Training Log Archive: Bash

Skied the Bear and Heron trails with 'Bent and BulletDog. Bear is the trail with the longest, steepest hills, so we had to be careful to ski under control in case of surprise trail obstacles. It really wasn't too bad, and the scenery was stunning on this sunny and very COLD morning.

Skied Old Mill, Sugarbush and Short Fox trails with 'Bent and BulletDog. There is more than enough snow to ski, but it's fluffy stuff, so there's not much of a base. There were twigs and occasional bits of rock that stuck out of the snow, but that's the reason I wore my rock skis. I'd been afraid that I might run into a rock and hurt my knee, but conditions were a lot better than that - and it turns out that the rocks on the trail aren't that big.

Skied up the lake with the whole gang, including both pooches, to visit an area of ancient white pines. The warm, late afternoon light was incredible, especially when it sparkled on ice spilling down cliffs.

Walking through the bush to visit a number of huge old white pines. Naturally, this called for a photo of me hugging a tree. If I knew how to embed photos, this would be the place.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Phew. I was up between 2 and 4 a.m. every night this week, trying to get things done before we went away. After all that, I just hope that I have enough energy left for a vacation!

After a pleasant start to our trip, we drove through heavy, blowing snow east of Georgian Bay, with visibility so poor at times that it would have been tempting to pull over - except that someone might hit us if we did.

So it was ironic to learn that we would be getting the "low snow" discount at the backcountry XC ski lodge we were heading to about 30 km northeast of Sudbury. Somehow, the snow has been missing them this year. They probably have as much as we have in Palgrave, but it's Shield country, so there are a few more rocks to watch for. For the first time in 12 years of going there, we were asked to ski in to the lodge by travelling 6 km across the lake instead of 7 km through the forest. It was actually surprisingly pretty. They had set tracks that weaved among islands and along the shore, so it was as scenic as the forest, although definitely not as hilly.

'Bent, Griff, JM, ThunderDog, BulletDog and I had less than a kilometer to go when we noticed a small skier with excellent form heading speedily toward us. Young Kate, age 9, whom we've known since before she was born, has been getting coached this year, and it shows. She can double-pole as well as Tarno!

Hard Core - class with Caron. The class was noticeably smaller this week, and we teased her that it was because of last week's Extra Hard Core workout. She went pretty easy on us tonight compared to usual. There were only a few times when she made us hold some awkward, abdomen-stretching position for an extra count of 8. It turns out she was in an extra good mood after being asked for ID when she ordered a drink on the weekend.

It took us awhile to notice, but the theme of tonight's yoga class was doing the same poses in different positions - standing, sitting and lying down. There was one section in particular when I thought my quads were going to explode if I held the pose any longer. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the variety in each yoga class, and by how much I've underestimated the difficulty of yoga in the past.

Argghh, too much to do this week!

I confirmed something that we've been suspecting for awhile. ARC is not going to hold their winter adventure race this year. They didn't market it at all last year, and now they're saying that they lost money on it. Duh.

On the bright side, BobTheNavigator has some cool, original ideas for future adventure sport events. The first new event is the Horseshoe Resort Snowshoe Raid on Feb. 24, partnering with GHO. (Website host is currently undergoing problems as I write this, but it'll be back.) I'm testing the course next weekend. As urthbuoy would say, booya!

Another cool new event this year is the Dirty Girls Trail Race in Glen Haffy. Check it out! I'm betting it will sell out.

A nice midweek treat! Following a business meeting in Bolton, Sherpa and the fur girls came to Palgrave for some snowshoeing with ThunderDog, BulletDog and me. There is nothing quite like four energetic Labs zooming around and rolling in the snow.

I pulled a fast one on Sherpa, handing her the Tree Hugger race map and a compass, and advising her that her mission (which she gamely chose to accept) was to locate flags and help me take them down. This led us on a lovely cross-country trek through the snowy woods - on trails, over hills and into valleys. A couple of flags had disappeared since Tiny and Pixie went out. We had to turn back at dusk, and soon afterward, we heard 'Bent's skis approaching on his commute home from work. The dogs were thrilled, zipping back and forth between all the humans as we made our way home. Nice dinner cooked by 'Bent, and great to catch up with Sherpa.

I thought I'd at least get around to doing some yoga for my tired legs today, but it was just too busy.

Our team is celebrating after the weekend! Three-time Tree Hugger Brittany Webster competed at the Haywood Noram Canada Cup World XC Ski Championship Trials in Canmore, and won both her races (10 km and 15 km)! She wasn't even supposed to be at the World Champs Trials, but the World Junior Champs in Italy were postponed due to lack of snow, so the junior team came to Canmore for the practice. Chandra Crawford came 10th in one of the races, so Brittany beat an Olympic gold medalist, which is easily the best Tree Hugger race result to date. :-)

Five-time Tree Hugger Pate Neumann also had a highly successful competition, finishing as the top Junior in the 30 km race, and 8th overall. He was 2nd Junior in his 15 km race.

All I can say about these super-nice, hard-working and spectacularly talented 19-year-olds is WOW!!!