Training Log Archive: Sid

3rd day on kayak trip, getting near the South Channel to Byng Inlet. Lots of cottages on the islands made it difficult to find a reasonable camp site. High winds stil but the direction changed to northeast for a while.Still lots of mayflies darkened the sky at night.

Second day for trip. Heavy winds from the west south west made for waves on our one windward section. Camped on a rocky platform for the first time. At night the wind persisted and heavy clouds of mayflies were everywhere.

Sea kayaking from Bayfield Inlet to Byng Inlet on Georgian Bay. Easy trip to enjoy the scenery and different activity. Mosquitos were out in large numbers.

Won the baseball game. Nice lazy game, though thunderstorms in the area.

Three loops of the Sheridan Creek Trail route. Tried to change back to my natural gait from treadmill induced gait. Not sure how successful. Right knee was a little sore. Generally tired from SS and hockey but needed to get running again. Almost did a 4th loop but thought better of that.

First game on the smaller ice surface. Goalie School started before us so the ice was poor though the rink rats spent extra time on it. It will only get worse as the weather gets warmer. Legs felt weak so my stop and jump starts were slow. Too speed was okay but acceralation down. Summer Solstice took a lot out of my legs!!

24 Hours of Adrenalin Summer Solstice Albion Hills: Three Pin Jim, Coach LD, Bash, 'Bent, Guse, S B, Knobless and Hingo are doing great. Awaiting my night ride at after midnight, the weather changes to a torrential downpour. Incoming bikers complain about the slick first technical section. Take off slower after Coach LD hand off. After 1 km, my helmet 15 W light goes out and I am reduced to the 5 W light on the handle bars. Makes navigation difficult and slows my pace except when trailing some one. Once moving, it feels great zipping between the trees and hillocks. New bike is showing it worth handling the corners with the disc brakes. Side hills become slick and tires do not hold. Come to a mound with people falling backwards in the mud. Bushwack around and onward. Shoes are clogged and Mizuno cleats are a mess making clipping in near impossible. Oh, for my old egg beater pedals! The side hill post Sugar Shack section is not much fun. Slow pace especially on the double track sections as I just can not see far enough ahead on the one beam. No major crashes and it is quite surreal traversing the forest. Nice temperature, though quite wet. C3 shorts sag a bit and catch on my seat front. Cruise in to finish and hand off to Goose.

Nice night riding but I was too slow for racing though perfect for A/R pace. Statistics - 1075 kcal burn, Average HR - 130, Max - 147, Start HR - 78. Little that could be done to improve matters much.

24 Hours of Adrenalin Summer Solstice Albion Hills: 10:40 am and my last lap. I have to break 1:20 to allow 'Bent over an hour for his lap. Started out a bit sluggish but soon get into the race. Had gone to strength, power cycling versus cadence but my leg power is down but gave it my best. I can feel I just do not have top end. Fast racers on other teams fly by though there are quite a few hardy solos taking it easy. Got into my top ring gear on the back half of the course and zipped between the trees. The side hill past Sugar Shack is no problem now as the weather has dried the course out. No slick at all as in my night lap. Checked watch at 1 km mark and have 8 minutes to spare. Pass Tree Hugger Haven and get home to pass off to 'Bent at about 5 minutes before 12 pm.

Over 4 hours riding in the 24 hour spam. Last lap statistics 1060 kcal burn, Average HR - 132, Max - 154, Start HR - 80. Slow but sure Silence Beckons pace is not quite up to Tree Hugger standard but still a very fun race. Doing a team relay is good character building and Bash has done a great job in getting a premium camp site, complimentary team and setting the correct race tone !!

C • Well done! 3

24 Hours of Adrenalin Summer Solstice Albion Hills: 2nd year on the Tree Huggers 8 person team organized by Bash. In warm up my handle bars came loose so back to the shop for tightening by Three Pin Jim. Started as 3rd person about 2:00 pm behind Three Pin Jim and Coach LD. Relatively easier technically versus 2007 but suited me fine. Seat came loose about a third of the way through and it made cadence torquing difficult. Statistics: Burn - 1060 kcal, Average HR - 150, Max - 160 Start line HR - 98.

Felt good. Slight bark burn on left shoulder. Nice start though slow person on team.

MTC Swim with Coach Stephanie. Warm up 300 m breathe 3, 5, 7 & 9. 6 x 100m kick with fins on 2:30. 300 m 50m drill / 50m back. Main set 400m pull/paddle, 4 x 25m fast on 1:00, 4 x 100m -0:05 starting at 2:20, 4 x 25m fast on 1:00, 4 x 50m on 1:15, 4 x 25m fast on 1:00, 400m pull/paddle and 4 x 25m fast on 1:00. Cooldown 100m fly/breast

Felt good today. Roll and tight body was starting to work. 100m times were 1:50 to 2:00, 25 m times 0:19 to 0:22 with most below 0:20. 50m times 0:50.

Platelet donation BP - 121/82 HR- 61 Arm got really sore but survived after needle abort at last donation.

Tie game but we were lucky to get it in with rain all round. I am having trouble warming up and was slow to first on first at bat.

MTC Swim with Coach Melissa. Warm 2 x (200m free, 2 x 100m pull, 200m 25 drill, 75 free) Main set 10 x 200m on 4:10, 800 m paddle and pull at 75%.

Felt great! Times were much better than last Thursday. Seem to be improving my roll. 200m times 3:55 to 4:05. Seven below 4:00.

A bit tired after the weekend but it felt good to go at speed again. We lost as the guys ran out of gas late in the game.

Second Day

Event: 2008 US Rogaining Championships
 

US Rogaining Championships at Allegany State Park, NY. The prime Silence Beckons team of myself and Ironwoman entered this race. We were injuried two years ago in doing this race and hoped to be more competitive. Arriving in the Salamanca area, the weather was intrepid, one minute torrential downpours and the next sunny skies. Weather mico cells could be seen over the park as hazy misty veils frolicking between the tree covered hills. The temperature was warm though over 80°F. Bunking in cabin 6 with fellow GTAers, the race has less of an international feel.

A lazy sleep in Saturday, morning was changed as the map distribution time was moved up a hour, better for planning but not sleep. SB had decided to aim for about 40km with rough plans to sleep in the woods. Heavy rain after the map distribution made racers leary. SB decided on a two loop course after map overview. Stringed routes were made and points per km calculated. Two loops totaling 1340 were chosen but one was reversed after some decision.

At race start, SB headed down the road to take the trail and traverse to CP 604 on a hilltop. Walking the ridgeline SB heads east up and down a river valley to CP 414. Leanimal and Slice and also Mr. Pither flash by us between 604 & 414. Heading northeast into the next valley the team headed for CP 504. Once in the valley, it was found that there were many more streams than on the map and it was difficult to discern the one with the control. A north correction did not help but heading south to bail, the trail on the east of the river was found and the control soon after though we went further on the trail than necessary to get a feel for the trail corners. In retrospect the were a road below CP 414 that connected to the trail. In an orienteering event one would have gone the much shorter direct route but the rogaining map is of different quality and larger scale so the surefire technique may be best.

It was decided to take the longer road and trail to CP 304. Following the river bed towards the control seemed good strategy but each stream junction was barren. We figured we were too high and were going to bail by saw groups behind us so continued and finally found the control. We were the first group there though and later discussion seemed to indicate the control was in the wrong place, too high. These 2 streams had shown us that water was not to be trusted just topography.

Climbing out of the valley, SB reaches Mout Onondaga and drops of the southwest plateau between the 2 streams to hit CP 703. A climb out of the valley to the next rise allows us to follow the ridge to CP 310 on a hilltop. A steep descent to the road and a more gradually climb leads us to approach CP 806. The rocky terrain makes for a ready stop for our first meal. After peanut utter bagels and tuna pitas, SB continues. The control is readily found judging the steep hill's shape. Heading northeast SB finds the ridge top trail and uses it to reach Mount Oneida. Dropping off the ridge here we reach control 302. Dropping to the road, SB follows it to a stream crossing and uses it to judge the valley location for CP 508. The plan is to walk the ridge to CP 705 but a misjudgement takes us down the hill to the ASP1 road which we follow to access point to the control. Going down the broad re-entrant looking for the sharp stream start seems a bit difficult but people are seen in the area. We soon hit the control though doubt has crept in. Later we hear teams have taken more than one attempt as this control as they do not believe it is that low.

Back to the road SB angles to hit the control in stream bed. It is suppsoed to be at a trail junction but no trail is found at the site, just a stretech of water ditches. We decide to cross a open clearing to access the next control CP 411. The sun is getting low and we are heading directly into it. After all the rain it would be nice if we could get dried off a bit. Climbing a hill we run a ridge to the control. It is getting dark though and we have three controls to hit before returning to the hash house. These are all on ridges.

We bear westnorthwest along the ridge to the next plateau. It is dark and foggy by the time we reach here ans switch to headlights. heading south off the plateau, I start to take us west to foolow the ridge to CP 605. However, the dense downfall typical in this region makes it difficult to follow the ridge and I find myself heading north. Reverting to south a significant drop off is difficult to discern. Night navigation seems to have become a problem. Assessing the situation, the best idea seem to be to head diirectly south to the road and hike back to the Hash House. We will be missing 3 controls but can start our second loop earlier. Heading south on a direct bearing at night is tough as we can not see far enough ahead to miss major downfalls but have the clamber over them. 1.5 hours later we hit the road and head for the HH. My right knee is sore which was not apparent earlier and I a cold from wearing O pants instead of my more typical A/R gear. IW seem sfine though the walks rapidly on. We pass a male team at the water station setting out to hit controls at night. In retrospect, we may be should have rest and eat before bailing. The area we were in had distinct features that would be apparent in light. Also the remedy was worse than the just camping out. Perhaps, the appeal of dry feet and bedding was too much. Myself in particular but Silence Beckons was carrying more gear than the British Expeditionary Forces. Camping out was a good option as I had 30' x 10' tarp on my pack and temperatures were above 50°F. Whatever, SB returns to the HH at 12:30 in the field and goes to bed. In bed I find I have one achey knee, gorgeous but abused feet, a light shoulder ache and slight muscle fatigue.






MORE TO FOLLOW!

MTC Swim with Coach Melissa. Warm up 300m 50 free/50 stroke, 100m kick, 200m pull and 6 x 100m on 2:15. Main - 5 x 400m free on 8:10. 100m easy, 2 x 300m paddle and pull, 200m swim. Cool down 100m fly/back.

Felt good but swim times were real slow. 100m times started at 1:57 and escalated to 2:10. 400m time was about 8:30. Was swim about 7:35 a few weeks ago. Felt like I could go forever though. May be swimming about 400m in Bass Lake last weekend throw of my style. Roll, head and legs did not seem typical.

Won another game. Arm and legs felt okay but did not warm up well.

Five hour drive to Pittsburgh and stood on legs for a good part of the afternoon at the trade show. Not the best recovery routine!

C • Stood on Legs All Afternoon 4

Event: Salomon NavStock 6-hour Raid
 

Nav-Stock 6 hour Race. Went pretty well except GB had heat exhaustion about 2 km from finish. Picked him up and did some controls after. Right knee was not prefect but overall strong. 90 F temperatures seemed to be tough on larger racers

Event: NavStock Weekend
 

Nav-Stock Middle Distance. Mistake ingoing to second control. Headed for CP 13 instead of CP2. Realized error but was freaked and correction was poor. Hit CP 11 and used it to reach 2. Afterwards hit most controls in order. Overshoot 3 a bit but was fine otherwise. Right knee was a bit tight.

Nav-Stock Sprint. Rough start, overshoot CP 1 but was pretty good after. Knee was a bit tight but okay!!

MTC Swim with Coach Stephanie. Warm up 24 x 25m IM, 200m pull breathe 3, 5, 7 & 9. main Set 2 x (2 x 300m, 3 x 200m, 5 x100m) 1st set swim,second pull.

Had trouble getting my technique correct and was slow as a result. 100m times 1:53 to 2:00. 300m - 5:45, 200m 3:50.

AAA Nite at Kerncliffe Park. Did the advanced course and then the novice course. Tried to use cross country routes except where the undergrowth was vicous. Navigation seemed good though I went at slow speed. Spiked myself in the forehead with a thorn and still have a trace in my scalp. Right knee was a bit sore after hockey so took it easy as a result.

MTC Swim with Coach Melissa Warm up 2 x (200m free, 200m free/stroke, 200m pull choice) Main set - 2 x (4 x100 build on 2:00, 4 x 25m kick) 3 x 300m pull, 1st easy, 2nd fast, 300m swim. Cool down 100m fly/breast

Have a slight muscle pull in right trap but little effect. Took it easy though distance wise after long swims last week. 100m times 1:45 to 1:57. 300m swim - 5:50 pull - 5:25

We got an extra 20 minutes ice time and lost in that time. Great skate though but tired after!!

Cycled to near Fergus. HR was about 125 going up but dropped to lower teens on return. Side wind and cool temperatures made the ride inclement. Road bike felt good though. Burn - 1300 kcal