Training Log Archive: Sid

MTC Swim with Coach Stewart. Warm up 500 mixed Main Set - 100m under/over, 500m kick drills, 100 u/o, 500m pull, 100 u/o 500m stroke drills. Cool down - 200 easy.
Water was like soup. Took it easy working on my left side.

MTC Spin with Coach John. Varying power sets. Tough on the legs but kept things together. Burn - 1000 kcal.

Brick workout. Quads felt tired but okay once I was moving. After I was pretty much burnt out. Burn - 300 kcal.

Weather was a bit cool and there was a west wind. Legs felt good though right knees was a bit unstable. Burn - 950 kcal.

MTC Swim with Coach Stewart. Warm up - Lazy 800m. Main set - 2 x 400m pull, 4 x 200m swim, 8 x 100m IM. 50m cool down.
Took it easy as arms and core were tired. Swam 200m on 4:05 to 4:10. Worked on left arm and good body symmetry. Seemed to work as speed increased.

Drat lost another one but had great skate.

MTC Spin with Coach Steve. Power sets at 100, 110 & 120 cadence. Legs felt good. Burn - 400 kcal.

MTC Core Class with Coach Dhalia. Lots of full arm plank made for sore shoulders and wrists. Otherwise core was not bad though I took it easy.

MTC Swim with Coach JJ. Endurance swim. Warm up - 8 x 100 (drill/swim/kick side/swim) Main set 8 x 100 swim on 2:10, 8 x 100 pull on 2:00 and 8 x 100 IM on 2:50. Cool down - 150 easy back/breast Slow warming up. Breathing to the left only to try to fix left arm path. 100m times - 1:50 to 1:55. Pull 100m on 1:45. IM 100m on about 2:30.

Charity pickup game at Hershey Bowl. Good skate with even caliber players.

Recharge with Coach Troy. Felt good as I had missed Sunday spin. Burn - 250 kcal.

Core only, planks, crunches, superman and leg raises. Stretch after.

Back stroke day! Not sure if my technique was much better but felt okay.

Thomass Kickoff at Geulph Junction. Nice run through the woods in the warm temperatures. Came on top of controls very fast. Lots of people criss-crossing everywhere. After wards found I had fallen into a trap. Followed the crowd from 3 to 4 but the crowd went to 8. I was with quite a few experienced O racers and thought I was code checking at each unit but after wards the results showed I had missed 4 and hit 8 instead with many others. Could have sworn I was fine but my memory did not match the CP 4 description either. Rookie mistake, Yeech!!

Run from the Morrison through to Iroquois Ridge.

Easy skate! Legs tired after Thursday.

MTC Swim with Coach Stewart. Warm up - 200m swim, 2 x 50 underwater build, 200m pull, 4 x 50m build. main Set - 8 x 100m, 50 easy, 6 x 100m IM, 50 easy, 4 x 100 swim, 50 easy, 2 x 100m IM & 50 easy. Cool down - 100m float, double arm 100 m swim with fins.

Had trouble trying to get my form decent. Left arm was moving bad making head and roll a problem. Was swimming 100m on 1:50 to 1:55.

Lost another game.

MTC spin with Coach Steve. Combination cadence and power workout. Legs were a bit tired and it was reflected in my high HR. Burn - 490 kcal. Drink root beer and water for a change

MTC Swim with Coach JJ. Warm up 8 x 75m (25 drill/ 50 swim). Main Set - 800m swim with fins, 4 x 50 (side kick/swim), 3 x 200m pull, 4 x 50 (side kick/swim), 400m swim & 4 x 50 (side kick/swim). Cool down 200m back/breast.
I had my free dialed in during the warm up but lost it in the swim with fins. 400m time - 8:10 slow. The breast felt good in cool down after Sunday' instructions.

It got dark quick and I stumble on a root running in the valleys home. Legs were a bit tired but functional. Burn - 370 kcal.

Recharge with Coach Troy. First time I have done this in a while though it was a training favorite last spring. Legs were a bit tired after Sunday but was able to hit targets. Burn - 330 kcal.

Core and resistance home workout. Calves were still a bit tired but my plank and superman held times were good.

MTC technique day with Coach Stewart. Worked on my worse stroke, breast. I figured out my arm action but my legs are not good. Kick is bad as hip flexibility is poor.

C • IRONMAN? 3

MTC Spin with Coach John. We did a variety of cadence, power and strength intervals. I:00 to 4:00 pyramids with a 1:00 rest in between. Legs were kind of tired after Saturday and took it easy for a while but pushed out the boat for the last intervals and hit maximum HR. Burn - 900 kcal.

Ran Oakville trails from McCraney around 16 mile Creek above Upper Middle and back. Passed MTC crowd and KK going the opposite way. Coyote was seen by many on the west of the ravine. It looked pretty rough as its fur was a mess but I would not go near it.
Joints and legs felt tired after and had a ice bath. I am out of the practice and the cold water is hard to take!! Burn - 900 kcal.

MTC Swim with Coach Stewart. Warm up - 3 x (100m swim, 100m pull, 2 x 50m free/back/breast) Main Set - 5 x 100m swim, 100m pull (breathe 3,5,7,9), 4 x 100m IM, 200m pull, 3 x 100m swim, 300m pull (breathe 3,5,7,9) 2 x100m IM, 400m pull (breathe 3,5,7,9) Cool down 100 float, 100 easy.
Arms and core were tired after past days. 100m times started at 1:55 and increased to 2:05. IM 100m time - 2:35 with fly.

Bad game in general. Skated fine though I thought my legs would be tired.

MTC Spin with John B. Cadence workout but with some power. Started at 95 rpm in small - 15 about 28 kmh then switched to large chain ring and accelerated. Legs felt good after Sunday. Burn - 400 kcal.

MTC core class with Coach Dalia. The class felt tough with lower core seeming especially tired. Perhaps lingering effects for the rth.

MTC Swim with Coach JJ. Warm up - 12 x 50 on 1:05, descending first and second 6. Main Set - 4 x 200m rotating 50m fast through. 2 x 400m pull. 8 x100m kick with fins alternating side and free. 200 m swim easy.
Tired still after Sunday. Took Monday of as legs were worn out and needed a nap after getting home. Arms felt tired in warm up got 50m speed up to 0:47 for 50m. Swam the 200m on about 3:55. Legs were okay for turns though I thought cramping was a possibility.

Event: Salomon Dontgetlost.ca Raid the Hammer
 

Fielding the original team of TD, KS and myself, Silence Beckons races in the tenth anniversary of this fall classic. The Masters category is quite competitive with younger team graduating upward while we gray with age with our long time counter parts, KGB. The race route starts near the Red Hill area of Hamilton and ends in Dundas on the other side of the DVCA. The weather is gorgeous, sunny and high about 15°C. All are wearing just one layer and the mandatory toque is redundant.

At the high school last minute instructions are received, we are assigned bib # 101 and load one of the mythical buses for the ride to the start. Three maps are received by each. The maps have the instructions on the back making coordination paramount with just one map case. I have trouble indoors seeing the detail on the map so take out my left contact. Later, this makes focusing on my feet blurry. Map #2 has both up and lower map sections that lead to confusion later as mental fatigue sets in. The theme of the day is hill climbs, my favorite but not of my teammates.

After a last washroom break, teams congregate adjacent to a new light ball diamond not on our map. Hammer promises that the little mud at the start line will be the last we will see all day!! The mass start begins along a wide gravel trail and over a bridge. The first control is up a left trail. Approaching, we note that already, teams are not all touching the flag, as in the instructions. Bearing south we soon hit controls 2 & 3, religiously all touching the flag. As usual, TD has the SI card, way too much responsibility for an absent mind scientist like myself. The Foreigners pass running from 4 to 5 apparently in the race leading position as is typical. Control 4 is the start of the first split. Three controls surround this point and members have to do an out and back to each. KS takes B up a reentrant, TD, our speed, C, the long river run surrounded by embankment and I the uphill A which looks dead easy except there is a scrambling climb at the end. I pass Bash returning from A and overshoot a bit but am still first back to CP 4. KS is next and TD can be seen next, scrambling out of the river bed, behind RC having passed a few others on that route.

There was a bit of discussion on the route to 5. I like the lower choice adjacent to the golf course but the route of choice seems to be the upper trail which I am happy to run. We get passed by Men of Constant Sorrow, the eventual Masters winner on this section. The downhill to 5 is tortuous and TD has the first of her spills. Down to the lower trail now, we head for control 6 which is a long run. With the change to map #2 and the 1:15000 scale, distances seem quite long. We go along the clearing to 6 and around the fence continuing on the Bruce Trial to the start of the Matrix. TD has a second spill. Tree Huggers are just ahead as we reach the split point. Here, my greatest skill of advance planning, fails yet again. TD goes to 6A and continues on to 6D. KS and I are supposed to take the next two on the uphill side but get to 6D and wonder where TD is. KS waits as I head for the next uphill control and return. On return I find the other two but I should have continued on the uphill trial to the next control. Instead, I climb, just passed a major stream bed but misinterpret the control location and walking passed it, only returning on hitting a trial junction. Yeech! Finally getting it, I run to reunite with the others at Control 7, with JL noting our time. We depart making another error. The punch control is beside JL but somehow we do not see it and assume the control is human only.

Next is the first stair climb, lots of fun, to traffic control by EP who aids team by pointing out the Bruce Trial blazes. Knowledge of the Hammer would help here as the instructions talk about this cut and that and they mean little to us. We end the trial at the top of one cut and run down the sidewalk and go under the bridge to the next cut and run up the side. We get confused here as the switch from the lower to lower tracks on map #2 was no seamless for us but we finally figure it out and head up to the top and down to the next trail, leading down and around to various sections of the Bruce Trail control 8, 9 and 10. Finishing 10 above Cherokee Golf Course we head for 11 on the trial just past the club house. TD does the nasty ski hill climb with spill #3 to 11A but is aided by trail just past it. KS does B up the trail and I get my favorite the stairs climb. A few exercisers slow my climb initially but I go up readily and hit a new high on my HR monitor, 160. The best I reached in IM training was 154 on a bike uphill. Ten years ago I used to run 10 mile road races at 161. Some thoughts are my low rate is a function of large stroke volume as the faster TD is 20 higher. The risers are numbered but I forget the total though I remember hitting 245.

Reuniting we continue onto the next three nasty controls, 12, 13 and 14. The first two are way down below the trail making the climb back cardio fun. Control 13 has an oval out of bounds area just before it to ensure you climb. The ravine there is quite steep. Control 14 can only be approached from above the cliff. We climb following RC’s lead but I drop my map and have to do it again. The control is in a nasty downhill with mud that TD has trouble climbing out of with her statute.

Walk-the-Line is next! We take the main trail and bear to 15 and start meandering up a stream bed on the line. Intent on my bearing, TD exclaims that there is a naked man ahead. The back of the mind says “What is up?” and sure enough a nude gentleman grey beard is hiding behind a tree at the control, trying to be inconspicuous. His mountain bike and clothes lies nearby. TD bears far off course as I do the honors and we continue. We see another team of bearing off line but no collaborators. On bearing we hit the field and check the hilled, treed edge before finding 15B on a hilltop. Across the field, SB hits the main trail and we head for the Hwy 403 crossing and road trail section to aid station #2. It is 1:48 and TD believes we have to get to the aid station before 2:00 pm to make the cut off so streaks (not like the gentleman in the woods) in front to encourage us. We reach the aid station just after 2 pm but study the map and find the cut off is 3:30 pm.

An all female team arrives as we feast on M&M’s and licorice. We head down a trail system on the edge of a field to 16. My Spidey sense is tingling though as the trial and map does not match. I head cross country for a junction that looks like the map one but it does not make sense. We heads NW which is wrong and enter a section of rentrants. The trail shifts to west and down hill and we stop. KS makes the correct call going east and we soon hit the control downhill. We have picked up a few tails, younger faster teams with less navigation sense. We play leap frog to 17 and 18. We know the trail system to 19 and use it instead of going through a large ravine, but leading a group. We get them confused with some field trail junctions and get a lead to 19. Cross country to 20 we catch another team and the all female team is again in pursuit. We are getting slow at hill climbing but pass a few teams at 20, heading for 21 and home. Control 21 is a complex cross country navigation but we know the routine well now and arrive with 2 junior teams. Two route choices home are possible, neither direct and both with advantages. The others go for the windy trail to subdivision choice with a circuitous route to the school. We opt for the straight uphill climb to the subdivision and a bit of a back and forth street route. We arrive a few minutes before both other teams and ahead of the top all female team. Good to see gamble paid off.

First ice day in a while after as joints were quite burnt out from the hill work. Muscles felt good though my quads had been abused and my calves wanted to cramp at one point. I was glad of my Montrails early on as the trials were rugged and the extra support has great. However, they were a little heavy compared to my Vasques and that may have helped nearer the finish.

Glorious day in the woods!! About 30 km total, 3500 kcal burnt. The race was a bit long for us but there was enough navigation to help our cause. As an adventure run, this was perhaps one of the best as introductory teams had a good time with long sections early on but late navigation sections helped orienteering teams. Thanks to Sudden, Hammer, the vintage HKF crew, and GHO for an excellent event, with the intrigue of the “Nude rider in the woods. “

C • Great Story! 2

MTC swim with Coach Stewart. Warm up 300m mixed, 200m pull 2 x (75m underwater/back/free, 75 m free/bk/br) Main - 400m IM, 50m kick, 300 IM, 50m kick, 200 Im, 50 kick 100 IM, 100m swim, 50 kick, 200m pull, 50 kick, 300m swim, 50 kick, 400 pull. Cooldown - 50 easy.

Lots of IM so I got to work on the fly. It is a bit tough to do with people swimming towards you but only hit one person. The breast stroke is still my worse stroke. Could feel my outer shoulders after wards.

Not bad game. Legs and joints felt good.

MTC Spin with Coach Steve. cadence work, sets of 90, 100, 110 and 120 rpm with rest in between. Legs felt tired but pushed on. Burn -450 kcal.

MTC core class with Coach Dalia. One circuit of various routines and one double floor session of 5 exercises. Strength seemed okay. Lower abs need work.

MTC Swim with Coach JJ. Felt good. Tried to work on tight feet.

Felt fast in this run, ready for the Raid!

MTS Swim with Coach Stewart. Felt strong and after warm up did 200m in about 3:40. Felt my head position was good but switch to right side breathing for speed.

MTC spin with Johnny B. Used my mountain bike as my brother had my tri bike. Quite a bit different as I could not go in aero and seat was different. Looked out front suspension so bounce was only due to tires. Lots of body movement but that is typically me. Burn - 799 kcal was a bit low.