Training Log Archive: Bash

Merry Christmas! Today's training plans include carb loading, stair climbing (when we're carolling at the hospital) and team building activities. Hope you have a great day too!

'Bent and I are celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas at the same time this year. In this musical number, Jon Stewart explains Hanukkah to Stephen Colbert.

Preparations for Operation Christmas are almost complete so I had time to go to Glen Haffy to test most of Keith's Thomass Caledon race course before sunset. I was hanging flagging tape at controls so it wasn't a hard workout. Weather was cold with a light dusting of snow - so nice to have a little winter!

More earthquakes in Christchurch :(
Heartbreaking - they've been through so much already.

Tonight was fellow Salomon Flight Crew member Ryan Barrett's Winter Solstice Run from 4:43 p.m. to 7:48 a.m. He did loops of approximately 1 hour from the Salomon Store, joined by runners who came by to keep him company.



Simpy, Bugsinteeth, TheMinister and I did our first lap with him at 9:30 p.m., heading from the store into Edwards Gardens and back. Nice, chatty pace sharing stories with each other and with the other runners.



In between laps, we were thrilled to see WandAR who had come out to offer support in the form of home-baked Christmas cookie packages. What a yummy surprise!



TheMinister headed home and the rest of us headed out for lap 2 with Ryan and several other runners. It was getting close to midnight after that and I still had a long drive back to Palgrave, so I switched to Christmas shopping mode while Simpy and Bugsinteeth headed out for a 3rd lap with Ryan. Fun Solstice celebration!

Last call... Winter Solstice run based at the Salomon Store tonight. Ryan Barrett, a fellow Salomon Flight Crew member, will start running at 4:43 p.m. when the sun sets and continue until it rises at 7:48 a.m. He'll be doing 8-10K loops that take about an hour, and he'll come into the store after each loop to pick up runners. Speed is not a problem - he'll adapt. Bring a headlamp and trail shoes and come prepared to take advantage of a 20% discount on everything in the store, which will be open all night!

P.S. Simpy, Bugsinteeth, possibly TheMinister and I will arrive at 9 p.m. for 1 or 2 laps plus shopping.

Not the last call but getting close...

Canadian Death Race registration opens on Jan. 10, 2012 and the solo division apparently fills fast. It's on the long August weekend 3 hours west of Edmonton - 125 km of trail with about 18,000' of elevation gain. Solos have 24 hours to finish. You can do it solo or as a relay team. I've heard some rumblings from friends interested in trying the relay. Feel free to put a comment here if you'd like to find other like-minded relay runners.

Confirmed solos (assuming we get our registrations in) include Mrs. Gally, STORM, Dee and me - and probably others that I'm forgetting in the pre-Christmas rush.

Tweaked my meniscus yesterday and lay awake in pain half the night, imagining my new hobby of knitting instead of training for UTMB. It seems to be improving today but still crackly. I did a very complete set of knee stabilization exercises and now I'll try some red wine therapy.

In a month when we can get tired of Christmas carols, 16-year-old musician Sean Quigley has done something fresh and fun with Little Drummer Boy in the snowy streets of his native Winnipeg. He's also become a Youtube sensation with his video viewed over 1.2 million times in less than a week!

Today's Facebook status from one of my young elementary school friends:

"Ok right about now I'm getting really sick of these boring old people singing "I'm Dreaming of a white christmas" look we all know its sad but I bet ur not helping the world by warming it! So suck it up!!!!!!!"

Aackk!! Thunderstorms in the forecast for Wednesday. :(