Training Log Archive: Bash

O Cup #4 - TOC
Earl Bales Park

Great to see so many friendly faces on a Sunday morning. When we got the maps, I saw that my handicap wouldn't be a big help on this race course, which made for a relaxing - if sometimes inattentive - run.

Conditions sure were different from the last time I raced at Earl Bales in deep, heavy snow. Some of the ground was bare and frozen but there was a thin layer of snow in the woods with patches of ice all over the place. I was really glad to have metal spikes! Some of the slopes were steep and slick, and I was super cautious and even sat down and slid a few times. An injury now would be really bad timing for Lavaredo. The uphills felt decent and I may have done the first pull-ups of my life using saplings. ;)

The terrain was surprisingly varied for a small city park and the course design was interesting. Congrats to Mick on his victory and a big thank you to Wilberto, Barbara, Amber, Malcolm and Svatka for their hard work!

Making progress with the pain and immobility around the first metatarsal on my left foot. I haven't seen Dr. Bell in a long time but I still do his kinesiologists' exercises, although not often enough.

This one's for Harps.

First trip to Highlands Nordic this year! We bought our season's pass back in April but there haven't been many snowy days when we've been able to get up there. Lots of friendly faces - Almageddon, Dr. and Dr. Tarno, and Mr. and Mrs. Sudden and Lia.

Naturally, I kicked off the season with a skate ski because it's my absolute favourite thing.

And then I switched to classic skis - ahhh. :) It was a spectacular day with snow coating the trees, ice crystals drifting down and sunlight making it all glitter.

It was the first time I'd used my good racing skis since the Birkebeiner and apparently, I've forgotten how to wax. Very little grip but at least my glide was excellent from the leftover professional Norwegian wax job. I wasn't carrying the warmer grip wax that would have solved the problem but on the bright side, it forced me to focus on technique to eke out every little bit of grip.

It didn't matter though... it was beautiful and a ton of fun! Looking forward to getting back out again soon.

We went to check out the Hockleycrest Trails I discovered on Facebook this week. You couldn't wipe the big, silly grins off our faces. It was so exciting and unbelievable to discover a previously unknown XC ski network just 15 minutes from home in an area that tends to get more snow than we do. I was jumping up and down in excitement (just before I fell on some ice) saying, "This changes everything!"

There isn't much snow anywhere right now so the trails haven't been groomed recently but there is terrific signage with some "you are here" map boards spread through the network. The Bruce Trail and its side trails form part of the network so some trails are a little treacherous (hilly and twisty) like parts of Kolapore but there are also relatively flat trails for less experienced skiers. There will be a nice skate practice loop when a little more snow falls.

We met the Tai Chi maple syrup crew and learned that you can buy maple syrup there in the spring. Bonus!







There is no charge to use the trails but there is a donation box and a strong recommendation to purchase a Bruce Trail membership, which is fair enough (we have one).

I loved skating as a kid and I'm a fan of competitive figure skating but it's been years since I've had skates that didn't hurt my feet and freeze them. So even though I barely skate anymore, I splurged on these "recreational" figure skates lined with Thinsulate. I won't be doing any triple axels in them but if they make skating more comfortable, hopefully I'll do it more. There is a natural ice rink in the hamlet of Palgrave when conditions are good so I'll have to see if it is open!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/reebok-boa-figur...

P.S. I see Canadian Tire has just knocked 30% off - probably as soon as they saw me leave the store.

Foothab

Orienteering Ontario TOC O Cup #4 is this Sunday in Earl Bales Park in North York. Hope to see you there!
http://torontoorienteering.com/wp/?page_id=899

AdventureDog and I went to Glen Haffy for a Bruce Trail run hoping for better conditions than Palgrave since it's 100 m higher in some areas even though it's only a few kms away. It was great!

We unexpectedly met Slowrunner at the start so we ran together and chatted for the first 3 km as she warmed up for her hill repeats. Big feathery snowflakes swirled all around.



(AdventureDog was having more fun than his facial expression shows. He didn't like stopping for even a minute.)

A-Dog and I continued across Coolihan's Sideroad while Slowrunner turned back toward her hill. It was a winter wonderland! There were small spots of exposed, rock hard ice on some of the hills so I had to be careful but there were far more times when I was slogging through 15-20 cm of fluffy powder. It would be great to ski over there right now.





I hope I held back from running long enough to allow my cold to recover. I did an abysmal job of that during my Cold-apalooza in the fall. So far, so good but I won't know till tomorrow. I felt surprisingly good - as if the strength training might actually be doing something.

I fixed a small section of the data where I forgot to turn on my GPS after stopping to play "Chase the Snowball" with AdventureDog.

The infamous Tabata version of Caron's core class. There was some whimpering in the back row.

Tougher-than-usual yoga class with pose progressions. Lots of strength-y stuff.

Excited! A Facebook post just led me to discover the Hockleycrest Ski Trails blog.

If you've run the Hockley Loop, you've seen Dave's Pinnacle and Sally's Pinnacle on the southeast corner. Dave Moule and Sally Cohen are tremendous supporters of the Bruce Trail who live on the east side of Airport Road.

Goose and I met Dave out doing trail work a few years ago and he mentioned that he was trying to set up some skiable trails around the Bruce Trail where it passes through his farm. I thought he just meant some self-groomed trails for his own family's exploration, similar to what we have around here. But it turns out there are now groomed trails for skate and classic with daily snow condition reports, just 15 minutes from our place - and we didn't know! I doubt there is any fee although I'm sure Dave will want users to buy Bruce Trail memberships.

Looking forward to checking them out! Coach LD, have you been there?

Caron's boot camp with 'Bent

At the silent auction at the C3 banquet, I bought a session of running analysis and coaching with Jeff Stapleton, a coach and exercise physiologist in Mississauga.
http://www.naturalrunning.ca/Bio.html

I used the certificate today. Coach Jeff is a barefoot runner, which isn't my thing, but I hoped there would be common ground, and there was. He identified some of my weaknesses, most of which I was already familiar with, and it was interesting to see his different ways of addressing them. He's very energetic and enthusiastic - always moving, e.g. "Run backwards beside me, matching my stride!"

One of the themes was fighting my body's tendency to hunch forward - to slouch, sit at a desk, drive a car, ride a bike, etc. There were a number of exercises and stretches that extended my spine and pulled my shoulders back. By the end of the session, when he tried some of the same tests on me, I could feel I was more "vertical" and balanced. (Then I hunched over the steering wheel and drove home from Mississauga.) It's great to have some things to work on and I'm going to take 'Bent with me for a joint session next time.

Although he didn't sell me on running Lavaredo barefoot, I did buy some of his Barefoot Science insoles, which Dr. Larry Bell had mentioned before too.