Training Log Archive: Bash

It's not every day you stumble onto the World Unicycling Championships!

Mont Tremblant Village was full of mountain unicyclists of all ages and sizes. Very cool! Today was a practice day; tomorrow they'll be racing - uphill and downhill.





'Bent and I did a longer route today. Although we did more running than yesterday, there was a lot of unrunnable trail so I guess I'll average things out with yesterday by calling this a trek. We have been carrying all our UTMB mandatory gear so we look really over-prepared.

There were pretty waterfalls.





There were some nice views too, although much of our day was spent in beautiful forest without views off the mountain.





We took the Grand Brûlé trail to the summit lodge. It's a longer, more technical and more scenic trail than the ones we were on yesterday. Then we took Les Sommets trail across the ridge.

Along the way, we reached the top of Pic Pangman, the 8051st highest mountain in Canada. Woot!



When we got to Pic Johannsen (our high point for the weekend at 935 m), we headed into Parc national du Mont-Tremblant on the Le Toit des Laurentides trail. It was really slow going - much like some of the wet, rocky trails we did last year in the Adirondacks.



There was a place where they'd hung a rope to aid the descent.



We went down for awhile longer but it wasn't what we were looking for today so we finally turned around to head back up. Back to the rope!



When we got back up to Pic Johannsen, we turned and headed down the Johannsen trail back to the ski resort.

See? There was some running - more of it as we got lower and the trail got better.



There were some beautiful sights on the way down.







And... we made it to the village and raced back to the lodge to let the pooches out. Fun long day! Both of us felt like the climbing was no big deal. Of course, this is nothing compared to what we're training for but it's more sustained elevation gain than we get at home. Unfortunately, my baby toe is still killing me from last Friday night's long hike. It's not the first time it's had a bad blister but the timing is really not good.



Except for the summit lodge break, our time includes all stops. Distance is from 'Bent's Garmin.

'Bent and I are in Mont Tremblant for some hill training.



The trails we explored today were really nice! We went past a waterfall and many streams.





There were rocks, mud, moss and shady forest. Best of all, Francis Falardeau had assured me there is no poison ivy in the Laurentians. So for once, I didn't have to scan the ground 100% of the time.





Here's a viewpoint partway up.



Here's the summit of the main mountain with a big ski chalet, cafeteria, gift shop, zip line, etc., etc.





A storm seemed to be coming in but it missed us until the evening. It might have been nice since the 28C temperature made me feel like crap for half an hour until I doused my head in a cold creek. Other than that, the climbing felt good.



Spaff's instructions to 'Bent today were to do some tough climbing but don't push too hard on the downhills. We took this literally and availed ourselves of a rare opportunity to focus on uphill trails only and take a gondola downhill!



We took the Caps trail up the first time and a mix of Vertigo and Sasquatch the second time. Sasquatch was our favourite - didn't see anyone. We didn't have time for a 3rd ascent because we had to get back to the dogs so we finished with a couple of small loops near the summit. I'm calling it running in the same debatable way I will use the word "running" for UTMB. We ran the flats and downhills unless they were too technical but mostly we hiked briskly uphill.

In the village afterward, I celebrated with a Queue de Castor (TM). Abizeleth, take note. To add to my bliss, there was a Salomon store across the street. :)



We are staying in the dog-friendliest accommodation I've ever experienced. We have a beautiful suite with full kitchen by a lake with dog day care onsite, a lake where pooches can swim and a network of flat forest trails. Before dinner tonight we got together with the lodge owners, the other guests and their dogs for their Saturday Yappy Hour. Free dog biscuits, wine and beer for sale, and 10% of proceeds go to the SPCA.

Nous sommes au Quebec!

Throwback Thursday - Here's Mom's graduation photo taken in the same place at U of Guelph where I ran across the grass yesterday. This was 1955 - almost 60 years ago, shortly before my parents got married.

Remember that conference abstract two years ago where researchers said that said running too often, too fast or too much distance would increase your risk of dying? Although that was the headline in the media ("Too Much Exercise Can Kill You"), their real conclusion was that less running was healthier than more running. All runners in their study had a lower mortality risk than people who didn't run at all. But that would have made a boring, predictable headline.

So... the study has finally been published in a cardiology journal and guess what? After undergoing peer review of the statistical analysis, the study's conclusions have changed substantially. The "too much exercise is deadly" slant is gone because the data didn't show that at all - something Alex Hutchinson of Sweat Science argued at the time. The new sound byte headline is "a little running is just as good for you as a lot of running", i.e. people who run less than an hour a week have the same risk of dying as people who run more than 3 hours a week, and runners still have lower risk of mortality than non-runners. Turns out that it's just fine to run fast too, if you can.

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/running-mortali...

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/new-research-bi...

I had to entertain myself in Guelph for a few hours while Mocha had her second chemo session. (She's doing really well!) I brought running gear and spent part of the time running around the University of Guelph Arboretum and campus.

It's not a campus I know well but both my parents went to U of G so our family has always had a strong connection there. I've often seen photos of my parents and their parents standing in front of Johnston Hall on their graduation day in 1955 so it was a real throwback moment when I realized I was running on the same patch of grass. After 59 years, both of their university classes still have annual reunions that are well attended considering that their classmates have scattered geographically and are 80+ years old if they are still living. It's quite amazing compared to my class.

'Bent had left Schlepp Jr. lying tantalizingly close to the front door. (This is the tire that Coach Spaff has him drag to simulate hill climbing.) I went out in our yard to give it a try, and Mocha walked companionably beside me - back and forth, back and forth. I can see how it helps. Running with it would be tough!

To celebrate BazingaDog being 3.5 years old and as mature as he's likely to get until his senior years, we fenced in part of our property today. It stings a little to fork out a couple of nice mountain bikes worth of cash to build a fence we'd rather not have, but it hurts more when he yanks me off my feet when he's on leash and sees a deer. Even 'Bent has been pulled onto his face. We'll need to take a few detours to get from point A to point B from now on but it will be nice to just open the door and let the lad out.

Advertising executive Kevin J. McGroarty clearly had fun writing his own obituary. He claims that he died "after battling a long fight with mediocracy"... "He would like to remind his friends: 'Please, don't email me, I'm dead.'"
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesleader/obitu...

Dakota Jones is one of the best and funniest writers on the ultrarunning scene. Here's his report from his recent DNF at Hardrock - although he doesn't talk much about his own race. This is the event where Canadian runner Adam Campbell was struck by lightning and still placed 3rd. Kilian Jornet won but that almost goes without saying!
http://www.irunfar.com/2014/07/falling-off-edges-h...