Training Log Archive: 'Bent

More running wagonloads, splitting and stacking wood.
The pile in the driveway seems to still be the same size.

C • New sport 4

Good solid run to work via Salty Steven and more of Palgrave East.
Pushed hard on the uphills.
Bulletdog's flying in the cool rainy weather.

Dark and drizzly run home.

Off with Bash to visit the rock we got married on, and just enjoy a paddle in the flat calm and great fall colours. Also dashed out when we spotted the Goose group just before lunch, and met up with them.

See Bash's log for pics.

Mizzy Lake Trail with Bash.
Great colours, wonderful run until Bash re-sprained her ankle near the far South parking lot. I suggested we hobble her back to there and I go for the car, but no tiara (or tensor) for Bash- some drugs and we jogged back.

Off hunting the elusive Goose, Gosling and friends on Burnt Island lake.

The light canoes were taken by a group of newbies who paddled them 1km up a creek and left them at the portage, (One of them treating them so badly it made us cringe) so we clunked along in a grumman. Just a delight to portage with no yoke and a recovering neck injury.
Still, great paddle, excellent colours, but no Geese.

After 22 days, I think I'll take off the Injured flag. My neck's still not 100%, but it's definitely better.

Our annual trip to Arowhon in Algonquin Park- See Bash's log for photos and more details.

We rode the Minnising trail, which we did on our wedding day and almost every year after. It's more eroded, with fields of pumpkin-sized rocks in the washouts, and some deep ruts. If ever there's a 'bent testing trail... but the bike was probably better than Bash's MTB on the big hits.

Still perfect conditions, clear sky, no wind and the colours are close to peak.

Cycling to work and then down to Albion for MTBO after

CN Bike-O practice.
Fun course- I set out to do things backwards from the usual direction, and some of the CPs seemed unfamiliar, so I really was navigating. Took my time and spiked everything but CP2, where Bash went by me.
I cleaned the course with 9 minutes to spare. Bash finished *just* behind me, but she'd started a couple of minutes later. ScoobyJr cleaned the course in an hour!
Good course put on by our fearless leader Rocky, and a bonfire afterwards too!

Solid link workout. I had to skip a couple of things for my neck, but threw in more push-ups on the balance board.

Huuuuuuumid day- I was drenched.

Loaded and ran a few loads of lumber to the shed from the massive pile in the driveway.

Very humid run to work, and watched the moon set on the night run back.

Run to work + I ran one load of firewood down to the shed from the huge pile in our driveway.

Run home in the rain, and another load of wood.

A different run in the Don Valley with Bulletdog. Again, many trails have been closed and overgrown even since last year, but we found some new ones too.
Fun exploration, even some bushwhacking. Bulletdog was a real trooper, hopping over a waist-high fence like an antelope then waiting for me to cross.

OK cyclists, the Human Powered Speed Records are falling fast!
Sam Whittingham just broke his own record, and Barbara Buatois is now the fastest European of all time and the 4th fastest human on the planet!

Here's part of the article:

HISTORIC NIGHT! New World Records!!!
Some historical perspective of the significance of tonight!...

THURSDAY Sept 18, 2009 EVENING SPEED TRIALS RESULTS
BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Nevada
Speeds emailed to me by Craig Johnsen, Chief Timer

SAM WHITTINGHAM, 82.819 MPH, 133.284 KPH, Varna Tempest
WORLD RECORD - 10th time setting a record at Battle Mountain, on the event's tenth anniversary! The fastest cyclist in the world! It's Sam's 7th time being timed over 80 mph on the course. Only one other challenge remains! ... Sam, the first man over 70, 75, 80 mph has his sights on 85 mph. Short of that, can he be the first over 135 KPH or 83.9 mph? Sam is and continues to be phenomenal! He is The Man at Battle Mountain! Before Battle Mountain, the record for human powered speed stood at 68.723 mph, 110.593 kph by Chris Huber a professional cyclist in the Cheetah. This was set in 1992 in Colorado. Sam raised this mark by the following amounts with (year): 72.41, 72.74 mph (2000), 76.61, 77.03, 77.59, 80.55 mph (2001), 81.00 mph (2002), 82.33 mph (2008), and now 82.43 mph, 82.819 mph (2009). So he's personally increased the record by over 14 mph / 22.68 kph in ten years.

BARBARA BUATOIS, 75.458 MPH, 121.437 KPH, Varna Diablo III
WORLD RECORD - FEMALE, EUROPEAN RECORD, First Lady over 75 mph, 120 kph, becomes 4th fastest cyclist in the World, matches feat of being 4th fastest in the One-Hour.

GREG WESTLAKE, 43.495 MPH, 69.998 KPH, Avos Arrow
WORLD RECORD, Arm Powered, 4th time in event, Historical note: exceeds the first legendary leg-powered HPV record of 43.02 mph by Ron Skarin in 1974. Ron was pedaling Dr. Chet Kyle's upright streamliner. He was an Olympic cyclist, later in the Hall of Fame. That speed started off the modern-day human powered speed championships. Now Greg, using only arm-power has exceeded that!

Run with Bulletdog around the old haunts. Some fields are now young forest, some trails are wide paths, others grown over.

I threw in some dips and chins on a playground, but my neck protested. By the time it's better I should be down to 1 chin-up.

Some hill intervals on the road I use here, and a couple of times up beside the ski hill. Bulletdog doesn't get it, but trots along anyway.

Fairly feeble workout 1. I tried some core but my neck's not ready.

New female record on a bike- France's Barbara Buatois went 116.72kph. or 72.5 mph! That's faster than the male HPV record from 1993-2000.

Speed intervals on the way to work.
Guessing on the time since I still can't wear a watch.

Wow, the fastest human on the planet is now faster!
New absolute speed record for human power:
Canadian Sam Whittingham just went 82.43mph, 132.66kph!
200M sprint- flat road, calm wind. His 9th record!
http://www.velomobilwerk.de/images/Stundenweltreko...

I wonder what would happen if you put Mark Cavendish in this thing?

Curse continues: On my way back from Thumbs-of-death (My neck's still a mess but better than before) I had a great ride in Albion. I parked the Bullfrog at the North end, rode the NE and South trails.
On the Haute Route I noticed my back tire was nearly flat. I had a CO2 inflator, which pumped it up well, but then the valve stem broke, and I was out of CO2. I hoofed it back to the Chalet where I hid the 'bent in the bush, and ran back to the van. Luckily I had my hike-a-bike shoes on.

Run back to the van in my Pearl Izumi X-alp bike shoes.

Arrgghh. Made it about 1/2km to work on the big bike (ahh, easier on my sore neck) when my handlebars caught on a fence post and snapped. (Probably cracked it at LRS or at Albion) Ran home and drove to work. @#$!

Did my dog pee on a witch doctor's lawn or something?

Just couldn't seem to get it together today- neck's sore on the Omega, horrible bubbly rash on my wrists from LRS got scratched when I seemed to hit every branch on the way, some technical bike issues with the crank and Bulletdog was wayward. It still beats driving I guess, but I'll stick to running or riding the other bike for a while.

C • Thanks 15

Fetch my tiara- my wrists are on fire under my surgical gloves. And I'm cooking in long sleeves to hid the hideous sight and keep it clean.

C • Poor You 2

Decided to leave the bike at work- Easy run home

Terry Fox run.
Last time I did this was a few years ago, with Bulletdog.

For some reason I feel like I'm running faster this year, but I was only 1 min faster than the first time we did it in 04. Oh well, the second 10K runner was 8 minutes behind me.

Sigh- I seem to only have one speed, whether 10K or marathon. At least I'm consistent- the first 5K were 21:33. The second half is a gradual climb of 40M, but I was only 7 seconds slower.
According to the v.dot from this 10K I'd run a marathon 9 minutes slower than my actual PB, so I'm no 10K runner.

I timed the 1k splits but I think their markers are wrong.

Good warmup- easy jog, then some speed intervals and a good slow-down before the start. (The starter just muttered "go" about 3 min early.)

HVHT with Bash. I think we saw Giant Hogweed right at Duffy's Lane South of Albion.

C • OK, so it's not Hogweed 2

Easy workout #1- cautious due to my neck. No core either- too sore to hold my head for that.

Down to Albion to eat up the singletrack with Goose and Leanimal. Perfect conditions for a zippy ride.

Had to avoid some wildlife- Dozy Deer, Suicidal Squirrel, Whack-a-mole Wild Turkey, and we also blew by the silliest of all- Bareheaded Boy too cool for a helmet.

Ride on the omega with Bulletdog

Neck's improving, but still too sore to work out.

It was however a fantastic day for a trip down to Albion and an easy tour of the South and Northwest trails, then back to work.
Trails are in A++ condition, and I had a great ride even with my full work pack on my rack. Stuck like glue to the trails even around the tight twists.

Pitch dark for my ride home tonight.

I see that Canadian Sam Whittingham re-gained the world hour record on a bike while we were away- the dude did over 90 km in one hour on his bullet-mobile!

Long video, but watch around the 4:30 -5:00 mark to see just what speed he's holding. Also see how wasted he is after, at the 6:20 or so when they untape him.

Easy jog to work.

Ugh, neck's sore this morning. Sleeping's the worst- wish I could sleep standing up.

Nice easy paddle with Bash, T-dog, LD, Gosling, Tavish, Sue & Pops. I can only canoe-paddle on one side without drugs, but it's still fun.

I was just going to walk our friend's dog on leash, but when Toby the 120lb Mastiff starts running, you run. Now I know how Bash feels on the tow rope.

Event: GUATS Logs Rocks and Steel Multisport Adventure
 

Logs, Rocks and Steel-
I was thinking of pulling out of the race Wednesday, but lots of Leanimalizing and thumbs of death, TENS, acupuncture, Robaxacet, Arnica and a long hot shower at 5:15am got my neck manageable.

When Bash and I saw the solo contenders this year we realized we'd get clobbered, especially with how little biking we've done. Bash suggested we go co-ed, as we'd get to race together and portage a nice canoe instead of bashing our kayaks. Sounded like a good plan until Bill Trayling showed up with a very fit looking Kari, and an Olympic C2 racing canoe about 22' long and 18" wide. Like bringing a gun to a pillow fight.

Oh well, looked like some strong teams to battle for second too.

We had a pretty good run. We were able to tow almost the whole way, although it probably slowed us down more on the tricky footing and descents, and we came out about 8-10 min behind B & K.

On the paddle we started to catch teams. We saw another co-ed team that beat us on the run, and they were paddling well too, so we had to put the hammer down and run the portages, even with my aching neck. Low point- I ran the boat into a tree on the portage, twisting my neck so hard I went down like a ton of bricks onto the rocks. At least I didn't feel my whacked shin as my neck hurt so much. Highlight - a huge heron took off right next to Bash, accompanied by a hideous loud squawk- from Bash, and then another from the bird. We passed more male teams, and some solos including Crash and Ursula (who were paddling slow heavy tubs but re-caught us on the bike), and finally saw B & K's C2 just in front of us. We came in 3 minutes behind B & K, thanks to Bash's tight nav and some hard running on the portages.

On the bikes I had an easier time on the trails than Bash, but we were moving along OK & didn't dare tow. We caught B & K in a rough logged section, and Bill was walking both bikes while Kari was holding her arm. They'd had a big crash on tow- we gave them some meds but couldn't do more. The rest of the bike went fine, but by the time we hit road suitable for towing I was pedaling squares on the hills while Bash seemed to be getting stronger.

We kept expecting to get run down by other teams, but ended up winning the co-ed. B&K did finish, and got second. Leanimal won a tough battle with Crash and Ursula. Frankenjack won the male open ahead of BillyW and Relentless who were very close together in a superstar field.
Harper & John won male team, of course, 6th overall.

Great race, perfect weather, and tough competition.

C • Wow! 11

Neck's still bad. Time to fly the injured flag.
It's going to kill me to drive to work on such a nice day, but I need Thumbs of Death/ Leanimalizing if I can get away at lunch.

C • Get a good sleep in a tent 5

Ugh- my neck's been sore since some tough dentistry Monday, so I skipped my training today to see if some resting helps before LR&S.

Quick run to work.

Easier run home with bulletdog- she needs a rest day.