Training Log Archive: Bash

Finally! A night when my brain would have been willing to sleep longer but it wasn't possible because I had somewhere to be. (Venice.) (Not complaining.)

Mountain biker with GoPro hits bear - yikes.
http://adventure-journal.com/2016/06/mountain-bike...

The first of four identical 1K-ish loops on rolling, curvy, forested trail. I was testing a few things:

(i) A new Ambit. For long ultras with drop bags in the middle, I switch Ambits at the halfway point to allow me to use a more accurate recording interval without worrying about battery life. My old Ambit2 is in the Suunto Hospital and may not survive so we found a cheapo replacement Ambit2 on eBay. (The cool kids buy Ambit3.)

(ii) On each watch, I'd set up a custom "20 Hr Ultra" mode so I wanted to be sure it was working properly and the same way on both watches. I've set up a 10-second GPS recording interval for this mode, as opposed to the 1-second interval I normally use for Running mode.

(iii) While I was at it, I've been wavering on whether to use Speedcross or Speedcross Pro so I switched shoes after each lap.

Loop #1 - Old Ambit, Running Mode, Speedcross

Loop #2 - New Ambit, Running Mode, Speedcross Pro

Loop #3 - Old Ambit, 20 Hr Ultra Mode, Speedcross

Loop #4 - New Ambit, 20 Hr Ultra Mode, Speedcross Pro

Shoe decision made: I'm going with the Speedcross. Big surprise - I always use them for ultras! If it ain't broke...

It looks like both Ambits are working fine and returning similar data. The 10-second GPS interval never seems much different compared to a 1-second GPS interval, even on curvy forest trails. Nice.

I'm still doing last-minute stuff but Timato, Mrs. Tiny and Aubrey are in the air on their way to Venice tonight. Yay!!

Celebrity news corner: My brother just sent a photo of him standing beside a smiling Kiefer Sutherland, who shopped at my bro's Gravenhurst antique store this afternoon.

*Update*: I wasn't sure it if was appropriate to post the photo of Kiefer but the store (The Market Mews, Gravenhurst) just shared it on Facebook. My brother Dave is on the right as you look at the photo. The guy on the left is the guitarist in Kiefer's band.

AdventureDog and I did a short run around Palgrave West to get me moving and use up some of his boundless energy. We hit two stealth patches of poison ivy. (If Harps lived around here, we might be able to sell him on the advantages of winter.) A-Dog showed his gratitude by tearing a cloth shopping bag to pieces while I was out this evening.

SUP paddling at the C3 Quarry - I arrived a few minutes late.

Yay, SUP yoga is back for the summer! It was raining steadily, which doesn't really matter when you're on the water. So much fun.

Cyclist forgets Garmin, realizes he doesn't enjoy biking.
http://www.lavelocita.cc/opinion-page/data-disconn...

Bought a new MacBook today to replace a 2011 model that has been hanging on by a thread. It had a 17" display, which made it a rare treasure now that Apple has decided 15" is enough, so I put up with problems for months.

When I got that Mac five years ago, I was a happy PC user curious to see what all the fuss was about. Many people told me I would never go back to a PC. That's not true; I would. But I didn't - not this time.

As an IT professional, I really didn't expect the new Mac to just load my 500 GB backup in an hour and run a wide variety of non-Apple applications normally - but that's what it did. So far the only issue is that my Microsoft Office licence only covers one machine so I'll have to get another licence if I want to keep the old Mac around for occasional use - and I can't really blame Apple for that. Seriously impressed.