Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Easy workout + knee/foothab. KBs almost impossible with Bazingadog trying to grab them. The dogs put on a good wrestling show for me.

Easy spin down to the Albion Hills Farm to pick up our local organic produce.
Corn and zucchini fit really well in the outer pockets of a big Salomon race pack!

Easy knee-friendly spin to work. Bulletdog was so-o-o glad to get away from her annoyance-of-a-brother Bazinga-dog. He just wants to play with her, but she growls at him and walks away.

C • BazingaDog 8

Easy Peasy, not hard on the kneesy.

Have to *drive* to work today according to my knee, and coach Spaff.

WT with Bender, T-rex and ShedmanDave as team Shed Coffee Bar.
First time racing with this team, and first long race since my knee surgery and slow recovery. Superstar roster of teams!

Super-well organized of course, (except for the Great Coffee Debacle).

Trek start with a 5km trail run- we decided to take it "easy" there and let Dave and T-rex set the pace. Hah- up with the front in no time.
We had a few minor nav bobbles, but moved well, and varied from being ahead of the overall winners (Benoit's Pentathlon de Neige, AKA Snowpants) between CP 2 and 3, to dropping down to 10th after just running into slow thick bush past CP3 . Bender's so nav-confident and relocated us well, doing some towing on trails too.

T/A to bike as the rain started, sloshing through the mud holes. Shedman's so strong and super-skilled on the bike, and No-brakes-T-rex is a fearless descender and got stronger and stronger as the ride went on. The middle section was fast dirt road. My knee started to yell at me, but I chuckled down advil and tums and we passed 5 teams and had a great ride, bouncing past teams on the big bumps and finishing in 5th place in daylight. Bender's nav was rock solid, as was his riding.

On the water, the 2 lads were strong but our boat just didn't keep up as well. Salomon and Kinetic surfed by us in the rain and dark. Friggin sleep monsters tried to hit me even with T-rex's help staying conscious, but luckily Bender had an emergency Redbull and saved me. We kept plugging along, and my knee let me portage at a decent pace. We met up with Running Free, and paddled with them throughout the night until they dropped us after CP10. The rain let up and it was dead calm, a great night for paddling.

Final T/A to a nice rocky and hilly 10km trail run (former LRS run course). My knee had seized up pretty well, but more advil and trekking poles got me moving at AR shuffle pace. We knew Outeractive was right behind us, but held them off for 6th co-ed and 8th overall, about 2:20 behind Snowpants. Very tight times between the top 10, in an epic field.

Fun times with a good bunch. Maybe we could balance boat speeds better with tow systems or rotating teammates, but we all raced well together.

C • Congrats! 11

C • Mind if I link your race report to the WT site? 2

Event: GUATS Wilderness Traverse
 

Super easy, partial road route.

C • Way ahead of the trends 2

C • Temporary 1

Super-easy run-hike taper commute.

C • Bright Lights, Big Mouths 7

Easy spin to work, and back with a heavy load on the 'bent. Knee's only slightly sore.

Taper for WT well under way. Rest that knee! It's been a bit touchy since Friday's speed intervals. Hopefully no 3:30 kms at WT.

C • You will be pulling off a 3:30km when.... 1

Easy cruise intervals to work.
I can feel my meniscus a touch from Friday's intervals still.

See Bash's log for more pics of the newest training partner in our family.

Shortest route home- easy run with Bulletdog before dinner at chez Goose/ LD

A little pre-riding of the technical first part of BPMR course.

I had to make an emergency run in my van at 5:15AM to catch up to the bus with a racer's helmet and shoes, so I got to my station *early*.

I had my full bike tool kit along in the Bullfrog van- good thing- I had to convert 1 bike to singlespeed and Frankenstein a derailleur hanger on another bike then drop it off at the next T/A.

Also had to donate one of my own pedals to another racer- next time I'll bring a spare pair of those too.

My kind of troubleshooting.

Assorted missions on the BPMR course, flagging etc.

Asst'd pushups etc between racers arriving at my second MP- I was there for 5 hours.

Well run and well received race! Nice job, FJ!

20 min warmup, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy, then 4 intervals of 3 min hard, 2 easy, then cooldown.

All the speed intervals were in the 3:30-4:00 range, within seconds of each other.

Nice cool commute with the hound.

Ride home via Salty Stephen, to try the new bike mods on the trickiest singletrack in Palgrave. Even with the commuting pack, I had what I think was technically my best ride ever here. Passed some cyclists trying and re-trying to get around the tightest turn at the end, who figured if I could do it they could do it.

New tires and a bigger shock, or just good trail conditions?

Short workout with home gym and KBs, plus foot/kneehab.

Easy run in.

Very easy run home on shortest route- walked the uphills. Supposed to be a hike but it was late.

Finally dark enough that I could use the latest Bentblaster light. Level 2 of 5 is lots for running.

Fairly easy run to work and back. Spaff's got me tapering already to preserve my knee.

I have to say it's 95%+ right now!

Easy ride to work with Bulletdog then back via hilly route. Knee and ankle good after weekend.

La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0 for sale:

I got a pair on Coach Spaff's recommendation and really like them- in a 9.5.

Light, low, tons of grip, roomy toe box for wider feet. Hard to find in Canada.

I also ended up with another pair that's too big for me- 43.5 = US 10.5M- my mistake.

Anybody want them before I put them up on eBay? Still in the box for $100.

C • La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0 for sale US M10.5 6

Finally met up with WT teammate Dave Corner and Pug-Russel Clyde for an early run on the Bruce on the south slope of Hockley. Good hilly run at an easy pace. Ankle and knee fine at this pace- felt pretty effortless.

Out with Bash and MsTiny on their Roadie bikes. I rode my Omega 'bent with slicks. It's easier to draft than the big bike- I sure didn't have the Beaux Jambes of Thursday.

Nice lunch in Fergus, great day for a ride with good company.

I noticed the HRM read over 200 while I had the transmitter down around my waist after lunch for a few minutes. 228 is *not* my max.

Out with Bash and Bulletdog. B-dog and I took a 5-swim route while Bash left us to do a longer but drier run. 20 minutes of pretty solid low 4s tempo near the end before cooldown.

Out with Bash from Caledon East to the Shed then back, and I continued home from there.
Legs felt great after a week of canoeing, like I had an extra gear.
As always, a great mix of rail trail, escarpment rocky trail and hilly dirt roads, with a Soy Mocha in the middle.

I think 28 minutes back from Airport Road at Caledon East to home is a record for me.

Nasty rain storm moved in, so we packed up and decided to bypass Burnt Island lake and head all the way out. Cleared up by the time we finished.
We got to visit the rock on Joe Lake where we got married on the way by, with the same canoe!

9 Portages with canoe and a heavy, sodden pack.

Nice day trip on Big Trout, then portage to Longer and Burntroot for lunch and a swim.
Beautiful sunny day with less wind, but high cirrus clouds and persistent airplane contrails indicate a change coming. Altocumulus (Mackerel Sky) pretty much confirmed it- wind and rain on the way.

Intervals on a portage trail.

Bulletdog is such a trooper- perfect canoe dog, never jumps around or goes overboard, stays around us at the campsite, doesn't chase animals or steal food, loves the tent...

Hoped to get to Burntroot and do intervals on the portage, but it was blowing hard with whitecaps all around and we didn't want to be stuck away from our camp, so we toured around Big Trout in the more sheltered areas.