Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent and I met Browner, STORM, Funderstormin', DD11 and T Rex Breakfast at Albion Hills for some fat biking in the cold. The boys and girls split up for most of the ride.

I started out riding T Rex's husband's Norco, size medium, and it worked well for me. I don't think a fat bike is in the cards but I'll remember that in case I get a chance to rent one some place else.

The company was excellent and the Albion Hills were as hilly as advertised.





For the first hour, I used a Darth Vader mask since I've been feeling the beginnings of frostbite lately. After that, my cheeks felt warm enough to handle the cold so I got rid of it.



The guys found us and we rode a final short lap together before the rental bikes had to be returned (photos "borrowed" from DD11's Facebook).





Browner tried an interesting photography angle; I'm curious to see how it turned out!



This was a good workout! I missed my clipless pedals on the climbs. Great to spend time with friends even if sometimes we were just trudging up big hills together. :)

'Bent, BazingaDog, AdventureDog and I went to the C3 snowshoe trek in Palgrave Forest. The group split up into smaller groups who wanted to go different paces. We teamed up with the Reids, their dog Barley and James Hunter. We kept up a good hiking pace with occasional running on downhills. Our 3 pooches had an amazing time. Our family photo only includes A-Dog's hind end - typical dog posing!

It was a glorious, frigid winter day and there were too many good options. But why make a decision? So I planned a winter triathlon consisting of at least 1 hour each of snowshoeing, XC skiing and running from our house. I set up an indoor transition area where I could change footwear, drink water (which I didn't have to carry) and adjust layers.

The first discipline was snowshoeing. I stayed in Palgrave West and for the most part, I bushwhacked off-trail and it was beautiful. There's a fair bit of fluffy snow so it was a good effort in spite of my slow pace.

The 2nd stage of my triathlon was XC skiing. I stayed on trails in Palgrave East and West, many of which had been well-used by non-skiers so the tracks were virtually non-existent.

While snowshoeing earlier, I kept using my hands to warm up my cheeks to prevent frostbite so I took drastic measures for this round. "Luke, I am your father."



Wildlife highlight: I surprised a hawk who attempted to take off from the snow carrying an eviscerated bunny (I think). It didn't work. Perhaps the dangling piece of intestine threw off his flight path. He landed quickly and casually watched me pass by, hoping I wouldn't get hungry and steal his dinner.

My phone rang near the end. I answered it and it was a research company wanting to discuss "issues that are important in Ontario". I said, "The biggest issue in Ontario is that it feels colder than -30C with windchill and I'm in the middle of the forest with my mitten off because I thought this was a real phone call." He let me go without protest.

Stage 3 was the run. It's not possible to run into the forest from our place right now without trampling ski or snowshoe tracks, so I ran a short distance along our road to get to Palgrave East, where the fat bikers have packed down a lot of trails. The toughest section was the part of Duffy's Lane that is closed in winter; it would be fine for skiing or snowshoeing but it wasn't packed down enough to make running pleasant.

It got dark while I was out there but the coyotes stayed quiet so I managed to stay brave enough to finish the hour instead of dashing for home. This was a fun way to deal with my indecision!

The Glen Haffy lost puppy I searched for on Tuesday was found this morning in apparent good health after 5 nights out in this frigid weather!

An avalanche closed the only road into Zermatt today. This security camera video gives you a feel of what it would be like to be caught in it - something we seldom see in avalanche videos since they're usually taken from a distance. The scary part starts about a minute in.

Foothab basics

Puppy Hunt:

Sierra, a 10-month-old standard poodle puppy, was frightened by another dog in Glen Haffy yesterday and ran away from her owner. As of this afternoon, she had been missing for 24 hours, and there was much online discussion as community members checked out different parts of the park.

Based on the direction she ran, I thought it was worth checking an area away from the main routes - a mix of seldom-used trails and bushwhacking. I'm calling it snowshoe running because I ran when I could but there was some very slow terrain, shin-deep snow and a dicey stream crossing. I'm not sharing my GPS track because part of my route felt like it might be on private property.

I called her name and checked the animal tracks, which were mostly deer. I found evidence of a canid walking alone but the tracks seemed too large for a puppy. It was getting dark and chilly after I checked around the fishing club structures so I bailed out and ran gravel roads back to the car using my headlamp to warn cars and search for poodles. It turns out there was a possible sighting around the same time in a back yard near the northwest part of the park. A resident is sure she saw Sierra with her dog but she ran away when the woman opened the door. We have another extreme cold warning so I hope it's true that she's up there, hopefully heading toward the village of Mono Mills.

Year End Review, Part 1:
2017 Training Hours by Activity + 2017 Report Card
Boring to read unless you are Future Me

Total Annual Training Hours = 468.5 hrs
(495, 494.5, 470, 557, 505, 612)
Target was 525 hrs and I was well ahead of that in mid-September. Then a combination of race organization work and an injury put this goal way out of reach.

The main reason for the decrease in recent years is that I haven't done an overnight or expedition AR since 2013. Excluding AR races, my annual training hours have remained fairly consistent.

Top Five Activities (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets):

1) Running + Snowshoe Running - 222.5
(250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)
Training for and running Ultra Tour Monte Rosa put this on top of the list. I hit my 2017 running target but an autumn foot injury prevented me from doing more.

2) Strength + Yoga - 59.5 hrs
(82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
I made a big effort to increase this in 2016 and kept it up until mid-2017 when I got lazy. I felt better when I was doing more strength/mobility/yoga/physio so I'll make that a 2018 goal.

3) Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 53 hrs
(33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)
Yay, new mountain bike! Hoping to bump this higher in 2018. Also, I need to get back on the trainer in winter.

4) Trekking - 47.5 hrs
(10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)
Not a training activity that I plan or think much about but we were lucky to spend time in the mountains this year.

5) Paddling - 32.5 hrs
(17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)
This was a surprise but it shouldn't have been. Paddling hit the top 5 because we did the Big East River X 40K canoe race, Nipika Lodge trip and a 5-day Killarney canoe trip.

Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2017 list:

XC Skiing (Classic, Skate, Roller) - 20 hrs
(30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)
Sadly, it wasn't the snowiest winter. So far, things are looking much better for 2018.

Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 18.5 hrs
(36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)
This may be the first year I did more snowshoe orienteering than regular orienteering - and some of my regular orienteering was in the snow too. For a long time, my orienteering involvement has been mostly volunteering, not doing. That's OK.

Adventure Racing - 8 hrs
(18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)
This is another sport that has become mostly volunteering rather than doing, even though I still think of it as my primary interest. I wish there were more AR events in Ontario. There are so many other fun things to do close to home that it's hard to get inspired to travel a long way for an AR. In the meantime, I'll keep on having random outdoor adventures and training individual AR disciplines. Luckily, AR friends are still willing to join me for adventures!

Overall, I'd say it was a great training year until mid-September. When I came home from Ultra Tour Monte Rosa, I felt good but got consumed by Wilderness Traverse and Star Tracks, and decided it would be OK to take some time off. It felt like my right heel issues were caused by some tightening up or scar tissue resulting from that period of low activity - not by UTMR. My left ankle is normally my gimpy one but I turned my right ankle a couple of times at Nipika Lodge in July so I think my right foot is dealing with the same issues I've had on the other side. It's not fixed yet but it's doing a lot better after an easier autumn and a lot of physio exercises.

'Bent was feeling bored with ultrarunning in early 2017 so we added a couple of different races for variety - the Mohican 100K mountain bike race and the Big East River X 40K canoe race. Both of these were lots of fun and inspired us to change our routine a little to get ready. We were fortunate to travel to some cool places in 2017 and we had some awesome non-racing outdoor adventures with some of our favourite people. That will definitely be a goal again for 2018. :)

9th Annual Waterfalls of Hamilton run

Sunny, snowy, chilly trail run in the Dundas Valley - although not an extreme cold warning after all. I started with a group but dropped back after 'Bent, Trav, Rox and BazingaDog passed us since I was afraid AdventureDog would run after them. After waiting for awhile, I continued on with Kris G. The moment I let A-Dog off leash, he was off like a flash. Didn't even look over his shoulder when I called his name.

I kept calling him for the next few minutes, then texted 'Bent to see if A-Dog had taken the correct turns at the trail junctions to find him. It took awhile, then I received an answer: "He is being good." That was nice to hear although I would have settled for, "He's alive". :)

Kris and I had a nice, chatty run, then headed back to the Hottage for a yummy New Year's brunch and lots of great conversation. Many thanks to Trav and Baloney for continuing this lovely tradition. It's a fantastic way to kick off a new year. :)

The most important foothab exercises are soleus stretches and one-legged balance with knee raised and eyes closed. It takes about 10 minutes to do all the combinations and I'm going to try to do this daily for awhile.