Training Log Archive: Bash

Bad news: BazingaDog likes to carry shoes around the house.

Good news: He usually moves a matched pair of shoes to the new location, which is impressive given that our front hall often has a dozen random shoes lying around. He may be naughty but he has good fashion sense.

OK, back to finalizing my gear for tomorrow's 50K. It's going to be a cold one!

I was feeling fine today so back onto the training program. (I stuck with it two days out of the first three - oooh, impressive.) It's only a short run today then a rest day tomorrow then 50K on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the vet gave BazingaDog the go-ahead to start his running training program. Apparently, now is the time to turn him into an athlete and build up his muscle mass. BulletDog came along on the Charlevoix route to show him the ropes. Unfortunately, he was full of energy when we got back. Not sure what we'll have to do to tire this little guy out.

Getawaystix and I had our first map planning meeting for Wilderness Traverse 2012. Looks so cool and different from this year. Can't wait to get out for some course scouting in October!

If any stronger-than-me trail runner is interested in joining several of us in San Fran Dec. 2-4 for some sightseeing and scenic mountain trails without the part where you race or pay an entry fee, I've just learned that pacers are allowed for the last 27 miles of the 50-mile race. I've never run with a pacer and don't need one at this distance (I don't think) but if someone is interested in visiting SF, I'd be curious about testing the concept since pacers will be important in some longer races. Alas, I don't have a corporate sponsor to cover all costs but I can spring for a large Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae and a Classic Aeroplan flight (while flights on points are still available). If anyone wants to explore the idea, please e-mail.

So of course I couldn't resist. I pumped 4 little tires, donned my helmet and skate ski boots, grabbed my poles and headed out to our back yard. Nada. Even off-road-friendly rollerskis don't roll in grass as deep as ours. No problem, I moved to our 130 m unpaved, sloped driveway where the rollerskis worked just fine as long as I aimed for sections of fine crushed gravel and avoided bigger stones.

If not for Saturday's 50K, I would have driven over to the cinder section of rail trail that I scouted east of Palgrave yesterday. I'll be able to do almost 10K out and back there with only a few road crossings and an optional detour into a paved estate subdivision. But even in a short time today, I could feel the rollerskis doing what they're supposed to do - engaging muscles that haven't been doing their share lately. If I keep this up I'll have the hottest set of tibialis anterior muscles in Palgrave. (Except when VO2Max is in town, of course.) But I'm going to be stiff and sore after the first workouts, so that will have to wait for next week.

Not sure if I'm getting sick or if some aspect of yesterday's meltdown is persisting but I feel a little short of oxygen today - like being at altitude. So I'm not doing the prescribed 8 km run from the training plan. I didn't expect to fall off the wagon so soon!

Time it took 'Bent to prepare and slow-roast tasty butternut squash halves on the BBQ:
--- 50 minutes

Time it took BazingaDog to pull one of them off the counter onto the floor and start eating it:
--- 50 nanoseconds

For those who like photos, I've added some pics from Sunday's Algonquin Park bike ride in my Sept. 25 log entry.

I've been reading "Relentless Forward Progress", a new ultrarunning book by Bryon Powell. I figured I might as well try jumping into his 50-miler training program, even though I should have started it a long, long time ago. I'm not good at following training programs so we'll see how long this lasts. I'm betting not very long.

The schedule includes a 50K race a month later than I'm doing mine but the exact timing isn't considered to be a big problem. The caveat is, no matter when I do the 50K, I am not allowed to race it. I am supposed to do it at the pace of a 50-miler.

That was the conclusion I'd already reached when I looked at my training anyway. Run for the Toad will be my longest long run in recent months by quite a lot. I have the endurance to do 50K but I haven't built up enough time on my feet, other than a 103 km rogaine last month.

Anyway... in the week leading up to the 50K race, whenever it happens, I am supposed to run 12K on the Tuesday, so I did - and it nearly killed me. WTF? It was an easy, ankle-preserving rail trail run. It was only an hour so I didn't bother carrying water, and based on my weight when I got home, I must have been dehydrated to start. It was warm and humid and I felt like crap for the second half. When I finished at 'Bent's dental office, I gulped down cup after cup of cold water and had to sit down since I thought I might pass out. Bizarre. I fall behind on hydration occasionally but it rarely (never?) hits me so hard. Haven't felt that way since a couple of years ago when I actually *did* pass out on the trail on a warm day. The doc's best guess then was that it was probably because I stopped running to chat with a neighbour and the blood chose to flow into my legs instead of my brain.

My new rollerskis just arrived in the mail. Uh oh...

BulletDog and I checked most of the flags for 'Bent's orienteering training night which is available to CN and GHO members till after Thanksgiving. (E-mail him for the map.) The first control was the only one that seemed a little off but I didn't see another re-entrant nearby - apparently (according to Goose) because it was so overgrown with raspberries that it was almost invisible! I wore the Active Ankle brace and just hiked. Don't want to re-injure it so close to this Saturday's race.

'Bent and I started at the Lake of Two Rivers store in Algonquin Park and rode out-and-backs in different directions on the Old Railway Trail. They've extended it 6 km to the west to join the Track and Tower loop, and some locals told us there is a plan to restore the old railway line as a trail all the way to Parry Sound. That would be amazing.

Great autumn scenery. In the new section, there were a dozen big piles of bear scat to steer around but otherwise it was an easy, fun ride.

'Bent and I drove to the old rail line that crosses Arowhon Pines Road in Algonquin Park. From there, we could run to the Mizzy Lake Trail, which is known for its wildlife.



It's only three days since I sprained my ankle and this is not the friendliest trail for ankles, especially after a night of rain has made everything slippery. I taped it a little more and hoped for the best.



Scenery was beautiful. As often happens here, I've posted far more photos than a sub-2 hour run deserves in a training log but it was *so* gorgeous. Time has been deducted for photography, for "ooh aah" breaks and for one "oh-crap-is-that-a-bear-no-it's-a-moose-blocking-the-single-track-just-ahead-yikes" stop.















This fun trail made me feel like running!











We both felt good although 'Bent's knee started to twinge after he did some fartlek running toward the end. We're wondering if it's because he bends his knees more when he runs fast, kicking high toward his bum.

My ankle felt fine in spite of catching the injured foot on a tree root and doing a spectacular face plant that bruised the palm of my hand and re-bruised my poor forearm. 'Bent was impressed that I kept on talking without missing a beat. (Mick, if you're reading AP in Switzerland, I was telling him about your trip.) He had to interrupt to ask if I was OK.











We survived both the trail and our moose encounter and made it back to the lodge for their huge lunch buffet. That is why I run. :)

Paddled over to our wedding rock in amazingly calm water. Beautiful reflections! Two friendly-looking men were camping there so we paused to chat. When we told them we'd been married just behind their campfire, they told us they'd been married for 37 and 34 years respectively. One of them became a grandfather just last week and sounded awfully proud. :)

Annual anniversary trip to the lodge in Algonquin Park that hosted most of our wedding festivities. (The ceremony itself was on a backcountry campsite 2 km away by canoe.) The autumn leaves are within a day or two of their peak. We started the weekend off with lots and lots of rain!

For WandAR and Mrs. Tiny (and me!)... some info on cyclocross.

Rocky Mountain Bicycles - Cyclocross from Rocky Mountain Bicycles on Vimeo.

Twisted ankle isn't feeling great when I walk in bare feet but it was manageable when I hiked with BazingaDog in running shoes that provided some support. 8 days till Run for the Toad 50K and I've been planning to run in Algonquin Park this weekend on more technical trails. We'll see...

"Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen."
~ Phillip Adams, Australian broadcaster / social commentator

This was one of the conversations Leanimal and I had during yesterday's exploration of the QE2 Highlands. There are other valid philosophies but I'd rather DNF in a tough event than miss out on the experience. I like to have at least one challenge on the horizon that might be too difficult rather than only entering races I know I can finish.

Earlier this year, I entered the 1-day world multisport championship version of Coast to Coast (speaking of "miserable failures", see my Feb. 12, 2011 log entry) instead of the much more popular 2-day event where it appears I would have won my category easily. It sucked to DNF in what will probably be my only attempt at that famous race, although if I had it to do over, I would still choose the 1-day event. (But I'd do a lot more training for 3K road running sprints!)

Sean Clancy, an endurance sport coach who races with DART, wrote about this recently.

Leanimal and I went for an exploratory trail run in Queen Elizabeth II Highlands Provincial Park northeast of Orillia. We were planning a 30-35 km run but when we discovered how rugged and unmaintained the Ganaraska Trail is in that area, we decided to aim for time on feet instead of distance.



It was beautiful - autumn leaves just starting to turn in a forest broken up by rock ridges and large areas of open bedrock. There were cliffs (sometimes in the middle of the trail), lakes and marshes. Too bad I only had the iPhone - not a real camera. I learned tonight that the unusual landscape is not natural; it's the result of devastating forest fires that burnt off the soil after the area was logged.



I turned my left ankle hard after the first 30 minutes. Leanimal was behind me and we both winced at the crunch. I've had a few ankle turns over the years and this was an 8 out of 10. I was limping so I pulled out the magic Leukotape to strap my ankle. Since I'd wisely brought along my sports chiropractor, I got good advice on how to do it. Although I was sore and cautious for the next few hours, I was able to keep going and didn't feel like I was causing further damage. No swelling - I wonder if all my compression wear helped or hindered the process.

Other than that, it was an amazing, fun day with excellent company on a very technical trail. The Ganny is often hard to follow so we had to stay alert for little splashes of white on trees or rock. We made a few wrong turns, especially in open rocky areas. The Garmin track is kinda cool in satellite view.



Luckily, no bears and no bear hunters - just some bear scat filled with berries and seeds. Next time we do this, it'll be moose hunters we have to watch for!

Easy run around Palgrave West on an incredible late summer day. BazingaDog and I had a good hike earlier so he stayed home and slept peacefully kept himself busy. Oh well, I was never cool enough to pull off the Rudy Project look anyway...

Quick workout which would have been longer if 'Bent weren't such an efficient and talented cook.

How Shakespearean are you? Copy and paste something you've written and your words will be compared with all the words used by Shakespeare in his plays. Then a verdict will be delivered on the Shakespearean content of your text.

- I entered my Logs Rocks and Steel race report and it was 81% Shakespearean English.
- CNYO Rogaine report - 80%
- Equinox Traverse report - 84%
"The waters of the Avon almost lap at your feet", said the tool.

- My tribute to Tobler scored 86% and the tool said, "Is this the Bard I see before me?"

I started to get suspicious so I fed in FB's LR&S race report and it scored 86% as well! I guess Shakespearean English is not that unusual.

<http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/08/how-sha...>

In the middle of my Saturday log entry (starting at 12 p.m.), I've just posted photos and report from the beautiful outdoor wedding of Andrew Cameron (PhattyJR) and Kim Brooks (2-Min). If you're only interested in reading about athletic training, you won't want to look. Oh, who am I kidding? Anyone like that stopped reading my AP log a long time ago!!

Morning after the night before. 'Bent was out the door at 7 a.m. sharp to fetch coffee to our cabin; he reminded me that it had been my brilliant idea to go for an early ride on the Torrance Barrens before the wedding farewell brunch. Sigh, he was right - and once I woke up for real (an hour or two later, while on the bike), I was glad we'd gone. It was a fun, easy-paced, rocky, technical ride. When we went east, the glare from the low morning sun made it tough to see what was ahead so we had to be cautious. If we started to go quickly, it went like this: "Pedal, pedal, pedal, EEEEK! Surprise 1 meter drop-off!!"

Somehow I agreed to (a) get up early on the morning of Andrew and Kim's wedding to go running on rolling gravel roads near Camp Pine Crest, and (b) go with Rita (bridesmaid) and Leanne, both of whom run faster than my comfort zone. So it became an unplanned tempo run. Rita had to turn around early to work on flowers. Beautiful morning!

Morning yoga on the dock with the bride and groom. A lot of us were excited about this but no one as much as Leanne.



James was a voyeur.



You've heard of Hot Yoga? Well, this was Cold Yoga - single digit Celsius when we started gathering on the dock. But we warmed up as we got moving, and it was an amazing way to start a special day.







Just when we were supposed to get meditative and relaxed, and clear our minds of all thoughts other than our breathing and a mantra, I suddenly remembered that I'd forgotten the power cord for my laptop at home, and I needed to do a Powerpoint presentation that afternoon. So instead of focusing on my breath moving through my body, I was frantically working through different options in case my battery was low. This is the sort of thing my brain *always* does to me during yoga "relaxation"... sigh!

Quick lap before lunch, just to say we did!

Pre-wedding BBQ, chatting and various activities around Camp Pine Crest. Weather was spectacular and cloud formations were very cool.







Three lovely ladies - Mari and her grandmas.



Groom and Best Man making final decisions on wedding plans using Rock, Paper, Scissors.



Pretending that I'm Luis Moreira.



Showing off my Bruce Peninsula Multisport Race Buff.



Traditional pre-wedding high ropes course.



Andrew getting ready to take the plunge.

The adventure racing crowd, all cleaned up.

Rene and Susannah - first night away from their 9-month-old, and they also have a 3-year-old. Twenty-four hours of freedom and meals eaten while still hot - woo hoo! It felt too strange so they eventually borrowed Sara from Harper and Amy.



Iris



Marta



Not a Salomon logo to be seen on Pete and Leanne.



James and Brit.



Harper looks like he's modeling for a men's wear catalogue with his Forbes tartan tie and his lovely wife and baby, Amy and Sara, by his side.



I was sporting a huge bruise on the back of my arm from Logs Rocks and Steel. At least it matched my dress.

Wedding ceremony on a rocky hill by the lake.


Of course we were piped in.



The traditional arrival of the Groom by mountain bike - including one bunny hop on the way downhill.





We didn't know what he'd worn under the kilt so it's just as well he got off on our side. We hoped for his sake that it came with a chamois. It was Pete's bike so we were pretty sure he wasn't "dressed" in the usual manner!



Groom and Best Man await the arrival of the Bride.



Lacking a bike, Kim was forced to walk.





A very happy couple.





No explanation needed.





Mr. and Mrs.





Leaving the ceremony. Yes, Kim the former camp director is the stern paddler in this marriage. But neither of them was wearing the pants in the family.









Is this a happily married man or *what*?



The Bride had the best footwear for the Ceilidh. No blisters, no getting her toes stepped on. Perfect!



Wishing all the best to Andrew and Kim. What a wonderful wedding weekend that reflected both your personalities, your love for each other and for your families and friends, and your passion for nature!

Dancing at a Scottish/Irish Ceilidh was a *serious* aerobic workout. It was also loads of fun except when 'Bent punched me in the eye while trying to correct one of our many dance step errors. An accident, I think. On a similar note, I nearly took out Leanimal a couple of times early on.

'Bent and I did a short ride on the Torrance Barrens before the pre-wedding fun. Ran into Harps and rode together for 10 minutes till my chain broke. Finally convinced him to carry on after I dropped half of 'Bent's only quicklink deep into the moss, making for a longer repair. Fun ride and looking forward to an awesome weekend! Met one of 2-Min's marathoner friends tonight and somehow ended up booked for a run at 7:45. 'Bent fell in with a bad crowd at the party and now *he's* got an even earlier run arranged for 7:30 with Harps and Phatty. Sucker!

If I'm going to achieve any of my crazy running goals, I need to become the kind of person who regularly whips off a hilly trail half-marathon+ before dinner without thinking of it as a long run. This was a start; I'm not that person yet!

Home to Glen Haffy via Bruce Trail side trail, loop south of stile, loop north of Coolihan's. Must return to do repeats of the 1.9 km steep hilly loop south of the stile. Only glimpsed one ribbon for this weekend's orienteering meet (which I'm not doing!)

Article on the 330K Tor des Geants trail running race in Italy including a good interview with Zoolander discussing the race, his strategy and his difficult decision to withdraw after "only" 172K with an ankle injury.

A quote from one runner, "If the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc [my 2013 goal] is the Tour de France of trail running, this is the Giro d'Italia." Zoolander is quoted as saying he didn't have enough fingers to count the number of white-haired guys who passed him on the first climb. "It was out of control!" :) This race has 24,000 m of elevation gain. Yup, 24,000 m. Holy crap.

We lost Tobler two months ago today and it gets easier, of course, but I still wept like a baby reading today's Facts and Arguments column.

Here she is winning a prize (a lot of dog food!) in the Dog Contest at the Schomberg Fair back in her early years. She had to do a trick, get her tail measured, eat food really fast and a lot of other silly stuff. A friend e-mailed this photo to us recently - I'd forgotten it existed.



One month ago today, we brought Brody (BazingaDog) home from a rescue organization. He's gained 10 lb in that time so we need to keep being nice to him - but that's no problem because we've already fallen in love. Even BulletDog, who wasn't sure at first. :) And so, life goes on...

Yes, I went road biking when I didn't have to, and no, I don't understand it either. It seemed appropriate on the 1-year anniversary of unexpectedly winning the Coast to Coast race entry that forced me to buy Princess against my will. She deserves some fresh air from time to time and OK, I'll admit it - I even enjoyed it a little.

This was an exploratory ride. I parked in Caledon East and rode to The Grange Sideroad, which I followed west to Hwy 10. Lots of fun rolling hills and very little traffic. I didn't feel like crossing 5 lanes moving at 110 kph so I backtracked to the first paved road (Heart Lake Rd.) to head north. The best roads to ride in Caledon are the east-west ones since people who are in a hurry tend to be traveling north-south. However, this means that paved east-west roads are less common. So I kept riding north to Beechgrove Rd. without finding a suitable place to turn off. I finally gave up and took a bone-rattling ride on loose gravel for 1.5 km east to get to Horseshoe Hill Rd. where I could return south to The Grange.



This is the area where the Oak Ridges Moraine meets the Niagara Escarpment so I was always climbing or descending with a stiff wind coming from the north. Maximum speed: 63 kph, Minimum speed: really, really slow. So much for the "easy ride" I'd planned! Near the north end, I was in the highest part of Caledon with an incredible view down to the CN Tower and Lake Ontario in the distance. But the highlight was lunch and iced latte at the Caledon Hills Coffee Company where Crash is the chef-in-residence - the best reason to scout rides that start/finish in Caledon East.

Great article on the way scientific advances are treated in the popular media. You sure don't want to be a shifty climate scientist like Hammer, who posted this.

For those considering joining Funderstorm and me at the North Face Endurance Challenge Championship trail running event in San Francisco on Dec. 3, it appears that the 50K and 50 Mile distances are nearing capacity.

Less than 12 weeks till a mountain 50-miler so my LR&S recovery run was a hills workout. I ran through Palgrave West to the less steep side of KBash Lookout, then did a loop up the hill, down the steep side (to practise battering my poor joints), then up Charlevoix hill and down its steeper side to get back to the start - a 900 m loop X 5.

There was a rest in the middle when I stopped to chat with a hiker - a rare phenomenon in KBash Woods. He was a very pleasant gentleman, by which I mean he said how nice it was to see "a young girl out running". haha!! He was carrying a bouquet of wildflowers he'd picked for his wife - aww...

I've been reading about the central governor theory lately (again). It's not new but it's relevant since I think my central governor is rather conservative and bossy. I'm interested in how some scientists think the CG may relate to interval training. I felt that I approached hills differently at LR&S after practising attacking hills on my Hockley mini-loop earlier in the week. My fitness cannot have changed in that length of time so it must be largely in the mind. Cool!

Can't believe how much I feel like a (geeky) kid in a candy store at the start of a 12-week training period working toward a well-defined goal - a tough one that I honestly don't know will be possible, which makes it way more interesting than the other kind. I've got the Toad 50K on Oct. 1, and I want to keep nav events in the picture and possibly even some multi-sport. I'm looking at the U.S. Rogaining Champs and Salomon Dontgetlost.ca Raid The Hammer as two nav/running events that could fit with the program. Looking forward to getting faster, stronger and, oh yeah, thinner - I want to drop 3-5 lb before this thing.

I fell on a (pointy) Log beside a Rock on Saturday. Thank God there was no Steel.

Sea kayakers with intermediate+ skills... If you want to extend your season in a beautiful part of Ontario, check out the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering north of Parry Sound on the Oct. 15 weekend. It's a 3-day event but last year 'Bent and I arrived on the Fri. night and just did the Sat/Sun activities. About half the attendees are instructors and all of them are interesting. Skills clinics, rolling practice, dock launches, SUP intro, rescue training, stroke improvement, scenic paddling, wave surfing, evening slide shows, hot tubbing, story swapping or just hang out with a good book. No need to do anything you don't feel comfortable with and you're always welcome to head out for a paddle instead of joining a structured session. Stay in shared cabins or camp onsite. BYO food except for Saturday night restaurant group dinner. If you're thinking of going, let me know!

Rocky, Crash and I took our respective pooches for a hike in Palgrave West in sunny weather and - at the farthest point on our loop - got hit by one of the heaviest rainstorms I've ever been out in around here. It was much like racing in Hurricane Irene, except without the rain gear. We got soaked to the skin, including my iPhone, which miraculously survived. Rocky had left her sunroof and car windows open in our driveway so we were cringing at what we would find, but otherwise we were just laughing about it. Crash spun off toward home when we got close, and Rocky and I did some unscheduled running with Sir Jazz and BazingaDog. (I normally wouldn't log this but our "drowned rat" pic is kinda funny.)

Event: GUATS Logs Rocks and Steel
 

EDIT: Yahooo!!!! So glad I didn't let the Garmin tech support person talk me into blowing away all my data by installing the latest Forerunner 310XT software update. As a last ditch effort, I re-installed the Garmin ANT agent and that *finally* did the trick.

Grrr, after hours of messing around with software and a tech support call to confirm my suspicion, my Garmin Forerunner file seems to be corrupt and the only info I can retrieve is total distance and time. Oh, and I can look at my map on a 2 cm high screen. Frankenjack, I hope you're posting yours then I can link to the route even if I can't get my pace in different parts of the race. Boo. Now it's time for a Garmin software update which will wipe out all my data.

Logs Rocks and Steel

With the Frost Centre closed, this multi-sport race needed a new venue. When Getawaystix and I were scouting for Wilderness Traverse last year, we did an exploratory bike ride on the Torrance Barrens and thought it would provide fantastic terrain for LR&S. Nearby YMCA Camp Pine Crest would be an excellent host site. Coincidentally, PhattyJR and 2-Min are getting married at the camp next weekend so 'Bent and I will be heading north again in just a few days! :)



I shared a friendly cabin with WandAR, Frankenjack, Mom-of-Frankenjack and a female team (Kim & Sarah) the night before. FJ and I reviewed the course maps and, as always, he had a few insights. I really wish I'd tested my new magic sleeping pills beforehand but I didn't want to take a chance so I lay awake for a long time feeling frustrated and tired - argghh. The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and Frankenjack was off within minutes to reserve the prime location on the bike rack. I gulped down a Frappucino to kickstart my brain then headed into the darkness to set up my gear in the TA and get breakfast.

We had a great turn-out this year - 50 racers (solos and teams) on the Championship course, and over 200 racers on the shorter Pine Crest course. Shortly before the 8 a.m. start for our course, we lined up on the water. The paddle course would be two 7 km loops that included 3 X 300 meter portages.

For a race like this, part of my preparation is visualizing what may happen. I expected to be one of the faster paddlers so for once, I elbowed my way up front at the start. However, I knew I'd get passed on the bike section by a few guys who were faster bikers than paddlers, so I was prepared to feel OK about that - and take up the chase if passed by women! :)

After the paddle, I figured I'd be alone most of the time on the long, remote race course, so I'd have to stay focused and push my pace without other racers to inspire me. There were only two of us in the Masters Female category - Coach LD and myself. We know each other well, and I knew we'd be close on the paddle but one of the things she coaches is mountain biking so I expected her to be faster there. My hope was to catch her on the 17 km run at the end and I even told her I'd been visualizing the catch. :) (Our little Caledon community is friendly but also very competitive!)

It mostly went as expected. Frankenjack took off on the paddle, finishing almost 15 minutes ahead of Bender and PDobos. We had calm water and beautiful sunshine so it was a gorgeous way to start the day.


(Photo Credit: Simpy - This was actually the short course start.)

I lost time on one of the portages when a team in a canoe turned sideways and blocked my access to shore completely as they considered how to get out but otherwise things went fine - although it was hard to see where I was going with the Eclipse on my head. After 1 hr 35 min, Coach LD, Leanimal and I hit the final dock in that order within 60 seconds of one another, just a few minutes behind Bender, then climbed out of our kayaks and ran 300 m to the transition. Lee and Coach made a quicker transition and started the bike with a 2-minute lead.

We started biking on a paved road that turned to gravel that turned to rocky snowmobile trail with a bit of muck before we emerged onto the amazing, rocky Torrance Barrens.



The eventual race winner, professional mountain biker Eric Batty, passed me on the pavement at lightning speed, clearly on a mission. FB cruised past on the snowmobile trail. A short time later, I passed a fellow with his bike upside down, making colourful comments about his back wheel falling off. I looked down to choose a safe line around him and somehow failed to realize it was FB. A short time later, FB and PDobos *both* went by, which confused the heck out of me since I thought they were both ahead. (PDobos had made a wrong turn.) We stayed close together on the single track for a few minutes, then I heard them call out, "Black bear! Black bear, Barb!" Holy crap. I slammed on the brakes and asked, "Where?" From a disturbingly short distance through the bush, PDobos repeated calmly, as if talking to a 2-year-old. "Here!!" Then he repeated what he'd said before, and this time I heard it: "Left Here!" Oh.



It was incredible riding on rocky Canadian Shield with little snippets of connector trail. Compared to most AR courses, there was a lot less muck and a lot more rideable terrain if you chose your line carefully and hammered up steep bits as needed. We had a break on some hilly roads then back onto the trails. Awesome fun and I look forward to doing some of it with 'Bent again next weekend. There aren't many adventure races where I'd go back and repeat the bike section just for kicks but this was like Ontario's answer to Moab. I've posted a few pics in this log entry from our scouting expedition last year since I didn't carry a camera this time. Really beautiful.



It was quiet out there but I pushed as if I could catch another racer. In reality, this only happened when a couple of people ahead of me (including PDobos) had bike troubles. About 35 km into the ride, I passed an aid station where they said, "Woo hoo! First female!" "No... I am behind Leanne and Sian." "No, you're not. They made a wrong turn." Oh NO. It's nice to be in the lead but nobody wants to get there that way. At least now it didn't take as much effort for it to feel like a race! I kept expecting to see one or both of them coming around a bend behind me.





They still hadn't appeared when I left the bike/run transition but I fully expected to see Leanimal powering up behind me at some point over the next 17 km. I didn't push as hard as I did on the bike because I felt my position between Leanimal and Coach LD was secure now since Coach hasn't been doing long runs. Thanks to all the big races this year, I felt pretty good 5 hours in, other than wishing I'd refreshed my sunscreen at the TA. As a desperate measure, I slathered some SPF lip balm on my face which apparently looked so attractive that people thought something was horribly wrong with me!



The run started with some hilly, technical trails near the camp, then a thigh-deep wade across a channel to a marked 1 km out-and-back bushwhack. Eric Batty flew toward me early in the bushwhack and I crossed my fingers that I wouldn't see Frankenjack behind him - but about 10 minutes later, he came bounding through the woods in 2nd place. Although I'd studied the maps last night, there were a couple of times when I pulled out my map on the run to be 100% sure that I was doing the right thing, especially where the run and bike courses overlapped. Due to the open terrain, we had to be attentive all day to follow the markings and it helped to know what was coming up when. Unfortunately, last fall we didn't test the course in the layout that was eventually selected so I knew what the terrain was like but I didn't know the route. As it turned out, I was always on the right course (as far as I know!) and saw all the arrows and signs at the appropriate time, but there were a couple of times on the run when I lacked confidence.

The run was dumbbell-shaped - two loops connected by the out-and-back trail and bushwhack section. It went through some cool, rocky terrain on the Torrance Barrens. As I approached the out-and-back section for the return trip, Mrs. Gally and her partner trotted by, doing the loop in the wrong direction. I was worried that I'd made an error and by the time I confirmed I was OK, it was too late to tell them they were going backwards. Oh well, a loop is a loop regardless of which direction you do it in. As I started the return trip on the out-and-back section, I was surprised to meet Leanimal. That meant she was about 5 km back instead of breathing down my neck, as I'd assumed. That bike detour must have been *huge*. I had about 6 km left to run at that point and I met Coach LD five minutes later. Seeing the two of them got me back into a racing frame of mind and I had a decent run back to the finish, not counting two nasty falls on rock that left me with a last-minute bashed knee, a painful bruise on my quad and a hematoma on my forearm the size of an orange - sigh.

The finish chute went across a boardwalk and bridge (behind me in this pic), finishing on the beautiful dock at the camp waterfront where a lot of friends were hanging out and cold chocolate milk was waiting. Nice!



Phatty and Weeanimal were waiting, and after Leanimal finished, we hung out for awhile in the sun. Such a cutie! (They *both* are.)





Coach LD crossed the finish line with a big smile.



Thanks to Frankenjack and FB for supplying me beer for the post-race festivities. Frankenjack placed 2nd this year and was a gracious runner-up.



Bender seemed surprised to be 3rd!



I'd laughed at the idea of coming into this event as the "defending" champion but I ended up winning - although nobody wants to win because a faster racer went off course, so I'm not super excited. It is kind of cool that only three solo women finished the championship course of the six who started, and we are all friends and neighbours who have spent many evenings together around a dinner table.





Leanimal won the Open Female category in spite of her extra-long Tour de Torrance!



When the detailed results came out, I had more to be happy about... I was closer to the winning time than I've ever been in this event, and (Bender, this is a compliment - really!) the difference between him (3rd open male) and me was only 35 minutes after seven hours of racing. Hammering in short races without nav isn't my forte and he's a speedy boy, so that made me smile. Aside from that, I'm pleased that I felt good till the end. Hope I can hang onto that for my 50-miler in December.

Thanks to Getawaystix and all the volunteers for your hard work in putting on a great event!

P.S. My Garmin 310XT is refusing to relinquish its data to the computer, which has never happened before. Hmm.

Results are here.
http://www.logsrocksandsteel.com/home.php

Off to Logs Rocks and Steel. Perfect weather forecast, awesome new 83 km paddle/bike/run race course in the wilds of Muskoka, tough competition against Coach LD (and maybe others?) in the Masters Female division. Looking forward to an excellent weekend!

Yoga is annoying. ;)

I was trying to remember what my husband is supposed to give me for our 15th anniversary. I know it's not silver, gold or diamonds - way too early for that. Well, it seems that he may have given me a cold imported from Israel - just in time for racing this Saturday. The gift that keeps on giving! ColdFX, here I come.

Niggling doubts about boat choice for Logs Rocks & Steel. This is the event that sent me to New Zealand... wouldn't it be wrong to leave my NZ racing kayak at home? Also, it's soooo much lighter - although it can't be used with 'Bent's portage rack so it's more awkward. I went to Island Lake just before dinner planning to paddle and practise my entry/exit in slightly deeper water, which is difficult with the small cockpit. (Serious racers like Frankenjack are lowered into these boats by their support crew, who hold them under the armpits.)

The park staff informed me that the lake closes early after Labour Day so I had to rush. As suspected, my speed was identical in the two boats - although it's hard to compare when it was windy both days in different ways, and I didn't paddle as far today. I *think* my preference has shifted to the Eclipse but I'll try some more portaging tomorrow to be sure. I did lots of portage lifts of the heavier one today - probably could log it as strength training if I was really desperate to meet some training goal. :)

On a totally unrelated note, I had to fight off a strange and embarrassing urge to go road biking. Yikes.

Happy 15th anniversary, Richard! :)

Someone at The Globe and Mail website is bored.
Headline: "Hang the Queen by end of week, Tories tell embassies"

When you mouse over, you get... "Ottawa orders all its foreign missions to display portrait of Canada's head of state." Wonder how long that will stay up before someone complains...?

If I eventually get stronger, I'll have to send flowers to Jon Stewart to recognize his major contribution.

Took 'Bent's WaveMaster racing sea kayak to Island Lake to test it for Logs Rocks and Steel. It may be slightly slower than my racing kayak but the cockpit is larger which makes it easier in races where I need to get in and out a few times. It's also a little heavier but comes equipped with the 'BentRacingPortageRackTM, which was a big factor for me in last year's LR&S. I'm not 100% decided but I'll probably take 'Bent's boat. It's less fragile too - I don't want to bang up my NZ kayak too soon.

Lots of wind and waves early in the paddle - sorry I hadn't put on the skirt. If I'd fallen in, the water is shallow enough that I would have been fine but the beach has been closed due to e. Coli so I really did *not* want to flip. For most of the time, the major challenge was weaving around fishermen who were everywhere and casting their lines a long distance.

End-of-Summer Report Card on 2011 training goals

About half my training hours this year have been logged in races and that's without any long expeditions. That's a lot of racing! Instead of a nice, orderly progression of training, I always seem to be recovering or tapering. I don't think that's bad over a relatively short period. The racing has built fitness but recovery times have been short and I haven't had many chances to do specific hard workouts, e.g. hill training. After Logs Rocks and Steel, the races will spread out and I can add back the missing ingredients.

After some doubts in the spring, my first love still seems to be overnight and multi-day racing - single or multi-sport. It's not easy to make those races happen but I'll keep trying. In the meantime, I'm setting some parallel goals in the ultrarunning world starting with my first mountain 50-miler in December. Non-technical trail running is probably my weakest discipline in adventure racing (if portaging is excluded!) and it can only help my AR if I work on running.

THE GOOD
Two 24-hour rogaines:
Did Eco-Endurance Challenge with Crash and CNYO Rogaine with JayXC. Good fun in spite of weather challenges in both events, and happy with results too. After admiring an enticing map snippet, I’m considering the U.S. Rogaining Champs in November after all. Anyone else planning to go?
50 km trail race and maybe a 50-miler:
Tentatively targeting Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in 2013, thanks to Mrs. Gally’s brilliant plan. Several of us are aiming for the Death Race in August 2012 to earn 3 UTMB points. I'm doing Run for the Toad 50K again on Oct. 1 and the North Face Endurance Challenge Championship 50-miler in San Francisco on Dec. 3 (2 UTMB points - I need 5 points to enter). I like having concrete goals that build on one another and it will be fun to improve running fitness right before ski season. Like Dee and M&M, I see ultrarunning as compatible with adventure racing so I'll continue to train multi-sport.
Running 2+ hrs/week:
A little behind but this doesn’t include running during races. The autumn will bring my average up.
Expedition adventure race(s):
Did parts of the 4-day APEX event in Switzerland but didn't race it due to teammate illness. 3rd Coed in 48-hr Equinox Traverse in Pennsylvania with JayXC and Sony.
Quality training, any discipline 1+ sessions/week:
Started the year well, fell off the bandwagon when racing started but have been getting back into it.
Total annual training 550+ hrs:
At 460 hours after 8 months.
Make an effort to train/race with more people more often:
Yup! Thanks to the "more people" who have made this possible. I've enjoyed your company.

THE BAD
Strength training 1+ hrs/week:
Tiny called me on this after my last report card because this "goal" has been listed under "The Ugly" for a few years. (Thanks, Tiny - that's why I do this in public.) That kicked off some introspection and discussion with other folks, and I now have a better idea of what I'm trying to achieve and why, and what compromises are acceptable, e.g. doing a run with less energy because of strength training earlier in the day. For now, I'm only promoting this goal to "The Bad" on the report card.

THE UGLY
Get 7+ hours of sleep on most nights:
Occasionally. But I've got a lead on some really great sleeping pills! (Kidding!!)

February mini-goals:
Get my kayak roll back:
Did a pool clinic then lost access to the clean body of water where I hoped to practise. Boo. Officially postponing this goal till 2012 unless an earlier whitewater opportunity comes up. I love paddling and wish there were more good places to do it close by. :(
Get a bike computer with cadence and work on increasing
Yup, on Princess.
Use HRM more:
On again, off again.

July mini-goal:
Increase running cadence:
Consciously trying to do it but haven't measured anything yet. Need to geek out a little more on this.

Sad news from the Racing The Planet series... Ultrarunners in the 100 km Kimberley Ultramarathon in West Australia severely burned after a bushfire traps them in a gorge.

Uh oh... I guess the plan to keep these two races apart didn't work out.

The APEX Race - June 5-10, 2012

Untamed New England - June 19-24, 2012

'Bent is coming home tonight and it occurred to me that a *good* wife would buy groceries so he could enjoy cooking meals after a week of living in hotels. I'm sure he really missed his - I mean "our" - stove. (Note to self: must clean spider webs off stove.) Furthermore, if the good wife went to a town big enough to have a grocery store, it would surely be equipped with a Dairy Queen so she could finally have the post-rogaine hot fudge sundae that she did not have in a more timely fashion because she got chilled racing in a hurricane.

The only missing element in this plan was a HTFU hill training session to kick off the process of getting ready for my mountain 50-miler. It's not the right timing for a full Hockley Loop with Logs Rocks and Steel coming up this weekend, but I figured I could do the Bruce Trail and all its side trails within Hockley Provincial Park on my way to Orangeville, where grocery stores and a DQ can be found.

I drove west toward a sky full of formidable black clouds. Ha! I'm not afraid of a little weather! I felt quite virtuous. Then the rain started smacking down so hard that cars were pulling over on the shoulder because they couldn't see, even with wipers on high. Hmm, it was so hot that I hadn't even brought a jacket. Luckily, it stopped and I went running on wet trails. It was physically demanding, technical running - good stuff and a little more than I'd expected. I tried to run up and down everything although it got awfully slow on some of the slippery log steps. At the far end of the run, I decided to act like a European and increase the weight of my pack by picking some beautiful, ripe wild apples. It's a great year for them and I'm sure I'll be picking a lot more over the next month.

The hot fudge sundae was good too. :)

As I continue to think about Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc 2013, I came across this article talking about why U.S. ultrarunners have typically not done as well at European events as Euro runners have done in U.S. events. A quick overview of the points presented:

1) Number of runners at the start line - Much higher in Europe. Affects runners' emotions, pacing, strategy.

2) Support model - In Europe, no pacers are allowed, no one can help you carry water or food, no one can coach you on trail nor supervise your nutrition/hydration. Mountain ultra runners in Europe always carry a backpack and often use poles. (When it comes to point #2, I am very European! I almost always carry a pack and I can't imagine that I will have support crew for any ultra events - although UTMB is the one major Euro race that allows it.)

3) The terrain - Races in Europe usually consists of 80% single track - very technical, lots of steep up and down. Even top runners will do some fast walking. In the U.S., the popular events often include long stretches of forest roads and easy going trails; it may be possible to run the entire course.

4) Professional approach to the sport - This applies to elites with teams backing them, e.g. Salomon's comprehensive, professional support of 3-time UTMB winner Killian Jornet

5) Racing season, calendar - Euro scene includes different types of popular events like vertical kilometer mountain runs and very technical short distance races with steep ascents/descents. These are common, even in winter (replaced by ski mountaineering competitions in snowy areas), and very competitive.

For those who haven't yet seen this video from the 2011 UTMB a couple of weeks ago, maybe this will convince you to join me in 2013? :) The group is gradually growing, with some considering the "shorter" 98 km CCC event (5600 m elevation gain) that travels part of the 166 km UTMB course (9500 m elevation gain).

Can't do more than one push-up on the floor since BazingaDog crawls under my chest and curls up before I can do a second one. For some reason, there's something very enticing about a human coming down to dog level. I managed to devise a puppy-proof workout while Jon Stewart brought me up to date on U.S. politics and economy.

With 'Bent overseas and a young puppy at home, I can't go out for longer than 4 hours at a time, so it was looking like a quiet/lonely Labour Day weekend in the boonies. Mrs. Tiny and WandAR generously drove to Palgrave to keep me company, and I took them on a tour of Albion Hills single track.



Conditions were excellent and we looked forward to finishing at the Palgrave Cafe for lunch. It was closed just for this weekend. Boo. OK fine, we rode home to have a quick shower and let the pooches out, then we drove to Caledon East to the Caledon Hills Coffee Company where Crash works her culinary magic. It was closed due to a family emergency. At 1:45, we finally found a place that would feed our monster appetites; it was an average lunch but the company and the trails were well above average. Thanks very much, ladies!

Thought it might be nice to kick off the holiday weekend with some kayaking (albeit on a less scenic lake than last Friday) but then the storm rolled in. So I watched the Daily Show on the erg instead. I actually don't mind the paddle erg even though I count the minutes on the treadmill or bike trainer. Too bad that after next weekend, I don't have any paddle racing on the schedule for a loooong time.

Treadmill intervals - not keen on program P2. When intervals are the right speed, the "rest" segments are too slow. Legs are feeling good after the weekend. Now it is almost time to taper for Logs Rocks and Steel! The MTB ride tomorrow morning will be great.

Rats, just missed the photo opportunity of the morning. BazingaDog is not crate-trained yet but this morning he climbed on *top* of his blanket-covered cage and had a little nap up there. Just like Snoopy!

[Later...] He's baaack! Yes, I know a responsible dog owner would discourage this "cute-only-while-he's small" behaviour rather than sneaking away for her camera. Oh well.

West on the Bruce Trail side trail to Centreville Creek and back. First run since the rogaine and aside from needing to tape one blister, I felt surprisingly good and ended up turning it into a tempo run where I worked on attacking the uphills. It was one of my faster runs on this route, which is absolutely ridiculous. I know I'm all about the slow twitch but do I *really* need a 102 km warm-up to run a decent 10K? I guess this is a concrete example of the old adage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

Thanks to Flatfoot for organizing the first AR pub night in my memory. Great to see friendly faces and share stories, drinks and food. (In my case, the food part was especially welcome since 'Bent is overseas and he normally cooks all our meals! Yes, I'm spoiled.)

For those who met Evan, the adventure racer newly arrived from Switzerland, please add a welcome note to his AP log.
http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_9916