Training Log Archive: Bash

Goose, BulletDog and I went for a morning trail run around hilly Glen Haffy while 'Bent and ThunderDog took a brisk hike in the same area. It took us a little while to sort out the dogs, since they both felt strongly that our "pack" shouldn't be separated. I ended up running on tow behind BulletDog, which was good practice for next weekend's Raid The Hammer, and it was no trouble to keep my heart rate up in that terrain. According to the HRM, about a quarter of today's run was anaerobic, puff, gasp.

Brilliant sunshine, cool morning air and panoramic views here and there - nice! With most of the leaves down, it was hard to see rocks and roots, so I was overly cautious with my footing to avoid wrenching any joints before next weekend. Goose is in great form, since he's doing multiple training sessions each day with different groups of students. Perfect job for an endurance athlete!

'Bent and I headed to the McMichael Gallery to catch the final day of the Robert Bateman exhibition. I know that some people think it's unsophisticated to appreciate his work, and those same people probably also think that it's unfashionable to be fond of the Group of Seven. Well, those people wouldn't have enjoyed our afternoon at all. But as someone who has spent time in the kinds of wilderness places where these guys painted, I love sharing their experiences - seeing things in the paintings that most of the "sophisticated" critics probably don't recognize at all, having spent their entire lives in cities.

Bike ride with my new teammates on Team IntoTheArctic.com. Hurtn lives in Caledon, and his brother Damuhl was up for the day, so it was a good chance for us all to get together for the first time. (Their official Attackpoint nicknames are TBD, since they may be signing up too.) They are training for a backpacking, painting and filming expedition in the High Arctic next summer, and I recruited them to join me for the ESAR adventure race next spring to give them another reason to train. Should be fun! They also pointed out that they both have cute daughters who are in or approaching their teens, so the Dads need to start looking physically imposing to prospective boyfriends.

Today's ride was about as nice as you could ask for in November in Caledon. Still some autumn colours, bright sunshine and crisp temperature. We did a nice little loop in Palgrave East and West. 'Bent had more time, so he started with us, then turned north to do an extended loop on double track while we did some single track, which is still verboten for 'Bent. I think we've got a good team - and 'Bent's team will just have to try to catch us!! :-)

We've been watching the progress of Rocky, Crash and Slowrunner at Ironman Florida today. See www.ironman.com. At the moment, after the swim and 73 miles of biking, they are all within 10 minutes of each other. First Slowrunner, then Rocky, then Crash. Go Girls!!!!!

And the final results for our amazing Caledon IronWomen:
Rocky - 12:22
Crash - 12:30
Slowrunner - 12:49

Also a smokin' 10:46 for Scooby. Wow.

Yay!!!!!!! You guys worked hard for this, and we're so proud of you!

Tired from Thursday night training! It feels like every muscle was used in some way. Good!

Phatty & Leanimal are local adventure heroes again.

C3 training night. Our coach Barrie was out of town, but his wife Caron told us that he'd called from the airport after she dropped him off. He'd been standing at a urinal when another guy came up beside him. As per usual, he didn't look over, but then he suddenly realized that a lot of people had arrived in the washroom at once, so he glanced around. It was the Dalai Lama standing at the next urinal!

Some easy early season intervals on the road tonight, plus the run there and back. Felt good.

Hard Core Live with Caron. Tonight's theme was Hard, Harder, Hardest. Ouch.

This was also a Hard, Harder, Hardest session. I can't remember yoga getting my heart rate up this high very often! I've decided that I have the arms of a 98 lb weakling, and I'd better do something about it before someone kicks sand in my face.

This is the run that almost wasn't - I'm proud of myself for not blowing it off when the schedule got tight, because I sometimes do that... I tried to stay in my 60-70% HR Karv zone for a run around the block. The books say that low intensity overdistance runs will feel really slow, but I'm so slow normally that I don't always notice. However, today I really had to hold back to stay in the zone - and didn't quite succeed, since my average HR ended up being a little high. As Crash must have experienced many times, Duffy's Lane is a steady uphill for a good distance coming north from Patterson, and it's tough not to push there.

I had to choose between cleaning my kitchen before Sherpa arrived or going out running. Apologies to Sherpa, but I went running. On the bright side, it's a sign that you've moved into our inner circle of friends if we let you see how domestically challenged we really are.

I parked at the north end of Albion Hills and ran away from the sign that said "Trail Closed - Logging Operations". As I ran, I heard logging machines and the huge cracks of trees coming down, which kept me very alert. I'll have to check with the superintendent to find out where I'm allowed to send the racers for the Tree Huggers Invitational in mid-November. I turned west to get away from the imminent risk of death and continued to run a big random loop, mostly on single track. The trails are so familiar from all our biking, and it's surprisingly fun and different to run on them - especially in the opposite direction of travel from usual. Beautiful autumn day!

Sherpa dropped by with her two Labs. BulletDog and ThunderDog had stayed home from work especially for the occasion, so we had a 4-dog hike. There was much excitement! BulletDog and Arleau may have set a new land speed record as they ricocheted around the woods. Ciara wasn't far behind, and even the senior ThunderDog surprised us by doing a few aerial 360s after all four of them went for an unscheduled swim in our little pond. Nice to catch up with Sherpa, and great to have a couple of dog-tired pooches tonight.

'Bent and I met with the orthopaedic surgeon today. Based on the MRI, he's not as certain as the radiologist about the fracture in the femur, so he sent 'Bent for an X-ray to gather more evidence. He thought it might be an avulsion, meaning that in the fall, 'Bent may have pulled away a bit of his own bone thanks to his massively strong leg muscles. (OK, he didn't quite say it that way.)

Anyway, bottom line...
- MCL is 70-80% healed, but it could take up to a year to heal completely.
- The suspected fracture is at the place where the gastrocnemius (calf) muscle attaches, and the hamstring is nearby, so that would explain the deep pain in the knee and 'Bent's current inability to recruit much hamstring strength. There is a lot of marrow edema there. Over time, it should heal.
- Yay, no surgery needed, and the doc advises that 'Bent let pain be his guide. If you're making it hurt, then you're not letting it heal. But otherwise, there are no restrictions - not even running. A knee brace to prevent lateral movement of the knee could be helpful for awhile. He doesn't think 'Bent will be racing the winter adventure race in January. :-(

Overall, this was very good news. 'Bent will be less grumpy about giving things up in the short term if he knows that he'll be able to do them eventually.