Training Log Archive: Bash

Event: Personal Best Barebones Snowshoe Run & Social
 

Skechers Bare Bones Snowshoe & Run - 8K Snowshoe (52:30) + 4K Run (23:00)
Albion Hills

A few months ago, Barrie Shepley met with me to discuss the idea of getting some of his athletes (mostly triathletes and runners) to try snowshoeing as part of their winter training. His company, Personal Best, bought snowshoes for its coaches and held training days on the past two weekends where different snowshoes were available to try. 'Bent and I attended the sessions and helped "coach" - although snowshoeing is so easy to learn that I hesitate to use that word.

Part of Barrie's plan was to host a low key snowshoe race as a learning experience for him and to give people another reason to try snowshoeing. It turned out really well! There were about 60 people doing different versions of the course - 4K or 8K snowshoe-only or a duathlon of 4K / 8K snowshoe followed by a 4K run. I'd signed up for the longest course (8K snowshoe / 4K run) when there were fewer event options. Not many people signed up for it and I was worried about being the very last person to cross the line. Normally I'd be cool with that but it would be pathetic for the "snowshoe instructor" to be the last of 60 people to finish.

I'm glad I resisted the urge to switch to snowshoe-only because the courses were both a little short and I had a great time. The Albion Hills Black Trail was opened up specially for snowshoeing and provided a fantastic, beautiful, hilly challenge. The triathletes seemed to have a great time out there, and Jay Clark (Albion Hills supervisor) said they are now considering changing the Black Trail from a seldom-used skate ski trail to a snowshoe and fat bike trail. I think that would be a good call. There is also talk about a winter evening race series for next year like they have for mountain biking. That would be a great way to develop the next stars of the Dion Snowshoe Race Series that Spaff and Sneaker put on! :)

I had the pleasure of being announced as the women's leader on the long duathlon course as I entered the transition and again as I crossed the finish line. Very exciting, however my actual place - both times - was 2nd behind WandAR, who apparently was invisible. :) Big congrats to 'Bent for placing 2nd overall in the long duathlon to star triathlete Sean Bechtel. Not bad for a guy who still hasn't recovered completely from bronchitis.

This was the road run portion of the duathlon. I changed from snowshoes to Snowcross shoes in transition, which took about 90 seconds. The other choice would have been Yaktrax but I love my spikes! Transition time has been divided evenly between the two disciplines.

Introducing Logan! (Attackpoint name TBD and apologies to Revy for confusing matters by choosing the same dog name.)

Logan has just arrived from northern Quebec where a kind family nursed him back to health after they found him starving and walking around on his own. The temperature there hit -52C recently so he was very, *very* lucky. The vet estimates that he is 1-2 years old. BazingaDog is excited to have a new little brother, and 'Bent and I are very happy to have a 2-dog family once again.

Coach LD invited 'Bent and me to join her for a ski on the Humber River. There are only certain times in the winter when ski conditions are good there, and today was definitely one of them! Much of the time, we were skiing on snow over ice but occasionally we were skiing on a skating rink. Our poles were only minimally helpful. Sometimes we skirted moving water with care and other times we crawled on our hands and knees under fallen trees.

We skied up to Duffy's Lane and saw the huge new Bolton bypass bridge that hasn't opened yet. Along the way, we made tracks, pruned fallen trees and stopped for photos. On the way back, we skied almost as fast as my crappy waxless touring skis could go since Coach LD had to get home for her child care. What a fantastic wilderness adventure in the middle of town! :)









We found these mystery tracks in several places along the river. They include some regular deer tracks.



Time deducted for photography and pruning.

Slowrunner workout #7 plus some faves from #6 and a little foothab.

P.S. This included a 2:10 straight-arm plank. It didn't seem easier or harder than forearms.

Old family photos, recreated - a particularly good example of this popular genre. http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/655/Three-Brothers-R...

It was such a gorgeous night with 8 cm of fresh snow on the ground and more coming down... I confess that 'Bent and I played hooky from our yoga/core class and headed into the forest. We scrambled up and down hills, through raspberry bushes and over fallen logs as snowflakes twinkled all around us in the light from our headlamps. It is so easy to get disoriented off-trail in the dark. A few times we came out at a trail and I was totally surprised at where we'd ended up. 'Bent is much better at that than I am - although the opposite is true when we are equipped with maps and compasses.

After 25 years together, 'Bent and I are going speed dating on Friday.

We're going to meet a van load of dogs that the International Fund for Animal Welfare has rescued from a native reservation in northern Ontario. If we find love, we can bring home a foster dog to see if he/she is the new canine soulmate that our family has been looking for. Excited!

P.S. If anyone else has been thinking about rescuing a dog, our friend Jan manages the Northern Dogs Project and I could put you in touch. There will be 10 to 14 dogs coming. Dogs from this region run around town with children and other dogs so they are usually friendly mixed breeds.

Sunset run around Palgrave West. It's definitely not as icy as the famed Palgrave Glacier of a few years ago but the trails are like polished marble with patches of glare ice so I was very glad to have spikes.

@OutdoorsMama: I went down to check out the cattle that surprised me at the edge of the woods last week. I could see three sides of a fenced pasture so there is probably a 4th side out of sight beyond the hill. Some of the fencing looks new so maybe this is a recent plan to rent out the land. There is a shipping container sitting in the place where I saw a big truck wallowing around at twilight recently. It's inside with the cattle so maybe it's a portable barn? There were only a few cattle in sight - maybe 4-6.

This was my first attempt at the planking competition that has sprung up on a few AP logs lately. I've done lots of planks in the past but usually as part of something else - yoga, mountain climbers, plank rowing, etc. This was my first time trying to just hold a plank for as long as I could. I have a long way to go to catch up with Hermes!

Weights session with Slowrunner. Needed to work off some major stress.

If you'll be around the GTA on Sunday, 'Bent and I are doing the Personal Best Snowshoe Race at Albion Hills. There are snowshoe-run and snowshoe-only events. Snowshoe-run can be done as a relay with a teammate. (I would have done snowshoe-only but that option was just added this week due to popular request so I'm doing 8K snowshoe / 4K run.)

It's just going to be a fun, low key race that includes lunch. Entry fee $20 or $25, depending on the event. Come up to Caledon and see us! http://www.personalbest.ca/component/content/artic...