Training Log Archive: Bash

Finished setting the Novice course for the CN Mansfield Mountain Bike Adventure. It was perfect weather - sunny and cool. Phatty vetted the control ribbons for the Regular course, and Keith did a separate ride to do a time/distance check. Thanks, guys - it's great to have such a competent, dedicated team of club volunteers working together on this event.

Now we just need *you*!

CN Mansfield Mountain Bike Adventure
Next Sunday morning, May 31
Mansfield Outdoor Centre
Details and registration at http://caledonnavigators.heysport.com/
Earlybird entry fee available till midnight on Wed. Registration closes Friday night.

'Bent and I did Rodney Yee's Yoga for Flexibility. From the timing of the piercing shrieks, it appears that 'Bents hamstrings and calves are sore from yesterday's 25K, while for me, it's the quads. After last week's rogaine, I had sore calves, but not sore quads. I'm sure this all means something, but I'll be darned if I know what it is. Obviously 'Bent's running style is working better, so my new goal in life is to achieve sore hamstrings.

Tarno says that this year's Sulphur Springs 25K was longer than last year's. Oh good, that explains the extra 26 minutes!

Sulphur Springs 25K trail race

So... I achieved my goal with startling precision - exactly 1 min/km slower than last year. I started out OK, completing the first 10K in an hour, just a little slower than last year - and then I totally faded away. Last year I'm pretty sure I only walked up the Gulch the second time, but otherwise I ran the whole thing. This year I walked at least a dozen uphills, including both Gulch climbs.

It's interesting to look at the Garmin info from both years. Last year I only ran 4K at a pace slower than 7 min/km, and this year that was my average pace, running 10K slower than that. At the faster end of the range, last year I ran 9.5K faster than 5:30 min/km, and this year I only ran 3K faster than that.

Ah, geeking out is so much more fun than actually training properly. ;-)

As I ran today, the real runners passed me. Then the younger racers and the men passed me. And finally a few grandmothers talking on cell phones while knitting passed me. And I tried to console myself silently, "Oh yeah, speedy runners?!? So did YOU finish a 24-hr race in a different time zone less than 6 days ago with feet that felt like you were walking on broken glass? No, I didn't think so! And I suppose you actually TRAINED for this race, didn't you? Buncha wimps!" Sigh...

My story, and I'm sticking to it (for now), is that I'm not getting older and slower. (OK, maybe I'm getting older.) The rogaine was undoubtedly still in my legs today, but the bigger factor is that we lost our snow early last winter, so by the time Sulphur Springs came along, I'd put in three times as many running hours as I have this year.

So I'll let myself off the hook this time - and since I ran exactly the time I'd predicted, I'm not particularly upset. But it's time to get off my butt and start running again. You heard it here first!

It was great to see so many running friends out there today - Slowrunner and Dee were both looking strong in their 50-miler. I didn't see Sara M or STORM, but they were doing 50 miles too. I saw Spaff running his 100-miler as fast as most 25K runners! Hingo and Mrs. Gally looked good in their 50K, although Mrs. Gally confided that she got lost on her 1st lap - I can see how that could happen. It was great to see Luscious and Hingo's kids carrying a hand-coloured "Run, Daddy, Run!" sign. A number of Caledon runners had good runs, and Jildo was in the massage tent at the finish line. 'Bent came in at 2 hrs even, five minutes slower than last year, which is probably just the rogaine effect. He was still 14th out of about 180 runners - not bad for a slow day! I was 20th of 37 in my age category - better than I deserved.

Race results are going to be a little sketchy, since there was an unfortunate trail marking problem that caused some people to turn around early and miss 5K of the course. Thus the first people to cross the finish line weren't the real winners, and for the most part, the organizers will need to depend on the honour system, asking people to report whether they're one of the people who turned around at the "25K Turnaround" sign, which should have been removed after the initial 5K out-and-back. It's so much work to put on an event this complex, so I feel badly for the organizers.

Sulphur Springs 25K tomorrow - what a great idea right after a rogaine, 'Bent!! According to Attackpoint, I've averaged about 2 hrs/ month of running training so far in 2009, which is less than I'll be doing tomorrow. That doesn't count running while orienteering, adventure racing and snowshoeing, but still, by any standards, my preparation for a 25K looks a little weak. Would it be pathetic to set a goal of 1 min/km slower than last year? Or even a goal of just not passing out? Wish me luck!

We've just passed the 4th anniversary of installing solar photovoltaic panels on our house, and we've generated 7 Megawatt-hrs of electricity. That's more than we used in a year before we moved to geothermal heating, so it's a *lot* of electricity. We doubled our panels a year ago, so our meter runs backward every day at this time of year. Gotta love renewable energy! :-)

Rocky set up an awesome mountain bike score-O training night at Albion Hills. Good turn-out of fun people from CN orienteering club and the Caledon Cycling Club. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and we all got super-muddy. Other than the mosquitoes (and there were *legions*), you couldn't ask for a better evening in the woods!

Does 'Bent never get tired? He just asked me to register the two of us for the Sulphur Springs 25K trail run on Saturday. I've barely done any running lately, and I still have a painful blister on the bottom of my heel from the rogaine. This should be interesting! (If not a stellar performance.)

Off to Sedona for some post-rogaine R&R, including a big sports recovery drink to ensure our continued good health.



(Mango margarita. Richard had Prickly Pear and Mango.) Mostly, we ate fantastic food, took scenic drives, shopped (but didn't buy) and photographed the red rock scenery.



And photographed each other photographing the red rock scenery.



OK, we actually bought one thing - a present for my little brother. Can't post a photo in case any children stumble across my training log.
http://www.hotsauceworld.com/wafuupco1l.html

Great place! We need to go back there for a week of hiking and biking, i.e. without a race to taper for or recover from. (Although I wouldn't get to eat as many tacos and burritos without a race, so it might not be as fun.)