Training Log Archive: BashIn the 7 days ending Apr 17, 2011:
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Sunday Apr 17, 2011 #
10 AM
Orienteering race 1:01:10 9.71 km (6:18 / km) +2m 6:18 / km
shoes: Poison Ice Bugs
TOC Mob Match at L'Amoreaux Park in Scarborough. There was snow on the ground at our place when I left with more coming down. I went through even heavier snow as I drove south. At the event itself, there was a little rain, a little hail, a lot of snow and some seriously gusty wind. Perfect for an adventurous Sunday morning!
As promised, WandAR showed up wearing her bunny ears after an awesome 3rd place in the grueling, chilly, mucky 29 km Seaton Trail Test yesterday. We ran together for awhile and she placed 3rd again today on the Long Course. The TOC prize table was much richer so it's good that she came.
It was a fast race - a mix of park and urban sprint. The navigation wasn't difficult but controls were sometimes tucked away, which rewarded accuracy. Glenn B. and I fought it out on the Long Course until #8, which we punched together. We'd made slightly different route choices along the way but at this point, he announced his intent to go east while I was clearly going west. "See you there!", I said. But I didn't. In fact, we didn't see each other till after the finish. The west route worked out faster by 3 minutes - but he made a wrong turn along the way so we'll never know what really would have happened.
Yahoo, I squeaked out the women's win on the Long Course by 3 minutes, which mattered because the prize was 12 Steamwhistle Premium Pilsner - Bullfrog-powered, even. You gotta love an orienteering club whose president works in promotion at a classy beer company. Mick won the men's Long Course with a time of 44-something and Nick was just a minute behind. Almost everyone got a prize - some people more than one. Thanks to TOC's volunteers for being outside in very nasty weather - literally hanging onto the finish control - while we got to run around and keep warm.
As promised, WandAR showed up wearing her bunny ears after an awesome 3rd place in the grueling, chilly, mucky 29 km Seaton Trail Test yesterday. We ran together for awhile and she placed 3rd again today on the Long Course. The TOC prize table was much richer so it's good that she came.
It was a fast race - a mix of park and urban sprint. The navigation wasn't difficult but controls were sometimes tucked away, which rewarded accuracy. Glenn B. and I fought it out on the Long Course until #8, which we punched together. We'd made slightly different route choices along the way but at this point, he announced his intent to go east while I was clearly going west. "See you there!", I said. But I didn't. In fact, we didn't see each other till after the finish. The west route worked out faster by 3 minutes - but he made a wrong turn along the way so we'll never know what really would have happened.
Yahoo, I squeaked out the women's win on the Long Course by 3 minutes, which mattered because the prize was 12 Steamwhistle Premium Pilsner - Bullfrog-powered, even. You gotta love an orienteering club whose president works in promotion at a classy beer company. Mick won the men's Long Course with a time of 44-something and Nick was just a minute behind. Almost everyone got a prize - some people more than one. Thanks to TOC's volunteers for being outside in very nasty weather - literally hanging onto the finish control - while we got to run around and keep warm.
Saturday Apr 16, 2011 #
9 AM
Adventure Racing race 3:51:55 34.61 km (6:42 / km)
shoes: Salomon XA Pro Tomato 3
Sure, the weather forecast was 20-30 mm of rain, gusty 60 kph winds and high 9C, but we had scored a repeat invitation to the best adventure race money can't buy, the Wild B.O.A.R. (That's the Bolton Organic Adventure Race, by the way, although there is talk of renaming it to the Bolton Adventure Racing Festival if folks can live with the new acronym.)
This amazing event was Goose's brainchild for his 29th birthday last year. His gift to us was a well-organized, navigationally challenging, strategically complex, physically demanding adventure race in our own back yard. Well OK, I'll admit that last week's Giant's Rib Raid set a totally new standard when it comes to racing in my own back yard, but you know what I mean.
In a press release that came out shortly before the event, this year's course design was described as "elegant in its simplicity". There were 6 mandatory CPs ranging from Bolton to Albion Hills with 23 optional CPs spread across the countryside. To finish ranked, a team had to visit the mandatory CPs (all with SI controls) and return to the finish within 4 hours. There was a ribbon at each optional CP and one teammate had to take a photo of the other at the ribbon. Each optional CP was worth one bonus point. No teams finished ranked last year so the winner of today's race would be named the first-ever Wild BOAR champion.
We were assigned partners well ahead of the event. The team with the best costume would be granted one extra point, so advance planning was required. In honour of MEC's 40th anniversary and their final catalogue (sniffle!), this year's costume theme was "Retro Outdoors". Teams needed to wear their costume for the first trekking leg, then they could ditch it in a TA bag if they wanted.
I don't know all the team names, unfortunately. Phatty and Mrs. Biker represented Supersonic Airlines in honour of the Concorde which started flying in the sixties and thus counts as "retro". And of course, planes are known to fly "outdoors".
Coach LD and VO2Max were resplendent in their retro outfits. VO2Max's mother's vintage ski pants really pulled the team's look together.
Tiny and Rocky were a force to be contended with.
Scooby and Leanimal - too cool for school.
Team Biker Bash. Yes, that *is* a bug headnet and my retro T-shirt was from Gretzky's retirement day. (Once a Brantford girl, always a Brantford girl.)
It was a little different from last year's costume! And so was the weather.
And the Best Costume Winners in their red K-Way ensembles, Mrs. Tiny and 'Bent!
The maps and instructions were detailed and excellent as always, and Goose gave a race briefing shortly before we headed out into the rain.
We loaded bikes, canoes and gear bags. The logistics for this race are incredible, especially when you consider that Goose is driving around and managing just about everything. We saw him at every TA.
The race began on foot with the option to go into Bolton Camp to pick up several CPs using a 28-year-old hand-drawn map. Several teams, including ours, chose to bypass that map and run directly via Bolton trails and streets to TA1 where our bikes awaited. Biker and I don't know Bolton Camp and didn't want to risk wasting time in there. The rain felt very refreshing by the time we'd climbed out of the valley. At TA1, we pulled off a few costume pieces and jumped on bikes. With Biker pushing me on the uphills and my broken suspension bobbing away, we pedalled madly to the south side of Albion Hills, arriving just ahead of Phatty and Mrs. Biker.
Biker and I had planned to leave Albion Hills at the 2-hour mark, which gave us time to pick up 5 optional CPs. This turned out to be a mistake since the top teams invested their energy in the final section of the race in the Humber Valley. I'd decided to focus more effort on Albion Hills since we're both very familiar with it and there are lots of trails, but with 20/20 hindsight, it wasn't the best call since CPs were farther apart.
Biker was strong on foot and bike but I didn't have it today - not sure if it was last weekend's race in my legs, lack of sleep or what. It was Biker's first adventure race and he did an awesome job, keeping a positive attitude and pushing his comfort zone.
My only photos during the race were at optional CPs so unfortunately there aren't a lot of scenery or action shots. Rain on the lens ruined some pics.
After an excellent aid station with homemade cookies, whole bananas, M&M's and much more, we biked to the Castlederg Rd. bridge over the Humber River.
I'd foolishly forgotten my gloves in an earlier TA bag and got chilled from the strong headwind. Before paddling for an hour, I dug into my pack to extract Goretex overmittens, which saved my race. I got the idea from Relentless at Untamed; they were awesome. This section of the Humber has more rocks than the section we usually paddle and was shallow in places. There were lots of sweepers and logs to avoid and some class 1 riffles. Biker has done almost no canoe paddling in his life and this wasn't the ideal place for a beginner to learn. He was a trooper though and put up with my calling out instructions for an hour straight - sometimes in a bit of a panic, like when we got pulled up against sweepers. We got through without any portages - although we had to rock ourselves over one log. I'd like to do this section in my Hero before the water gets too low.
At one point, we saw 'Bent and Mrs. Tiny clambering back into their canoe. Confused, we asked them if they had a supplemental map with optional CPs and they said "Yes, we'll show it to you if you like." At that point, we were already pressed to get back on time so we thanked them but I wondered about the map. Turns out I hadn't noticed that our final map included both the paddle and the final trek section - oops. We probably wouldn't have visited the canoe CPs anyway but I did feel kinda stupid.
After dropping off our canoe at Duffy's Lane, I was chilled again and happy to get moving. Biker and I had numb toes from kneeling so it took us a couple of minutes to feel right. We decided not to mess around. We picked up two optional CPs and one mandatory CP in the Humber Valley before dashing to the finish line with 9 minutes to spare.
Leanimal and Scooby were already there and (as we later learned) had picked up 13 optional CPs, earning the top place on the podium. We awaited the other teams, counting down to the 4-hour deadline.
'Bent and Mrs. Tiny were late, while Coach LD and VO2Max reached the finish line at 4 hours even without their SI card, which Goose had already found. So those teams were 2nd and 1st respectively in the hotly contested DNF category. Biker and I were ranked 4th, receiving an extra point for "best retro find brought to the finish" - a bamboo ski pole. We all agree, though, that Tiny and Rocky had the best retro find with their pair of downhill ski boots. Unfortunately, they could not be given credit since they put the ski boots in their gear bag at a TA, thus thumbing their noses at Goose's instruction to "bring back" their find.
Phatty and Mrs. Biker were 3rd, Tiny and Rocky were 2nd, and Leanimal and Scooby took the win. Well done, all!
The post-race showers, meal and awards ceremony were excellent.
And once again, Goose got a Wild BOAR birthday cake.
Many thanks to Goose for all his hard work to give us a fantastic gift for his own birthday. Thanks also to Gosling, the assistant race director, who was out there in the rain in spite of being sick today, and to Coach LD and Pops, who also provided support. It was another great day of playing outdoors with our crazy crew. Happy Birthday (next weekend, actually), Goose! :)
This amazing event was Goose's brainchild for his 29th birthday last year. His gift to us was a well-organized, navigationally challenging, strategically complex, physically demanding adventure race in our own back yard. Well OK, I'll admit that last week's Giant's Rib Raid set a totally new standard when it comes to racing in my own back yard, but you know what I mean.
In a press release that came out shortly before the event, this year's course design was described as "elegant in its simplicity". There were 6 mandatory CPs ranging from Bolton to Albion Hills with 23 optional CPs spread across the countryside. To finish ranked, a team had to visit the mandatory CPs (all with SI controls) and return to the finish within 4 hours. There was a ribbon at each optional CP and one teammate had to take a photo of the other at the ribbon. Each optional CP was worth one bonus point. No teams finished ranked last year so the winner of today's race would be named the first-ever Wild BOAR champion.
We were assigned partners well ahead of the event. The team with the best costume would be granted one extra point, so advance planning was required. In honour of MEC's 40th anniversary and their final catalogue (sniffle!), this year's costume theme was "Retro Outdoors". Teams needed to wear their costume for the first trekking leg, then they could ditch it in a TA bag if they wanted.
I don't know all the team names, unfortunately. Phatty and Mrs. Biker represented Supersonic Airlines in honour of the Concorde which started flying in the sixties and thus counts as "retro". And of course, planes are known to fly "outdoors".
Coach LD and VO2Max were resplendent in their retro outfits. VO2Max's mother's vintage ski pants really pulled the team's look together.
Tiny and Rocky were a force to be contended with.
Scooby and Leanimal - too cool for school.
Team Biker Bash. Yes, that *is* a bug headnet and my retro T-shirt was from Gretzky's retirement day. (Once a Brantford girl, always a Brantford girl.)
It was a little different from last year's costume! And so was the weather.
And the Best Costume Winners in their red K-Way ensembles, Mrs. Tiny and 'Bent!
The maps and instructions were detailed and excellent as always, and Goose gave a race briefing shortly before we headed out into the rain.
We loaded bikes, canoes and gear bags. The logistics for this race are incredible, especially when you consider that Goose is driving around and managing just about everything. We saw him at every TA.
The race began on foot with the option to go into Bolton Camp to pick up several CPs using a 28-year-old hand-drawn map. Several teams, including ours, chose to bypass that map and run directly via Bolton trails and streets to TA1 where our bikes awaited. Biker and I don't know Bolton Camp and didn't want to risk wasting time in there. The rain felt very refreshing by the time we'd climbed out of the valley. At TA1, we pulled off a few costume pieces and jumped on bikes. With Biker pushing me on the uphills and my broken suspension bobbing away, we pedalled madly to the south side of Albion Hills, arriving just ahead of Phatty and Mrs. Biker.
Biker and I had planned to leave Albion Hills at the 2-hour mark, which gave us time to pick up 5 optional CPs. This turned out to be a mistake since the top teams invested their energy in the final section of the race in the Humber Valley. I'd decided to focus more effort on Albion Hills since we're both very familiar with it and there are lots of trails, but with 20/20 hindsight, it wasn't the best call since CPs were farther apart.
Biker was strong on foot and bike but I didn't have it today - not sure if it was last weekend's race in my legs, lack of sleep or what. It was Biker's first adventure race and he did an awesome job, keeping a positive attitude and pushing his comfort zone.
My only photos during the race were at optional CPs so unfortunately there aren't a lot of scenery or action shots. Rain on the lens ruined some pics.
After an excellent aid station with homemade cookies, whole bananas, M&M's and much more, we biked to the Castlederg Rd. bridge over the Humber River.
I'd foolishly forgotten my gloves in an earlier TA bag and got chilled from the strong headwind. Before paddling for an hour, I dug into my pack to extract Goretex overmittens, which saved my race. I got the idea from Relentless at Untamed; they were awesome. This section of the Humber has more rocks than the section we usually paddle and was shallow in places. There were lots of sweepers and logs to avoid and some class 1 riffles. Biker has done almost no canoe paddling in his life and this wasn't the ideal place for a beginner to learn. He was a trooper though and put up with my calling out instructions for an hour straight - sometimes in a bit of a panic, like when we got pulled up against sweepers. We got through without any portages - although we had to rock ourselves over one log. I'd like to do this section in my Hero before the water gets too low.
At one point, we saw 'Bent and Mrs. Tiny clambering back into their canoe. Confused, we asked them if they had a supplemental map with optional CPs and they said "Yes, we'll show it to you if you like." At that point, we were already pressed to get back on time so we thanked them but I wondered about the map. Turns out I hadn't noticed that our final map included both the paddle and the final trek section - oops. We probably wouldn't have visited the canoe CPs anyway but I did feel kinda stupid.
After dropping off our canoe at Duffy's Lane, I was chilled again and happy to get moving. Biker and I had numb toes from kneeling so it took us a couple of minutes to feel right. We decided not to mess around. We picked up two optional CPs and one mandatory CP in the Humber Valley before dashing to the finish line with 9 minutes to spare.
Leanimal and Scooby were already there and (as we later learned) had picked up 13 optional CPs, earning the top place on the podium. We awaited the other teams, counting down to the 4-hour deadline.
'Bent and Mrs. Tiny were late, while Coach LD and VO2Max reached the finish line at 4 hours even without their SI card, which Goose had already found. So those teams were 2nd and 1st respectively in the hotly contested DNF category. Biker and I were ranked 4th, receiving an extra point for "best retro find brought to the finish" - a bamboo ski pole. We all agree, though, that Tiny and Rocky had the best retro find with their pair of downhill ski boots. Unfortunately, they could not be given credit since they put the ski boots in their gear bag at a TA, thus thumbing their noses at Goose's instruction to "bring back" their find.
Phatty and Mrs. Biker were 3rd, Tiny and Rocky were 2nd, and Leanimal and Scooby took the win. Well done, all!
The post-race showers, meal and awards ceremony were excellent.
And once again, Goose got a Wild BOAR birthday cake.
Many thanks to Goose for all his hard work to give us a fantastic gift for his own birthday. Thanks also to Gosling, the assistant race director, who was out there in the rain in spite of being sick today, and to Coach LD and Pops, who also provided support. It was another great day of playing outdoors with our crazy crew. Happy Birthday (next weekend, actually), Goose! :)
Friday Apr 15, 2011 #
Power Yoga 35:00 [1]
Tapering for tomorrow's 2nd Annual Wild B.O.A.R. It's hard to imagine a worse weather forecast for this highly-anticipated, well-organized and super-fun event but that just means there is nowhere to go but up!
Thursday Apr 14, 2011 #
Note
Vote mobs? Cool! Thank you, Rick Mercer. If you're between 18 and 25, please do what young people around the world are dying to do - vote.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottaw...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottaw...
11 AM
Mountain Biking (Rail Trail) 2:00:55 [3] 44.32 km (22.0 kph)
Finally back at it in a busy week. Dropped my car off in Palgrave to get the snow tires taken off. (And hopefully, different tires will be put on!) I'd tossed my bike in the back so I could run some errands. Went to Caledon Hills Cycling in Inglewood, then returned via the LCBO and grocery store in Caledon East where I picked up goodies and drinks for Saturday's Wild B.O.A.R. post-race meal. My pack was at its heaviest by the time I got close to home and had to ride up some hills on gravel roads. Fantastic day!
Tuesday Apr 12, 2011 #
Note
(rest day)
The Bad News: No training on a crisp, clear spring day.
The Good News: Taxes are done.
Best Line from the Leadership Debate. (OK, the Globe thought it was the low point but the Star loved it and so did I.)
“I don’t know why we need more prisons when the crooks are so happy in the Senate.” — NDP Leader Jack Layton
CBC's Reality Check Team fact-checked the debate. Interesting.
The Good News: Taxes are done.
Best Line from the Leadership Debate. (OK, the Globe thought it was the low point but the Star loved it and so did I.)
“I don’t know why we need more prisons when the crooks are so happy in the Senate.” — NDP Leader Jack Layton
CBC's Reality Check Team fact-checked the debate. Interesting.
Monday Apr 11, 2011 #
Orienteering 45:00 [2]
shoes: Salomon XA Pro Ult - 2 Tomato
Picked up Dog Bones Matrix controls in Palgrave West. The wind was dangerously gusty today and I didn't know if I'd be able to get into the forest at all. When I did go out late in the day, there were half a dozen new trees down between our place and the conservation area! The wind was still a little strong for my comfort so I tried not to hang around old deciduous trees for any longer than I had to.
My fears were warranted; here's what control D looked like.
You might remember control D in happier times when Getawaystix dashed up to it being filmed by High Speed Mick. Frankenjack is also on camera until the trail junction.
http://gallery.me.com/mikewaddmobileme#100006
My fears were warranted; here's what control D looked like.
You might remember control D in happier times when Getawaystix dashed up to it being filmed by High Speed Mick. Frankenjack is also on camera until the trail junction.
http://gallery.me.com/mikewaddmobileme#100006
10 AM
Note
Not a light read but if you're interested in the science of forefoot vs. heel strike and shod vs. barefoot running, a doc from The Urban Athlete has been reviewing the literature. Bottom line: some things have been proven but less than what many people believe. One thing mentioned here that I've seen mentioned before is the lack of research linking reduced/changed biomechanical forces to reduced injury.
Another interesting point I haven't seen before: the studies have focused almost exclusively on the fastest runners. There is virtually no information on people like me who run slower than 5-minute kilometers, i.e. the vast majority of the running population. Kinda interesting since the people with slower turnover spend more time with their feet on the ground. As Lisa Bentley said in a seminar we attended, "I've never had a running injury while my feet were off the ground so I try to limit the time they spend on the ground."
Another interesting point I haven't seen before: the studies have focused almost exclusively on the fastest runners. There is virtually no information on people like me who run slower than 5-minute kilometers, i.e. the vast majority of the running population. Kinda interesting since the people with slower turnover spend more time with their feet on the ground. As Lisa Bentley said in a seminar we attended, "I've never had a running injury while my feet were off the ground so I try to limit the time they spend on the ground."