Training Log Archive: Bash

Many of you have met Carbon. Well, now Carbon's Offset has finally joined Attackpoint with a killer race report from last weekend's Cookie Race where he left "Mom" in his dust in the final kilometer. Welcome aboard!
http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_10785

Last day of Ken Niemimaa's February "29 Leagues in a Month" Challenge. The rule was to run at least 5K/day (or ski, in my case). It wasn't permitted to miss a day, even if you made up the kilometers. Most of us made it to the end but a few people had to drop out due to work or injuries. It was fun to get acquainted with more ultrarunners; we posted daily on a Facebook Event page.

Several participants ran 400-500+ kilometers in February - wow! My totals were much more modest - about 200K of XC skiing and 150K of running, all of it outdoors, mostly on trails.

It was an interesting experiment - a fun variation on my usual training where I learned a few things. I now know that I can fit a 5K run into any day if I want to - regardless of weather, busy schedule, fatigue, etc. However, I'd rather do 3-5 longer runs each week. Also, as an adventure racer, I'd like days where I don't think about running at all - days where I can focus on biking, strength or whatever. Lastly, I learned that I benefit from rest days. It was good to see that I could always feel pretty good doing a 5K run but there were times when I knew my body would be stronger if I gave it a day off.

Anyway... today's run was a circuitous, snowy single track route through Palgrave East in freezing rain accompanied by BulletDog. Our destination was 'Bent's office. His van wouldn't start so he had taken my car at the last minute. Because the bad weather will make for nasty driving on our country road tonight, he had planned to snowshoe home but I needed my car here tomorrow morning to get to Hockley Valley to meet Mrs. Gally.

I ran with "princess arms" ready to save myself from hidden ice patches under the new snow. In the end, it didn't help. On a steep downhill, I had a hard fall on my right hip on something sharp, which gave my sore rotator cuff a good tweak as I protected my head. (Trying to avoid Leanimal's flashing lights.) No major harm done - just another bruise to add to my collection. It's amazing how the nastiest day rarely seems that bad once you're outside wearing proper gear. It was fun to be in the woods!

Google's privacy policy changes tomorrow, allowing them to combine data from all their products, e.g. Google searches, Youtube watching, map use, etc. You have a last chance today to clear your Google history and turn off the history feature if you don't want it to be used for targeted advertising.

I was amazed that I could go back and see searches I'd done in 2006. It was actually kind of interesting - like reading a personal journal. But in the end, I deleted it all.

Another February Challenge run around Palgrave West with bad footing - a mix of crusty snow, glare ice and frozen mud starting to thaw. To increase the degree of difficulty, I took BazingaPuppy on leash. Stop NOW! Interesting smell by this tree! Oh wow, a deer! Let's go!!!!!"

Apparently, I am a "snowshoeer". :)

Have any of you endurance athlete types ever experienced low white blood cell counts? There are studies showing that some types of athletes have depressed WBC counts but researchers rarely look at subjects who do the crazy things that many of us do. Some causes of low WBC counts are not as nice, so I'm keen on this theory. :)

Today I ran on dirt roads that were a mix of gooey mud and slush. I guess trails would have been a better choice. Everything will need to be washed *before* it goes into the laundry!

I tried my new iPhone metronome app for the last 750 meters and confirmed that my natural running cadence is tooooo slooooooow. I couldn't run at the recommended 180 bpm so I turned it down to 170 and was just able to keep up. Within seconds, my hamstring felt sore, which it never does.

I wonder whether running cadence is like cycling cadence. I read a study showing that the most efficient cycling cadence for a particular cyclist varies with the power (Watts) he or she generates. According to them, I should aim for a somewhat lower cadence than a Tour de France rider, which seems logical. For running, I wonder if 180 is too high for a less powerful runner like me. It will certainly take me awhile to master 170!

Thanks to the February Challenge, I had to run at least 5K after travelling across the country. There was dense, crusty snow about 10-15 cm deep on the trails and it was like running in taffy. BulletDog did better in it than I did.

I'd been hoping to feel strong after generating extra red blood cells at altitude but not today!

'Bent, Carbon, Carbon's Offset (formerly known as "Mike") and I headed to Pocaterra in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park for the Kananaskis Ski Marathon. It's also known as the Cookie Race because members of the Foothills Ski Club stock the aid stations with huge stacks of homemade cookies. It sounded like my kind of race!

None of us had done a pure ski race before, and Carbon's Offset was even using rented gear! We were keen to give it a try and this race sounded like it would have a fun atmosphere. We met Meridian in the hut - great to see him. He was also doing his first ski race. The Carbons were wisely testing the water with the 24K distance while the other three of us had jumped into the deep end with 42K. (The Carbons later wished they had done the longer distance since they finished with energy to spare.)

Lining up in one of the six tracks at the start, my main concern was to be far enough back that I wouldn't hold up any real ski racers. There were 148 of us starting at once, and after a short distance, we would merge into three tracks and then two.

For the first few kilometers, we shuffled ourselves around to find our place in the pack. We were mostly climbing and I was feeling the altitude. I was OK for the first 10K but then we went up Whiskeyjack, a 4K trail that climbs steadily and sometimes steeply. My head felt fuzzy and I couldn't breathe deeply enough; I felt like I'd used all my energy up. Note to self: my body is rather keen on oxygen.

When we got up to the high ridge to do the long, gentle climb to Elk Pass in blowing snow, I got a second wind that lasted for the final 25K of the race. It helped that we did more downhill than uphill after that so there was more time to recover.

Ski racing is harder work than what I usually do in a race this long. Respect to VO2Max and the other ski racers I know! My legs felt reasonably OK but my arms felt like jello at times, and I was breathing hard on the longer uphills.

Highlights after Elk Pass included an awesome 4K section of rolling, twisty single track through the forest, another extended climb up Packer's trail, then a 6-7K run to the finish line that was 95% double poling. Big thanks to VO2Max for the double poling drill yesterday - I definitely used what I learned.

Aside from the race, this was a beautiful, scenic ski in terrific conditions with fresh snow falling for much of the time we were out there. This meant slower times than last year's race but it added atmosphere.

I had been hoping to finish under 4 hrs 30 min, which would be about double the elite male winning time. (The podium included two Olympians and a 5-time World Masters champion.) During the first half of the race, this seemed like it might just be possible. But after I started to feel better and began hitting more downhill stretches, I saw that I should be able to break 4 hours. In the end it was 3:43 - yahoo!

Even though 'Bent, Carbon and Carbon's Offset were all finished, there was no one at the finish line to greet me. I knew this was good news since it meant they weren't expecting me yet. I met Carbon's Offset at the refreshments a little while later and we had fun sneaking up behind 'Bent and Carbon as they watched for me at the finish line. I tapped Carbon on the shoulder to offer her hot chocolate, and her scream when she turned around was priceless! :)



It was great to hear that everyone enjoyed their races and felt good. Carbon's Offset was even planning to buy ski gear so he could do it again! 'Bent finished in 3:09. The winning time (by the 5-time World Masters Champ) was 2:18 so 'Bent did well. :)

I managed to scrape onto the podium with 3rd in my age group. The woman in 2nd place was the female overall winner of the past two Canadian Birkebeiners so it's safe to say that I couldn't have improved on my result! We've seen enough podium pics of VO2Max that we couldn't resist setting up a similar pic to send to him. It was intended to be a joke but I ended up kinda liking it!



We headed back to Calgary for a celebratory Thai dinner with Carbon, Carbon's Offset and Zoolander. Great to catch up with him.



We also had a tour of the Carbons' bikes, Lupine lights and other gear room goodies, followed by an AR slide show. So much fun to spend time with them!

(Garmin measured 40.8 km but I'm assuming they've measured the race course for real.)

With our first pure XC ski race coming up tomorrow, it was time for drastic measures. After classic skiing since our early teens, 'Bent and I finally had our first lesson. It was an unofficial one with VO2Max, who has had a great February with podium finishes on the past three weekends including the 51K Gatineau Loppet.

As would be expected, there are some differences in the ways we approach the sport. VO2Max arrived early and went into the Alberta World Cup Development Centre wax room, put his skis in a vice and painstakingly applied multiple thin coats of wax for today's temperature. Meanwhile, 'Bent and I just took a few lazy test strides on yesterday's old wax and said, "That'll do. It's colder today."



VO2Max is an awesome teacher. I'm going to write down all the pointers I can remember elsewhere but the biggest change I need to make is to bend my arms more, keep them closer to my body and relax them and my shoulders as they swing - except during the "power" portion of the swing from pole plant until just before my hips.



We did overstriding (practising striding technique on gentle downhills where we normally wouldn't stride), double poling in rolling terrain and legs-only uphill. VO2Max videotaped us on my camera and we reviewed it indoors afterward so we could see exactly what we were doing. Cool!

Many of Canada's top skiers train in Canmore so we were passed by various fit-looking people who said hi to VO2Max. The woman in the white jacket below was the first to go by - but since Beckie Scott is an Olympic gold medalist, we didn't mind being left in her dust.



This really was a special treat - and now we're *totally* ready for the Kananaskis Ski Marathon. ;) Thanks, VO2Max - and all the best at the National Champs.



(Elapsed time 1:15)

We had to test out our improved technique with another loop around the Canmore Nordic Centre. I just noticed that we've skied 130 km in the past 7 days - probably almost as much as we've skied all year. Not the proper way to spend the week before a 42K ski race if we were taking it seriously - but hey, it's a vacation.

We met Slice for lunch afterward and heard her stories of Huairasinchi. Sounds like a tough race but Tecnu did really well!



Later, we had dinner with Carbon and Mike. We're looking forward to tomorrow's ski race. My goals are modest - to finish the 42K distance and beat one guy!

Photos have been added for Monday's ski in to Skoki Lodge from Lake Louise.

After doing very little skiing this winter, 'Bent and I have gone crazy over the past week! In deference to our 42K ski race on Saturday, we did a shorter ski at the Canmore Nordic Centre today. The trails were super fast on our first 12K lap, and the skiing felt easy after travelling in the backcountry with packs. After doing the main loop, we messed around for 4K, exploring trails that are hillier and less commonly travelled.

After that, VO2Max gave us a tour of the Bill Warren training centre where the National team athletes get in shape. We were impressed by a few things:
- the "poling" exercise machine, which felt very real and could easily be built by someone with handyman skills
- the temperature-controlled ice bath / hot bath tubs in the "regeneration" room
- the soon-to-be-installed roller skiing treadmill where skiers will be able to simulate particular race courses

Skoki Lodge to Lake Louise. Pics to come.

Around Skoki Mountain, Red Deer Lakes, toward Natural Bridge. Pics to come.

An aside on Skoki Lodge... I worked in Lake Louise as a university student and became interested in the history of the Canadian Rockies. When it opened in 1931, Skoki Lodge was the first commercial backcountry ski lodge in Canada. Guests would travel by train to Lake Louise, ski 19 km into the lodge and stay for up to 6 weeks. Now designated a national historic site, the lodge continues to operate without electricity or running water.





Lucy the Jack Russell "skis" into the lodge and supervises guests when the manager is busy elsewhere.



Rooms in the lodge are small and simple.



There are several cabins as well. The lodge holds 22 guests.



There's plenty of snow. They had to dig passages to the outhouses.



William and Kate stayed there last summer during their Canadian trip and signed the guest book.



So did Mr. and Mrs. Lawren Harris of Group of Seven fame. (The date is 1945 although they made other visits.)



A few months after we started dating, 'Bent and I and our friend Danskiii dropped by Skoki for tea during a backpacking trip. I wrote "I'll be back". Who would have believed it would take 21 years? I sure hope it's not as long next time.

Carbon and Mike joined 'Bent and me for our ski into the backcountry to Skoki Lodge, starting from the Lake Louise ski area. We planned to stay for two nights but Carbon and Mike needed to get back to Calgary, so it was a long day for them. Compared to their great performances at RTNX and ARWC last year, I'm sure this was easy!

This may have been the most scenic ski I've ever done from a parking lot (as opposed to a backcountry lodge). If you don't like photos, you'd best stop reading now because there are way too many! :)

Lodge guests are given lift tickets that let them cut off about 3.5 km of the route, almost all of which is uphill on the downhill skiers' ski-out trail. Since we didn't all have lift tickets, we started at the lower parking lot and got a better workout!

This first part of the route was a slog - especially for poor Carbon, the only one of us without climbing skins. 'Bent and I were carrying packs with clothing and ski gear for 3 days so I was grateful for the skins.



Whenever there was an opening in the trees, the views were amazing.



When we had climbed just above Temple Lodge, we took off our climbing skins and waxed. That was the last time 'Bent and I used skins on the trip, although we wouldn't have guessed that.



From here, we were on a narrow trail that travelled through trees and open alpine meadows.









After a long, gentle climb that got a little steep at the end, we came up to Boulder Pass, the first of two mountain passes we would cross to get to Skoki.



This was the only place where the snow was a little thin - but only for about 10-20 meters.



Carbon led us to the top of the pass.



A whole new alpine world opened up beyond the pass. Wow.



We skied across Ptarmigan Lake, which is usually windy. On the return trip two days later, I was totally bundled up here.



Then we continued a short distance up the valley.





Most skiers use climbing skins for Deception Pass but in the spirit of team solidarity, we all went skinless to keep Carbon company. It wasn't bad at all - just a bunch of switchbacks.



Top of Deception Pass, 2475 m (8,115'). Skoki Lodge is about 1,000' below in the valley behind us.



We couldn't see Skoki from here but it's down in those trees.



The ski down off the pass was fast, fun and beautiful.







The boys did some tele turns. 'Bent was wearing a GoPro video cam on his head. In addition to capturing some great turns, he filmed his own spectacular face plant. Stay tuned for further coverage on Youtube. Too bad he didn't film the part where we had to dig in the snow around his body print to search for a missing Thermos.







We made it down to the treeline, where we had to start skiing more carefully.



We arrived at the historic lodge just in time for lunch. Today's feature was savoury lamb stew or cabbage soup. Yummy. For us, this was the first of several days of delicious overeating.



After hanging out at Skoki for awhile, it was time to say goodbye to Carbon and Mike. So glad they joined us for this adventure!







(Elapsed time 3:45 with stops.)

'Bent and I got awfully comfortable by the fire but the snow was so nice that we couldn't resist a short ski from Skoki Lodge to Merlin Meadows.

'Bent and I were excited to meet Carbon and Mike for a ski at Pocaterra in Kananaskis country. Awesome to see them in real life for a change instead of on the Internet!



None of us do ski races and Carbon and Mike are new to XC skiing, but for some reason, we have all entered the Kananaskis Ski Marathon (aka the Cookie Race) on Saturday. Our plan today was to check out some of the trails we'll be skiing in the race.



Conditions were fantastic and so was the company. Unfortunately, Mike's rented ski boots rubbed his Tasmania-blistered foot the wrong way, so he took a shortcut back from our far point. The rest of us did the big climb back to the Pocaterra trail and enjoyed the long, steady descent back to the hut - about 8 km of mostly double poling and gliding while enjoying mountain views.





Tomorrow we're all skiing into Skoki Lodge. Carbon and Mike are doing it as a day trip, and 'Bent and I will spend a couple of nights in the backcountry. No electricity, no running water, no communications. Looking forward to skiing, food, photography, reading and sleep - mmm. :)

'Bent and I went an hour south - and a long way uphill! - from Canmore to the Mount Shark ski trails. It was snowing for the first couple of hours so we didn't see the views until near the end - but we're not complaining!



Our first loop was the green trail - 10 km of hilly trackset trails with 5 km of ungroomed powder trails. We love ungroomed trails but it was a little tricky since we'd brought poles with small baskets so they would sometimes sink a couple of feet into the fluffy snow. Some of that section was "legs only".



After that, we did a mix of a few trails closer to the parking lot since we wanted to get back to Canmore in time for yoga.





It was hard work with lots of elevation gain/loss at a 6,000' altitude. We could both feel that our bodies would have liked a little more oxygen. By the end of our stay, we will hopefully be loaded up with (legal) extra red blood cells!





This was *such* a treat after the crummy winter in Ontario. You couldn't wipe the smiles from our faces. :)

'Bent, Walker and I went to a Yin Yoga class - my first one. (Definitely not Power Yoga but I don't want to create a new activity for it.) It was quite different from what we're used to and, according to Walker, very different from the Yin that is usually offered at this studio. It was relaxing and pleasant enough - except during the times when I thought I might be slowly tearing the menisci in both knees.

The instructor was fond of the type of instruction that just doesn't work for my stodgy, engineering-trained mind:

"Be completely aware of your skin."

"Lean back and push the bottom of your shoulder blade forward so it makes a shelf for your heart."

And *everyone's* favourite: "Think of your kidneys widening and growing wings."

'Bent and I are out west to do some winter sports. Although the ski areas are reporting decent conditions, there is a lot of bare ground around Canmore. Sure glad I packed those knee-high gaiters and bulky Neo boots!



The paved running paths in town are mostly bare but fortunately the Canmore Nordic Centre is in great shape for skate skiing - and it's free of charge after 5:30 p.m.!



It looks like it might be a little slick for classic skiing but I'm sure we'll give it a try later on. I think we'll go further afield tomorrow though.

The biathlon range was set up for night training. Naturally, I had to take a few practice loops around the shooting area, just to see what it felt like.



This was a quick ski before heading to a local art gallery for the opening of a photography show. Walker, the friend we're staying with this weekend, had two beautiful photos in the show and was also one of the organizers.

We had a nice lunch in Calgary earlier in the day with ErinR, a young flower girl from our wedding who is now a grown-up triathlete who may be interested in supporting me at the Death Race. Cool!

Most ultrarun and marathon training plans last 24 weeks. I've never come close to that much targeted preparation for any athletic event. So I was thrilled to check the calendar and realize that all this extra running has been unnecessary... I don't need to start training for the Death Race until next week! :)

STORM is *way* ahead of the game with all his 18 km runs on week days. I'm betting that he'll be on the overall podium though, and that probably takes 28 or 29 weeks of training. For me, it might take 38 or 39 weeks. Oh darn, too late.

I managed to tweak my knee yesterday while energetically... typing on a laptop computer. But the 29 Leagues of February Challenge waits for no man - or woman - so today's run was on hilly, snow-covered country roads where the ground was fairly even.



(That pic's for you, Funderstorm! :) )

I was ready to abandon the Challenge if my knee said so, but it turns out that my knee hurts more while doing the original activity (computing) than while running. Phew, there is hope.

Today's distance was 6.37 km - just short of the 6.41 km I did on Tues/Wed. I resisted the urge to run 40 m around our yard to maintain my record of consistency. ;)

The good news is that I'll be doing the next part of the February Challenge on skis. Today is a crazy day of packing and cleaning for the house/dog sitter. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll be skiing at the Canmore Nordic Centre. :) Looking forward to spending time with western friends including some super fun plans with Carbon & Mike. We'll be doing our very first XC ski race too!

For those who don't read Cristina's log, here's the truth about orienteering.

http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_470...

Weeanimal had already helped me build endurance earlier in the day with multiple sets of stair intervals so I just went for a quick run in Albion Hills. I'd thought it might not be as slippery as Palgrave but there were plenty of patches of glare ice so I had to avoid the steep hills. Somehow I managed to run 6.41 km in two different parks on consecutive days - a nice round number.

This Month-of-Ice isn't a real season - not winter, not spring, not anything! :(

A book recommendation for mountaineering literature junkies:

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
by Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis

With 600 pages of dense text, only hard core fans of the genre are likely to enjoy it, i.e. people who have already read a book or two about Mallory and Irvine, not people who read "Into Thin Air" and felt that was enough about Everest.

This book describes the context of the early Everest expeditions in detail; I learned new things about a wide variety of subjects. The narrative starts with the horror of World War I, including some very disturbing glimpses into the way the British managed the conflict and the associated propaganda. Davis believes that the war was a huge factor in these early expeditions - that it shaped a generation's attitude toward death and risk in the mountains.

He explains the geopolitical background of British-ruled India and its relationship with Tibet over the years, and talks about the way the Great Trigonometric Survey of India was carried out - the project that identified Everest as the highest mountain in the world. I'd always thought that the British had attempted Everest from its Tibetan side because Nepal was closed so they couldn't climb the so-called "tourist" route. But front-pointed crampons hadn't been invented yet so they couldn't have made it through the Khumbu Icefall anyway.

Davis explains the different attitudes toward homosexual encounters at a time when women were less forthcoming before marriage, and describes how this affected the close relationships among the British mountaineers of that time.

He had already started writing his book before Mallory's body was found a decade ago, and he discussed that as well. Although I had read extensively about the discovery, it had a greater impact after I had "gotten to know" George Mallory through quotes from letters to his wife.

Fascinating book - but only if you're into that sort of thing.

Tight timeline today so I missed out on biking again - boo. BulletDog and I ran over to a different part of Palgrave East while light snow fell - beautiful. Some parts of the trail network had enough snow on them to hide the polished ice beneath but BulletDog and I were both surprised by a number of stealth patches of ice.

I made some great saves, if I do say so myself, but my luck ran out when my feet flew high in the air behind me on a stretch of side-sloping, tree-lined single track. I was remarkably efficient as I hit the ice, wrenching my bad shoulder and bruising my right hip and left knee all at once. It takes some people 3 falls to do all that! I had been feeling great until then and decided not to press my luck in these conditions. BulletDog and I made a beeline for home where a glass of Valentine's Day wine awaited. Priorities!

Another crampon run on the Palgrave Glacier with BazingaPuppy. This time I went into Palgrave East and ran twisty single track - a surefire way to confuse a dog! The change in weather has created some variety in the terrain. Most of it is still hard, polished ice with a light dusting of snow but I also ran in a little soft snow and goopy mud. Not the greatest running but the skiing would be even worse! :( On the bright side, it was a gorgeous day.

It's not often that I say anything nice about a Republican politician but Representative Maureen Walsh spoke bravely and from the heart in her moving speech in Washington state's gay marriage debate. Respect.

About 10 cm of new powder on the polished ice of Palgrave Glacier made it tempting to try skiing but the hills looked scary. The fluffy snow didn't stick to the ice so it was another slow crampon running day. It must have been awesome up in ski country.

My legs felt better today than they felt before yesterday's long run; there are some mysteries of exercise physiology that I will never understand! My brain, on the other hand, is fried after a few weeks of busy schedule and inadequate sleep. Looking forward to sleeping well on vacation.

About 38 hours later, my e-mail is back up and messages are trickling in. I'm thinking of switching to GMail. Anyone think that's a bad idea?

Congrats, VO2Max! 2nd in the 20K skate at the Haywood Noram XC Ski event at Mont Orford, behind Kevin Sandau and ahead of Brent McMurtry (national team members). Two medals in two weekends! :)

Richard and Elina Ussher were the top man and woman in yesterday's Speight's Coast to Coast World Multisport Championship in New Zealand - the first husband and wife to win the 1-day solo event in the same year. Richard's winning time was an hour slower than last year thanks to strong headwinds and low water levels on the Waimakariri River. Reading this story brought back some great memories of our time in NZ with Frankenjack and Mr. & Mrs. Hodgepodge.

I haven't picked a training plan for the Death Race yet but am reading up on it. I'm beginning to think there are as many different ultrarunning training plans as there are ultrarunners! Maybe that's not so bad since everyone's body responds differently to training and to endurance events.

The only thing all the plans agree on is a weekly long run or back-to-back long-ish runs. If we could ski locally, I'd do a long ski but it's looking like we may not do any more skiing in Palgrave this winter. :(

After several weeks of floundering on trails with glare ice, I planned a loop of mostly hilly, snowy country roads with 7 km of icy trail to keep me honest. I invited 'Bent to join me since bad road conditions had prevented him from doing the SMT long run in Hamilton.



This meant he was stuck with my pace, and he's not someone who can run comfortably at a slower pace. On the other hand, he was also stuck with my distance, which was one of the longest runs he's done since knee surgery 16 months ago. So it probably balanced out.

As we were getting ready, we discussed what we were going to wear, given the cold temperature and wind chill. I listed off a bunch of planned clothing items including wind briefs. That was not one of the items he decided to wear, and he regretted it early on. I believe his extra toque came in handy. ("Is that a toque in your tights or are you happy to see me? Hmm... at -20C with wind chill, it's gotta be a toque.")

There wasn't much flat road and we were usually running on the uneven, snowy shoulder since there were lots of blind corners and hills. It felt a lot like a trail run through pretty country scenery on a sunny day. I felt great and had energy left at the end. Good thing since the Death Race will be more than 4 times as long and a lot steeper!



Unfortunately, my Garmin battery failed at 21K so here's the full route from 'Bent's Garmin. Lap 1 is where my Garmin died.

My e-mail has been down for 12 hours with no estimate of when it will be repaired. If I seem to be ignoring your message, I'm not! Facebook messages, AP comments and GMail are all still working.

Another easy spin around the Palgrave Glacier on Kahtoola flexible crampons. The glacier is starting to recede but there is enough smooth, polished ice to keep things nice and treacherous. My legs told me this should have been a rest day but I'm not ready to bail on the 29 Leagues of February Challenge yet, so I had no choice about going for a run.

'Bent is away on a course for the day so I took both BazingaPuppy and BulletDog - an energetic 71-lb leashed puppy and a mature unleashed dog who knows exactly how to flaunt her freedom and tease her little brother until he works himself into a frenzy. Verrrry relaxing. I think Mommy will drive to the leash-free park tomorrow so she can run by herself later in the day without guilt.

For those who haven't seen them, the Thomass Caledon results were posted on the Thomass website yesterday. Sorry for the delay - we had major hardware and software issues that required hours of blood, sweat and tears to sort out. Zoom in on the PDF to see it properly.

Even without finish times for most racers due to the failure of the SI finish unit, it is interesting to watch the race unfold. If not for a major error by several top juniors late in the race, Hammer could have ended up in a sprint to the finish against his daughter AdventureGirl!

Quick ski in slick conditions before volunteering at Goose's high school ski meet at Highlands Nordic. Where possible, I avoided the race course since kids were warming up. There wasn't much of a classic track anywhere; it was easier to ski on trails that hadn't been touched since last night's light dusting of snow. In places, I ended up skate skiing on my waxless classics again. I've got a 42K classic ski marathon in two weeks and I am not prepared.

The ski meet attracted about 500 kids and everyone appeared to have a great time on a sunny day. I'll bet some of these kids have done very little skiing this season. It's great to be surrounded by their enthusiasm.

I was at the finish line, collecting and organizing the race bibs. It's a fun place to be, since we get to hear little snippets about their races, "I totally lost it on the last corner", "Look at all the burrs on my bib!", "I went out sooo fast", etc.

After racing about 1.5 km, one novice collapsed onto the snow at the finish line and lay there for a full minute, putting on a show as if he were an Olympic medal winner in the 50K. :) Another lost control at the finish line and I dove out of his way. I was doing things non-stop as fast as I could for over 3 hours, so fortunately there were several of us. It was physical enough that it feels like it ought to be loggable but I guess not!

Hard Core live with Caron (and 'Bent too!)

C3 yoga class. Not many rests between poses tonight. I'll see tomorrow how my shoulder liked it...

Abbreviated session since it was 9 p.m. and I still hadn't had dinner. Busy...

My rotator cuff injury went from a 9/10 on the pain scale to a 1 over a 24-hour period on the weekend. I'm not sure which had the most impact - active release therapy, icing, arnica gel or just the passage of time. On Friday night I was afraid that I'd never again be able to wash my own hair, and on Sunday morning, I was double poling on icy ski trails. I wish my other painful injuries would fade that quickly.

The original niggle - the tightness in my shoulder that probably started with breaking my collar bone as a kid - is still there though, and it was disconcerting how swiftly it blew up from a minor annoyance to serious pain. So I went today for another excruciating treatment from Thumbs of Death and brought home his office pamphlet which has dozens of pics of Leanimal doing shoulder exercises. This time I will follow through.

The corollary to the good news about my shoulder is that I'm back in the rotation for taking BazingaPuppy out for his leashed runs. I wore my flexible crampons on the icy trails for today's sunset run, and they worked well.

If you read 'Bent's log, you've seen his great collection of Palgrave Glacier pics. It is crazy to run around here right now but thanks to the February 29 Leagues Challenge, I have no choice!

Since the Palgrave West trail network has been transformed into a glacier, I wore the lightweight crampons I bought last year for APEX but ended up not needing. They aren't the most nimble things for running but they were 100% non-slip, even on the steepest "skating rink" hill. The only down side was what happened a few times when I failed to lift my feet high enough, and the crampon teeth caught in the ice. I got to practise my yoga balance poses without any prior warning!

BulletDog enjoyed herself but had a few wipeouts since she merely has claws instead of crampons or spiked shoes. Interesting experiment and now it's time for another snow dance!

On the trainer with Coach Troy and Spinervals 1.0 No Slackers Allowed. The first time I did this, it was on a mountain bike and I couldn't relate to it at all. Now that I can use the same gears that he suggests and monitor my cadence, it was a more interesting workout. Intervals, superspins, race simulation, standing, sitting and a lot of sweat. I need to get on the trainer more!

158 W ave, 281 W max
82 ave cadence, 150 max
24.8 kph ave

So it turns out that the rider I was cheering for, Andy Schleck, actually *did* win the 2010 Tour de France, now that Alberto Contador has been found guilty of doping. Such a shame Andy was robbed of the chance to stand on the podium on the Champs Elysees. It's like Beckie Scott's much-delayed Olympic gold in nordic skiing after the two competitors "ahead" of her were disqualified for doping.

BulletDog (who was in a more exploratory mood than usual) and I went for a sunny Monday morning run in Palgrave West. Although it is great to have spiked shoes that make it *possible* to run on glare ice, the novelty wears off after a couple of weeks. Although I'd really like 30 cm of snow to ski on, at this point I'd take anything other than ice on the trails - mud, slush, frozen earth... anything! In spite of that, it was a beautiful morning to be in the woods.

Today was Day 6 of Ken Niemimaa's (Sulphur Springs 100-mile winner) "29 Leagues in February" challenge where participants agree to run (or in my case, ski or run) at least 5K a day. So far, no one has dropped out - or if they have, they're not admitting it in public.

While watching old Daily Shows. I've added bigger weights to my calf lifts, lunges and one-legged squats - just in case I eat too much chocolate before my next mountain race.

Note to those considering UTMB: With the cooperation of the Sulphur Springs Trail Run event director, I've sent a request to the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc Selection Committee to accredit the 50-mile and 100-mile distances as UTMB qualifying races. In the best case, they could be worth 2 and 3 points respectively. The elevation gain for the 50K distance didn't meet the UTMB criteria.

The RD said that someone else had already submitted this request with no response so far from UTMB. With 19 aid stations on the 50-mile course and 39 on the 100-mile course, UTMB may not consider racers to be autonomous enough to meet their requirements. Anyone who wants points this spring should research other alternatives but if we're lucky, maybe this local alternative will work out.

'Bent's cold has improved over the weekend, as has my shoulder, so we decided to try a short cross-country ski at Highlands. Glad we went since it's February - the best time to ski (sigh) - but in a real winter, today's conditions wouldn't have been worth the drive.

The classic tracks were rock hard and icy and occasionally non-existent. I loved Arthurd's description of classic tracks on the sketchy Ski-O World Cup race course as "death canyons"; those words popped into my mind on one wild corner today. It was scary at times for someone who really didn't want to fall onto a hard surface on an injured shoulder.

Luckily, I stayed upright. My waxless skis slipped a lot and I even resorted to skating in a few places. Skating definitely would have been the better choice today. The final big downhill was crazy. 'Bent came up behind two people who had taken off their skis and were walking abreast down the hill on the ski trail! That's not the type of etiquette you usually see at Highlands, where most people seem to know what they're doing. I was luckier but had to sneak past several nervous people near the top of the hill. I'd planned to go another 5K but didn't feel inspired. Lunch at the cafe in Creemore sounded *way* better.

P.S. Garmin says that about 30% of this ski was 15 kph or faster. That sure isn't my usual classic pace. No wonder it was scary at times! Poor KD (Goose Jr.) broke her arm at the Eastern Canadian XC Ski Champs - conditions are probably dicey there too.

Yahoo! VO2Max was 3rd in the 15K Free race at the Eastern Canadian XC Ski Champs. The "bad" news is that we have to pay him $50 due to our ongoing side bet related to podium finishes... We're still hoping to cheer him on in Sochi.

In honour of my Death Race registration - and to give my rotator cuff more rest before using ski poles again - I did my first long run in awhile. I went from home to Glen Haffy on the Bruce Trail, right up to Hwy 9, which was the halfway point. The trail was a hilly skating rink. My spikes were keeping me upright but no shoe could give me the ability to push off with my back foot in these conditions, so it was a slow run. (Not to be confused with an "easy" run, since it took plenty of energy to stabilize myself.)

I only fell once and it was only peripherally related to the ice. I was running just beside the slippery trail when my foot caught on a thick, sawed-off sapling. I did a spectacular Superman dive that flung me into a push-up that engaged my injured shoulder. Yesterday that would have hurt so much that I might have stayed on the ground and waited for coyotes to devour me and put me out of my misery. But fortunately, the combination of ice and chiro treatment has made the pain much more manageable over the past 24 hours.

At Hwy 9, I decided to head cross-country through Glen Haffy to Coolihan's Sideroad rather than taking the trail. There was some snow slogging, some nasty bushwhacking through thorny bushes and some fun running through open areas covered in light snow. Much nicer than the trail.

I cleaned up a little garbage that had been buried under the snow at last week's orienteering meet, then decided to head home on hilly country roads - a mixture of mud and ice, usually with enough gravel to give traction. Nice run - a few Garmin stops along the way to say hi to people and dogs. Today's podcasts were "Endurance Planet", "Spark" (CBC) and "This American Life".

Drum roll... It's time for the Ceremonial Changing Of The Injuries. After 110 days, my badly sprained ankle doesn't feel quite normal but it's close enough and is not affecting my activities. My yoga balance poses on the left side are less reliable and my foot doesn't bend for its first few steps each morning - that's most of what I notice. It's much, much better than it was two months ago today when I ran 83 km on it, which undoubtedly delayed its recovery.

This gives me time to focus on a brand new injury - well, actually, a chronic niggle that flared up into a big deal this week - an inflamed rotator cuff. The swimming brought it out of hiding, then last night's yoga class set it on fire!

While it's recovering, I'm allowed to do anything that doesn't involve lifting my upper arm above my shoulder. My sports chiro, Thumbs of Death, gave me a little plastic model of a shoulder to play with that showed me why. That's no problem since I can't do that anyway. I have to lift my right elbow with my left hand to comb my hair, for example. ToD proceeded to inflict some of the nastiest pain ever in order to loosen things up a bit. Guess that'll be happening a lot over the next while.

Easier run around the hilly Palgrave West skating rink trails before taking my rotator cuff to see Thumbs of Death.

Can't resist just one more short one... Sh$% Barefoot Runners Say

Hard Core Live with Caron

Yoga class - had to be very cautious of painful rotator cuff. Boo. It could have been a lot worse, actually. There are only a few types of movement that hurt.

BulletDog and I hit the icy trails of Palgrave West. It's a skating rink out there today. I felt like I was running well though. One thing about ice is that it removes the temptation to overstride, thus my cadence was better than usual.

These shorter runs are a treat - a chance to get my legs moving faster after doing so many longer runs in the fall. It was also a luxury to run with a mature dog who can be trusted off-leash. Much as I love BazingaPuppy, it is not relaxing to run with him yet. That time will come soon enough and then I will miss his goofy puppy nature. In the meantime, BulletDog and I will sneak out for occasional "grown-up" runs.

So... there are 280 Death Race soloists signed up after 24 hours (only 244 finishers last year) and it looks like STORM, LosDobos and I will be representing the Ontario AR crowd. Excited!

Alas, Wiarton Willie failed to see his shadow this morning so an early spring is in the forecast for Ontario even though we haven't had winter yet. On the bright side, Balzac Billie in Calgary *did* see his shadow so there will be 6 more weeks of winter to make our XC ski vacation more fun.

Plans for the year are starting to come together. Sadly, our APEX team didn't work out but Carbon and I are planning to do the Three15er 24-hour Rogaine in Washington State on Sept. 29-30, which will likely be the North American Championship. So happy to finally race with Carbon! Our goal is to beat her regular navigator on Team Wild Rose, Revy. ;)

After signing up for the Death Race today, I had to go running, of course. Also, in a weak moment awhile ago, I signed up for the February Challenge organized on Facebook by ultrarunner Ken Niemimaa. It's a commitment to run at least 5K/day for all 29 days of February. No days off or we're out. I signed up on the condition that skiing would have to count but it's looking more like running weather (sigh).

BazingaPuppy and I did a speedy tour of Palgrave West on trails that were mostly ice-covered with some snow, slush, mud and puddles for variety. At one point the pace felt crazy and my Garmin said we were doing 4 min/km, which is not remotely close to my pace *without* a crazed Lab/demon mix puppy on leash. We detoured around a big fallen tree and ended up doing some bushwhacking (logged separately since it was so different).

Bushwhacking with BazingaPuppy in the snow. The forest got really thick in places!

Quick bike ride "near San Diego", using the "Rides 3 - Southern California" DVD. No time for the whole thing today so I warmed up and climbed a big hill with them, then cooled down afterward.

Ave Watts: 152
Ave Cadence: 75 (not so good but we were doing slower cadence standing hill climbs)
Ave Speed - 23.9 kph

Just some quick calf and tibialis anterior strengthening and a dozen lunges on each side. Not much time tonight.

Almost 200 solos have signed up for the Canadian Death Race since registration opened half an hour ago. I am IN. Six months to get ready for 125 km of mountain running. For once, I've actually got enough time to do it properly. Let the training begin!

And wouldn't you know it...? Minutes before CDR Registration opened, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc released new, tougher requirements for their 2013 events. We need 2 points (which I already have from my 50-miler) to enter the lottery for either of their two "shorter" events (98 and 109 km) and 7 points to enter the lottery for UTMB. So I need another 50-miler this year. It's not the worst news I've had all day; it will mean that the lottery is open to slightly fewer people. But I won't have a lot of flex to accommodate any DNFs.

A true sports hero... Tour de France champion and two-time Giro d'Italia winner Gino Bartali used his training rides to save hundreds of Jewish lives in WWII. Why have Phil and Paul never told us about this? It sounds like the full story has only come out recently.

Rectal Exam Amendment fails in The End (tee hee). Clever idea though.