Training Log Archive: Bash

We arrived in Christchurch early in the morning. In this pic, Frankenjack and I are standing under a sign that says, "We welcome the best athletes to the best of New Zealand." They were talking about the athletes coming to Christchurch 2011, whatever that might be, but we'll take what we can get.



We headed toward Arthur's Pass with the plan of doing an overnight backpacking trip on the mountain run section of the Coast to Coast race course. Along the way, we stopped at Castle Hill for a picnic lunch. The area is popular with rock climbers and silly Canadians who haven't slept properly in a long time.

When we got to Arthur's Pass, the Department of Conservation showed us the latest forecast which included a heavy rainfall warning and a severe gale warning. We decided to spend the night, then return to Christchurch. Frankenjack and I went out separately to run in the rain.



I went along the Bridal Veil Track and returned along the road. It was warm and absolutely beautiful, even in the rain. The wet forest and streams made me think of Tasmania - still hoping to get there for the AR World Champs. Even though I hadn't been to bed yet after several long flights - or perhaps because of this - it felt great to run. There were some good Frankensteps along this route!

[Original note before I got Internet connection.] We're at Arthur's Pass, NZ in a severe storm warning. Up to 150 mm of rain and winds up to 140 kph. It is already impressive but it has only just begun. It's going to get much nastier so we're returning to Christchurch tomorrow rather than doing the Coast to Coast running route.

Alas, my laptop can't connect - only my phone. So can't post pics yet, and there are already some nice ones. Had a beautiful run today as the storm started. Looked like pics I've seen of Tasmania. I had to wear a beanie. (They don't have toques here.)

We had no Saturday, thanks to the International Date Line. We will, however, celebrate a 42-hour Valentine's Day.

'Bent, Frankenjack, Nelvia, Chris and I had a 9-hour stopover in San Francisco before flying to NZ. We took the BART downtown, walked along the Embarcadero, lunched at the Crab House on Pier 39, watched sea lions play in the sunshine, scarfed down sundaes at Ghirardelli's and wandered through the bustling streets of Chinatown. We went up and down a bunch of steep hills at a brisk pace and - needless to say - did Frankensteps whenever the opportunity arose. My day pack weighed close to 25 lb so this was a decent effort for a day of playing tourist!



In the photo below, 'Bent is using the "level" app on his iPod Touch to measure the grade of the street.













Chinatown



'Bent found this Chinese version of the Bullfrog Power logo.

We're off to NZ in the morning. Bags are nearly packed and our house/dog sitter is preparing to hold the fort. It's starting to feel real.

Coast to Coast is on Sat. Feb. 12. With the time difference, we'll start racing at 12 noon Toronto time on Fri. Feb. 11 and I hope to finish around 5 a.m. on Saturday. I'll be wearing a SPOT tracker so you can follow my progress online if you'd like. I won't know many people there so it will be good motivation in a 17-hour race to think about friends back home who might be keeping an eye on me. (Although I doubt anyone will see me finish at 5 a.m. Ontario time!)

It sounds cliche to say that this experience has been more about the journey than the destination, but it's absolutely true. I've known about C2C for years but had never considered doing it. Winning the free entry through GUATS Logs Rocks & Steel was totally unexpected and I'm glad I decided to go for it.

Since September, I've taken up road biking, kayaked in icy Georgian Bay and the steamy Everglades, paddled Canadian whitewater in January and run on trails from Stanley Park to the Hockley Valley to central Florida. Amazing people have trained with me, travelled with me, lent gear, shared useful advice, coached me and provided encouragement and hugs. I've built skills, fitness and friendships. If our trip to NZ had to be cancelled tonight, my Coast to Coast experience would already have been worth it.

The journey continues as Richard and I head to Christchurch with Jack and his sister and brother-in-law. In my mind, our #1 priority is to get Jack the best possible result in C2C. He was 12th last year on a course that was severely modified due to high water levels. The regular course plays more to his strengths. In the NZ press this week, the race director named him as one of the young competitors who could challenge Richard Ussher for the win.

I will be entirely satisfied if I finish within the time cut-offs. There are several of them, and the way they're set up is to allow racers to complete as much of the course as possible, but not necessarily to finish the race. For example, the cut-off time to start the 67 km kayak section does not allow enough time for most racers to get down the river before hitting the time cut-off for finishing the paddle. I'll know more after we've tested portions of the course but it looks like it will be a stretch for me to hit all the cut-offs. But I've prepared as well as I could and it's been loads of fun. Whatever happens, I'm OK with it.

We hope to be able to post pics and reports from NZ fairly often, so stay tuned! :)

What was I thinking when I planned to tidy up for the house / dog sitter to stay here at the same time as I'm tearing the place apart to pack for an overseas trip with a multisport race?!?

Last ride on Princess before taking her apart for the flight. Attempted to test my new aerobottle. The distance between my mouth and the straw = 10 cm (4"). I always knew that I wasn't built like a triathlete but this isn't what I meant. Must go google aerobottle photos now.

[Edit: From looking at the photos, there's nothing wrong with the aerobottle. It's another problem related to Princess being too big for me. I'll be fine with regular bottles. Once the sun sets, I might even dare to put on a Camelbak - ssshhhh!]

Hey, are y'all scared of the Humber Valley Hellrunner - the challenging Thomass course that Phatty has worked so hard to prepare for this Sunday?
http://caledonnavigators.heysport.com

No excuses - it's time to register and show the world what kind of stuff you're made of. Registration is open till midnight Friday. The event is just north of Bolton and the Caledon Navigators are the only orienteering club that engages a professional chef to help prepare the post-race goodies. Be there or miss a great time!

(P.S. We had a weird problem where our website looked fine in every browser except Internet Explorer. Our apologies if you were affected but you can get in now.)

I tried oh so hard not to do it but I'm heading to MEC and Running Free later today. How is it possible that I don't own every piece of outdoor or racing gear that I could possibly need for the rest of my life?

On a brighter note, it's mandatory that I have two identical first aid kits containing things that I mostly wouldn't choose to carry. (Exactly what can I do with a triangular bandage while whitewater kayaking? Urthbuoy? You didn't cover that in my coaching sessions.) Amazingly, I found duplicates of everything I needed in our first aid cupboard. It was handy but almost frightening.

As an Attackpoint reader, you already knew this. :)

But maybe you didn't know that the race director considers Frankenjack to be a contender even with three-time winner Richard Ussher returning to Coast to Coast!

More practice on the tri bars - stayed in aero position for all but a few minutes of the ride. Given the lower back pain I got riding in the regular position last fall, I'm kinda surprised they feel just fine. Of course, I still have no clue what will happen when I try them on a road where the altered balance and lack of brakes might come into play.

By the way... You know how much it hurts when you bang your funny bone? Well, I learned today that my knee has a place on it that feels exactly the same - and I bashed it hard with my funny bone (double ouch!!) while reaching for a water bottle. Stoopid.

It's not looking good for tomorrow's planned kayak excursion on Georgian Bay to test my cool new paddle. It sounds like the Bay is better suited to snowmobilers than kayakers at the moment. Getawaystix is doing his best to feign bitter disappointment.

Fantastic winter outing in Palgrave West - fluffy snow falling quickly and calf-deep powder off-trail. BulletDog and I went cross-country randomly climbing and descending hills, running as much as possible but sometimes just scrambling up steep sections and clambering over obstacles.

I was so proud of BulletDog as she darted between trees, ploughed through snow up to her shoulders and leapt lightly over big logging debris like a parcours expert. She was a city dog when she first came to live with us and had never been off the sidewalk. She used to recoil in fear when a stalk of goldenrod brushed against her face. Our valiant little pooch has come a long way. :)

When I snowshoe off-trail in Palgrave West without any route in mind, I often end up in places I don't recognize right away but today was particularly impressive. I think I caught a glimpse of one road that was actually another road and made a bunch of decisions based on that - and of course, I'm no better at holding a straight line without compass or sunlight than anyone else. When I suddenly emerged onto the Bruce Trail side trail, it came as a complete surprise. For a few seconds, I stood at a place I've been more than a thousand times, staring at the snow-covered forest and hills, willing it to make sense - until it did. Weird.

Back home, snow is still falling hard enough that my tracks are obscured already. 'Bent just skied home from work and I've got a glass of port by the fire. Life is good.