Training Log Archive: Bash

It's the last day of DD11's February challenge so we had to do something before flying Zurich-Montreal-Toronto. Turns out our hotel will send a Sport Bag to your room upon request and it's pretty good!



My body, on the other hand, is not up for much of a workout. I did some stretches, balance, abs and light glutes but my ability to do anything involving strength is very limited, e.g. I had to drop out of a plank quickly because my lower back was too tired.

I'm feeling fine post-race, relatively speaking - no blisters or injuries, just normal DOMS and fatigue. My quads were very sore from 4500+ meters of downhill on rough terrain but today I can sit down without using an arm to assist. That will make things easier on the planes. Home soon! :)

Transgrancanaria Advanced 82K mountain ultra
Gran Canaria

Transgrancanaria is part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour (UTWT) series. Held on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, the event attracts 3,800 runners and offers six race distances ranging from 17K to 265K.



The 265K Trans 360 race follows an unmarked, mandatory route with just five aid stations. The 125K race, known as the Transgrancanaria, offers UTWT ranking points and attracts more elite runners than the other races. Timothy Olson, who holds the Western States course record finished 10th this year. The most popular event is the 42K Maratón, which is mostly downhill on very rocky terrain. The shorter races follow the same route as the 125K, starting at the appropriate distance from the finish line in the beach town of Meloneras.

The Canary Islands are 100 km off the coast of Morocco – so close to Africa that they sometimes have air quality issues from Sahara Desert sandstorms.




Gran Canaria is about 50 km in diameter and the central mountains rise almost 2,000 m above sea level. The climate of the northern part of the island is wetter and more tropical; the southern part is dry and rocky, and shows its volcanic origins. Some people compare the landscape to the Big Island of Hawaii.

I ran the Transgrancanaria Advanced 82K, which started in the lush northern village of Fontanales and climbed over the central mountains to the highest point of the island before descending to sea level near the southern tip of the island. Our cumulative elevation gain was around 3600 m and we descended 4600 m. (Ouch!)





I’d recommend the 82K because of the wide variety of terrain and climate zones. The 125K racers started at 11 p.m. the previous night and ran their first 43K in the dark before arriving at our starting line around sunrise. So they saw all the same scenery I did but they were more tired when they saw it. :)

I was happy with the remarkably civilized start time of 7 a.m. – until I learned that the shuttle bus to the start left Race HQ at 4:15 a.m. We were staying outside of town so my alarm went off at 2:55 a.m. I made my breakfast the night before so I had cold Stoked Oats with muesli, yogurt and fruit. There was coffee too - obviously!



Richard, who had raced the marathon the previous day, heroically got up in the middle of the night to drive me into town to catch the bus.



We arrived in Fontanales at 6:10 a.m. and poured off the buses onto the main street. A bar was open with a busy espresso machine and even busier washrooms. It can be hard to find a washroom during a European trail race so I reluctantly skipped the espresso.

Five hundred of us lined up at the start where live music and enthusiastic Spanish commentary were blaring over the loudspeakers. Some villagers got up early to cheer us on.





This is a video; I think it's part of the Canary Islands national anthem.



At 7 a.m., we shuffled slowly through the arch. I’d estimated that 18 hrs would be a good time for me but my main goals were to finish healthy with a ton of photos. :)

The sun rose half an hour later and we could see down to the north coast of the island. The vegetation was lush – very different from the south side of the island where we were staying.



We followed narrow, wet, steep roads and single track trails out of Fontanales. We had joined the 125K race course at their 43K mark. Those runners had already been going for eight hours, and 400 of the 700 racers - including our friend Charlotte - were still behind us. There were several bottlenecks in the early kilometres where we could only hike in single file. There was a mix of narrow and wide trails and minor roads so the faster runners seldom had to wait long for a place to pass.

Slimy mud, slippery rocks and erosion slowed down the more cautious runners on this steep descent and a few people fell. Most of us were patient but one guy thought he was Kilian Jornet and skidded out of control along the trail’s edge bumping runners before stomping hard on my right foot.



I shrieked just to make a point but my foot seemed OK and luckily he hadn’t broken one of my poles. Almost three weeks later, my right foot is the only body part that still hurts - wouldn't you know it!



Sometimes we pushed aside shrubs that had spread across the trail or we skidded on slippery goo from fallen cactus leaves.







Our first major aid station was at 14K in the village of Teror. European aid stations are different from home but I’m getting used to them. I zeroed in on familiar foods and didn’t check out the full selection, which included sports nutrition products I've never tried.

At a typical aid station, I would refill my water bladder, eat slices of fresh banana or orange, then stuff some cheese cubes and baguette slices into my pack pocket for later. Sometimes I got adventurous and ate small pieces of salami or cake but my delicious Euro cheese sandwiches were excellent fuel. I’d also brought some sports nutrition from home – Honey Stinger chews (my favourite), gels, Endurance Tap and Larabars – although I didn’t go through too many of them.



We climbed higher on muddy trails and were treated to beautiful views across heavily vegetated valleys and down to the ocean to the north.















As we gained elevation, the vegetation changed completely from lush tropics to a pine forest that looked like home. For some reason, this place was the hangout for half a dozen clean, polite, well-fed dogs who sat like a choir on the hillside as I approached. Then an empty potato chip bag blew by and several of them sprang into action. I still wonder what their story is.



The mist and wind made things chilly at higher elevations so I pulled my arm warmers back up. I’d started the race wearing capri tights over my running skirt because the morning forecast had been cool and damp. I’d intended to take them off earlier but now I was glad for the extra warmth.

The descent into Tejeda was spectacular. This village would make a great base for day hikes.









From the Tejeda aid station at the 28K mark, we would start climbing again and eventually reach the highest peak of the island almost 2,000 m above sea level. As we admired the mountains, it was daunting to realize that we would be climbing higher than everything we could see around us. Some people didn't look too happy about it.





I was looking forward to the views up top.



Here's a short video clip showing the gorgeous 360 degree view from Tejeda aid station. I need to learn to move the phone more slowly and steadily but in my defence, I was keen to get back on the trail since I still had 54K to go.



It was almost 1 p.m. when I started the climb, and for the first time I felt hot. I’d taken off my arm warmers and capri tights in Tejeda so there wasn’t much more I could do except drink water and control my heart rate. Looking at the aid station photos now, I’m surprised to see other runners wearing jackets at the same place where I ripped off all my extra layers. Apparently, I really am Canadian!

It was a beautiful ascent. The trail was much quieter now although I never went too long without seeing another runner.







Eventually, we made it back up to the pine forest that I thought of as the Ontario vegetation zone.





Then we climbed into an area with more shrubs than trees. On the horizon to the west, we could see the huge volcanic peak on the island of Tenerife.





We were making our way up to Roque Nublo, the most famous hiking destination on the island. Our group had hiked there earlier in the week but it was too foggy to see anything. We learned afterward that “Roque Nublo” is Spanish for "Cloudy Castle" – hmm.



We had to detour off the main route to go up to the base of Roque Nublo for a timing check. The timing checks were mostly in odd locations like this rather than at aid stations. I guess they’re trying to make it difficult for cheaters - good for them! I told this volunteer that he had the best assignment on the race course.



Of course there was a race photographer up there too.





The tropical vegetation was behind us now; we’d crossed to the drier southern side of Gran Canaria. We still hadn’t reached the high point of the island though!

Roque Nublo is so popular that I felt like a celebrity as I ran down the tourist trail. People stepped aside to let me pass and cheered in different languages.



We ran through sparse pine forest to Garañón at the 39K mark, losing a little elevation. This major aid station close to the halfway point of our race was the starting point for the Maratón that Richard and Kristen did. In addition to the regular fare, they were serving hot pasta with tomato sauce and salty Canarian potatoes.



The organizers had given us identical plastic drop bags to fill with gear and clothing and send to Garañón. The bags tied shut and someone must have double knotted mine because I couldn’t get it open. I didn’t want to lose the gear inside when they transported it back so I tore a hole just big enough to squeeze out an Ensure, several food items and my back-up headlamp.

The difficulty of getting into the bag cost me time but it saved time too because I couldn’t fuss over its contents. A tired runner can feel inclined to dawdle in a comfortable place, and a drop bag provides that excuse. I knew it would be warmer on the south side of the island, even at night, so I squeezed my arm warmers, capris, toque and gloves into the bag and tied it closed. It looks like I spent a little more than 15 minutes at Garañón including the pasta meal and refilling my water bladder. That’s better than some races but I need to keep working on it. In shorter races, I just shouldn’t send a drop bag at all to avoid the temptation.

From Garañón, we climbed a steep 2K to Pico de las Nieves (Snow Peak), the highest point on Gran Canaria at 1949 m, where we passed just below the summit. The timing volunteers drove up there so it wasn’t exactly Mount Everest!



The first part of the steep descent was magical with puffy clouds and rocky ridges.





We got our final look at Roque Nublo in the distance.



Then we began our long descent to the sea.



Soon we were on a cobblestone route that is several centuries old. It was beautiful but not suitable for poles so my quads really felt the downhills.



I stepped aside to let a faster runner pass and he insisted on taking a photo for me first.



The evening light was stunning. I still had 35K to go but night was falling so I wasn’t going to see much more scenery. The first photo is one of my favourites.











The cobblestones ended and I got a terrific view down to the sea near the finish line. As they say, so close and yet so far!





I came into the aid station at Tunte at 52K. This is where Sally’s race had started earlier in the day. She, Kristen and Richard had come out to cheer me on – so nice. Look how fast Kristen is running compared to the racers!



I filled water at the aid station.



Then I headed over to check out all the food options and ended up stuffing more bread and cheese into my pack pocket, just like I did at every other aid station. The tag hanging off my pack was an additional timing chip for locations where timing mats were used. In more remote locations, they just sent people with scanners for our race bibs.



Then I headed uphill to start the final 30K, chased by my dear husband and his camera.





He was still sore from his marathon so I was finally able to pull ahead. ;)



This was just before sunset so it wasn’t long before my world shrank to the circle of my headlamp beam.





Over the next 12K, we climbed 500 m out of Tunte then descended 900 m to Ayagaures. My quads were complaining but my trekking poles were lifesavers and I still had good energy. The aid station at Ayagaures had paella! That will never happen in North America so I sat down and enjoyed a tasty bowl full. It was stuffed with pieces of sausage and entire scallops. Yum! (Apologies to people like Richard who can’t eat during long races.)



I had 18K to go. We climbed for a few kilometres then descended steeply into Barranco de Vicentillos, a dry, rocky riverbed that went on for kilometres. There were little stretches of trail but it was mostly small, loose rocks with shrubby vegetation. It would have been interesting for a while but it got old, especially in the dark. The “15K to go” and “10K to go” signs were actually more than 7K apart, which was soul crushing.

As we came into Maspalomas, we ran through town in a wide, dry drainage channel. It wasn’t the most scenic part of the day but it was all runnable, which was nice after the riverbed. In a few places, we had to climb stairs to get out of the channel then go back down into it. I wasn’t so good at stairs by then.

We ran the last 2K on sidewalks then reached the finish line at Expomeloneras. Bright lights, palm trees, an excited announcer – it was a great feeling and wonderful to see Richard and Kristen there at 1 a.m. to take photos and drive me home. I took about 18 hrs and got more than 150 photos so I met my goals. If I’d skipped the photography, it looks like 2nd place in my age group was within reach but I'd rather have the memories.

Even though the last stretch was uninspiring, I’d highly recommend this race for its scenery and good organization. Thanks to Sally, Kristen, Charlotte and Richard for a fun trip and congratulations on your successful runs! Looking forward to our next “excuse for a vacation” race.

'Bent flew today! He finished well ahead of our predictions in 5:16:20, 9th of 80 in his tough age group There was a major bottleneck at the start, then he passed 230 people between the high point of the course (about 1900 m) and the beach town of Maspalomas.

Yoga by the pool to loosen up pre-race

A little swimming vs. just hanging out in the pool

'Bent and Mrs. Tiny start running the Transgrancanaria Marathon at 4 a.m. Ontario time on Friday. You can track their progress by searching for their names at the link below. Spain has claimed 'Bent for some reason so you won't find him listed as a Canadian runner.
http://transgrancanaria.livetrail.net/

Charlotte starts the Transgrancanaria 125K on Friday at 6 p.m. Ontario time. I start the Advanced 82K Saturday at 2 a.m. and Funderstormin' starts the 30K Saturday at 3 a.m.

We had a chance to reach the finish line this morning but we're all hoping to make a second visit.



We spent the afternoon wandering around the capital city - Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Christopher Columbus visited the governor's house before making one of the largest navigation errors in history on his way to "Asia".



Ouch!



Who would have guessed the name "Canary Islands" comes from the Latin "Canis" for "dog"?

'Bent, Mrs. Tiny, Char, Funderstormin' and I traveled north from Maspalomas, Gran Canaria toward the centre of the island. The narrow mountain road twisted, turned, climbed, descended and climbed, protected by a very necessary guardrail. Dozens of extremely brave cyclists rode around the blind curves; a few of them sped past cars on their descents. The scenery was spectacular. I haven't traveled around Hawaii but I've heard some of the landscape is similar.

We climbed almost 1800 m, passing through several vegetation zones. We got chilly in the fog on our hike to Roque Nublo. ("Nublo" = "Cloudy" in Spanish and it was accurate.) We stopped in the charming village of Fataga on the way back and supported some local shops.

[GPS info corrected since I forgot to turn it off right away.]

True story: Our group didn't get dinner until 10 pm because 'Bent wasn't wearing pants. He won't make that mistake again.

Mrs. Tiny, Funderstormin' and I went for a run from our villa before heading into town to see the sights.

Here's the view from the back yard of our villa.



And part of the villa from the back. We have our own small swimming pool.



We took occasional breaks to look at the scenery - and get our photo taken.



We met 'Bent and Char, who had gone running before we did.



We found a cool little park full of outdoor exercise "machines"!

'Bent, Funderstormin', Mrs. Tiny, Charlotte and I went for a hike through part of the spectacular Maspalomas dunes in southern Gran Canaria. We're not far from Morocco here and it felt like we were traveling through the desert. It was hard work, beautiful and really fun! We returned along the beach. This is the area where the Transgrancanaria races finish (although we don't run on the dunes).

Lots and lots of naked people!

Airport exercising today! Next stop Zurich, then on to the Canary Islands with 'Bent, Funderstormin', Mrs. Tiny and Charlotte.

Just enough to stay in the February Challenge! :)

Foothab before heading to the Big City to see Sandra Shamas' latest show. Funderstorm will be pleased that we're going to the Amsterdam Brewpub beforehand.

Spectacular sunny day! AdventureDog and I meandered through the forest behind the house on snowshoes. OK, I was only one on snowshoes; he was just bounding through the snow and having a fine time.

I can still feel the possibility of a cold coming on so I didn't push hard but last night's good sleep seemed to help my immune system. Our security system started chirping at 4 a.m. a couple of nights this week so I've been sleep-deprived. The malfunctioning detector was replaced this morning so things are looking up for another good sleep tonight!

Hard Core Live with Caron

C3 class

For a couple of days, I've felt the first whisperings of a cold but there may still be a chance to fend it off. So I just turned the treadmill up to 15% incline and hiked uphill for a bit. I spent most of the day in Toronto, which gets my HR up too.

Foothab, balance, calves and shins - and chocolate, of course.

My body wanted to rest but my heart wanted to ski. Guess which one prevailed! I was tired after playing in the blizzard yesterday then sleeping poorly due to a power outage and related security system chirps.

But there are only so many beautiful post-blizzard days in a winter - and in a lifetime - so I went to Hockleycrest for a midday ski. Dave had rolled some of the trails between Rounds 2 and 3 of yesterday's storm but there were sections where windblown snow drifts were almost knee deep. I made my own tracks on most trails. It wasn't fast on skinny racing skis but the snowy forest was lovely. I met 3 other skiers, which is a busy day at Hockleycrest!

Whatever your politics, I think Prime Minister Trudeau's acting experience was useful today. Btw he was awarded a draw in The Handshake. ;)
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/wat...

Personal Best Snowshoe/Run Duathlon
Albion Hills

We awoke to a blizzard! Snow started at 5 a.m. and turned the roads into crap, which unfortunately kept Timato in Kitchener. Luckily, we only had a 10-minute drive but it was white knuckle.

Once we arrived, it was a magical winter wonderland. This was a fun race that offered a bunch of options so every category was small. It was based on a beautiful 4K double track trail loop through the forest that had been freshly groomed this morning. Conditions were excellent - a little soft in a few places from all the new snow but that was part of the fun.

Participants could run or walk 4K or 8K (two laps) on snowshoes, or they could do 8K or 16K on fat bikes. Most events offered an optional 4K snowy park road run as an add-on. I planned on the 8K snowshoe + 4K run duathlon.

I enjoyed the snowshoe running although I slowed down a bit on the 2nd lap (25:22 vs. 23:58). I saw other women on the 1st lap, which kept me motivated. All but one of them stopped after 4K. I didn't see the top fat bikers but I saw some back-of-the-pack bikers looking tired on the hills.

I pulled off my snowshoes with shoes still attached and switched to Snowcross so I would have spikes for the 4K snowy road run. I think my transition was about 80 seconds...? I've split it evenly between the two disciplines.

Lots of fun! Congrats to Crash, who won the 8K Fat Bike/ 4K Run event. Kelly L was close behind. Veinbuster did his first snowshoe race, which is impressive in the same week he's been doing the Tour de Sufferlandria.

'Bent won the 8K Snowshoe/4K Run and also finished well ahead of the top 8K snowshoers and 4K snowshoers (on Lap 1). Great job! We got chili and hot chocolate afterward and enjoyed some post-race conversation with other racers.

I've "borrowed" Veinbuster's photo since I didn't take any. :)



Update: Here are a couple of race photos featuring 'Bent in the lead. My red jacket and black toque are just visible in the group shot.

This was the run portion of the race on snowy park roads.

Beautiful ski through new, deep snow with 'Bent and the pooches. 'Bent was skijoring with BazingaDog. Early in the ski, they both had lots of energy.



Eventually, BazingaDog started slacking off though. :)

Thanks to DD11's February Challenge, I had to squeeze in something! I was away most of the day to hang out with Mom.

Snow fell all afternoon and into the evening - lovely! We were supposed to get 10 cm and it might have been a bit more. 'Bent, AdventureDog and I went for a snowshoe trek, mostly bushwhacking through hilly private property and Palgrave East.

It was the first time I'd tried my new Atlas Race snowshoes - the ones 'Bent "helped" me get. ;) We're doing a snowshoe-run duathlon on Sunday so I need to get comfortable with the new binding system. The jury is out but I think I'll like it eventually - not by Sunday though. The snowshoes themselves are great.

I still haven't set all my goals for 2017 but as of this morning, Plan B is finally coming together! My application was accepted for the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa, a run around the 2nd highest Alp. (UTMB goes around the highest Alp, Mont Blanc.)

The RD is Lizzy Hawker, who won UTMB five times, and this is the route she used to train for that. It's a relatively new event and this is the first year she has offered the full 170 km loop route, which has 1800 meters more climb than UTMB.

Because of my sleep deprivation problems at UTMB, I've decided to tackle it as a 4-stage race instead of running straight through and fighting cut-offs. (The 58-hr cut-off is much more generous than UTMB so it was tempting.) We'll run about 40K each day with about 3,000 m climb. It will be interesting to plan a different type of training for this. I love running at night and will miss that aspect but it will be fun to see all the mountain scenery in daylight. They will put the runners in shared hotel rooms each night and feed us dinner and breakfast.

The participant feedback talks about the small, intimate feel of the event compared to some of the big mountain races. I'm sure that will change over time. In the past two years, there have been very few Canadian runners. If anyone else is interested, send me an email! There is also a 116 km distance that can be run as a single race or in 3 stages, stopping in the same villages as the longer course. They will even arrange hotel rooms for non-running friends although they have to find their own transportation between villages.

An awkward slog around Palgrave West. The Oak Ridges Trail was rock-hard and sometimes icy. K-Bash and Wheelie Woods trails were covered with ankle-deep snow coated with a strong layer of ice like a sheet of glass. Breaking through the crust left sharp edges and it took work to extract my feet; I thought I might tear the upper on my shoes. Poor AdventureDog slid around in the icy sections and found it hard work to run through the crusty snow. I think he was wondering what happened to his world!

Hard Core Live with Caron. She was happy to hear Cristina's comment on the yoga video.

C3 class

It's 2.5 weeks till the Transgrancanaria 82K and I definitely haven't done enough specific hill training. I'm sure one or two short sessions will be enough. ;(

I started by running up K2 - something I've rarely managed to do without stopping - on a mix of hard snow crust and ice. When I reached the old stile, I headed north on the Bruce Trail to Coolihan's Sideroad where I ran down the big hill, followed by two up/down hill repeats. It was icy and I was glad that only one car went by the whole time. My spikes were just barely enough to handle all the surfaces I ran on today. I don't think I would run Coolihan's again in winter for safety reasons but on the bright side, I felt great. Must have been the Stoked Oats I had for breakfast! ;)

Injury Prevention Circuit Class - shorter one tonight.

Foothab exercises from Dr. Bell

Tomorrow's weather forecast is nasty so I made a quick trip to Hockleycrest before the freezing rain arrives. It's supposed to be followed by high winds, regular rain and maybe another power failure. Blah. The snow was thin in a few places and drifted in others but the skiing was lovely.

I tried one of Caron's new "20 Minutes 2 Strong" videos, filmed in front of a graffiti wall in Rio. This one was all glutes. She also has some older "10 Minutes 2 Zen" videos that you can put together for a customized yoga workout. All free.
<http://personalbest.ca/videos>

Event: Stars W.A.R. (Winter Adventure Race)
 

Stars W.A.R. (Winter Adventure Race)
Mansfield Outdoor Centre

Beautiful winter conditions, an interesting race course and great to see so many friends!

This year Stars W.A.R. was a 2.5 hour rogaine on snowshoes, which was fun although I hope the Stars will return to a ski/snowshoe format since that was (I think) unique in Canada with very cool strategy.

'Bent and I teamed up and put together a decent plan that I changed at the last minute as we were heading out. In most cases, that would be a mistake but this time I think it was the right choice.

We headed to the west side of Airport Road first since there was a high concentration of points in a relatively small but hilly area. I've only been in there a couple times before and the terrain is really interesting. (Who owns it, anyway?)

About 25 minutes in, 'Bent simultaneously stomped on the back of my snowshoe, pushed me uphill and asked "Is that helpful?", while ripping the right side of the binding off my snowshoe. :( Luckily, he had some repair gear to strap the snowshoe together although it wasn't super solid. It took us another half hour to realize that switching snowshoes to give him the broken one was the key to a happy marriage.

We lost about 8 minutes in various stops to deal with The Snowshoe Incident. Before that, we had been in the mix with some good teams and it felt exciting but now we were alone and didn't see anyone for a long time. It didn't feel like we were racing anymore and it took awhile before I started concentrating properly on the map again.

Luckily, that was our only real problem and it was a really fun day for snowshoeing. We had to skip 1 or 2 controls that would have been possible if we hadn't lost time before, and we finished 8 minutes early without any other controls within reach.

It was fun to see Hammer on the course several times and he gave us a couple of photos. The big news of the day was the impressive victory by Adventuregirl! and Hermes - the first female team to win Stars W.A.R. overall! Congratulations! Timato and Audrey were the Coed champions and 2nd overall. Lots of other great performances too. Thank you to Nick and the Stars for a terrific event!

Rodney Yee's Power Yoga for Flexibility DVD with some assistance from AdventureDog.

I dragged 'Bent into Lulu Lemon yesterday and passed him to a sales rep in the men's section as I headed for the yoga pants. She asked him, "Where do you practise?" He couldn't figure out how she knew he was a dentist... :)

Barrie Shepley was giving a talk tonight at the Personal Best fitness studio. Ever since it opened, I've thought about running to and from a class - or at least one way - but it hasn't happened. Most of the run is on the Oak Ridges Trail and Bruce Trail, and there are lots of hills. 'Bent agreed to give it a try this evening. We left a little late and had to bail to a road from the north part of Glen Haffy in order to make it in time. This meant running along the shoulder of Hwy 9 for the last 1.5 km - yikes! It was a little cold sitting indoors in damp clothes, even with the extra layers we'd carried. Caron made us coffee, which warmed us up perfectly! The talk was good too - insights and stories about dreams, working toward goals, celebrating the process, etc.

We ran home in the dark - chilly and invigorating! This time we didn't have to hurry so we took snowy trails almost the whole way and stopped to look at the stars. It's a net downhill coming home from Glen Haffy so it's always more fun. :)

Caron's core class

C3 Yoga - nice to have 'Bent there.

We came home and wrestled our new king mattress up the too-narrow staircase. We've done this before and it's not fun so I'd confirmed with the salesperson that the delivery people would do that. No problem - a foam mattress can be folded, and "installation" was included in the $$$$ price. But it turns out that's not true in winter. Apparently, the mattress was "frozen" on the truck and would be damaged if they bent it to fit through the narrow staircase. (FB, is that true?) So they left it just inside the front door, and we got a post-yoga workout.

I had planned a boring hill repeat workout but when the sun came out and I heard that Dave Moule had enough new snow to roll the trails at Hockleycrest today, I changed plans. I hadn't yet tried the new Fischer Backcountry waxless skis 'Bent got me for Christmas. They weren't the right skis for nice, rolled trails - too slow - but they should be great for setting new tracks in deeper snow around here. I was pleasantly surprised to meet Nick de St. Croix and his wife Brenda in the parking lot. They just discovered Hockleycrest recently too.

Dr. Hrkal's Injury Prevention Circuit