Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I had such a great time at Kolapore on Friday that we made a return trip to do another big loop that only overlapped our last loop for a few short stretches totalling about 1 km. It felt completely different too - cloudy with heavy snow flurries for the second half.

It's been awhile since I've skied long, steep hills on narrow forest trails so in a few places, I was far more cautious than my younger self - the self with the pristine ankles, knees and hips who had never known anyone with a concussion. For extra fun, some of the steep downhills end at creeks with bridges, all of which are narrow to keep snowmobiles off the ski trails.

We did a counterclockwise loop from the cabin, doing Northwest Passage, the Dhaulagiri Climb, Kingsway, Wild Mouse and Paradise Highway back to the van. If the hills were a bit higher, it would have felt like B.C. So nice. :)

'Bent and I met the Tarnos for a snowshoe run at Pretty River Provincial Park to start our day. The boys headed uphill with our dogs. Koko stayed with Dr. J and me for awhile but kept turning to give us indignant looks because we didn't run the uphills. The first part of Pretty River is all uphill so Koko gratefully abandoned us when we met the boys near the Bruce Trail high point. We might not have run the flats and downhills either, except that we had a tight deadline to meet 'Bent and Tarno back at the cars. Snow started falling in the last 15 minutes - beautiful. I'm not tired of winter at all.

Happy 8th birthday, BazingaDog! Hard to believe that our perennial puppy will now be considered a senior by the vet. He does enjoy a king bed with a duvet though.

This may have been the best day of the winter so far! 'Bent and I went to the Kolapore Wilderness Trails near the Beaver Valley. Snow conditions were excellent, the temperature was just below zero, and it was sunny all day. We couldn't stop smiling.





'Bent has a history with the Kolapore trails. He belonged to the University of Toronto Outing Club, which played a major role in building and maintaining the 50 km trail network. Many club members stayed involved long after graduation. For a few years around the time we met, 'Bent was the Cabin Officer for the UTOC cabin near Metcalfe Rock where club members would stay for weekends. 'Bent and his friends spent a lot of time working on the trails in the off-season. After we started dating, I spent a couple of weekends doing trail maintenance too. We still have an annual Christmas potluck with his UTOC friends from 30+ years ago.





If you go, a map is essential. (Ravenna Country Market has them.) Most of the signage directs you to the next numbered trail junction without any words of explanation. This sign is more helpful than most.



Somehow it has been years since we last skied at Kolapore. It's just far enough from home that we couldn't leave the dogs that long. (Tree Hugger ABC has solved that problem.) The trails are narrow, rocky and ungroomed so the snow conditions need to be just right. We can't always predict the good snow days when we're in Palgrave. Anyway, this was so wonderful that I'm sure it won't be long until our next visit.





Except for our "lunch" stop and a side visit to a friend's house, I just let my GPS watch run as we skied, took photos, rewaxed, de-iced, changed layers, etc. Aside from meeting a large group of snowshoers who walked past the "No Snowshoes" sign to trample the ski trail because "the Bruce Trail is too difficult for beginners", this was a perfect day!

AdventureDog and I went out for a ski around Palgrave West on a bluebird day after yesterday's snowstorm. Conditions were slow in 20 cm of new powder, and the glide portion of my skis iced up in some of the sunny areas. (I must need new glide wax.) It's only been a few days since we had pouring rain and slush, and the new snow is sitting on top of that layer.



I'd been afraid that my hip issue might be a problem with classic skiing but it felt fine. The remaining mild pain is fading fast. I'm still curious to find out what it was but things seem OK.

There may be more than a thousand infested ash trees in Palgrave West. They're everywhere. :(



In spite of the snail's pace and the occasional need to remove my skis for de-icing, it was a fantastic day in the woods!

Finally - a wintry day with 15-20 cm of fluffy snow floating down with virtually no wind. A perfect storm! I had to get out in the forest but I wasn't sure if my hip was ready for skiing. There was so much snow that skiing would have been super slow anyway. So beautiful!



I climbed hills at every opportunity and did some steep, scrambling ascents and descents. I grabbed an 8 cm tree trunk to stop myself from sliding too fast downhill and knocked the tree over. Oops - good thing I wasn't going up since I would have pulled it onto me.

I bushwhacked into areas where we rarely go. A couple of times, I was just wandering until I saw something I recognized. I could take a compass on these snowshoe outings in Palgrave West but that would feel less magical.



The infested ash trees have become buffets for pileated woodpeckers, who are leaving piles of shredded bark at the bottom of each tree. Most of the ash trees survived the big wind storm on the weekend so I guess they haven't died yet.



I'm optimistic about the weird injury that happened while strength training two days ago. Unlike yesterday, there was virtually no pain in my rear quad when I took long strides or went down steep slopes. I wouldn't try a reverse lunge yet but I went partway into a lunge, and it just felt like severe DOMS, not like a torn muscle (which is what it felt like after it happened).

There is some pain at the back right upper edge of my pelvis. This fits my latest guess that I had an internal snapping hip, which can happen when the iliopsoas tendon passes over bony structures. In many people, it's a regular thing and relatively benign. I can't see Dr. Thumbs-of-Death until Monday but whatever happened, the impact was mild and is definitely fading. Fingers crossed.

Since the snowshoeing felt good, I added a short treadmill run. It felt OK. It was just a treadmill run - yawn.

'Bent and I went to the theatre in the big city last night. Most of the Schitt's Creek cast members were there for a fun evening.

The "Rosebud Motel" is near us, just outside Hockley village. The rest of the "town of Schitt's Creek" is in Goodwood, northeast of Toronto. Last night's audience ranged from millennials to Grandmas, including Dan Levy's Nana.

One of the reasons I like this show is that it includes a gay couple who kiss, hug and have occasional dating issues - never "gay dating issues". They are supported by family and community members who are happy that David and Patrick make each other happy. There is no pseudo-heroic "acceptance" of their relationship. Based on the reactions of last night's 3,100 audience members, this may be the most popular aspect of the show. Apparently, they are constantly hearing that they've made a difference in someone's family life. Awesome. :)

Snowshoeing around Palgrave West with AdventureDog, mostly bushwhacking with lots of hills. Beautiful, sunny, snowy day!

I didn't feel pain unless I got into a position like a reverse lunge with the right leg, e.g. when I came down a steep hill with a longer stride. I could also feel a twinge if I took an over-long stride on flat ground - also like a lunge. There may have been an occasional right lower back twinge at the top of the pelvis, suggesting that another muscle/ligament may have been involved yesterday but that sometimes happens from too much sitting with a laptop so it may not be related. Any pain was extremely mild - just a reminder that something weird happened to that leg. I was underdressed and had to jog a couple of minutes to warm up - no issue with that.

Had to stop reverse lunges when it felt like I'd been hit in the right hip flexor (not sure of the anatomy yet) with a lacrosse ball. I looked all around to see what object had hit me, then realized to my horror that the feeling must have come from my own body. Thinking about it more, it felt/sounded like a big elastic had snapped. I'll need to google this because it can't be good. So far, I haven't found any movement I can't do other than reverse lunges. It's a bit painful but not too much - yet.