Training Log Archive: Bash

Event: Tri City Urban Adventure Run
 

'Bent and I were both pretty tired from yesterday, but we knew that Nick and the Stars would put on a great event, so we wanted to go anyway. Glad we did! It was a perfect sunny, cool day, and the course was lots of fun.

We started out with a scramble to find 3 controls in the park in any order. Then one or both team members could do a 12-control sprint. I convinced 'Bent to do it alone, to a chorus of groans. Meanwhile, I had an opportunity to study some maps that were posted for a later stage of the race. As I had known he would, 'Bent had a great sprint and moved us up to 2nd behind Mick.

We ran to the University of Waterloo campus next, where we had another scramble to pick up 5 controls, using a cool map that was a patchwork quilt of aerial photo and O map. One of the controls was the boar statue in front of the Modern Languages building, which I remembered from going to school there N years ago. We also went right past the window of my old residence room at St. Paul's College. Wish I'd had more time to reminisce and get all sentimental, but that's hard to do when I'm being hauled along by a tow rope attached to my pack hip belt!

We crossed to Columbia Field, where we ran to the central point of the Star. There were 4 small maps waiting for us, each one showing a small piece of terrain with the start point and a single control. The team could split up, and 'Bent and I each ran out and back to two different controls, finishing at almost the same time - yay. From there, we ran back to the traffic lights and across the university campus. Back at the park, we had a short section of a strip map, where we had to find two controls before the finish. Fun!

For the 2nd half of the race, we played cat and mouse with a young all-male team. They were faster, but several times, we arrived at subtle controls or traffic lights first, making life a little easier for anyone who happened to be just behind us. We reached the finish line about a minute after them, then discovered to our surprise that the overall winners were actually a couple of kids (both teenaged boys - at least I HOPE they were that old). We'd seen them out there in a few places, but didn't really think they could be doing the whole course. We'd never seen them at other orienteering events - where did they come from?? Anyway, that was very cool to see. So we settled happily for 3rd overall and 1st Coed. I turned down the fancy, high-tech hats intended to be our prize (which we already own) to get a box of chocolates filled with cherries and brandy. Yahoo, instant gratification!!!

This was the first race where I tried the trick I'd read about on AP of carrying my Forerunner in my Camelbak aimed upwards, rather than wearing it on my wrist where it could provide minor navigation assistance. How does it work? Well, I'm sure it works a heck of a lot better if you remember to turn it on! Too bad, we would have loved to know how far we went today.

Event: 5 PEAKS TRAIL RUN (Albion Hills)
 

Great to see so many familiar faces at Albion Hills for the 5 Peaks race! I tried to push harder than felt comfortable to avoid settling into my usual 25K pace. It almost backfired because I felt pretty tired around 4-6K, but then I got a second wind. It helped to have pre-run the course - if I ever wanted to take a race seriously sometime, I'd definitely want to do that, because it helps to know what is coming up. I met Slice on her bike 250 m from the finish line, and she rode beside me yelling "Sprint! Sprint!" So I owe it all to her that I broke 56 minutes. (My time was 55:59.9, so it is certain that Slice's support gained me at least that 0.1 second, if not more.)

Awesome races by Hansel and Sudden, both around 40 min. Also pretty impressive to see 'Bent finish at 45 min and Leanimal at 51 min. The results were a bit messed up, so I didn't see how our other friends did. I couldn't have run any harder, and it looks like I was still 1/3 of the way down my age group, just like the last 5 Peaks 10K I did. Kind of disappointing, given that my pace was 40 sec/km faster, and I really felt it. What I don't understand is why I seem to get better race results on roads or smooth trails, yet in trail races, I pass people on uphills and downhills, while they crush me on the flats, which ought to be more like road running. Help! I don't WANT to find out that I'm actually a road runner in disguise!

Leanimal, 'Bent, Angus and I took out the three Mayfield High School adventure racing teams for some navigation coaching in Albion Hills using a 1:50,000 topo map. The team I was assigned to - the TriRacers, Danny, Jeff and Kelsey - were lots of fun, and worked hard to understand the concepts. When they ran, they REALLY ran, which was tough for me after the morning race. I think they'll do great in the high school AR event next weekend!

We stuck around at the end to watch Coach Angus teach them canoe-over-canoe rescue in Lake Albion. Nothing like hearing the screams of teenagers dumped into a cold lake in April, especially when you are an adult who can sit on shore, cheering supportively, oozing sympathy and taking photos. ;-)

Hanging and taking down my share of the controls for the GHO Hamilton Schools orienteering meet. In between, I spent a couple of hours working at the results table. It was incredible to see over 650 kids orienteering in teams of two. In Europe, that wouldn't be a huge meet, but I'd never seen anything like it. Ray Kitowski did a masterful job of organizing the chaos and setting up the volunteers with tasks and equipment.

It was cool to see the students getting excited about orienteering - painting their faces in their school colours and cheering each other on. One teacher at some school had apparently taught the kids to put their maps on clipboards - wow, I can't imagine how inconvenient that must be when you're bushwhacking and trying to thumb your map!

The only negative was that I misjudged what to wear. Yesterday I was happy in T-shirt and shorts, but today I was chilly wearing several layers, including a jacket. I guess I'm accustomed to dressing for outdoor activity, not for sitting still!

Leanimal and I decided to mix it up by heading to Albion Hills to run the 10K course for this weekend's 5 Peaks race. We ran in from Old Church & Duffy's Lane, then joined the race course around the 7K mark and went around the loop. The map is a bit sketchy, and we tried a slightly different (and longer) route than 'Bent and I ran in the northeast part of the course. Compared to last week, I felt a lot better - I'm getting oxygen again, yahoo! However, when we hit the last big hill, my legs died, so I sent speedy Leanimal ahead to wait for me while I chugged up more slowly. I blame it on my new Forerunner which is extremely cool, but weighs 400 lb.

What a bee-yoo-tee-full day it was! Sunny, a bit cooler than it has been. The buds on the trees are almost ready to open. There is a bit of greenery on the forest floor, but no wildflowers yet. I saw one wild turkey, but otherwise the wildlife was hiding. During busy mountain biking times, these trails aren't as fun, but at quieter times, Albion Hills is a fantastic place for trail running.

While watching the news. Not quite as cheery as getting my news from the Daily Show and Rick Mercer.

Hard Core Monday with 'Bent - and with considerable assistance from duelling Lab Retrievers who were delighted to see us on the floor.