Training Log Archive: Bash

I like mountain races but Ontario terrain tends to roll up and down, which is different - more like hill intervals with bursts of effort followed by rests. It would be helpful to do some training on longer hills on a regular basis. I started by reviewing the Bruce Trail maps from Hamilton to Beaver Valley.

1) Training locations within 30 minutes (120-150m hills):
a) Grange Hill via Grange Rd. or McLaren Side Trail
b) Devil's Pulpit
c) 5th Line south of Hockley Rd. (probably the most bang for the buck although it's not a trail - just a rough gravel road)

2) Training locations within 75 minutes (240-260m hills):
a) Pretty River Provincial Park via trail or 6th Line to Bruce Trail 530 m high point (biggest elevation gain I could find anywhere over a short distance)
b) Blue Mountain / Georgian Peaks / Scenic Caves Rd. (a little less gain but it goes straight up)

(For people who might be wondering, Kelso is not high enough to be worth the drive for us, compared to the other options. Same with Mount Loblaws, hehe. :) )

There are undoubtedly other good places not on the Bruce Trail map but since it runs near the Niagara Escarpment, it was a good starting point.

Since I'm still taking it easy (although almost finished with that!), I decided to take my poles and scout 1(a) and 1(b) so I could have the GPS tracks to plan future training. This part of the run was 1(a). I parked north of the closed bridge on McLaren Rd. and ran around McLaren to Grange Rd. as a warm-up. It gets less steep near the top so I'm not sure if the last part is worth doing but I included it today. Podcast was "This American Life".

So far the new iPhone operating system seems to be working although I can empathize with my legally blind friend who has a terrible time seeing things on the screen now.

And this was 1(b) - up Chisholm St. and up past Devil's Pulpit to what felt like the high point. I'm not sure it was worth carrying on after I reached Caledon Mountain Rd. since the climb was so much more gradual but I wanted it all on the GPS track. The steep climb would be very relevant for training for mountain trail races, although the footing is awkward enough that it was slow and ankle-risky in places, especially after yesterday's rain. Still, it would be good to do some repeats on this.

The one I didn't try today was 1(c) in the Hockley Valley. I don't think it needs any testing; I'll just plan to train there one day. Of all the options, it is the one that would provide the toughest workout since the footing is good enough that it comes down to cardio. I think I did some heat training there last year so I'll try to find the GPS track.

[Edit: Yup, here it is.]
http://www.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?session...

For GTA friends, especially those with kids: The Caledon Running Festival is next Sunday Sept. 29 in Caledon East - a great excuse for an autumn drive in the country! C3 and Kinetico are offering free race entry, T-shirt, finisher's medal and food for kids who enter the 1-mile run. They hope to attract 1500 kids to set a new national record! Food bank donations are encouraged. There are also 5K/10K races for adults, elite athletes to chat with, fitness assessment stations and a bouncy castle. Please pre-register to help organizers plan food and T-shirts. http://c3online.ca/Events.shtml

I posted photos of the night start of the 300 km PTL event at UTMB - a multi-day team event on a mountainous, unmarked course that seems like a good fit for adventure racers. To qualify, one member of the team needs to have completed UTMB or Tor des Géants. Here is one chapter of a race report by Jill Outside - can't say she's convinced me to try it! She did not finish.
http://arcticglass.blogspot.ca/2013/09/in-dark-lit...

For the rest of Jill's PTL experience and some of her other adventures (I remember her from Tour Divide), check this page.
https://plus.google.com/117708106361582663153/post...

Longer telomeres... another reason to run more!
http://www.runnersworld.com/health/ultrarunners-ha...

Speaking of ultrarunning, there was some interesting info in today's follow-up newsletter from UTMB.

...The medical service was subjected to greater levels of activity. Doctor Patrick Basset, Medical Director, confirmed that the doctors, nurses, physios, podiatrists and mountain rescue services received a very large number of requests from runners of not only the TDS™ but also the CCC® and UTMB®.

The excellent weather conditions tended to lower the runner's vigilance and if the muscular, osteo-articular, cutaneous, and digestive tract problems do not necessarily have very long-term or serious consequences, that is not the case concerning renal insufficiency in the context of taking non-steroid anti-inflammatories or of rhabdomyolysis. The medical team put particular emphasis on this serious medical condition, often aggravated by self medication using non-steroid anti-inflammatories, unfortunately, easily obtainable commercially.

Now that even Simpy is talking about Maffetone with a straight face, I put on my heart rate monitor and tried to stay in an easy aerobic zone today - about 70-75% of HRmax using the heart rate reserve method. Boy, is that hard to do! I know that everyone always finds it hard to go that slowly when they first try this, but my problem was staying in the range in our hilly terrain. It was similar to the challenge of maintaining a constant wattage on a bike as you go up and down. It's almost impossible to go up a hill without pushing beyond the range, and it's hard work to get up to the right range on the downhill when you're thinking you're in "easy" mode. Interestingly, my average pace for the run was only a little slower than usual even though it felt like less work.

Today's other focus was running form - good posture, stronger push-off, rear foot up higher, 2" shorter (as per the Carbons' coach). The Sense Ultras are good for that.

Other than the usual bizarre heel pain, I felt good; I'm recovering gradually.

The long stop around the 8 km mark was an attempted goat rescue. Thanks to the Harper Government's "Economic Action Plan", as advertised on a huge wooden sign nearby, a half-kilometer stretch of gravel road near our place has had its ditches redone. A little goat was on the road, and I wasn't sure what her boundaries were supposed to be so I tried to herd her back into the field with her other goat, donkey and horse friends. She seemed to be having trouble getting up the side of the new ditch into her field.



I went into the property to knock on the door and look in the back yard for people who might not want their goat on the road. No one was home. After a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, I came back down the driveway. The escaped goat was now inside the fence happily munching grass with the other animals. She looked at me and smirked. I ran the rest of the way home.

Caron's Power Yoga 1. Upper body stuff felt better this time but it's been awhile since my last non-cheating, 1-legged yoga push-up!

(Bike computer distance.)
I rode to Inglewood again - mostly rail trail. Met Barrie and Caron Shepley on the way and had a great chat.

I'd hoped to buy new bike shoes at Caledon Hills Cycling but sizes are limited this late in the season, and they only carry one women's shoe style that works with my Time ATAC cleats. Next stop: the Walk Run Ride store in Bolton.

Then I went to the Inglewood Farmer's Market and loaded up my backpack with goodies including Knobless' to-die-for zucchini cake. I kept him company at his booth for awhile and enjoyed the conversation so much that I left a little later than I should have. I raced darkness all the way home! It only became difficult in the final kilometer in the forest. It was a good test of my new Julbo photochromic lenses (Earring Doug would be so proud!) They're supposed to let in 40% of visible light in dim conditions, and they worked until the light was pretty low in the woods.

Some progress on the recovery front. When I wanted to go faster or climb a hill, it felt like I could dig deeper and use another gear. I'm sure I don't have the full range of gears back yet but that is better than I felt even on the weekend - yay.

Bohemian Gravity by A Capella Science.

Dedicated to GHO SLO and Eldersmith, the only physics profs who visit my log occasionally (as far as I know!)

An ultrarunning acquaintance finished her first 100 miler at Pine to Palm on the weekend. She struck up a conversation with the race director, asking him if he was a runner and if he had ever run an ultra marathon. He said he had done a few. Turned out the RD was Hal Koerner. :))

(If you're not up on ultra culture, Hal has won some of the hardest ultras around - Western States 100 (twice), Hardrock 100, Canadian Death Race, Angeles Crest 100 (twice).)

Btw in case you missed it, Ed Whitlock broke his own 80+ age group world record for the half marathon in Milton on the weekend with a time of 1:38.

An interview with The Oatmeal about running - and ultrarunning.
http://m.runnersworld.com/fun/an-interview-with-th...

Power yoga for flexibility - Rodney Yee DVD. Still feeling tight from France so this is good.