Training Log Archive: Bash

Rats - I've got to start allowing more time for a decent warmup. I couldn't cool down much for reasons I will relate shortly...

Mob Match at Mansfield - 90-minute Score-O. I love Score-O, but today was a good news / bad news day. On the good news side of the ledger, today's heavy rain lightened up to grey skies with occasional sprinkles during the event, then the weather turned nasty again on the way home. It was one of those days when I needed a long hot shower to get the chill out of my core.

And more good news... I was the top woman today in an event that included a couple of fellow GHO women whose abilities I respect a lot. I managed to fight my Score-O Achilles heel - greed for extra points when I really should be heading for the finish to avoid penalties. It was close, but I came in with 3 minutes to spare. I think I ranked about 11th of 45-50 runners overall, so I count today as a success from an O point of view. GHO's big heroes of the day were ThePiller, in 2nd place overall, and Invisible Sudden in 3rd (he managed to arrive, race and depart without being seen by anyone - almost).

But the bad news... Racing into a control at the halfway point (45 minutes), I saw 'Bent coming toward me, and I turned on a burst of speed so I could arrive just after him. Remember the showboating snowboarder in the Olympics who attempted a grab and lost her medal as a result? Well, as I looked at 'Bent instead of the ground, I must have stepped into a pit and my left ankle (on the leg that is always 100% healthy) turned with a serious cracking sound. 'Bent offered to stay with me, but I pushed him to continue the race, while I hobbled for the next few minutes in shock, wondering if I should go back. Then sheer foolishness and competitive spirit kicked in, so I carried on with the race. The ankle felt strange, but not excruciating - until later, when I was trying to cool down and get back to the car. Now it hurts a lot and is swelling up nicely. Lots of RICE for me for the next while, I guess. And Vitamin I.

Oh crap.

Trail run with ThunderDog on a damp, grey day.

After the warm-up lap, I dropped ThunderDog off at home and went around the same trail loop again - without the canine exploration time. It was a good steady pace, but not too hard because I've got a 90-minute score-O tomorrow. Focused on running form - posture, arms, knees, stride. It seems that I can only get two of those things right at a time.

First time paddling since the Raid The North Champs last September - boy, have we missed Bill Trayling's indoor paddling classes. Gazelle, Gazette, Padre, 'Bent and I went out on Island Lake and paddled in various combinations in two canoes and a kayak. Based on some simple paddling speed tests today, it looks like 'Bent and I will be paddling partners in the upcoming Raid The North race, and Padre and Gazelle will take the other boat. That makes it easier for training, as we don't need to synchronize four impossible schedules.

It felt good to be on the water again, but we are definitely rusty. I bought a season's pass, which will hopefully inspire us to get out more often. We'll also need some solo kayak practice before Storm The Trent, where 'Bent and I are both racing solo.

While watching the Daily Show. Today's target: Scott McClellan, obviously.

A mountain biking melange on a very warm day. First some rail trail and gravel road riding to get to a dental appointment with Dr. 'Bent. Then some twisty, hilly single track in Palgrave, which was in perfect shape after 6 days without rain. And finally some fast riding on the double track for a good aerobic workout. Wildlife Watch: 1 wild turkey (not an attack turkey) and a duck of unknown persuasion.

GHO Adventure Nite

So much for my new resolution to do longer warm-ups. I managed to do a nice, crunchy ankle turn about 30 seconds into it too.

I've recently been told that clinging to my image of myself as a slow runner is not helpful. It's never bothered me to be slow, but upon some reflection, I've had to acknowledge that I do use it as an excuse to stay in my comfort zone, especially in shorter events (i.e. less than 24 hours), which I don't view as my forte.

So... tonight's mission was straightforward: push all the way through the sprint, and go faster than feels comfortable. Navigation was not as important, just this once.

We got maps in advance, and I spent 5 minutes reviewing the course. I'm so unaccustomed to getting maps in advance anymore that this didn't help me at ALL, as evidenced by the fact that I visited #8 between #1 and #2. I wasn't lost. I really thought #8 was the second control on the map - until I touched the flag, and glanced down and noticed that the control circle was connected to #9. Luckily, it wasn't too far off the trail that I never should have left, so hopefully I only lost about a minute. So much for my new strategy of focusing on speed above all else - sigh...

But after that, things went not badly. In fact, compared to some of the stories I heard afterward, I guess things went pretty well. I was thrown off a bit by the 1:5000 map scale ("oh, there's the flag already!"). But other than 30 seconds of wandering through a thicket-infested ditch looking for a flag at #11, everything went smoothly. And on the bright side, I had no trouble finding #8 later in the race, since I'd been there already!

My result looked a bit too good, and I knew the time was correct, so I sat down with the map and reviewed it to make sure I hadn't screwed up and missed a control - but I hadn't. So the finish order was Sudden in 1st, MrPither in 2nd, and... me in 3rd??

Combination cooldown and rough/precision navigation exercise. Beautiful summer night. Hopefully we will have some more spring after this - I'm not ready to run in the heat just yet!

While watching the Daily Show. Today's target: Donald Rumsfeld.

Legs feel fatigued from the big day yesterday. I felt some hamstring tightness begin in the left leg after the first hour of biking, and it has continued into today. But the good news is, my knee doesn't hurt. For awhile it seemed that just looking at a bike was enough to make my injury flare up.

The Tree Huggers have decided to go with an all-female line-up for the May 6 Salomon Adventure Challenge. 'Bent will race with Team Hunger. Crash, Gazette and I will take on the formidable Adidas Divas. Looking forward to it!

This was really just shadowing, as I followed 'Bent and BulletDog around the Albion Hills contours-only section from the Giant's Rib Raid, going in the opposite direction that we'd gone in the race. I'd already navigated this section twice before - once in the race, and once in the opposite direction when I took the flags down. So this time it was 'Bent's job to lead the way, and my job was just to glance at the map occasionally without saying anything, confirm whether we were in the right (or wrong) place, and ask a series of pointed questions to help him relocate when he got off track enroute to the elusive 17A.

Rocky and Crash, we've put up orange flagging tape on 17ABC, so give it a try! When you're done practising, please take the flagging tape down - thanks!

After visiting all the controls, 'Bent, BulletDog and I went for a very hilly run in the NE corner of Albion Hills. We've realized that the only time I run faster than 'Bent is going downhill, so I was trying to pass along my kamikaze techniques. I'm not sure he's entirely convinced.

Woo hoo - they've finally opened Albion Hills for mountain biking! After 3 days of no rain, most trails were very dry and it was a great day to climb those tough, twisty, rooty sections without putting a foot down. Chico Racing has done an awesome job on the trails - new sections, rerouted sections, some trail closures in sensitive areas, fallen trees from our high-wind winter cut down and moved. They aren't finished everywhere, but for most of the ride, we had absolutely amazing conditions. It was a great day to be out in the sun, and my legs didn't feel like it was the first big single track ride of the season. I guess the winter aerobic conditioning and leg strength exercises have made the start of cycling season less traumatic than it used to be - yahoo.

Last but not least... Hard Core Monday. I think we get a lot more value out of our workout than the people who do it WITHOUT two 30 kg Lab Retrievers attempting to lie on their chests while doing sit-ups.