Training Log Archive: Bash

Passed 15,000 hits today.
No training though!

Caron's Power Yoga for Endurance Athletes DVD - it's been TOO long since I did this! It felt good to stretch, but there were a few moves that were painful for my blackening big toenails and chafed legs. But anyway, it was time to start doing *something*! I've felt energetic all week, and my muscles weren't too sore, considering it was a 24-hr non-stop event. It's just these stupid flesh wounds! (There must be a few Monty Python fans out there.)

My Achilles tendon is working better today, thanks to Dr. Leanimal. If it weren't for my oozing big toenails, I could almost pass for a normal human being in public. People think I'm dressing up this week because I've been wearing loose, flowing skirts, but there is NO way I'm putting pants onto these chafed legs just yet.

Rogaine results are posted. 'Bent and 3Pin were 11th overall with 1528 pts, and we were 12th with 1508 pts. Oooh, now I *really* wish we'd picked up #23 to give me official marital bragging rights! :-) Oh well.

Today my right Achilles tendon will not do whatever Achilles tendons are supposed to do that enables you to raise your toes off the ground. This is making me limp more than my deep blisters (which are noticeably improving). Off to Leanimal for treatment.

Ouch, ouch, ouch. I'm going to lose both big toenails. Maybe more.

My race report is long and detailed, mostly to help me remember when I look at the map in future. For people who want the short version:

- Leanimal was a great teammate
- We got 1508 out of a possible 2392 pts
- We are the North American champions in the rather small female division, but it sounds like our score will be respectable in the overall competition (no detailed results yet). Winner was Joe's masters male team, with 19-something pts.
- Lots and lots of rain, leading to serious chafing on the legs and deep blisters on the balls of my feet. The final hours of the race were a struggle, and we had to stop going out of our way for extra points.
- Still a fun weekend!

Leanimal and I teamed up for the North American Rogaining Championships, held this year at the Laurentian Rogaine. This is a fun and different event that takes place in an area of gorgeous vacation homes, ski resorts, Quebecois villages and winding cross-country ski trails. There are several challenges in addition to the usual list - frequent attempts (sometimes in vain) to avoid trespassing on private property, many kilometers of foot-pounding pavement, and - most difficult of all, especially at night - tempting glimpses through windows of people enjoying their comforts - relaxing in front of the TV, sipping wine, enjoying a hot dinner, or reading a book.

Leanimal is one of Canada's top adventure racers - out of my league when it comes to athleticism and youth. This was her first 24-hr rogaine, so my contribution was to share some rogaine planning and strategy experience. Because she is a skilled navigator with a strategic, analytical style of racing, I knew that rogaining would be a perfect fit.

The weather forecast was nasty - rain, possible thunderstorms, more rain, then finally clearing during the night. I fussed with my pack the night before, adding and removing layers and food. Some vivid nightmares woke me during the night, leaving me sleepy when the alarm went off. The Laurentian Rogaine has a short preparation time - maps were handed out at 9 a.m., and the race started at 10 a.m. Leanimal and I had gone through a practice run using last year's map, so we were fairly quick to get our 65 km string and map pins in place. With more time, we undoubtedly could have chosen a better route, but I'm pleased with what we designed in 30 minutes. Then we attended to other tasks, like manually marking out of bounds areas, sealing our maps, throwing unwanted gear into the van, and dashing to the loo one last time. Working at the same table, 'Bent and 3PinJim were using a 100 km string and planned to get most, but not all, controls. Mique and Storm had a similar target. Our goal was 1785 out of a possible 2392 pts.

We started off running down the P'tit Train du Nord rail trail, then slowed down to check our route. In spite of heavy rain throughout much of the event, the only time we wore our raincoats was for the first 10 minutes of the 24 hrs, then we got too hot. We headed up to #55 on a high clifftop that felt a bit sketchy in heavy rain, even in daylight. If I could change one thing about this event, it would be to move the clifftop controls to features further inland to reduce the risk to competitors at night. Cliffs aren't marked on the 1:40,000 map, but there are a LOT of cliffs in this terrain.

We headed downhill toward the base of the Piedmont Ski Resort and, in spite of our best efforts, ended up dashing along the edge of someone's back yard to reach a road. We cracked out the tow rope so that Leanimal could haul me smartly up the ski hill to #61, then we unhooked and bashed through the hydro corridor toward #22. As we checked our maps after punching, there was a sudden crash in the forest, and Leanimal clutched my arm as we spun around to face the large wild animal. It turned out that Bender and Dr. Wells had landed beside us, as if dropped by a helicopter. After a quick greeting, they flew off again. Bender broke his arm last month, and he mentioned that he'd been grabbing trees with it out of habit, much to his chagrin.

We sloshed along an ATV trail on the hydro corridor, and I got sucked into a mud slurry up to my mid-thighs. We turned onto a more civilized forest trail toward #24 and enjoyed a steady downhill run on a soft trail. Most of the event, we just tried to powerwalk, but it was easier on the legs to run the downhills. As we squelched through the treed marsh, we met Mique and Storm coming out. Some more downhill running, then we turned onto a trail to attack #53, where we met a couple of teams coming the other way. Then a quick discussion on whether it was still worth getting #13, and - once we agreed that it was - deciding between two routes. Then we followed trails most of the way to #41, passing through some open areas with lots of raspberry bushes - ouch. Mique and Storm were running toward us as we approached the control.

Glancing at #45, next on our list, we scratched our heads for a moment: "What WERE we thinking?" Once we decided it still made sense, we headed down a nasty hillside with logging debris and rocks hidden beneath big, scratchy vegetation. We almost began to doubt the trail, but a faint track finally appeared beneath the raspberry bushes, right where it was supposed to be. Because the mapped trails are mostly ski trails, they can disappear beneath summer vegetation in open areas, so we sometimes had to move forward with a bit of faith. We followed trails around to approach #45, where we stopped to reapply silicone foot cream. In retrospect, we probably left this too long, although it's uncertain whether we could have dried our feet enough for the cream to keep them from shrivelling up. It had rained at differing levels of intensity all day, with occasional periods of calm when the dripping foliage was just as good as rain. We took trails toward a residential area, but were forced to divert when we hit a Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted sign. Even our new route came a bit too close to someone's yard, so I unfolded my map and tried to look harmless, lost and blonde, in case someone preferred to shoot intruders and ask questions later. (To my knowledge, Quebec is the only place where a lethal weapon has been aimed at me - in an adventure race during moose hunting season.)

We hit pavement and ran downhill until we hit the final climb to #70, our first "house" control. All the controls ending in zero are at residences where the people have left their hoses outside to refill water bottles. Bender and Dr. Wells were at the corner as we headed up. More road running to reach our attack point for #33, the first of a series of tiny marshes that required precise navigation. We ran the downhill and flat sections back toward #70, then cut south to climb through a subdivision, where we had a nice conversation in broken French with two ladies who were curious about what all the funny-looking people were doing. Then we bushwhacked to the road that led to #90 near Lac Echo. At the start of this leg, we had foolishly complained about the heat when the sun briefly appeared. As if to punish us for ingratitude, the rain started lashing down again with a light breeze, and we wondered how cold the night would get. (Not very cold, as it turned out. This is the first rogaine where I've kept the same shirt on from start to finish.) We walked 250 m past #90 before Leanimal noticed our error, then we had our first water refill break. I reached into my pack to get food and yelped when I found a 20 cm long toy cougar labelled "Palgrave Patsy", wearing a little bear bell around its neck. Apparently, it was a generous gift from 3Pin's 7-year-old daughter Skye, and if it was intended to ward off predators during this rogaine, it did its job well!

We headed north and east on roads toward the big communications tower at #81, meeting a stream of teams going the other way. Leaving #81, we both slipped on the steep, muddy trail. I managed to land hard with my bad knee bent straight back so that I was sitting on my foot - not good, since I'm never supposed to let it bend past 90 degrees. However, the only ongoing pain from the fall was on top of my ankle on the other leg, and I can't remember how that leg landed, since I was so freaked out about the knee. I was actually really lucky with joints in this event. I carried my ankle brace, but chose not to use it to avoid blistering, and my bad ankle held up through some difficult terrain. I've worn a brace for bushwhacking almost 100% of the time over the past 16 months. Perhaps my good luck came from racing with my sports chiropractor! :-)

Another long, rainy trail section to reach our attack point for #63, then down to the road where we met Mique and Storm again. Although we'd prepared our routes at the same table, we'd never compared notes, but apparently we had similar strategies. We chatted as we walked to our attack point for #66, then separated in the bush. We later learned that this small marsh proved difficult for many people, and we heard of several teams who gave up on it. We knew we'd come the right distance, but we ended up in the wrong marsh and spent some time looking before we saw the patch of light over the correct marsh. It was a good reminder that on a 1:40,000 map, even a tiny marsh is actually not that small in real life. We headed west over the hill to the next marsh at #25, where we met Dr. Wells and a sick-feeling Bender. We continued west to an indistinct trail, deciding to follow it north to the more major trail that we could follow most of the way to #64. It petered out, but we hit the major trail and put on our headlamps. In the misty light beam, it could be difficult to tell the difference between the trail and the open forest floor. We arrived at the trail bend to attack #64 at the same time as Bender and Dr. Wells. The four of us went down to the marsh together, then they headed north to #36, which was the first control that we elected to drop from our planned route. Instead, we headed back to #40, munching on yummy Caruso's vegetarian focaccia pizza as we walked. We had tried to push hard until the light was gone, and now we could take a deep breath before our night route.

At #40, we met Joe's masters male team, who ultimately won the event. They were dealing with foot problems, and we chatted as we filled our bladders and re-organized our food. Leanimal and I headed around the lake to attack #56, another tricky little marsh in a rocky bit of bush. Once again, we measured the right distance, and we recognized the hills beyond the marshy area, but we had drifted right of our bearing. We started to check further left, assuming that we'd drifted in a similar direction as at #66, and a talkative team with bright headlamps confirmed our guess. Back to the road and over to one of my least favourite features - a treed marsh. On our first attempt to reach #35, we followed a stream, thinking it would lead us to our beaver dam. When it ran south too long, we got concerned and bailed to the road where we took a compass bearing and came back in, pace counting and ignoring the features until we got close. Then we followed a stream to what was probably a beaver dam, although we never saw it (although we found the control).

North to the road, then a long hike to #50. We passed some people having a roaring bonfire, and it was tempting to sit down and dry out our clothes... Maybe this was where PG and Barb met the friendly drunk? Out from #50, then we stopped to put on dry socks, assuming (correctly, as it turned out) that the rain was finally over. PG and Barb came by, looking energetic, and there were introductions all around, including Attackpoint nicknames. (This was Leanimal's first exposure to events where people walk up to ask, "Hey, are you Bash? I'm So-And-So.") We found a ski trail and headed to #42 at the tip of a heart-shaped lake. The trail nearly vanished in high vegetation around our attack point, so we made a point of looking for other things to locate on our return trip. We met Mique and Storm coming out, and they advised us that the trail ended after the lake, which seemed entirely possible. The vegetation was thick around the irregularly-shaped lake tip, and it was disorienting to check our compasses as the shore weaved in and out while we scrambled through terrain with such poor visibility. We popped out right where we went in and found a small ski trail sign in a tree that we'd noticed before - woo hoo! A short distance from the lake, the trail became very distinct, and we had a great hike over toward #52. There was a big climb on trail, then we set out from a road junction to locate the clifftop. We went too far downhill and noticed cliffs above us. When we scrambled back up, we ran into Mique and Storm again. They were surprised to see us ahead of them, since they had bushwhacked over and scrambled up the steep hill. "Did you find the trail?", they asked. "Yup, it was great. Lots of signs." "Bitches!" :-)

We had planned to go west to #54, #32 and #21, but after some analysis, we realized that with 2/3 of our time gone, we still had 28 km left of our original 65 km straight-line route. We decided to drop those controls and head to #51, which should give us time to get to the northeast quadrant of the map. Running down the hill (the last running I had any urge to do), we met Mique and Storm again. Mique's feet were killing him in the same way mine were - deep blisters on the balls of each foot arising from wrinkles in shrivelled wet skin. We travelled with them for a few of the "road" controls - #51, #60 and #91 - and it was nice to have some new energy in our conversations. From #60, there was an obvious exit route where a dog had bothered the race organizer. We decided that he wouldn't be around at 3 a.m., and we all love dogs anyway, so we started down that trail. Not one, but TWO dogs started barking angrily, and one of them came to the road. The four of us retreated at high speed - didn't know we still had it in us! The fastest runner, Storm, chivalrously stayed behind me, ignoring the cardinal rule that you don't need to outrun nasty beasts, you only need to outrun the people you're with. At this point, my feet were so disastrous that I went on tow behind Leanimal. Except for uneven trail sections and bushwhacking, I stayed on tow for most of the rest of the race. It hurt my feet more to be towed, but we were getting nervous about the time limit, given my painful plodding. My upper legs were screaming too, and I learned later that the thread in the side and pocket seams of my wet trekking pants were chafing them, turning my thighs into raw meat. Until this event, I'd thought of chafing as an embarrassing boy problem, but the rain was so heavy and unrelenting that tights would have been the correct choice. I was soooooooo frustrated. I was totally prepared to hold the team back at some point because Leanimal is fitter than I am, but I wasn't prepared to still feel energetic, yet be unable to use my body because of silly surface pains.

We picked up #73 at first light, then headed for #80. We passed beneath the #23 hilltop, and in retrospect, should have gone up to get it. At the time, we were worried about how far I had left to hobble, because a late arrival at the finish line would cost us points. We wanted to be sure that we had time to get #72, and we ended up having lots of time. We spent the last few kilometers hobbling along the rail trail - Leanimal's feet were deeply painful at this point, too. Local cyclists and joggers went by, and we laughed that we must look like a couple of sad sacks, so we made a Herculean effort to draw up the corners of our lips and wish them a cheerful "Bonjour!" We arrived at the finish line at 9:20 a.m., with 40 minutes left. If I hadn't been so crippled, we could have attempted several additional lower-value controls in the morning, but it simply wasn't in the cards.

In summary, Leanimal and I earned 1508 out of a possible 2392 pts. We were the North American champions in the (very small) female division, and it looks like we did respectably overall, given that the elite male champions were also in the 1500-pt range. Joe's masters male team, the overall winners, had 1968 pts. PG and Barb, the top mixed masters team, had 1706 pts. 'Bent and 3Pin had 1528 pts and finished one place ahead of us.

Looking back at the race, I think that our route choice was reasonably good for the small amount of preparation time we were given, although I'm sure we'll look over the map and slap our foreheads at some "obvious", superior route that we missed. Some teams who pushed harder physically ended up with similar points to us, which is a good sign. Leanimal and I worked well as a team, both keeping our eyes on the map at all times, and taking advantage of our different strengths. I'm very grateful for Leanimal's cheerfulness and power at the front of the tow rope in the latter hours of the race. If I could change two things that I did: (1) I would have stopped beside #23 and recalculated the remaining time and distance, because we were hobbling faster than we'd estimated, and we had time to go up that hill. I was in such pain that I never considered it, and - as Leanimal points out - we didn't know if things might get worse. (2) I would have considered crossing moderately big rivers. At last year's event, which went west of Ste. Adele, Francis had advised against river crossings, so I'd ruled them out from the start. However, he didn't say anything this year, and some of the top teams benefited by doing so.

As a final note, there is NO event - not even a wet 3-day adventure race in the Appalachians - that has damaged my body as much as this one did. My trekking pants, which I've worn without incident in a dozen adventure races and rogaines, chafed horribly wherever there was thread. I've always worn trekking pants instead of tights for long treks, since they don't tear, but I'll have to reconsider that for super-rainy conditions. The only other time my feet have become an issue was in last year's Laurentian Rogaine, which was also rainy, but cleared up after 8 hrs. I'm hopeful that sturdier shoes and trekking poles could help in similar conditions, and possibly I could have postponed the damage by reapplying foot cream more often in the early hours of the race - although that's only a guess. I'll have to do some experiments.

Anyway, it was a very fun weekend - in that crazy way that folks like us define the word "fun"! :-)

Statistics (boring for other people, but I want to keep track to help with planning next time!)

Saturday Daylight (until headlamps)
10.5 hrs, 742 pts, 25K straight line distance between controls, 37K actual, 29.7 pts/km straight (our goal), 20 pts/km actual, 2.4 kph straight, 3.5 kph actual
Overnight (headlamps on)
9.25 hrs, 541 pts, 19K straight line, 27K actual, 28.5 pts/km straight, 20 pts/km actual, 2 kph straight line, 2.9 kph actual
Sunday Daylight
3.6 hrs, 225 pts, 11K straight, 13K actual, 20.5 pts/km straight (this number was planned to be lower in this quadrant), 17.3 pts/km actual, 3.0 kph straight line, 3.6 kph actual

Total for Event:
23 hrs, 20 min, 1508 pts out of 2392 pts, 29 out of 50 controls spread over 170 km2
55K straight line distance between controls, 77K actual distance travelled (this is lower than reality, since my string can't measure twists and turns in the trail)
27.4 pts/km straight line, 19.6 pts/km actual
2.4 kph straight line, 3.3 kph actual (on the low side of the real number - see above)

Event: Laurentian Rogaine
 

Drove to the Laurentian Rogaine with 'Bent, Leanimal and Eugenius. Good company and multiple drivers made the time go quickly. We ran into Mique and Mrs. Mique at Auberge P'tit Train du Nord, and Ralph & Meg of the Toronto O Club were at the adjacent campground. We all went out for a very nice dinner in Ste. Adele. I had my traditional pre-race pasta, but the yummy sauce included shrimps, spinach, mushrooms and honey(!). Fun to hear everyone's stories and talk about our plans for the rogaine. Eugenius dropped some great words into the conversation that I plan to use frequently from now on - "mustelid" (family of mammals that includes weasels, wolverines and fishers) and "apricot-y" (an adjective to describe a wine).

The weather stinks - pouring rain with more pouring rain in the forecast. This is the same weather that we had for last year's Laurentian Rogaine. Tough to decide what layers to bring.

I awoke during the night to hear rain pattering on the roof, accompanied by the sounds of plants growing, farmers cheering, and our trails consolidating just a little. Yahoo.

This was my final outdoor training session before the rogaine, and I was verrrrry cautious on the wet tree roots. Given my luck over the past couple of weeks, I don't want to risk another oozing abrasion or twisted ankle. Even when I'm healthy, I'm not as fast as Leanimal, so I don't need any extra disadvantages. Also, it's been said that I put a curse on my rogaine partners that makes them ill - and I'm a wee bit nervous that the curse will rebound and get me.

We had a small group for this week's ride - Leanimal, 'Bent and me. I don't think I've ever biked with Leanimal, and she is as talented as everyone says! We did a lap of the race course for Hot August Nights, the 24-hr mountain bike relay that's happening this weekend. We chatted a bit with the Ruppels, who are getting things set up. Those guys ROCK as event organizers. The race course includes lots of double track sections that will allow easier passing, similar to the Solstice race course, but it isn't quite as flat, so I think riders will find it more tiring. There are lots of unexpected turns - it's always fun to see the different ways that a 17-18 km loop can be created in the Albion Hills trail system.

Out with Leanimal for our final run before the North American Rogaining Champs. Nice, cool weather for running - it felt more like October than August. This will be great for the rogaine, as long as we don't get the "periods of rain" that are mentioned in one of the two forecasts I'm monitoring. We tested our tow rope, and I had to break the sad news to Leanimal that *she* is going to be up front. She took it very well, considering the number of downhill ski resorts where we'll have to climb up runs.

I dusted off my road running shoes - the ones that have "more technology than I need for the kind of road running I do", according to the very skilled salesman I bought them from - and ran around the block. I took my GPS along for the 1st time, and learned that it's 9.34 km around our country block, including up and down our long driveway. I purposely didn't look up my time from the last time I ran this route more than 10 months ago, because I just wanted to go at a comfortable pace without thinking about numbers. It ended up that I was 2 minutes slower than last time, but my log entry says that I pushed hard at level 4 intensity, which wasn't the case today. It's a nice, scenic, hilly run with about 2/3 of it on dirt roads. I don't do it very often because of the occasional convergence of blind hills, narrow shoulders and steep embankments.

I learned today that last week a former work friend planned an 8-hr hike alone while vacationing with his family in Newfoundland. Details are sketchy about the sequence of events, but he ended up getting lost for two days in rainy weather, and at some point he injured his hand while climbing a rocky slope. He's now in hospital with his hand infected severely enough that the docs are considering amputating three fingers. Wow. It's a good reminder to take every outing a little more seriously than you think you need to - with appropriate navigation aids, safety gear, route plan left with someone else if you're going solo, cell phone in areas where they work, etc.

Easy late afternoon ride with 'Bent after Mom's birthday lunch. Went from our place to Palgrave East, then around all the single track. It is soooo dry that some of the trails have turned into sand traps. Time for a rain dance! It must be tough for the farmers this year.

Fun pool party and potluck BBQ with a bunch of our former neighbours in Schomberg. After returning home, we had the pleasure of listening to our new neighbour's pool party until 1 a.m. This would have been fine if they hadn't set up monster speakers that seemed to be aimed directly at our place. For many hours, the music was thumping-loud enough for dancing here, even though we're in a valley 400' away. Grrrr, I hate it when people come to the country with the attitude that it's an "empty" place. This won't stop me from being a helpful, welcoming neighbour, though. I can't wait to share all the details about our summer - the homicide victim found in our forest, the skunk with distemper wandering around our yard, the explosion of poison ivy and hornet nests, the black bear in Caledon East, and the cougar in the conservation area, not to mention the usual West Nile-infected birds, healthy mouse population and rabid bats. You know, just in case their real estate agent didn't provide all the relevant info. :-)

'Bent and I did a thorough tour of the trails in Palgrave West, Koturbash woods and some of the Wheelie's property. It was a nice cool day - a refreshing change from the hot, humid weather we've been having. We kept BulletDog on leash so she wouldn't harass any big cats. Our only unusual sighting today was a TRCA crew clearing fallen logs from their forest access trails. That bodes well for the upcoming ski season.

On some birthdays, I've hiked up a mountain or paddled a river. It looks like my big expedition today will be a Quest for Hot Fudge. That's OK - I'm recovering, or maybe I'm tapering. Probably a bit of both, but regardless, it's a situation that calls for chocolate.

It's hard to say my new age out loud, but I have a "suck it up, princess!" attitude about that. I had friends who didn't get to see their 20th, 30th or 40th birthdays due to illness or car accidents. They would have loved the opportunity to keep getting older, and it feels disrespectful to be anything other than grateful that I've enjoyed another fun, healthy year with my family and friends. So bring on the chocolate - and later this evening, an Italian restaurant feast with 'Bent. I'm celebrating!! :-)

Bigger group for the Wednesday morning ride today - Stan, Sian & Smash, 'Bent & me. The temperature is a few degrees lower than it has been, which is *wonderful*. Fun morning! We kept up a decent pace, but managed to squeeze in lots of conversation one-on-one or when the group stopped occasionally at trail junctions.

They say that you're supposed to have a goal for each training session, and my goal today was this: "Except for yer feet, keep yer body parts off the trail, fergawd's sake!" I'm pleased to report that I was successful at retaining all my blood inside me for once. There are no new injuries to add to the list.

Leanimal and I are having a top-secret meeting tonight to plan our strategy for the North Am Rogaining Champs. 'Bent and 3Pin are so jealous that they're copying us by planning their own top-secret strategy meeting for Saturday morning. Of course I have no idea what the boys are going to do, but we're going to use last year's race map to plan a route based on the distance that Leanimal and I want to go. Last year, 'Bent and I planned a short route because he was sick. This backfired when he made a miraculous recovery during the race, and we ended up finishing early, having skipped a bunch of controls along the way. Leanimal and I are going to see if we can (hypothetically, of course) get them all!

Leanimal and I headed out for our weekly run. She told me stories from the 24-hr Angry Seagull race, which her team WON on the weekend, and I told her stories from the Dirty Girls Run. My legs felt surprisingly zippy, given how sore my quads felt on Sunday after pushing hard on Saturday. I think I may have stumbled on a little-known training secret, and I'll share it here (drum roll)... If you do more running, then running becomes easier. Who'd have thunk it?!? Unfortunately, Leanimal's new shoe insert was starting to give her a blister, so we decided to hike back from that point. We need to keep her feet healthy so she can tow me in the upcoming North American Rogaining Champs!

Tired with sore quads today! A good day for a big Indian food feast with 'Bent's Mom, and an interesting movie on satellite - "Proof" with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis. The damage from my front slide on a sandy trail may take awhile to heal. There was never any blood on my arm, just a very fine abrasion like sandpaper, about 5 cm in diameter. It hurts like crazy and remains very messy. Yuck. Now I know why some experienced ultrarunners were wearing long sleeves in 30C temperatures.

Event: Dirty Girls (6, 12 & 24 hr) Trail Race
 

Well-organized first-time event with good sponsorship and lots of cool little details, like the yummy buttertart that was handed to each racer at the finish line, with a little thank you card tied to its package.

A hilly 10K marked trail run was set up at Mansfield, and there were 6-hr, 12-hr and 24-hr categories. Racers could enter solo or do laps relay-style as a team. To my surprise, very few people entered the team category. I wasn't surprised to see so many solos - I just thought that a few more people would take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a summer's day of fun training with friends, similar to the very popular mountain bike relays. The Tree Huggers consisted of 'Bent, Hingo, Tiny and me, and we were all just looking for a fun day of hanging out at our campsite with some good training thrown in. ThunderDog and BulletDog came along as team mascots. We were looking forward to cheering for our friends and enjoying good company. We'd also offered to support Char V, who was competing in the national 12-hr solo championship, which gave us something useful to do besides reading the newspaper, chatting, snacking, and calling out "Good job!" to passing runners.

'Bent did our team's first lap, and Hingo and I were hanging out in the shade in our big screened-in tent. I commented that 'Bent had recently done a 10K trail run in 44 min, so we agreed that as soon as the first couple of runners came by, Hingo should go to the nearby transition zone. This was a great plan, except when we saw the first runner pounding over the hill toward us after 46 min, it was 'Bent. Aacckk! Hingo fumbled with the tent zipper for a second in his surprise, then dashed over to the transition zone in the nick of time. It was 5 minutes before the 2nd place runner came by, and SHE was on a competing relay team. TVP came by looking strong in 3rd place, but unfortunately he had to abandon the race there due to very uncomfortable heat rash. He headed home to suntan his nether regions.

The Tree Huggers don't have a good history with marked race courses, and this one was no exception. There was one sketchy intersection, and Hingo misinterpreted the markings, which was easy to do. As Tiny waited at the transition zone longer than expected, we heard reports of an "adventure racer guy" who had passed people running the wrong direction on the trail. Oh oh, that sounds like our team. Sure enough, Hingo had done an extra loop out there before a kind gentleman turned him around. So that was an 11K lap for our team, and actually his time was pretty good.

Tiny and I went out in turn as the heat and humidity got worse. We noticed that some of the 6-hr solo racers quit early, and several of them mentioned that they hadn't run in weather like this for a long time. Our team was doing well except for one little thing - we were unable to stick to our plan of making it "just a fun day of training". It turned out that the only other team in the 12-hr category had one more member than we did, and boasted a couple of strong runners. The competition between our teams was very close, so all of us kept pushing hard, in spite of our protestations that we were just out there for a good time. Any one of us would have been undisappointed - perhaps even relieved - if *another* team member had slowed down and put us out of contention so that we could relax, but each one of us was damned if it was going to be us that would make the team lose.

And so we ran in turn throughout the day, with most team members putting in three 10K loops. As we approached the finish, we had a strategy decision to make. Unlike the mountain bike relays, this race would end exactly at the 12-hr mark. You had to check in with course marshalls at the 2.5K, 5K and 7.5K marks, and you could receive credit for a partial lap. So we decided to switch our last two runners, sending the speedy 'Bent out for a 4th lap before I started my 3rd lap. Since I'm the slower runner, and I would be the one running the partial lap, our team would get the most out of the remaining minutes.

What I'd expected was for 'Bent to arrive in plenty of time for me to run a relaxed 5K in the dark. But as I arrived at the transition zone, I saw someone tearing across the field - someone who looked very familiar... Oh NO! Glancing at my watch, I realized that if I beat my best time to the 7.5K mark by a minute, I could record an extra quarter lap. And of course, my competitive nature required that I make the attempt. Rats! So instead of a relaxed jaunt through the woods, I had to sprint hard on my tired legs. I missed seeing a tree root in the dark, and did a Superman dive that resulted in huge bloody scrapes on my arm, but I had to leap up and not lose precious seconds. When I looked at my watch at 5K, it seemed almost impossible, but I knew there was a big downhill section ahead that I could push harder on, so I decided to keep trying. I got to the 7.5K course marshall with 40 seconds to spare. Phew!

So our team got to stand on the coveted "Dirtiest Girl" and "Dirtiest Guy" podiums, with a distance of 127.5K over 12 hrs. The 2nd place team recorded 120K. The top solo in the 12-hr event did 102.5K, and our friend Char V just missed winning the women's solo event with 90K. The amazing Laurie McGrath had already completed more than 110K in the 24-hr solo event. Wow!!

Lap #1. My goal for the day was to run everything, including all the uphills, and I succeeded in all three laps - although some of my running was excruciatingly slow. Man, it was hot out there!! It was a great event for the ego because most solos obviously can't push hard for hours on end, so I didn't get passed on any of my laps. The majority of the people that I passed were walking or even standing still. Hey, I think that ultrarunning might be the sport for me! But having said that, I was quite happy to retire to my lawnchair in the shade with a cold drink, and raid the cooler for snacks while my teammates did their laps. Real ultrarunners are very tough cookies.

Lap #2. Hotter. Slower. No zip in the legs at all. But it actually went faster in my brain - perhaps because I knew exactly what to expect, so I was looking ahead for certain intersections and curves in the trail.

Lap #3. As described above, this was a mad dash to see if I could reach the 7.5K marshall before the air horn sounded at 9 p.m.

This was more like intensity level 8, but the system doesn't let me enter it that way. This was a sudden, unplanned run after 'Bent returned home with only one of two dogs that he had taken out for a walk. He wanted me to come quickly to help him look for ThunderDog at the last place in the forest that he'd seen her. Luckily, she emerged from nowhere shortly after we arrived - with a big smile on her face and completely covered in tiny burrs. Crash, in case you heard someone screaming in the woods... don't worry, it was only me.

ThunderDog and I went for a hike under steel grey skies. Go ahead and laugh, Urthbuoy and Revy, but this was my first time alone in the forest behind our place since the cougar was spotted in there almost 2 weeks ago. Considering that I've hiked alone in the Rockies many, many times, I know that my feelings are totally inconsistent - but that's how it is. I kept ThunderDog on leash so she wouldn't do any chasing. It was nice to be out there again.

Info for the locals... the Ontario Puma Foundation says that a female cougar has been living in the Loretto area, but they're wondering if she's moved down to Palgrave. There was a sighting in Glen Haffy several months ago, plus the recent sighting near the Palgrave Forest & Wildlife Area. For further proof of our wilderness status, a farmer in Caledon East spotted a black bear recently. Hey, who needs to go out west?

Rocky was a welcome addition to this week's Albion group ride! Like Leanimal, she goes just enough faster than I do that it inspires me to work harder, but she is nice enough to not desert me. 'Bent was back to his usual recumbent bike - which was good, given the amount of technical single track we did. I don't think the Orion is up to all that.

Just when I thought this was going to be another pleasant, uneventful, sunny ride, 'Bent headed up onto the trail that steps down the dusty hillside high above Lake Albion. We'd ridden it last week, and it was so rutted and torn up that we'd agreed (or so I thought) that we wouldn't ride it again this year. But there we were, and when I came around the corner where the steepest, dustiest, most rutted part began, I saw 'Bent on the ground and Rocky forced to stop suddenly right behind him. I was going at a good clip, and I had about 3 bike-lengths in which to act, with a couple of big, rooty, sandy steps on the way. And so I flew over the handlebars, apparently breaking much of the fall with my right knee, wrist, nose and chin, plus the bike smashed onto my left ankle bone. My main concern was seeing the end of a log pointed toward me as I slid face first, since I didn't want to ram into it. It was one of those falls where you just lie there in slight shock, polling your body parts to make sure they're all answering and imagining what could have happened. Rocky came back, taking the bike off me and pulling me to my feet. (Thank you!) I was very cautious for the rest of the ride, and it wasn't until I got into the shower that I realized that I'd banged the top of my right shoulder harder than anything else. Just as well - that's better than my head getting stopped by the log! I'm not sure I've ever done an endo since moving to a Gary Fisher frame (supposedly designed to reduce the possibility).

Anyone interested in joining the Tree Huggers in a last-minute entry for this Saturday's Dirty Girls Run at Mansfield? It's set up like a mountain bike relay, with teams hanging out at a base camp while their teammates head out for 10 km trail runs. We'd like to do the 12-hr relay with a 5-person team. Most members would do two 10-km loops, but probably 'Bent and one other person would do 3 loops. At the moment, we've just got 'Bent, Hingo and myself, which means that the 6-hr relay would be more appropriate, since we're just doing this event for fun to support a cool new event. Late entry fee per person is $90.

Please get in touch soon if you're interested!

Rocky was a welcome addition to the Tuesday Gurlz Run. Normally, Leanimal and I can't convince anyone of the joys of running the hilly HVT with us at mid-day in summer. Rocky led us down the CSI trail, which was a pretty cool discovery, even though there were a few places where the vegetation was waist-high (on Leanimal) or chest-high (on Rocky). We did some cross-country running after the trail ended, then met up with the HVT near Duffy's Lane. Then we were able to return on the trail, making a nice, adventurous loop from downtown Bolton. Fun!

Rode hilly trails across Forks of the Credit Park, then took the Elora-Cataract rail trail to Elora. 'Bent was trying his new (extra) off-road recumbent bike. It's not quite as nimble on rough trails, but it was quite speedy on the rail trail. Certainly it was the first time that we've passed a group of teenagers and had them yell out, "Wow! Pimpin'! Sick!", and I'm pretty sure they meant all that in a good way - although if they'd said the bike was "bad", I could be sure of that. I attribute their admiration to the fact that this new bike is a nice, shiny blue, off-the-shelf model that doesn't look as handmade as his regular bike.

We've done this ride annually for the past few years, and last year we were proud to cut half an hour off our two-way trip time from 2005, riding for about 5 hrs total. Somehow I got it into my head that to match last year's time, we needed to ride each direction in 2 hrs 15 min. When we got to 2:10, I was starting to feel disappointed that we were just going to miss our goal when it dawned on me that half of 5 hrs is actually 2:30, not 2:15. D'oh! So when we arrived in Elora at 2:18, I guess the sort-of good news was that my math skills have declined more than my fitness! My average heart rate was one beat lower than last year, although that's not really a coincidence, since I was aiming to stay in the aerobic zone.

We met up with our teammate ThreePin and Mrs. ThreePin for a wonderful vegetarian lunch at the Desert Rose Cafe in Elora. Nachos, spinach-ricotta lasagne and a maple pecan tart for me. Yum!! Our trip home took 2:20 - undoubtedly because of all that lovely food bouncing around in our stomachs! No dinner for me.

A few days after we did Raid The North, U.S. uber-orienteer Peggy Dickison did a very different, but far more gruelling event.

We've done too much packing and unpacking over the past 6 weeks, so instead of going away for the long weekend, we just took a quick overnight trip to my brother's cottage in Gravenhurst. It was too nice a weekend to miss out on swimming and paddling in a Canadian Shield lake! The pooches had a fantastic time swimming with us and fetching Kongs, then we paddled to the far end of Sunny Lake and back. Dave's canoe has a low freeboard, and we had to brace a few times when both dogs lurched to one side to inhale the aroma of barbecuing meat outside cottages onshore. This weekend is ThunderDog's 11th birthday, and both pooches had a fantastic celebration.

I had an interesting conversation with a very experienced adventure racer this afternoon. We talked about the flurry of discussion on and off Attackpoint regarding the FAR events last weekend. And then we talked about the FAC Champs at the end of September. Both of us are planning to enter teams, regardless of how disappointed we are in what happened last weekend. We know we'll have fun and see friends and enjoy some beautiful scenery.

Who else out there is planning to go to that race or the RTN in B.C.? If a lot of us are planning to sign up in spite of what happened last weekend, I guess that shows why there is so little incentive to improve the race quality. But hey, my team is looking forward to it, so I certainly can't say that I'm part of the solution.

Looking forward to finding some open water to swim and paddle in this weekend, even if it's only for an afternoon! So far we've resisted the urge to turn on our A/C in 2007 (assuming that it still works), but it has meant sleeping in the basement family room occasionally, including last night. Wishing everyone a great holiday weekend!

The Wednesday morning group ride turned out to be just 'Bent and me, which isn't surprising after a month away. We later learned that Stan was all set to join us until he discovered that his wife had inadvertently taken both sets of car keys. It wasn't too hot yet, so the riding felt better than I'd thought it might. It sure was humid though! The trails are getting very dusty. Some of them are like golf sand traps. We could use some rain. My bike feels a bit rough after banging the pedals hard on rocks a few times last weekend, so I dropped it off at Caledon Hills Cycling after our ride.

Crash and I are continuing to learn more about cougars in the days following her sighting. Most of us who do outdoor activities, including a couple of biologist friends, were totally unaware of the possibility of cougars in our little patch of forest just one hour north of Canada's largest city. However, it's been interesting to discover how *unsurprised* some other people are, e.g. the oldtimer in the neighbourhood, the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the local newspaper, etc. It seems like all the authorities knew about the possibility of cougars around here, but nobody thought to mention it to those of us who go running alone in the woods all the time. I suppose they don't want the yahoos to head out with their shotguns. I can respect that, but it's only fair to give us the chance to read up on how to behave in the event of a cougar encounter.