Training Log Archive: Bash

It's a glorious, warm, sunny day - perfect for paddling! However, 'Bent thought it was more perfect for biking, and I am such a good wife that I agreed to a humid tour of Palgrave East single track instead of a nice, relaxing, cool kayak paddle. :) 'Bent carried on for a little more riding in Albion Hills but I figured an hour of biking was enough after almost 6 hours of running yesterday.

Although I didn't think I would be, I'll be happy when the planned one-way signs go up in Palgrave. It's not that crowded but there are many places where you can't see an oncoming rider until the last minute; there's been at least one major crash.

Used bike computer stats.

Mix - regular strength training for core and upper body but avoided the hardest lower body work since I got enough of that on yesterday's run.

Btw Flight, so far I'm 10 minutes short on this week's 90-minute target for strength and yoga but I'm counting some of this week's hill running as strength training so I'm golden. You? ;)

Post-run yoga/stretching. I meant to do much more but 'Bent is a good cook.

With the Kettle 100K three weeks from today, this was the weekend for a final long run. I did a 50K race three weeks ago so I figured I should be OK but I haven't run a lot this year so you never know! I went somewhere between 50K and 100K pace (i.e. lots of hill walking), and boy does that feel good!

Sarah P and her husky Mika joined me for the first part of the run, which was a Hockley Loop starting at the northwest corner. Mika was the perfect pacer for today's run since she took breaks to drink from streams, and we didn't want her going too quickly up or down hills. Great company - the time flew.

They went back to their car when I turned north toward Mono Cliffs. I'd hidden an "aid station" cooler in the woods by 15th Sideroad so I stopped for Coke and a cold water refill. Then I headed up to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, which I don't know very well. I'd thought about doing two Hockley Loops but I wanted a change. Mono Cliffs had lots of apple trees in blossom; clearly, an autumn expedition will be required.

I added a couple of gravel road hills since the route is not quite as hilly up there. The best hill I found today was on my drive home. (Actually, to Dairy Queen.) On 3rd Line just north of Hockley Rd., you can start at the northern bridge and gain 100 m as you go north 1.3 km. There is access to the Glen Cross Side Trail from 3rd Line so it doesn't all have to be boring.

I felt good. No blisters, dizziness, sore knee (which I had most of this week), sore hip, sore feet - yay. Fingers crossed, I think I'm ready to run 100K in a few weeks. The other, bigger challenge will be running 101K in the Alps two months from now. I need to do a *lot* more hill climbing over the next while.

We said goodbye today to our friend and longtime dogsitter, Sylvia Penny, who passed away much too young.

One of the loveliest online condolences was: "I worked for many years with Sylvia at Wildcare. She served on the board, as a fundraiser, and as the most amazing animal rescuer I know. No-one but Sylvia could practically march into the middle of a large pond and walk away with an injured Great Blue Heron tucked neatly under her arms. Sylvia had a huge heart for all, and any animal that flew, climbed, swam, or slithered was a focus of her compassion."

It was a life well lived. All four of us will miss her very much.

Plan for tomorrow's long run: figure 8 of Hockley Loop and Mono Cliffs. Company welcome for either or both. Lots of hills, aiming for my 50 miler pace - 9-ish min/km.

Nice treat to see Monsieur le Phatty du Salomon on his quick trip to Ontario. Thanks to Coach LD and Goose for another yummy dinner!

ESAR team practice! Dee and Mrs. Gally travelled to my neighbourhood for a tour of Albion Hills and Palgrave single track. We had the trails almost entirely to ourselves on a perfect sunny, cool morning. Although we chatted, there was no lollygagging. Our team needs to be time-efficient since we are busy with an average of two children each (and I have zero!!) We kept moving and pushed up dozens of short, steep uphills. My legs are tired from the past week so my top gear wasn't there and I didn't have enough oomph (technical cycling term) for some of the rootiest uphill corners. But really, it could have been a lot worse.

No one fell but some mysterious sounds were emanating from Dee's bike. I was secretly hoping that someone would break a chain since I figured out yesterday that the plastic side cover comes off my multi-tool and reveals a small, hidden Allen key that will tighten the chain tool. Sweet! (All you bike repair experts: Go ahead and laugh at me. I deserve it.)

We have one more team training session planned before ESAR. Mrs. Gally is working on our costumes for the race - very exciting.

(Bike computer distance.)

If anyone is interested in a long, slow, hilly run on Saturday - or part of one - I'm planning about 5 hours that will probably include a Hockley Loop. If you're asking yourself, "I wonder if the pace will be fast enough for me", then it probably won't be!

Easy run around Glen Haffy with AdventureDog on a sunny, cool afternoon. There's a frost warning tonight so it's perfect weather for a dark brown dog to go for a long run.



We stopped several times at streams. If he wants to do any exercise in the summer, he needs to lose his fear of water.



I encouraged him to drink from creeks and threw a stick or two. He eventually got brave enough to step into shallow water and walk around a bit - major progress.

We ran almost all the hills today with just a few short walks. We stopped at a Bruce Trail viewpoint to look east off the Oak Ridges Moraine and admire the beautiful late afternoon light.



We saw two deer, one big patch of poison ivy and zero people. I did another Superman face plant - sigh.

Gotta get back to this. My trainer sessions finished for the summer a couple of weeks ago, and I'm seeing how helpful it has been to have weekly accountability to someone else!