Training Log Archive: Bash

Damn, the SPOT tracker was nice but it really is too bad I didn't have this technology for our trip to NZ.

Desperation skiing in Palgrave West with BulletDog. Temperature was 2C and rising with misty rain just starting. The forecast for the next 24 hours is rain and more rain, going up to 5C. At this time of year, you never know which ski in our woods is going to be the last one for the season so I skied because it was possible, not because I expected it to be good. When I stayed in 'Bent's tracks from this morning, it was fine other than occasional debris. When I broke trail through fresh snow, it was like skiing on warm toffee.

Of course it would have been sheer madness to ski for 42 minutes without a break so I stopped off at Crash's place for some freshly brewed coffee and good conversation. That got my strength up for the gruelling 11-minute journey home.

Hard Core DVD. It *has* been awhile, hasn't it? (Oooff!) I muted the sound so I could listen to a CBC Radio podcast while watching the core routine on TV. I missed hearing the "8 more, 7 more..." cues but that's probably a good thing since it made things more difficult mentally. Must do this more often. Valerie has been doing THE DVD 11 times a week and making me feel guilty.

Goose, Coach LD, 'Bent and I carpooled to Highlands for some awesome classic skiing. Great to spend time with the Doughtys again although there's nothing like hanging out with a couple of ski coaches to remind us how much room there is to improve!

Since we spent part of our winter in the New Zealand summer, it's been awhile since we've had the chance to focus on technique and pace on good trackset trails. I skied on my own and never felt really fast; my wax was a little dubious for both the morning and afternoon laps. But looking back at previous log entries from Highlands, it seems that my pace was good and it was my perception that was off.

Ran into Sudden briefly - looking good with the new facial hair! Had lunch with Susanne & Brian and our carpool gang. Also had a great chat with Tarno. He was on skate skis and I was on classic so that part was level 4!

Nothing but spectator sports for me today. Leanimal and 'Bent were visiting their respective parents tonight so Phatty and I headed to Schomberg for what FB would probably call: Hockey (Good).

FB was the coach. We almost walked right by him since we didn't recognize the serious-looking man in the tie and shiny black shoes.



Fortunately, we sat with the right set of parents because we were taking a risk by cheering against the home team. Will played well and had a great assist. The guys put on a good show for us, coming from behind with just a minute to go, tying the game at 4-4. They went into sudden death overtime and took the win. Woo hoo!



(iPhone pics... not always so great.)

Will smiled when he saw Phatty and me - honest - but it's hard to tell with the mouthguard. Man, that kid has grown up since I last saw him!

4 X 4 min intervals at a little faster than 10K race pace. Will keep increasing this. I haven't run many measured 10K courses and it would be a good speed goal to aim for a PB this year. I need some speed goals - not just endurance goals!

Woo hoo, I can focus on my mountain biking for awhile! Princess is still in the bike box and I'm in no rush to assemble her. I haven't decided yet but I'm thinking that I will sell her. But if I do that, I will buy a smaller road bike that fits me better. I've decided to keep a road bike in the rotation from now on - one of the little changes that resulted from doing C2C.

I've been giving my knee a chance to recover after treating it so badly in NZ. It seems to be making a good comeback. I didn't feel it on the treadmill at all but it whimpered a little on the bike trainer so I kept it short for this first ride back. I'll have to keep the cadence nice and high so it stays happy. I should be doing that anyway.

While watching The Daily Show.

Ten years ago today, we lost a close family member to an impaired driver. As a physician, he worked crazy hours for 40 years then enjoyed only a few weeks of retirement before his life was taken from him. His wife now travels alone to the places they'd dreamed of visiting together. He never met the woman his youngest son married. After delivering more than 5,000 babies in his career, he never got to see his own grandchildren. The guy who killed him had two previous driving-related criminal convictions, one of them involving alcohol.

Please drive safely and encourage your friends and kids to be responsible. One mistake can change lives forever.

Time to get back into normal training. Only 3 months till the next big race - eek! Felt surprisingly good considering how long it's been. Even bumped up the weight on a couple of exercises, thinking about Urthbuoy's comment about doing things to failure.

Another serious earthquake has struck Christchurch, this time a more devastating one with multiple fatalities. The residents had gone through so much to rebuild their homes, businesses and infrastructure from the last earthquake, and there was still plenty of work left to do. The people there were all so kind to us and my heart is with them tonight. The downtown core is built around this beautiful cathedral we visited two weeks ago. Its spire collapsed in today's quake. Sending thoughts and prayers to our friends there.

Snow was falling fast last night so 'Bent and I were excited about skiing in Palgrave for the first time in awhile.



I used my C2C swag for the first time. We all got a nice custom IceBreaker top. I bought the toque.



Turns out we only had 5-10 cm of powder on top of hard lumpy stuff so we had to be careful to avoid any potentially knee-twisting falls. Because of the recent high winds, a lot of branches were down on the trails. But aside from that, it was awesome to be out skiing in the forest again. Beautiful day!





BulletDog missed skiing while we were away and went absolutely nuts on the trails. She has now curled herself into a tiny chocolate Danish in her bed by the fireplace. (If you're reading this Trav, I am sort of plagiarizing you.) Not expecting to hear much more from her this afternoon. In fact, we're all feeling pretty relaxed after our efforts - even ThunderDog who stayed home and valiantly guarded the place.





I know some people are ready for spring but we're hoping for another 4-6 weeks of winter. Sorry! :)



Time discounted for putzing around, taking photos, talking to people we met, etc.

Before we forget (and I know for a fact that the winner has not), it's time to announce the winner of the how many times will Bash flip her kayak in NZ? pool.

Even though I dismissed his guess as ridiculous, Hammer won the pool with "0". Trav gets an honourable mention for his "-1" entry (it was negative because I was supposed to help a fellow paddler in trouble but all I did was watch sympathetically as the river swept him downstream toward our guide without a boat), as does Wombat with her guess of "1".

Trav gets bonus points for coming up with the most appropriate names for the rapids on the Waimakariri River: Diamond Splitter, Widow Maker, the Black Hole and the "Sucker"

Baloney gets bonus points for the most accurate description of some of my most memorable moments on the river: "...one partial holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP, almost, partial tip, good to be counted as a .2 of a tip!"

If you count it Baloney's way, I had a total of 0.7 tips in three separate incidents. So if there were an actual prize, Wombat might contest Hammer for it.

NewPatrick - or whatever he is calling himself this afternoon - placed last with 9 tips. Sorry to let you down, mate, but I'll try to do better next time.

My own guess would have been in the 3-4 range including training and race day. But luckily for Hammer, there never *was* a race day paddle.

I went for three unplanned swims in rapids while in NZ but they all happened during river crossings while I was training and racing the C2C mountain run leg. I had one good swim on race day but Richard Ussher said he had several swims during the run and I think Frankenjack had a couple too. Damn those show-off guys - do they have to beat me at *everything*?