Training Log Archive: Bash

Canadiana near the Bruce Trail above Hamilton

Foothab and balance while the oatmeal cooked.

It was dreary with pouring rain so I caught up on some Youtube videos on the treadmill. I haven't missed the treadmill but I have missed Jamil Coury's Mountain Outhouse News from the running world.

Foothab, balance and leg strength.

Foothab and balance. I hope this is doing as much good for Super's sore foot as it is for mine.

AdventureDog and I went for a brisk forest hike with a friend who has been dealing with cancer. Spectacular sunshine, autumn leaves (many of them on the ground), and good/tough conversation.

Short run to pick up my car, which now has snow tires and working brakes - a big improvement. Those of you who hate winter will be pleased to know that I've postponed the first snowfall by a month by planning this far ahead.

Foothab, balance and arch strength in honour of Super's sore foot

Dee, Amber, Shannon and I did this week's VO2/Peaks & Trails Run Challenge route in Pretty River Provincial Park and Petun Conservation Area. VO2 Sports is Sean and Mark Bechtel's new multisport store in Collingwood. Peaks & Trails is Hermes' trail running series. People are invited to run a particular route and record it on Strava. It's not about speed (although I'm sure some people try to do it fast) - it's about getting a ticket for a draw prize. Any excuse for a run on a beautiful late autumn day!



We lost the trail at one point in the leaves and rocks. I backtracked 20-30 m to the place where we'd missed the turn. I don't know if Strava will disqualify our run for that little detour.



Either way, it was a fun, chatty, chilly and beautiful way to start our day.

Autumn leaves run around Devil's Glen with Mrs. Gally and Dee. I've only been there once before for Bob and Hermes' wedding, and I should go more often. It's really pretty with some significant hills. Wet leaves masked the rocks and roots on the trails so we were careful. Even so, I twisted my ankle and went down less than 2 km from the end. I don't think this will be one of the Great Ankle Sprains but I'll probably feel it for a week or so.

Dontgetlost Peak-2-Peak
Waterdown

I've barely done any orienteering since the winter but I've just decided to do Raid the Hammer so I figured I'd better get out into the woods with a map. (Click for a larger version.)



Peak-2-Peak is a 2-hour score-style adventure run. I planned a route that took me on a fairly direct line to Grindstone Creek, where I could do a small loop to pick up some higher value controls that would more than compensate for the lower value controls that I skipped to get there. I've trained on a lot of hills this year so I figured I'd do better with a lot of climbing vs. a lot of running.

I got off to a terrific start by screwing up the first control I'd planned to visit (36). It was a low value control but I wasn't sure of my exact position for 5-10 minutes. I was heading the correct direction and counting ridges though. When I finally emerged from the thorny forest onto a path, I could hear voices of people off-trail looking for my 2nd planned control (45). So it wasn't a disaster although it took me almost 34 minutes to punch my first control in a 2-hour race - yikes!

After that, I turned my brain on and executed my plan about as well as I could have hoped for: 39, 43, 44, 41, 49, 48. My original plan was to go to 42 next but I realized I could get 40 points more easily by looking for other controls on the way back to the finish. After all, I'd skipped almost all of them! That turned out well. I was able to get 34 as planned, then decided at the last minute to go for 46 in the "Bullseye" section where part of the map was blanked out. It was worth 75 points, With 10 points/minute as a late penalty, that bought me 7 minutes!

After that, it was just a scramble to get back to the finish line at the Harry Howell arena. Anvil had mentioned that the map was incomplete for the plaza near the trail to the finish line (which included control 100 worth 150 points). I couldn't remember the name of the store he'd mentioned that was near the trailhead. In trying to decipher the map (not actually that hard, now that I look at it on the couch), I ended up in a field with vegetation over my head. That couldn't be it. I went back out to the parking lot and saw Emil Gadjanski running around Value Village. Value Village!!! That's what Anvil had said!! I ran as fast as I could but let's face it - that's not very fast. I finished 38 seconds overtime.

So much fun and what a spectacular autumn day in the forest! Bob was a rock star, clearing the course in 1 hr 32 mins with 1150 points. Given that my navigation at RockstAR in July was dubious, I was happy to be 1st of 21 Female Masters with 695 points (705 minus 10 penalty points). As validation of the "high value controls" race strategy (which I learned from GHOSLO years ago), the 3rd Female Masters visited 15 controls compared to my 10. I went for a nice lunch afterward with Bob, Hermes, Amber and WandAR. We missed Goose, who had to go to the hospital with a family member.

I didn't take any photos during the race but I couldn't help being a leaf gawker in our own neighbourhood on the drive home.

Humber Station Road



Beside our driveway

Random ride on the Collingwood bike trails on a crisp, beautiful autumn morning. Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine. Time includes some waiting around at road crossings.

'Bent and I went exploring on some trails between Camperdown Road and Georgian Peaks. We'd seen some of the higher elevation trails in the Snowshoe Raid but the lower ones were new to us. The escarpment is very steep near Georgian Peaks and there were a few places where the trail was slick and challenging. It was a fantastic forest and we got a different - and spectacular - view of Georgian Bay when we emerged at a lookout. I'd give this hike a perfect 10 but I have to deduct some marks for poison ivy.

Dee and I started from the Osler Ski Club parking lot and followed their dirt road to the top of the ski hill.



Then we followed the Bruce Trail into Pretty River and did a combination of blue and white trails almost to the bottom of the valley before heading back to the top, then back down Osler. I really enjoyed this route. Great company, amazing autumn leaves, and we only heard one gun shot. (Turkey season.)

TEDx Collingwood - Ideas worth spreading. An interesting afternoon!

Feeling extremely proud and kinda shocked... Red Bull picked Wilderness Traverse as one of the top 10 adventure races on the planet!?! It's crazy to see our old school Ontario adventure race listed alongside some of the classics like Eco-Challenge, GODZone and the Patagonian Expedition Race. Kudos to Bob!

Red Bull advised, "Do this race if you… want to lose yourself in remote wilderness."

Honestly, we always find everyone eventually. ;)
https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/best-10-adventure-ra...

'Bent and I paddled from Arowhon Pines to one of the entrances to the White Trail, which is maintained by the lodge.

We were on a mission to find the ruins of Camp Minnesing - the historic Algonquin Park lodge on Burnt Island Lake that had eluded our party of canoeists in August. Given that our group consisted entirely of orienteers and adventure racers, we were surprised to be unsuccessful! 'Bent and I had visited the ruins before but hadn't approached them from the water.

Timato's Chrismar map was very detailed but - as it turns out - inaccurate in this area. My "Friends of Algonquin Park" map showed the lodge in the correct location but didn't look as believable as Timato's map because it lacked detail.

We hiked the quiet trail past Baby Joe Lake. It rained on and off. I love autumn leaves in the rain.









After a few kilometres, the trail got wider and looked like it could have been a wagon trail 70 years ago when the lodge closed.



Taking an easy-to-miss hairpin turn off the wagon trail, we arrived at the ruins of the lodge.



Various metal objects were rusting away.



From what I've read elsewhere, I think this may be the old septic tank.



There were 4 or 5 of these old chimneys. I lost count.



There is a canoe campsite at one end of the ruins so that would be the easiest way to find the lodge from the water. Embers of a recent fire smoldered in one of the chimneys. Here's the view looking west from the campsite for future reference.



Comparing today's GPS track with our track from 10 weeks ago, we were searching for the ruins about 100 m too far west.

August canoe trip - unsuccessful search for the ruins using an inaccurate map



Today's hike - the ruins are spread out along a trail near the water



After we'd wandered around for a while, the rain started up again and it was *cold*. We ran the first 2 km of our return trip to warm up, even though 'Bent was wearing hiking boots.

Then we paddled back for another huge, delicious lunch at Arowhon - the final meal of Thanksgiving weekend.

On the way home, we stopped at Algonquin Outfitters to pick up the discounted SUP I bought on Friday. I don't own a paddle yet but I think SUP season is pretty much over so I have some time to shop.

'Bent and I rode the Minnesing Trail in Algonquin Park. Like last year, the outside loop is closed so it's a shorter ride. The autumn colours were as beautiful as we've ever seen them here! The only down side was that the bed of wet leaves hid slippery rocks and off-angle roots. When we rode here in September last year, my Pivot 29er handled the technical sections well. Although it also worked well today and I didn't fall, I had to be super careful in the leafiest sections since I couldn't anticipate what was coming. It sometimes felt like riding an unpredictable, bucking bronco! Aside from that, it was a spectacular ride. We saw some families out hiking but didn't see any other bikers until the parking lot. On an extremely busy weekend in Algonquin Park, this was a good place to escape the largest crowds.

'Bent and I paddled to the north end of Little Joe Lake where we spent some time observing a couple of the locals. They looked like a Mom and her teenager. Although we were much farther away than this enlarged photo would suggest, they were clearly accustomed to canoeists.



We went a short distance up the creek that we paddled down on our August canoe trip then returned to the lake and watched the moose for a little longer.

It was a cold day with a brisk wind. There were whitecaps on our return trip and we realized we would be in big trouble if one of the frequent gusts flipped our canoe. No one else was out on the lake nor even sitting outside the lodge. So we followed a very careful route near the shore - but not *too* near the sunken logs and rocks that could help the wind to tip us. It all went well but it was a good test of our skills on a little resort paddle that we hadn't taken seriously enough.

'Bent and I ran the Mizzy Lake trail in Algonquin Park. It was a chilly, grey day with some rain, which made the autumn colours stand out. The trail runs through beautiful forest and wetland with lots of slippery roots, rocks and boardwalks. Our shoes had good grip so there were no splats today and - luckily - no ankle twists.

After a rainy morning, the afternoon was cloudy and cold. 'Bent and I dressed warmly to paddle over to the canoe campsite where we got married.





We had lunch on this campsite with Timato, Kristen, Aubrey, Mick, Laura, John and Paul in August. We were disappointed to find a lot of garbage, which hadn't been the case in the past.

Today the site was blocked off from several directions with yellow caution tape (just visible on the left side of this photo), and there was a sign saying: "Site closed due to Bear Activity. Bear Trap. Do not enter site." So we just paid our respects from the water.

'Bent and I arrived at Arowhon Pines lodge in Algonquin Park and went for a quick paddle before dinner (and before the rain).

A short ride around Palgrave Forest on a perfect autumn afternoon. The trails were nearly empty. If you're out exploring on Thanksgiving weekend, Palgrave is in great shape and it's free! Around the corner, Albion Hills is in good shape too and it's only $6.50.

Because I couldn’t let the streak end on Day 2... Squats and planks.

I had to send some snail mail so I ran gravel roads to the nearest mailbox at the corner of Duffy's Lane and Hwy 9. With the autumn colours well underway, it was a nice run except for the occasional cloud of dust when a vehicle passed.

Time to get back into some of the good habits I was working on in early 2019. I'm going to aim to do some strength, mobility and/or yoga every day - even if it's just 5 minutes of balance. It's more about getting the habit back at this point but I may add some strength goals later on.

I finally sent my mountain bike in for its "spring" tune-up, which should bring on an early ski season. After picking it up, I went for a quick tour around some Palgrave Forest single track just before sunset. There were two dog walkers, one deer and zero bikers on the trails. Rumour has it that the fall tick bloom has begun in Palgrave so I hope I ran a few of them over. I haven't done much riding this year (obviously) and most of it was in mucky adventure races so my poor bike has been seriously mistreated. It was a treat to ride it without any weird noises to figure out.

About 5 weeks ago, I ran (and hiked) 101 km in the Alps, which apparently takes less time than writing a race report! Here's what happened at CCC at UTMB - lots of photos and some text if you're interested in that sort of thing.
https://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/p...

Tested my lungs' recovery by hiking with 'Bent, BazingaDog and AdventureDog around Palgrave West. Not 100% but just about there.

Later, I went to Albion Hills to meet Funderstormin', Greg D and 'Bent for Happy Hour in the campground. Chilly but fun!

I think this cold might be just about done.

Coach LD and I took a road trip to Hamilton to watch the filming of Battle of the Blades. Fun night out!

Boo, I have a cold.

This Saturday is the Furry Friends 5K on the flat trail along the surprisingly beautiful Burlington waterfront. You can run with or without a dog - separate categories. It's seriously competitive at the top but of course there are lots of recreational runners and hikers too. Seeing the wide variety of dogs is really fun.

It's organized by my friend Caron Shepley (C3 Triathlon club) and Allison Hansen. They've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for animal charities over the past 9 years. I will sponsor anyone who registers and comments here to let me know.
https://www.furryfriends5k.ca/burlington