Training Log Archive: Bash

AdventureDog and I ran around Palgrave East in the snow. There were lots of bike tracks but we only met hikers and other dogs. My heel felt tight while running - in fact the tight feeling ran up my right leg into my hip - and now the inside of my right heel feels sore again. I iced it and hope it'll feel better tomorrow, which is what happened last time. I feel like I'm changing my biomechanics with chiro treatments and physio exercises, which is mostly good but I guess it takes time.

Time/distance adjusted for a section where I didn't turn my Ambit back on after a dog stop. (Dogs just don't understand GPS tracking!)

One of my oldest friends since childhood was found dead outside her home today with no obvious cause. My head is spinning.

Sharon and I spent our teen years on the same street but in recent years, she had lived in Thailand, India, South Carolina and Nova Scotia, moving around with her husband's corporate job. Her Mom lives near us and we were able to get together for a meal whenever she came home to visit.

Although we never lived in the same place as adults, several families from that street stayed in touch so she was more like a cousin. For awhile, our lives overlapped in an unexpected way; she finished the Hawaii Ironman and logged on Attackpoint briefly. Sharon was a loving wife and family member, a devoted friend, a committed Christian, an innovative teacher, a talented musician, a fashion queen, a brilliant student, an adventurer, an athlete, and very creative and energetic in a Martha Stewart kind of way.

After a nice brunch in March, I posted this photo on Facebook with the caption, "Friends for 40 years". The last few years, she had insisted on getting a photo whenever we met. It's a cliché but you never know when it will be the last photo, the last meal together, the last hug. We're reminded of that again and again but it still comes as a shock when someone passes away. I'm glad we had a long conversation when we last saw each other; I couldn't ask for a better final memory. I'll miss her.

Foothab

Late afternoon run to Palgrave East and a loop to get back home. I ran into Slowrunner for the first time since she finished the Tahoe 200 in July. My cardio feels decent even though my foot is still recovering.

Yay! Drink 3 cups of coffee a day! Live longer! Stay healthier! And whatever you do, don't read the *next* study when it comes out!
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fi...

Hard Core Live with Caron

Biked around Palgrave single track, inspired by a slew of insulting, uninformed comments on Facebook about Palgrave mountain bikers. A biker (not me) dared to write a letter to the local newspaper about horses leaving piles of poop on the bike trails - where horses actually aren't supposed to be, although the biker didn't mention that.

Mountain bikers were referred to as "Citidiots", which is a common class of insult in Caledon. It means you are from the city - not from the country - and you are complaining inappropriately about country things. I make similar (less rude) comments privately when new neighbours move in and decide that our dirt road should be paved.

Anyway, even though Caledon supports two busy bike shops, all their customers apparently come from outside of town. And if you believe the commenters, it seems that none of the equestrians are city people who board their horses in the country; I guess wealthy Torontonians keep their horses in their back yards.

I know from past community discussions that many people believe that mountain bikers are kamikaze, untrustworthy young men from Toronto, while equestrians are community-loving, tax-paying, respected citizens who contribute to the local economy, care about nature and have a long family history in the area. They would be surprised to know how many local bikers are age 40-70 and can afford 5-figure bikes so they're probably paying lots of property tax too.

I don't usually get into debates on the Internet but I felt sorry for this poor biker who was being pummelled by people who don't know what they're talking about. I mentioned that it's unpleasant to get horse feces flung up onto our water bottles and another commenter (obviously a bike expert) set me straight: "A tip: I would not be having a water bottle EXPOSED in any forest or anywhere in the streets for that fact with all the spitters out there. It is just gross!"

So just so you know, if you have a water bottle carrier on your bike frame, that is just gross. :D

Anyway, it was a great ride. The trails are in excellent condition with only a couple of muddy spots. I still love my bike. But news flash: I can't get away with regular bike shoes and socks at +1C. At least not for longer than 40 minutes. After that, I was riding with Popsicle Toes.

Bike computer time/distance.

Dr. Thumbs-of-Death continued his reign of terror today with some excellent Pain per Dollar.

I paid online for boot camp and was really looking forward to it but 15 minutes before I had to leave, I clicked on a link from a friend and realized too late that it wasn't legit. I did a full virus scan, then restarted my computer with the intent of doing one more virus scan as I headed out the door. But then I got a message that I wasn't protected by my virus scanner anymore. I couldn't login and I couldn't uninstall it so I couldn't reinstall it.

The support database provided some instructions that took me into the guts of my Mac to uninstall my virus scanner. In my long history with PCs, I went into their guts regularly but for all my skepticism about Macs, they do tend to work properly without much fuss. I was disappointed that Cristina doesn't live in Palgrave since she would not have found this scary at all. I sure did.

It worked. But I missed boot camp. The End.

OK, not quite the end. If you want to postpone dying, you should do strength training. So don't miss boot camp. It's probably even more important than virus protection on your computer.

Foot still feels OK a few hours later. I'm seeing Dr. Thumbs-of-Death tomorrow so OUCH in advance.

I’ve been trying to build physio exercises into odd moments in my day but I should plan more dedicated sessions too. My foot feels fine tonight - none of yesterday’s stiffness and no pain.