Training Log Archive: Bash

Notes on January: This may be the only month in history when I’ve logged more hours skate skiing than classic skiing. To make it even more unusual, I logged more snowshoe orienteering than skiing. I was just under my monthly strength/mobility target and I reached my Jan. 31 target weight and celebrated with chocolate mousse tonight - oops. For the most part, it was a good month other than all the dealings with lawyers and building permits. Snow makes me happy.

The Scenic Caves Rule meant that I had to start with at least 30 minutes of skate skiing. It felt like too much trouble to go back to the car to change boots so I didn’t make my usual switch to classic. This never happens and I’m kinda proud of myself. It might even have been a little fun from time to time! The forest was beautiful with snow-coated tree trunks.

Snow had been falling for a while so the trails were slow and uncrowded. I barely saw any other skiers - not even ‘Bent, who was out there somewhere the whole time. However, I *did* keep passing a friendly, older gentleman who was making deep footprints in the middle of the skate ski track. One time he didn’t hear me ski up and it gave him a start. I thought about saying something to let him know skiers wouldn’t be watching for a hiker in the middle of the trail (hint, hint) but he seemed pleasant and strangely confident. I remembered stories about Bruce Trail users berating people for a trail infraction like an unleashed dog, then discovering they were the landowners. And sure enough, when I asked staff in the chalet, they laughed and confirmed he is the owner.

Tonight after a wonderful dinner at the Crow, ‘Bent and I went to the curling club to watch Amber teach the ropes to Dee and Red. We weren’t dressed for it so we cheered from the lounge but it would be fun some time.

Treadmill run, mostly watching Ginger Runner's interview with coaches David and Megan Roche. David wrote the article about 3-minute Mountain Legs, which I was doing for a while - and may start up again now that it's on my mind.

A few takeaways:

- It's important to keep fun and playfulness in your training. If you take something you enjoy and make it your job, you're less likely to want to do it.

- They believe that people training for mountain races can prepare for uphills by working on speed - even just on flat ground. The fastest runners tend to be the fastest uphill runners. Adding some strength training is helpful too.

- However, they believe you have to do specific training for downhills even if it's just one run every few weeks when you travel to a good downhill and push hard. (I call these quad pounding sessions.) During a race, if you're not properly trained on downhills, you'll feel fatigue on the subsequent uphill. A day or two later, you'll get DOMS. The idea is to be able to do the downhills without getting DOMS, which means you won't have the same fatigue in races after downhills.

- On technical downhills, aim for short strides, stay light, lean forward. If you have a wide open, non-technical downhill, you can lengthen your stride.

- Treadmills can be very effective for training and improving efficiency - even for trail running, as long as you go outside occasionally - but only if you enjoy using them. And that's a big "if".

- David coaches John Kelly, the most recent finisher of the Barkley Marathons, who just won the 268-mile Spine Race in the U.K. and set a men's course record. He's a Dad with crazy work hours so he could only train 50 miles per week. I'm not sure if he's still doing this now that he's moved to England but he used to do a lot of treadmill runs and run commutes - nothing too wild. Eleven days before the Spine Race, he did a big day in Frozen Head State Park (home of the Barkley) where he ran about a marathon with close to 3,000 m of climb. That was the main bit of specific preparation he did and obviously it was enough. Really interesting. As his coach points out, he has a good base and lots of experience. But still.

Mix of foothab, balance and core. My injured heel makes some of my usual foot exercises too painful. It's been 4 days since it got hit, which isn't that long unless, say, you're an impatient person.

On an unrelated note, I'm tired of adulting.

Note 1: Yesterday's run made the furniture-moving injury to my right heel feel a bit worse. It feels more like a bruise around the Achilles attachment than an internal, structural thing but it would still be nice if it just went away. For now, I'll avoid running on consecutive days.

Note 2: I've abandoned the "No Zero Days on AP" goal. I made it to April last year but it just doesn't fit with the way my life works so I don't know why I thought it would work better this year. I've set bigger picture goals and targets for 2020 that should keep things moving the right direction without micromanaging. If I ever mention the No Zero idea again, please tell me I’m crazy.

My right upper heel/Achilles is still hurting after getting hit hard while moving furniture on Sunday. Last week's program of skiing and snowshoeing with very little running seemed to be good for my foot so of course I had to mess it up. Anyway, we'll see if this short run makes it feel worse.

Cooldown after treadmill run.

Alex Hutchinson's latest article on strength training research:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2408204/strength-tra...

tl;dr
"Pick a range of exercises covering the body’s major muscle groups... Do at least one set of each, several times a week, aiming for about 8 to 12 reps, and be consistent about your routine. If you use lighter weights, push close to failure on each set. To maximize size gains, do more sets.

And maybe the most important takeaway of all: every single group in every one of these studies got bigger and stronger. Sure, the details make a difference. But the biggest difference of all is between doing nothing and doing something."

Robbie Burns Dinner at Coach LD and Goose's place - a highlight of our winter! :)

1-footed balance, focusing mostly on my problematic right foot - which used to be my good foot until I sprained it at Nipika Lodge a couple of summers ago. It was feeling a lot better after a week without running but my heel got bashed in a furniture moving incident when we were clearing junk out of our basement today.

On a happier note, welcome home from Costa Rica, ‘Bent! :)

A little foothab after a week of neglecting strength and mobility.

Skate ski with Dee at Scenic Caves. Time includes a bunch of chat stops.

That's the 2nd time in three days that I've skate skied with someone else, which is major progress. Also, most of my skate skis are intensity level 4 now instead of level 5. So those 30-minute mandatory ski sessions are doing some good.

Afterward, I did housework and packed up at Tree Hugger ABC. It's been a wonderful 8-day winter vacation but rain started falling at sunset so it was time to go home. Also, 'Bent gets back from Costa Rica this weekend and it would be poor form to be away when he gets back. :)

Easy snowshoe at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. I followed the orienteering map in detail to get a feel for it before Stars W.A.R. The terrain is so interesting and intricate, and I've gotten messed up in there before.

Things to remember (since some of you are racing there too):
- It can be hard to figure out which contours are down and which are up. Read *very* carefully. Some tick marks for depressions are hidden under trails on the map.
- Summer trails may be almost invisible. I did a lot of trail breaking today. A skier had been out on some of the summer trails, which looked like fun.
- Some of the climbs are quite steep and slippery in winter. Those 5 m contours add up. If you can follow a ridge or valley for a while, that's probably a good route.
- Compass, compass, compass. Parallel errors are easy to make here.

Conditions in the forest were totally different from the places I've been recently. There was barely any snow on the trees, and the snow wasn't particularly deep on the ground. It was like a normal winter.

Time deducted for O-vangelism. I got questions from locals who saw my map and also got questions about my snowshoes.

Skate ski at Highlands with Dee and Mrs. Gally. I was nervous. I never skate ski with anyone else due to my poor abilities but we had fun and I didn't get left behind. I wouldn't have wanted to go too much longer though! Great conditions and beautiful late afternoon light. Time includes stops for conversation and photos, including a chat with Goose who was working on a trail crew cleaning up from the storm.

Short classic ski after the ladies went home. I was staying for the Highlands spaghetti dinner so I had a little more time. The sun set shortly after I started but there was enough light that I didn't need to turn on my headlamp. It was lovely to look down and see lights around Georgian Bay.

Hoo boy, my whole body is so fatigued from the past few days! But I couldn't waste such glorious weather and snow conditions so I went to Scenic Caves for an early afternoon ski after a lazy vacation morning.

Unfortunately, according to our Scenic Caves Rule, I was required to skate ski for 30 minutes before I could go out on classic skis. So I fatigued myself a little more.

I had good glide, dubious grip and fantastic scenery.

Then I dashed home to take BazingaDog and AdventureDog to the dog park - something we rarely do. At home we have a large, fenced country yard with lots of trees and interesting smells but Tree Hugger ABC isn't as much fun for pooches.

I got them out of the van with a leash in each hand. A-Dog jumped out in a way that wrapped the leash across my back. No biggie, the dog park gate was only 20 meters away. A woman was standing near her car with a large dog on leash. My dogs took off like rockets in his direction to say hello. I went down hard in the slippery parking lot but clung to the leashes as I lay there so the dogs didn't actually reach her or her dog.

I leapt back up and apologized. She said coldly, "You *have* to be able to control them, you know."

In hindsight, I wish I'd said, "Why, thanks for asking. Yes, I'm OK."

So glad we don't have to go to dog parks at home!

I let Bob know that if there were any Snowshoe Raid controls left on the course today, I could go out to pick them up. A couple of volunteers worked on it over the weekend. As of today, there were 8 controls remaining in the northwest quadrant of the map.

Snow kept falling for 24+ hours after the race so I knew it was going to be an adventure. Even the drive up to the north end of Pretty River was magical.



I planned a large counterclockwise loop starting with 52. Here's the map again - click to make it bigger.



It was an absolutely spectacular day.



The trees look so amazing because they are coated with ice beneath all the new snow. There will be a lot of damage from these storms.



The forest was beautiful.







The view toward the sky was like a work of art.



Although the forest was lovely to look at, it wasn't conducive to bushwhacking - and I needed to do a lot of that. There was so much snow that it sometimes felt like I was swimming through the white stuff. In many places, visibility was nil.







Just like Saturday, my gloves got soaked from all the snow. Next time I would bring a 3rd pair of gloves in my pack. I had a 2nd pair but wanted to keep them in reserve until they were absolutely necessary - which they never were. But my fingers got chilly because I had to untie the knots on the flags with bare hands then shove them back into frozen gloves.

Bushwhacking wasn't just wet. Because the branches and shrubs were bent low and often frozen together or to the ground, moving foward sometimes felt like breaking out of a jail cell. Many times I had to change course to find a way through.







But it all worked out eventually. This is 54. My route was 52-54-53-51-56-35-43-57.



I have one confession. Between deep snow and thick vegetation, I got pushed west on my way to 53 then I headed for a hilltop that seemed to be in the wrong direction - but damn, it was definitely a hilltop and that's exactly what I was looking for. Of course I was in the wrong place. Worried about my cold hands, I was tempted to bail to the snowmobile trail and continue to the next control but I didn't want to leave Bob with one control to pick up. So I pulled out the Avenza app and relocated the electronic way. (I'm so ashamed.) That was the only time I cheated!

I had only visited one of the 8 controls during the race so today's route had a completely different feel from Saturday. I was breaking trail most of the time since the racers' tracks were seldom visible.

Once I started climbing the escarpment, my hands warmed up so it was a nice finish in the sunshine. What a beautiful and totally exhausting outing!

World Snow Day at Highlands Nordic - wow! Timato, K-Way and Aubrey were supposed to join me but got turned back by nasty driving conditions so I went for a ski on my own.

Snow had been falling for most of the past 36 hours so even the trails that had been groomed this morning felt pretty wild - especially with ice-laden branches hanging over them, sometimes at face level. It was slow and adventurous, and it was definitely hard work. Absolutely beautiful.

The time includes many photo stops.





Dr. Seuss trees

Event: Snowshoe Raid Adventure Run
 

Dontgetlost Snowshoe Raid
Pretty River Provincial Park

I think this was the 9th Snowshoe Raid that Dee and I have done together. After missing a checkin deadline at RockstAR last summer and getting DQ'ed, we were determined to plan a route that was compact and achievable. I'm often tempted by creative routes that are great if they work but disasters if they fail. On top of that, my plans sometimes exceed my declining fitness level.

So we headed out with what I felt was a boring, obvious, low-stress route plan that took virtually no risks and was unlikely to differentiate us from other teams of similar ability. But that's exactly what we were aiming for.

My first nav error was a failure to notice that we weren't leaving from the usual bus departure location. Since I'd left my snowshoes in my vehicle, there wasn't time to get to that parking lot and back to the buses. I phoned Bob and got permission to drive. Oops.

The Raid started with a steep climb of the snowmobile trail just west of the parking lot. Nice way to warm up!



The conditions were wilder than in any Raid in recent memory. Last weekend's storm coated the trees and branches with ice that still hasn't melted. There were snow squalls in recent days, and today was a blizzard with wet snow and gusty winds. Visibility was often poor because trees and branches were snow-laden and bent toward the ground. Even major trails could be hard to find. It was intense - more like an Arctic expedition than a race.



After the initial climb, we headed north toward 40, slogging through a field covered with 30+ cm of fluffy snow. Then we continued north to 41 and west to 38. (Click on the map to make it larger.)



Then it was a steep scramble up the escarpment - sometimes on hands and knees, sometimes sliding backwards. We grabbed at saplings and crawled over rocks. My gloves got soaked here but fortunately my hands never got too cold as long as we kept moving. We were aiming for 43 and planned to use the main Bruce Trail to confirm our attackpoint. We crossed the trail without seeing it and ended up on the blue-blazed Bruce side trail. We decided to head for 37 first since we'd already come that far east. We could pick up 43 on the way back.

We'd planned a decision point at 37. We wanted one full hour of race time remaining when we entered the Matrix at 31. Based on the time remaining when we reached 37, we would decide whether to pick up 42 (short route) or head west of the Matrix to 53 and 56 (long route). Conditions were so slow that we just headed from 37 to 42. Once again, we crossed over the main Bruce Trail without seeing it but balked when it seemed we were about to plunge down the escarpment. We scrambled back up through boulders and tangled branches and found the trail.

From there, it should have been a straightforward run to 42, which was on the trail, but the trail was blocked in many places by thick curtains of icy branches. We pushed them aside over and over; sometimes it wasn't clear where the trail went on the other side. It was tiring - like bushwhacking. At the top of the cliff, a gusty wind blew wet, gritty snow onto our faces. I had to take off my wet glove to warm my cheek when I felt frostbite starting.

Back to 43, then down the Bruce Trail to 31 in the Matrix, where Dee and I could split up. She went for 32 and 35 while I went for 33 and 34. We both had some nervous moments but found our controls and made it back to the mandatory Aid Station meeting point within 3 minutes of one another.

We had 29 minutes to run east to the finish with detours from the trails to pick up 36 and 39. That seemed about right but I was a little nervous since there was no time to screw up. Luckily, we didn't and we made it back with less than 3 minutes to spare. So our boring, conservative plan turned out to be at the edge of our abilities in these crazy conditions.



I've been feeling discouraged lately about injuries, aging and fitness so I was shocked and ridiculously thrilled when the results were posted and we were 5th overall of 80 teams! I think it was my best result ever in about a dozen Snowshoe Raids. We were 1st of 32 female teams. Apparently, "boring" is a good way for us to choose routes - at least on a day like this when the running ability of fitter teams was less helpful to them than it usually is.

Big thanks to Bob and the volunteers for all their hard work on this fun event!

Dee and I met for what was supposed to be about 90 minutes of gentle snowshoe hiking. We're racing the Dontgetlost Snowshoe Raid tomorrow so we wanted to take it easy. Turns out we've both had foot pain in the past couple of days so we were concerned about that too. Dee had a deadline to get to a physio appointment for some treatment.

We started at the bottom of Osler with the plan of finding Dee a link to the Bruce Trail at the top so she could do longer loops. The basic Osler loop is just over 6 km.



But the forest was incredibly beautiful after yesterday's snow squalls. It was crisp and cold, and the snow was deep and fluffy. Trees branches sagged toward the ground with the weight of last week's ice and this week's snow. The sun was shining and the sky was blue.





When we got to the spot where we should have turned back to our cars so Dee could get to her appointment, she hesitated. The snowshoeing seemed to make her foot feel better. Mine didn't hurt either. She phoned her physio from the middle of the woods to cancel her appointment, and we continued up the hill and did a short trail loop in the northeast corner of Pretty River Provincial Park.





Although I'm calling it "trail", we often had to search hard to see where the trail was. The branches were bent down so far that it was often impossible to tell what was trail and what was bushwhacking. Adding to the challenge, Dee dropped her phone in 30 cm of snow and it vanished without a trace. Luckily, it still rang! We returned down the southern Osler snowshoe trail.



This was the wrong thing to do before a 3-hour snowshoe race but it was totally worth it. :)

2020 wasn't supposed to have any zero training days. On the bright side, I got a lot of stuff done today. I'll take a mulligan and start again.

My right heel was super painful - ugh.

First trainer ride - and first time on a road bike - in almost 5 years so I eased myself in gently.

I forgot to calibrate the braking so the data is probably off. I'll need to raise the seat next time but otherwise I managed to get everything hooked up properly. The new iPad holder works nicely although we have a lot of CDs to use with the trainer so I'll have to find a way to set up a computer nearby.

I haven't missed the trainer at *all* but this heel pain reminds me that I need more options.

Another short foothab session - babying my sore heel before the Snowshoe Raid this weekend.

Interesting article on how to pace an ultra.
https://mile27.com.au/how-to-pace-an-ultra/?fbclid...

In other news, yesterday's run on uneven ground left me with a different painful spot on my heel bone - the upper outside. It really is time for a blizzard or two so I can ski and snowshoe instead.

I didn’t want to aggravate my sore heel so I did some foot strength exercises that didn’t involve it much.

After a full day and night of heavy rain with a late temperature drop, I wasn't sure what to expect on the trails in Palgrave East and West. I had to force myself out the door but it ended up being nicer than expected.



There was 5-7 cm of new snow on top of everything so it wasn't slippery - more like running through loose sand at times. In most places, there was a base of ice pellets or frozen ground beneath the snow. Other times, there were puddles or glare ice. It almost looked OK for skiing but there would have been a few unpleasant surprises.



Because the temperature remained steady at 0.2 C for hours yesterday, the ice storm didn't cause as much damage as it could have. A big tree was down on the trail near our house.





I was short of time so I ran the short distance back from Palgrave East on our gravel road. Our road isn't exactly great running right now.

Weight training workout 1 from Strength Training for Runners. This one gave me DOMS last time so I added an extra set to see if I could make it hurt more. I topped it off with a dash of SuperCore but "forgot" to do the 12s.

Foot stretches. If I'm inspired, I'll do more foothab later. Or I'll just pour a glass of wine and keep working on our ark. :(

Some easy ladders up and down while watching videos. I should have run outside today but it's just so gross for January that it makes me sad. Tomorrow and Sunday look even worse - possible record rainfall or heavy freezing rain depending on when the temperature drops. 'Bent and I will need to do our Country Power Failure Preparation Routine.

Heel stretches immediately post-run to see if that helps with the right heel pain. I pulled out the heavy artillery yesterday - foot stretches and strength, one-legged balance exercises, calf torture with foam roller and spiky balls - and there was improvement this morning. However, I didn't run yesterday so maybe it would have improved anyway.

A few of Caron's 10 Minutes 2 Zen videos followed by some extra hip stretches because they felt so good. AdventureDog tried to help me with Upward Dog by licking my face. Then he and BazingaDog demonstrated perfect Downward Dog technique for me. Caron was very ill in 2019 so we haven't had live classes for a long time. I really miss them and I miss being flexible. She's getting better though. :)))

Super’s tough core routine then calf and foot strength with some balance. My right heel has been stiff and painful so I’m trying to loosen things up.

Training Goals for 2020:

If registering for races is an effective way to increase motivation, this year is off to a great start!

Over the next couple of months, I'm planning a winter navigation trifecta of the DGL Snowshoe Raid (with Dee), the Stars Winter Adventure Race (with Browner) and the CNYO Snowgaine (with 'Bent). If there is decent snow this winter, XC skiing and snowshoeing will be top priority. I'll be doing a bunch of running later this year but winter sports will be a good foundation.

April - Costa Brava Stage Run, Spain - 3-day, 85 km trail running stage race along the Mediterranean. So far, 4 other friends have signed up. Please come! :)

May - Storm The Trent Trek Elite adventure race with Coach LD

September - Whistler Alpine Meadows Triple WAMMY - 3-day, 86 km trail running stage race with 4,750 m of elevation gain. A bunch of friends have signed up so far.

October - Javelina Jundred 100K - Hallowe'en party in the desert with Funderstorm

Given that I have two 3-day stage races coming up, I'll look for ways to mimic that in training.

Annual Targets:
- No zero days on AP
- 450+ total hrs
- 260+ hrs of Running + Snowshoe Running + Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering + Skate Skiing (I group them together so I don't feel forced to choose between two options that provide similar benefits.)
- 6+ hrs of Strength/Mobility/Yoga each month, 80 hrs for the year

Some Training Strategies:
- At least 2 morning sessions per week
- At least four 5+ km sessions on foot per week (running, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, orienteering).
- More mountain biking

Outside of AP, I've got a bunch of other ideas for 2020 ranging from weight loss to mini-adventures to playing musical instruments to scanning old photos. Gotta go - I'm falling behind!

Kahtoola Microspikes run west on the Oak Ridges Trail to Centreville Creek Rd. This out-and-back run is 9.5 km so I had to add a little distance at the end to satisfy my need for round numbers. :)

There are a couple of gravel road/shoulder sections on this route but mostly the surface was 5-8 cm of fluffy snow over smooth ice or breakable crust. I didn't slide at all but it was often hard to get enough grip to push forward. My right knee still feels stiff - not really sore - from slipping on ice last week, and it niggled more today because the footing was so uneven. Other than that, it was a glorious, sunny day - perfect temperature for a winter run.

Treadmill run with videos instead of running on ice with Microspikes yet again. I caught up on some running news and even found a little inspiration.

Next came the Great Paddle Trainer Fail. The good news is that my upper body is really strong, apparently. The bad news is that the paddle trainer bungee cord snapped before I finished my first stroke. :(

Since paddling wasn't in the cards, I did some TRX upper body and core followed by a little foothab and balance.

Foothab and balance

The CNYO Snowgaine is back after a 1-year break that some of us had feared would be permanent!
http://cnyo.us.orienteering.org/2020/SNOWGAINE_202...

'Bent and I went opposite directions on the Hockley Provincial Park Loop. He gets brownie points because he ran with both dogs including BazingaDog on a leash. B-Dog likes to tow uphill in the early kilometres but he walks (or slides backwards on) the climbs after 30 minutes, and he's downright dangerous on icy downhills.

Thankfully, we both wore Kahtoola Microspikes. About 85% of the trail surface was coated with ice or slippery, crusty snow. I felt good in spite of some sore glutes from yesterday's lunges as expected!

Strength Training for Runners - Weight training workout #2 + foothab and balance

The plan was to run the short stretch of gravel road to Palgrave East then run home on trails, aiming for an easy 8 km. The road was bare, wet and muddy but once I got on trails, there was so much ice that I wished I'd worn Kahtoolas. For the most part, I stayed vertical but there was no way to push off on the back foot. I got caught by some stealth ice hiding in leaf litter and crashed onto my hip with a knee twist. Nice.

So I headed back to the dirt road. I started on the closed section of Duffy's Lane but it was icy too. Then I tried Finnerty but two cars flung mud at me in the first 30 seconds. So I ran Duffy's Lane north to the mailbox by Hwy 9, a quiet stretch that mostly attracts local traffic.

I'm doing a snow dance. Please join me.

Post-run foothab and balance.

Year End Review, Part 1

2019 wasn't a great training year but it was a step up from 2018 when my annual training hours dipped 150 hrs below average. In the past two years, other priorities reduced my time available for training and affected my mood and motivation. In last year's review, I wrote, "I'll need to learn to train when I don't feel like it - or maybe there's a way to convince myself to feel like it. I'm not sure how one does this."

I'm optimistic that I'm on an upward trajectory, and I think I can get back on track in 2020 with some goals and structure to help with motivation.

There's plenty to criticize about my 2019 training but there were also some positives and reasons to celebrate. Our regular trips to Collingwood meant more XC skiing. 'Bent and I forced ourselves to do more skate skiing and learned to like it - a little, sort of. :) In July we spent an amazing week trail running with friends in the Rockies, aka "Canmore Camp", my biggest fitness boost of the year. I was 1st woman in the Orienteering Ontario O Cup Series and Storm The Trent, and Middle Distance age group champion at the Ontario Orienteering Champs. Browner, K-Way and I won the female team category at Raid The Hammer. I finished the 50-mile Québec Mega Trail, my longest run in more than two years.

But I'm most proud of the 101-km CCC mountain race at UTMB. My training plan fell apart when life got in the way so I winged it from a fitness perspective but I did not wing the other aspects of preparation or execution. I'm happy that my experience, mental focus and endurance from past years of training got me through it. I didn't expect to fail but I didn't expect to succeed either, which made the finish line especially sweet.

This year I've learned that it's possible to do more with less training than I'd ever imagined. Our bodies are amazing and resilient, which is great for emergencies but not something to rely on. I was darned lucky to avoid serious injuries.

Part 2 of the Year End Review will be "Training Goals", which I didn't write in 2018 or 2019. I think that will be key but it will take longer to think through.
_________________________________

2019 Training Hours by Activity + 2019 Report Card
(2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets)
**Boring to read unless you are Future Me.**

Total Annual Training Hours = 387.5 hrs, 2256 km, 59,332 m climb
(333, 468.5, 495, 494.5, 470, 557, 505, 612)

I didn't set a target for total hours. I'd like to get back to the 450+ hour range but the 1 hour per week increase over 2018 was a good start.

2011-2013 training totals were higher than 2014-2017 mostly because of overnight/expedition ARs. The real drop happened in 2018 and 2019.

Top Five Activities - 2019

1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 193.5 hrs, 1153 km, 39,924 m climb, 93 sessions
(145, 222.5, 250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
Two mountain ultras - Quebec Mega Trail 50 miler and CCC 101 km.

2) XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 45.5 hrs
(26, 20, 30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)
Stayed local. This may have been the most skiing I've done in a year without a ski vacation.

3) Paddling - 33 hrs
(30, 32.5, 17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)
This included our trip to Algonquin Park with Timato, K-Way, Mick, Laura and all the kids.

4) Trekking - 27 hrs
(17, 47.5, 10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)

5) Tied:

Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 21.5 hrs
(45, 53, 33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)
This is incredibly low. Half my 2019 biking hours were logged on 5 days in April in Sedona. Biking was the sport that I pretty much gave up this year when I was short of time. This number doesn't include the biking in two adventure races - but the totals in other years didn't include AR biking either. I have a great bike so 2020 must be different!

Strength + Yoga - 21 hrs
(30.5, 59.5, 82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
Target was 80 hours and I can feel the loss in strength and mobility. The Personal Best Fitness Studio and Caron's Yoga/Core classes used to help me get this training in. In their absence, I obviously haven't been great at motivating myself but the other option is to drive to town and pay money, which seems silly when we have so much fitness equipment at home. I need a plan.

Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2019 list:

Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 17 hrs
(23, 18.5, 36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)
Although I've been on the board of Orienteering Ontario for years, I don't orienteer much. If I lived in Norway, I'd probably orienteer once or twice a week but in Caledon, it's easier to do other sports.

Adventure Racing - 14.5 hrs
(8, 8, 18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)
I still think of AR as my primary interest but there aren't many opportunities close to home. I'm the Assistant RD at the only overnight AR in Ontario so I never get to race it - oh well. :)

Dipped into Caron's 10 Minutes 2 Zen Series on Youtube. It's been a looong time since I've done any yoga and I'm sore from yesterday's circuit training, as expected. Ouch - but it felt helpful.

C3 New Year's Day workout and breakfast:

I chose the circuit training class with Luis Lopez rather than the spin bike or outdoor run options since I hadn't done any fitness classes in 2019. Boy, could I ever feel the lack of training! I did pretty well on the arms/legs/back exercises but my core strength needs a *lot* of work. As expected, box jumps don't come naturally to someone who has no fast twitch muscle fibres but it was impressive to watch Luis, a former competitive diver, jump up there as light as a feather, almost without bending his legs. It will be interesting to see how sore I am tomorrow...

Afterwards, we watched pro triathlete Taylor Reid try out the new C3 endless pool. Of course we eventually made him turn it up to Level 10 current and do the butterfly, just for our entertainment. This could be a good way for 'Bent and me to improve our swimming skills. They are going to add a video camera with software that will allow you to review your stroke with a replay 30 seconds later.

Short run around Palgrave West on lumpy snow and ice - great proprioception work! I haven't decided on the details yet but I think 5K training runs will play a role in my 2020 training plans so I figured I'd do one on Day 1.