool air, smelling the damp vegetation and looking at the stars. For some weird reason, I don't get nervous when I'm racing alone in a dark forest but unfortunately, I'm too chicken to do regular trail runs at night. Unless I have to do it for a virtual running event, of course!