Training Log Archive: Bash

Walk-run around Palgrave West on snowshoes to coddle my right heel. Some bushwhacking, some trails. Dr. Bell got me back into running with treadmill walk-runs after the retrocalcaneal bursitis started fading in my left heel. I don't have a diagnosis but this injury currently feels like that one. It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't stay indoors so this was my compromise.

Two hours later, I just feel the same niggle of pain that I felt before I went out, which is the best I could hope for. Fingers crossed that it doesn't stiffen up overnight.

I ran the downhills and flats, mostly when I was on trails.

'Bent and I went to Hockleycrest for a late afternoon ski after he got back from Toronto. The conditions report said that the narrow forest trails were icy and "only very good skiers should tackle the trails today". That's as close as they get to a liability waiver. ;)

It was a beautiful winter day so we went anyway and used extra caution on a few downhills. A friend who skied there for the first time today called it "fun and terrifying" - but she only bought skis a couple of weeks ago. If I'd had any idea it would be like this, I would have tried to talk her out of it! We had fun, especially on the flatter trails where double poling worked really well today.

It was another gorgeous day. I spent the first half waiting at my car dealer in Toronto while they did some maintenance and investigated a sound that was scary enough to cancel my trip to Collingwood. After a couple of hours, I got bored and bought a car. It's just a *future* car, actually, since the dealer may take a few months to find one. That's OK because I mostly bought it with future money.

Then it was back home to stress about things like my Mom's estate tax return, to name one item on a "to do" list of things that don't give me much joy. I have a bad habit of getting immersed in stressful projects and not wanting to take breaks for days or weeks until they're done, which is an absolutely awesome way to approach an athletic training program.

Anyway, I finally kicked myself out the door. 'Bent has been obsessively snowshoeing a short stretch of trail between our place and the conservation area to make it more suitable for winter biking. I went out and stomped and re-stomped to improve the trail. #greatwife Then I did a little bushwhacking in the lovely, late afternoon light.

Since I was warmed up, I did some strength training - another mix of weight machine, dumbbells, TRX, mat, medicine ball, stability ball, kettle bells, body weight, etc.

Now I'm feeling that recurring niggle on the upper side of my right heel bone, just right of centre beside the Achilles. I'm guessing retrocalcaneal bursitis, which I've had before on the left side. Ugh - but it could be worse. I suspect running would hurt more than anything I did today.

The State of Ultra Running 2020

Some key results:

Female ultra runners are faster than male ultra runners at distances over 195 miles.

Participation has increased by 1676% in the last 23 years from 34,401 to 611,098 yearly participations and 345% in the last 10 years from 137,234 to 611,098.

There have never been more women in ultrarunning.

Ultra runners have never been slower across distance, gender and age group. The average pace in 1996 was 11:35 min/mile, currently, it is 13:16 min/mile.

Runners improve their pace in their first 20 races, and then their pace stabilizes.

All age groups have a similar pace, around 14:40 min/mile. Which is unusual compared to the past and to other distances.

The average age of ultra runners has decreased by 1 year in the last 10 years. It has changed from 43.3 years to 42.3 years.

Speaking of running, I haven't been doing any, even though I've registered for a bunch of races and bought some plane tickets. I'm trying to give my right heel a break. The pain has reduced considerably over the past 10 days even though I've been flexing my foot a lot while cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Browner and I ran on snowshoes in Stars W*A*R on Feb. 9 but that didn't seem too bad. It's been almost two weeks since I just ran in shoes. I'll probably do a test run in the next few days. Fingers are tightly crossed.

'Bent and I met the Gallys at Scenic Caves for a short morning ski before their Family Day festivities began. Since all of us hope to do Tarno's Ski-O on the March 7-8 weekend, I brought last year's maps so we could practise. For people who haven't done ski-O before, it takes a while to get used to the way trails are marked.

The boys took the Long course maps while Mrs. Gally and I took the Sprint maps. She navigated while I skied along and acted as a map consultant. We stopped frequently to make sure we stayed on course so it was interval training. Mrs. Gally loved it and decided that she really wants to do one of the races! It was a spectacular day - always fun to have a "mission" when we're training.