Training Log Archive: Bash

Phatty and I met at Forks of the Credit when it was still pitch dark to put out the final controls for Thomass Caledon, then I started setting up the registration area while Phatty vetted yesterday's controls.

The Caledon Navigators club has an awesome group of volunteers. It started with Goose, who gamely carpooled with Phatty at 7 a.m. even though there was little he could do for the first hour because he was racing. Scooby brought an awesome tent with walls, a nice complement to Phatty's Salomon registration tent with its displays of next year's shoe styles. (A number of people asked me if the shoes were for sale. One woman in particular seemed very disappointed, "Don't you have ANYTHING for sale here?") Rocky's big wood fire in the metal firepit put off a surprising amount of heat - really nice.

Racers started to pour in. We had about 65 participants, including a surprising 18 race day registrations, ably handled by George and Janet. Nobody had registered in advance for the Novice course, but a bunch of them showed up on the day. My friend Gorgeous, who had done an hour of intro navigation with me over the Christmas holidays, aced the Novice course. She finished so early that I assumed she must have hated it or found it too difficult on her own, but she phoned me that evening to say that she loved it, and she would go orienteering every weekend if it were nearby. Another competent Novice was LeanimalMom, who looked nervous at the start but seemed to do pretty well.

Phatty had the course designed two months in advance, so we had lots of time for final tweaking based on the latest snow conditions and course test results. He may be the first person ever to use Excel so extensively in designing a Thomass course! We aimed for particular distance ratios for the different handicaps in hopes of achieving a mass finish. It's difficult to design a course at Forks of the Credit because the most interesting terrain is far from the parking lot, but Phatty did a great job of ensuring that every handicap level got to explore some of the coolest parts of the park.

I loved the opening race leg. The racers gathered at a bridge at one end of a long kettle lake, and when Phatty said "Go!", we hoped they would fan out on either side of the lake. I had an aerial view from the parking lot, and it was great to watch it happen exactly as we'd hoped, with runners snaking along both sides of the lake. To our surprise, the runners on the east side of the lake arrived first. In our own tests, we both liked the west side better.

After that, I got some water boiled, then settled down to the task of entering rental SI info and the race day registrations. I'm not sure why - maybe the cold weather - but the PC was excruciatingly slow, even though our SI team got it to work when they tested it at home. I would click my mouse on the SI field, then wait 30 seconds for the cursor to appear so I could start typing, then I'd do the same thing for the racer's name, course and rental SI status. Hmmm, I started to panic that I wouldn't finish before racers started arriving, and sure enough, MrPither sailed in at 52:13 in 1st place. We were excited to see him, since that was right around the winning time we'd expected, and he ought to do well if the course had been designed fairly.

The top 5 racers had 4 different handicaps, and about half the racers finished within the first 15 minutes. Congratulations to Phatty for achieving a textbook Thomass mass finish on his first time out!

Meanwhile, none of the real SI people were back yet (I was just babysitting), and I made the horrifying discovery that downloading a single SI card was taking about 5 minutes to process, and I could only do one at a time. We still don't know whether the borrowed PC was too slow or whether it got too cold or whether CN's serial download unit is too slow, but there was some factor that caused it to blow up on race day.

Not to worry, we'd arranged alternatives. Plan B was that Sid had brought his laptop with the same SI software - but when he saw CN's serial download unit, he shook his head and said that it was probably our problem. In spite of many tries, his PC wouldn't recognize the download unit via the serial to USB converter - it needed a driver. Plan C was to use the OOA splits printer, but it refused to print. By this point, my blood pressure was through the roof. Hammer calmed me a little by reminding me that our SI team could download results from the controls if necessary. Then fortunately, SI-Clive finished his race and discovered a tiny, secret switch on the splits printer that convinced it to print. Yahoo, we got print-outs from all the SI cards. Fortunately, the only racers to leave by then were Tiny and Pixie, who had left their SI cards with me.

Even though we knew we would have results now, I still had a nasty job reviewing the printouts manually against the registration list to figure out if anyone I hadn't seen was still out on the course. By the time I determined that one SI card was still out there, I emerged from the van to find most racers gone and the husband of the missing racer (actually a Mom and daughter on the Novice course) talking to them on the phone. When Phatty went out to pick up the final controls, they were still heading off the trail to look for flags even though they'd been out for 3 hours and knew that the course was closed! So on the bright side, I guess they had fun.

I was sad that I missed the fun part of hosting an event - the opportunity to get a hot chocolate and chat with friends and hear about their experiences on the course. But other than me, it appears that everyone else had fun. Gunda Herzog made her amazing veg chili again and planned quantities perfectly for 70 people. The world famous Crash brownies were a huge hit as always. Salomon provided three beautiful toques as prizes (I was soooo jealous). Crash/PGB was the top woman (yahoo!), and AdventureGirl! was the top junior after an unfortunate error that made her climb up and down the escarpment twice. The Shed Coffee Bar in Belfountain gave us draw prizes. (You could "buy" up to 3 draw prize tickets by showing that you'd brought your own map case, reusable mug and/or bowl and spoon for chili.) Afterward, The Shed offered 50% off any beverage to anyone who showed them an orienteering map, and when I dropped by, the manager said that 28 people had stopped by, including us, and they would gladly support another orienteering event in future.

I was strung out when I got home and was really glad to find 'Bent home from California. I'm sure that last night's 3.5 hrs of sleep didn't help my mood. Then I read Hammer's log and actually cried (note: see the part about 3.5 hrs of sleep) in relief that other people didn't perceive it as a disaster. Then (joy of joys), Goose figured out how to download results from the Finish controls and sent me a spreadsheet of finish times. (Cue the Hallelujah Chorus.) He and Phatty are going to put together results with splits, and all will be well - just a little later than we'd hoped.

Thanks to all the amazing volunteers - from CN and other clubs - who managed the busy registration table, served food and drink, put up tents, picked up controls, kept the wood fire burning, worked on our SI problems, and much more. Special kudos to Phatty for putting together such an interesting race course his first time out. It was great fun to work with him. And thanks to all the racers for your patience and for sticking around to make the post-race social time lots of fun. See you at the next Thomass Caledon!

Interesting and sobering page that lets you look around Port au Prince and compare satellite images before and after the earthquake.
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/be...>

Mr. & Mrs. Flatfoot did a great job organizing tonight's Adventure Racing Wrap-up and Season Kick-off Party. Great company, outstanding burritos and interesting adventure slide shows from around the world. It's an event that deserves to take off and grow in future years. Thank you!

Phatty and I headed to Forks of the Credit to put out SI controls for tomorrow's Thomass event. I've put out SI controls in winter before, but it was darned near impossible today! With a few exceptions, the ground was frozen like rock -probably because we've had so little snow compared with other years. So we had to double-tie every control stand to a tree, which required slight relocation of a couple of controls. Good times! I think conditions are as fast as we've ever seen them at Forks - but pretty slippery going down the Escarpment. We stopped by The Shed Coffee Bar in Belfountain afterward for a skim latte, and they gave us 3 sweet draw prizes. They're giving 50% off any beverage to everyone who stops by tomorrow afternoon and shows their orienteering map. Nice!

IceBreaker Score-O at Rocky Ridge operated by the high-powered volunteer team of BobTheNavigator and STORM. Big turn-out - over 80 people, many of whom came early for the introductory navigation clinic. It was fun, although my mind started out elsewhere thinking through all the things I need to do for tomorrow's race. After messing up my first control, I got back on track and had a decent run. I was cutting it very close for time when I came up behind a hobbling Hammer. Given that it was just a training event, I decided it would be a good time to catch up, so we just did a walk & jog back to the finish where I arrived 7 minutes late and lost over half my points to the penalty. Oh well!

When 'Bent is away... the mice will play! I've found 3 dead mice in traps over the last 24 hrs - an unusually high number, probably due to the warmer weather. Our marriage "contract" states clearly that 'Bent does all the cooking and takes care of any mice (preferably at very different times). But while he's off learning dentistry in sunnier climes, it looks like I'll have to revive some of the skills I used to have when I lived alone in a very mousy log house. Ick.

First trainer session in a long time. It's 3C out and our beautiful snow is getting mushy - boo. While watching The Daily Show.

While watching the Colbert Report

Our new high-efficiency clothes washer arrived and got hooked up. I cannot imagine that NASA used a more complex piece of equipment to land on the moon! So many lights, buttons, digital displays and whirring sounds that stop and start. I *think* I've figured out how to make the clothes come out clean...

'Bent (currently enroute to sunny California) wishes to report that he has lost 4 lb so far as a result of my food diary!

He also reports that he had to go through two separate security checks at the airport, including pat downs, and is now sitting in a very small, restricted "No Starbucks" zone on a day when he'll be arriving in a time zone 3 hours earlier. Oh, the joys of travel.

I thought I had coined the term "aggressive hospitality" but some googling reveals that it's a fundamental principle of Walmart employee training, e.g. the smiling greeter passing you a shopping cart. They want the customer to view it as a good thing, but I use the phrase differently. Someone wants to celebrate my birthday (5 months ago) by taking us to a very nice restaurant. Definitely a generous gesture! None of the restaurants within a reasonable driving distance of our place is good enough, apparently. It must be a special restaurant chosen by this person, and travelling time from our house via the person's place to the dinner table will be over 2 hours. This means planning a weekend around this gift since we will have to start getting ready by mid-afternoon and will likely arrive home late enough to feel less than 100% the next morning. And now I've just been given a deadline to provide a date, since I've been avoiding commitment. There's no argument that this person is generous, and I hate to seem ungrateful, but at some point it gets hard to perceive some "gifts" as gifts. Hence, "aggressive hospitality". (Sorry, I just needed a good rant.)

Hard Core with Caron

Tough yoga class using Caron's tricky new toys - flat disks that you put under hands or feet so you can do slidey things. Felt great afterward, but couldn't resist scarfing down a big dinner at 9:30 p.m. when I got home. I've set myself up for a lot of research for the food diary - sigh. And probably gained back half the weight I've lost!

Day 9 of the New Year's Resolution Food Diary and I am looking forward to wrapping up on Day 14! It's not that I'm feeling super-deprived; it's just really time consuming to try to be accurate about it. When 'Bent is preparing dinner, I'm hovering at the sidelines writing down "1 tbsp sesame oil" and weighing grams of tofu - even though I know it's a healthy meal that I wouldn't worry about if the diary weren't a factor. Also, there are times when I would like to just take one cashew from a bowl without thinking about the obligation of researching its Nutrifacts. The flip side is that I'm not taking any cashews from bowls; the work involved in updating the diary is a huge deterrent to mindless grazing.

Although I have a separate New Year's resolution to lose 10 lb from my Jan. 1 weight, the intended purpose of the diary was just to provide some baseline diet analysis. However, the spreadsheet has had the impact of making me aim for 1800 calories a day with 65% carb, 20% protein and 15% fat. I've been successful with the calories - less successful with getting protein up to where it should be. Interestingly, my diary also had the impact of getting 'Bent to watch his diet more closely, and Leanimal started a food diary too. FB mentioned that he lost 10 lb over 2 months of keeping a food diary, even though he also just intended it to be observational. So yay for food diaries.

Results? Today's weight is down 8 lb. from Jan. 1, which is actually too much in two weeks and probably isn't stable. Body fat is down 3%. I was joking that yesterday's blood donation was another weight loss strategy, but maybe it's not such a joke! I was down over 2 lb today even though my clever scale tells me that I'm well-hydrated. I think they take a pint of blood, which has to weigh at least a pound. I suspect I'll weigh more tomorrow when those super-heavy blood cells start regenerating. ;-)

Interesting article by Runner's World writer on the minimal science available on running injuries and barefoot running.

For anyone who didn't notice this in the main discussion forum, here's a really good idea!

"So, it appears that we are about 10 days away from the 10th anniversary of the launch of Attackpoint. Why don't we all thank Ken by donating at least $10 each? It's a small token to thank him for 10 years of hard work. Let's see how many AP members we can get to donate in the next 10 days.

Thanks Ken!"

Ken is really low key about it, so a lot of people don't even know there is a suggested donation of $25 US/year for users of Attackpoint, and this would be a great time to take care of 2010. Your contribution gets you a few extra features too, so it's a win-win!

Today's goal was: "Out of the Comfort Zone". I went up to Highlands to do my favourite route - the Red trail with all 3 extra black diamond loops, plus an extra loop of Orange trail around the summit. I figured that by the time I got to the point where I didn't feel like skate skiing anymore, I'd be so far away from the chalet that I'd have no choice but to keep going. It worked.

It turned out to be a super-slow day for skating - lots of fresh, fluffy snow still falling as I skied. I ploughed through 10-12 cm of new snow in some places, sometimes as the first skier of the day. I even had to pole to get down the downhills if they weren't steep enough. Couldn't ask to be much further out of my comfort zone!

One of the reasons I wanted to go up there is that people in Duntroon and Collingwood have been waxing poetic about the Currier and Ives Christmas card scenery. They sure have had a LOT of snow and it was draped beautifully in big tufts on the trees. Spectacular, even though I had to work pretty hard for it.

I decided to get my skate skis professionally waxed in case I decide to use them for the Canadian Ski-O Champs next weekend. (However, from talking with Nick, I'm starting to lean toward classic racing skis that I can skate on as needed.) While that was happening, I went out around the Yellow trail on classic skis. I didn't have a lot of grip, but it was wonderful to have glide after not having it on skate skis, so I just used more upper body and toughed it out. I was totally within my comfort zone. Not such a bad thing sometimes.

ThunderDog and I went for a short lap in the woods so that she could take care of some urgent sniffing projects and make a few dog angels in the snow. Still galloping at 13 years old! :-)

Ran in Palgrave West and focused on running hard up the hills along the way. I went back for a second helping of Raspberry Hill and Thinker's Hill, the toughest ones on the route. Man, that is hard, but in both cases it was easier the second time up - a sign that I should be doing this more often.

Great news from the Thomass Caledon event this Sunday at Forks of the Credit. In addition to Salomon generously sponsoring prizes for the category winners, the Shed Coffee Bar in Belfountain has also stepped aboard with additional prizing. Also, they will give racers 50% off any beverage if you show the barista your orienteering map this Sunday afternoon. All that and you get to try out Phatty's first-ever orienteering course - a masterpiece in course planning using Excel spreadsheets and raw guts. Not to mention Mrs. Scooby's yummy vegetarian chili and PGB's world famous Crash Brownies. If you're not there, you will be forced to read about what a great time the rest of us had, so come on out!

Don't forget the Dontgetlost.ca IceBreaker on Saturday at Rocky Ridge, with two great race directors behind it - BobTheNavigator and STORM. If that's not enough to do, there's also the Adventure Racing Wrap-up and Season Kick-Off Party in Milton Saturday night. It's going to be a fun weekend!