Training Log Archive: Bash

Less than 48 hours till the UTMB draw for both 'Bent and me. After much discussion, we've decided that:

- If both of us succeed in the lottery, we will go - of course.
- If one of us succeeds, the other person will try to obtain a charitable bib.
- If both of us fail, we will try again in 2015 when I would get a guaranteed entry under the current rules, and 'Bent would get 2 tickets. This would mean that I'd need to earn 7 points this year (yikes) and 'Bent would need 2 points. However, we would be able to go to Frankenjack's wedding, which we would love to do.

So we can only win.

BulletDog and I went snowshoeing around Palgrave West in slow, breakable crust conditions - mostly bushwhacking with a few good hill climbs.

The theme of today's photos is forest damage. (I didn't plan it that way but that's all I took.)

A number of trees lost branches in the ice storm but the forest remains healthy overall. Some trees fared worse than others.





Since we've been talking about widowmakers recently, I took some photos of them dangling way overhead. When these big branches come down, they sometimes stick into the ground and remain standing upright. I would not want to be around!





Some folks in our neighbourhood should have paid more attention to Smokey the Bear. That used to be a nice coniferous forest over there on that hill - and that's still what the orienteering map shows.



A couple of widowmakers are hidden in this mess as well as the partially fallen tree - another souvenir of the 70-acre forest fire several years ago. This all hovers over the break in the fence that we use to enter Palgrave West; this is also part of 'Bent's commute route.



Although my photos weren't that cheerful, it really was a very enjoyable snowshoe trek! BulletDog (and BazingaDog in the background) had a nice rest by the fire afterward.

More run/walk on the treadmill while listening to the DNTO "Best Of 2013" podcast. This was 10 minutes of walking and 45 minutes of running in three 15-minute pyramids (3 min @8, 8.5, 9, 8.5, 8). Progress.

Feels like my foot is healthy enough to get back into my regular strength sessions in addition to the foothab physio.

Boy, is it sad to watch rain falling on powder snow in January! Luckily, it's dropping down to freezing this evening so we'll be able to snowshoe tomorrow at least. Based on what our driveway looks like, I think I'll be wearing Yaktrax out to dinner tonight.

Another exploratory ski, this time with 'Bent and GYaneff in the large block of land behind GY's house. Most of it is private land with an agreement among neighbours - including a former Ontario premier - that they can cross each other's land. Some of it is TRCA land, including a stretch of the Bruce Side Trail. It is mostly forested with some large open fields and lots of hills.

We explored a network of private horse trails and also bushwhacked Snowgaine-style here and there. It was hard work and relatively slow with constant trail-breaking until we hit our tracks on the return trip. The main challenge was the changing texture of the snow, ranging from ankle-to-knee-deep powder (most of it) to snow-dusted ice to breakable crust. We sometimes broke through randomly, one or both legs, so it wasn't wise to go too fast on a downhill. (At least not for those of us who already have enough injuries to deal with!) There were a few hill climbs where we slowly herringboned up breakable crust with deep powder beneath - a nice strength workout, I guess, although I'm not a huge fan of that. The rest of it was amazing fun!

I hadn't planned to stay out this long but you can't do this sort of thing very often since you need a lot of snow to get over the debris in the forest and on the trails. The rain comes tomorrow. We won't lose all the snow but the texture will change, and the ski we did today will become dangerous in a few places. Nice to explore new areas close to home!

Run/walk on the treadmill. 7 mins walking in total, 23 mins running.

Hard Core Live with Caron. Hard to concentrate with 'Bent whimpering so much. ;)

Power Yoga - included a long sequence of strength work. I'm going to feel some body parts tomorrow that I didn't know I had. The class was full because January.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/american...

Amazing, spectacular, beautiful, fun ski around Palgrave West. I didn't see anyone in 2 hours other than a deer - and most of the tracks I saw belonged to deer as well.

Here is the trail on Thinker's Hill where BulletDog and I snowshoed last night; you can see our tracks in the deep snow, including the place where BulletDog decided it would be easier to follow me.



It's warmer today so I was able to dislodge some of the fallen branches that had frozen into the trails. There is still lots of clean-up to do. Most of the really precarious broken branches have fallen to the ground, thanks to this week's windy weather. However, I saw a few serious widow makers dangling up there so a little more snow and wind would be helpful. In some shady sections of forest, the trees and shrubs are still thickly coated with ice, and there is also ice beneath the thick layer of snow. It's hard as concrete so my poles just bounced off it if they went down that far.



Today was supposed to be a running day but I used up all my time skiing. It would be a crime to do otherwise because of the weather forecast. :(((

---------Saturday..Periods of rain. High 8.-----------

Depending on where you live, Northern lights are in the forecast for tonight!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/north...
[EDITED: I've linked to a different news story since the original link doesn't seem to work.]

The sun was setting when I got home from a busy day but I was keen to play in the snow. I rarely train alone in the dark so I had to search high and low for the BashBlaster, which was last used for a full night at UTMB and wasn't recharged afterward. Surprisingly, I still had enough juice for Levels 1-4 out of 5 lighting levels. Pretty nice light, 'Bent!

BulletDog came with me and stayed in 'Bent's ski tracks for the first section where I walked beside them. Then I headed out of the forest across a hilly open field. The snow was really deep in places with a tough, breakable crust. BulletDog and I were both working hard; I was wishing that I hadn't worn my small running snowshoes. It was a real scramble to get up one hill, and when I looked back, I saw that BulletDog was stuck partway up. I started back down to help her, broke through the crust and fell face first downhill.

There we both were in a dark, deserted field, buried up to our necks in snow on a steep slope, and nobody was going to notice us missing for at least 3 hours. Hmm. I did the breast stroke (approximately) to get below BulletDog, then pushed her out of the snowy hole she was stuck in; she hauled herself the rest of the way up the hill. I pushed off my hands and knees back to a standing position, and the two of us ka-chunked our way home through the crusty, snowy field and forest beneath the stars. Beautiful.

Still trying to think up useful training goals for 2014. My planned major races - the World Rogaining Championships and (hopefully) UTMB - are both on foot, and my abilities on foot are limited right now so I may be setting myself up for disappointment. I have to make sure the journey is so much fun that the destination doesn't matter too much.

I've been reviewing Attackpoint data looking for training patterns that might provide a clue regarding my foot injury. I compared the 12 month periods of training leading up to the 125 km Canadian Death Race, which went well, and the 168 km UTMB, which went poorly (and only lasted 95 km for me!) The races were 13 months apart.

Turns out I did almost exactly the same number of hours of running in the 6 months prior to each of the two races. However, I did twice as much running in the 3-month period 6-9 months before the Death Race compared to that same period before UTMB. I also entered more races leading up to CDR, which provided focus. I also did 50% more running 9-12 months out from CDR but that may not be relevant. It is only part of the picture to look exclusively at running since that excludes adventure racing, orienteering, rogaining, XC skiing, trekking, etc. But it's the most specific training and the easiest to compare.

My running training hours in the last 6 months before UTMB were mostly squeezed into the last 4.5 months since I did an expedition adventure race 5 months beforehand. I twisted my ankle at 2.5 and 2 months before UTMB, which messed up the progression within that compressed training period. My first generalized heel pain started after those ankle injuries. It never bothered me during a run, not even UTMB, but it really hurt on rest days. I sought professional advice and was told it was nothing to worry about. A month after UTMB, it morphed into very localized heel pain and got worse when I ran instead of feeling better.

If I hadn't turned my ankle in June, I probably wouldn't have this lingering foot injury now. However, the injury highlighted longstanding biomechanical problems that made me more prone to this and other types of injuries. So I can't blame those ankle sprains entirely, although most of my issues likely arose from other ankle sprains over the years, particularly the Big Crank of October 2011.

This is an unscientific sample of data from two major races but it's all I've got to work with. So I guess the lessons are:
- Don't get injured.
- Start training sooner and build gradually and consistently.
- Plan a couple of races as interim milestones while building toward the goal race.

Crazy how much I enjoy even a stupid treadmill run/walk after not being allowed to run for so long. I'd hoped to do this run outside in the -40 wind chill just for the adventure but my time window ended up being too short. It's still gusty enough that I would have run on the road rather than going into the forest so it wasn't a big loss. The good news is that the wind should die down tomorrow so it will be safe to play in all this beautiful snow. :)

3 X
~ 3 min walking @ 6.5 kph (thank you for the metric system, Urthbuoy)
~ 10 min easy running increasing pace - 2@8.0, 2@8.5, 2@9.0, 2@9.5, 2@10.0
Finish with 1 min. walking at 6.5 kph.

First week back to running - technically just run/walking on alternate days but still it's progress. Counting snowshoe running, I've logged 3.5 hours and 23.5 km. So far, so good - it doesn't seem to be aggravating my foot. Not that my foot is fixed yet but it's a lot better than it was. Keeping my fingers - and toes - crossed.

Big news from Michigan today.

A bunch of APers work in climate science. With today's chilly weather, you might enjoy some of this info from Cristina in a discussion thread on Blairtrewin's log.
http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...

The UTMB lottery is now closed. APers in the lottery are:

UTMB - STORM, Carbon's Offset, Ang, 'Bent, Bash
OCC - Browner

Carbon's Offset and I have 2 tickets in the lottery because we were unsuccessful last year. Under the current lottery rules, we are both guaranteed entry in 2015 if we aren't picked this year. However, they've changed the lottery rules before so I wouldn't count on that. Sadly absent from the list: Mr. and Mrs. Gally. :(

STORM and Browner, did you do a group entry?

We've got a blizzard warning and a wind chill warning. Forecast is -41 including wind chill tomorrow. (Celsius or Fahrenheit - take your pick!) Priority #1, which we did yesterday: Prepare for another power outage. Priority #2: Think about which clothing and gear I'd like to test in cold weather. :)

Looks like the lawyers just woke up from their Christmas vacation! It's been dangerous in the woods around here for the past 16 days. Here are some postings from the past 36 hours. It doesn't look good for outdoor sports in our area this winter. :(

From the TRCA:
Due to the severe ice storm, Albion Hills Conservation Area will be closed indefinitely. No access/use of the park is permitted at this time.

No word yet on Palgrave Forest and Wildlife Area - probably because they don't charge admission fees so it's a lower priority.

From the Humber Valley Heritage Trail Association:
Due to the Christmas ice storm, many parts of the Humber Valley Heritage Trail are currently unusable. Risks from icy slopes, deadfalls and debris are extreme, and caution is urged if you do venture onto the trail.

From Credit Valley Conservation:
For public safety, conservation areas managed by Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) remain closed until further notice. Only Island Lake Conservation Area in Orangeville is open. More than 100 kilometres of trails managed by CVC are also closed. This includes portions of the BruceTrail. There are dangerous conditions from damaged trees, broken branches and icy paths after the December 22nd ice storm. For safety, members of the public should stay out of CVC conservation areas, off all trails and keep children and pets away.

From the Town of Caledon:
- Please remain cautious when walking, and when possible avoid woodlots, trails, parks and open spaces until the situation has been mitigated.
- The Town of Caledon advises residents to stay off of its trailways this season, as they have become increasingly hazardous due to the downed trees and fallen branches since the ice storm last month. Residents are reminded that there is no winter maintenance on these trails, and that they will be cleaned up on a priority basis only.

I've never logged this before but I'm taking a stand with the AP-logging snow shovellers of the world. There's a lot of it, and it is heavy!

Another Christmas present DVD: RIDES North Carolina. This one is a little shorter than most of the RIDES but there's a lot of intensity to make up for it. The scenery wasn't as inspiring as some of the others, and the headcam quality wasn't as good but most of it was non-headcam. The coach is also a yoga instructor, so she often reminded us about details like keeping shoulders and faces relaxed.

I did not have the good fortune to unplug my trainer accidentally this time, so:
Ave cadence - 83
Ave speed - 26.7 kph
Ave wattage - 163W
Max wattage - 289W (I tried to hit the magic number but that's all I had today.)