Training Log Archive: Bash

Our friend Knobless wanted to classic ski at Mansfield, so we seized the opportunity to do some Ovangelism. I asked him to pack his compass and we packed copies of the M-Elite map from last weekend's Canadian Ski-O Champs - a course we hadn't done. We took turns leading to different controls, making sure to give Knobless the hardest ones. It was his first time orienteering and he was flawless!

We followed the same rules as last weekend plus an additional rule that we had to ski the correct direction on one-way groomed trails, which made the snowmobile trails more attractive as route choices. They were actually in great shape - less slick than the well-used main trails, but still pretty fast if you didn't mind the odd stick in your eye. As an additional level of challenge, we had to rely on memory and guesswork since there was nothing on the map to indicate the one-way directions of the trails. That mostly went fine with the occasional "oops!" moment that forced us to make new route choices along the way, including some bushwhacking.

Given Gorgeous' recent slam-dunk victory on the Thomass Caledon Novice course, I think we need to convince the two of them to try the Salomon Dontgetlost.ca Snowshoe Raid together.

While listening to the "marathon mix" on my iPod. I've got to find uses for it 'cause I sure won't be doing another marathon! (But a 50K on trails? Hmm, that's different. I probably will. Maybe even this year.)

VO2Max skied up to our front door this morning - quite a surprise since we thought he was in Canmore. He had a day at home on his way to Europe for a few major XC ski races. He's got fire in his eyes - I'm predicting some good results before he comes home to kick butt at the National Champs!

Spent much of today in the woods, first with humans and later with dogs. Beautiful, chilly sunshine! 'Bent, Phatty, Leanimal and I hiked into Hilton Falls for Hansel's surprise 35th birthday picnic, flawlessly organized by Ms. K.



Yummy sandwiches, cookies and hot chocolate by the fire. A large group of mountain bikers went by, and Andrew Reeder stopped to chat during his long run.



I think there may be some rule against anyone other than Hammer posting a waterfall photo on AP, but I guess I'll try it and see if I get away with it. For sure, my waterfall pics aren't in that league!

With 'Bent, while watching the first part of the (good) movie, "The Visitor". Less time than planned after 'Bent gallantly offered to take apart and rejig my trainer flywheel to increase its resistance, but neglected to take note of the correct positions of the many parts. It went back together - but possibly not as good as new. Some follow-up googling may be required.

While watching Colbert, then into the city because *someone* had to be the last person in the world to see Avatar in 3D. (Sadly, the IMAX show was sold out.)

Yikes, I hate to find myself on the same side of any issue as this guy...
New bin Laden tape blasts U.S. on climate change

Uh oh, I see my weekly bar graph is not trending well. While I'm trying to do something about that, check out the Strange Maps blog.

Brittany Webster was 5th in the 10K classic at the Under-23 Nordic Ski World Champs in Germany today! Best-ever Tree Hugger finish at a world championship - so far. :-)

With 70 kph wind gusts reducing visibility outside our house to zero at times, I wasn't expecting to go outside today - especially since the trails are still icy. But Coach LD convinced me to go to Mono Nordic for a ski and it turned out to be wonderful! They had 5-10 cm of fresh snow from today's squalls and it was powdery enough for a terrific classic ski. I'm soooo glad she dragged me off to play hooky!

Hard Core Live with Caron

Yoga class. 'Bent was there tonight and his knee let him do almost everything.

This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of turning our geothermal system on. It still seems downright magic to feel warm air blowing from the vents, knowing it has come from the chilly 9C soil in our back yard. I'd wondered if Superior Propane would miss us now that we are only using propane for cooking (but not baking) and for the final boost in our hot water tank, which the geothermal system pre-heats. A confused propane truck driver finally knocked on our door last week wondering if we had a different propane tank hidden somewhere else, because he couldn't figure out why the big 1500 L tank out front was still nearly full. Woo hoo! BTW, we eventually got about $16K from five different grants for this project, so there's a lot of support for home owners to move to geothermal.

While watching Daily Show/Colbert Report and sprinting on the commercials.

Happy Australia Day! A few (OK, quite a few) years ago, I had a consulting assignment in Sydney that took me Down Under for 7 months. Every once in awhile - like rainy January days in Ontario when I can't ski - I think fondly about my daily commute across Sydney Harbour by ferry, the excellent camping and hiking in wild scenery, and the thousands of fruit bats that flew past my balcony every night on their way into the city. Hope the Aussies enjoyed their national holiday!

Treadmill intervals due to yucky weather. I thought it would just be speed intervals, but apparently the program included hill intervals too because it cranked up to an 8% incline at one point. I'd programmed the maximum speed for my fastest interval assuming that I'd be on the flats, so this was a better workout than expected. Even a little scary on the fastest interval, wondering whether I would get flung next door into 'Bent's workshop.

Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga - except I did it in the P.M. "Standing Poses" workout. It's a new DVD that might be a little too relaxing to be worth it. I'm used to his Power Yoga workouts and this workout was a good stretch, but not too challenging. There is a different workout for each day of the week, so I guess I'll do all five, then probably give it away if they don't get harder. Oh well...

While watching the Daily Show

While watching the Colbert Report

Boo, I learned today that the Laurentian Rogaine will only be presented in 6-hr and 8-hr versions for the foreseeable future. Too bad - that was a fun event, but too far to drive unless it's 24 hrs.