Training Log Archive: Bash

C3 Kinetico 10K race in Caledon East - half rail trail, half rolling paved road.

After yesterday's 25K, I was supposed to do some active recovery so... this probably wasn't the best thing but it's a great community event that I've never been able to fit into my schedule before. Lots of friends were there, many of them with their kids - Thumbs-of-Death, Marcus & Meagan Olson, Caron and other C3 pals, Mike & Chris & Elise Huet (doing her first 10K), Judith Barclay, Martin Rydlo, Eugenius Mlynczyk and his kids. I even got a high five from Coach LD as she biked past!

It's *so* different to do an adventure race or a trail running race - sports where I've developed some aptitude by now. When it comes to straightforward running, hahahahahahaha. I was well back in a small field, 2nd in age group (also last). I suspect the course was measured short. Even if my GPS was off, this was only 1 second slower than my 10K PB, and I really doubt I could have done that today. Regardless, it was lots of fun and great training to push when I was tired from yesterday. Marcus had a terrific race - 8th overall and 2nd in age group, 38 something.



It was also fun to stick around for the kids' 1-mile race. The Mlynczyk boys finished near the front of the age 11+ race. The little kids were so enthusiastic! I think that is Martin Rydlo's speedy son with the blonde hair and grey clothing - like father, like son.



I stood off the course but a bunch of kids cut the corner and almost took me out. I had to run for it! :)

Run for the Toad 25K

The main event for us today was 'Bent's first 50K; I did the 25K mostly to be sociable. I've got the Oil Creek 100K in two weeks but wasn't as brave as Tiny, who did the 50K today and will also be racing Oil Creek.



Probably I shouldn't have "raced" today during my taper but I decided to give it a shot. I haven't done a 25K race since July 2011 so I'm out of the habit of pushing myself in trail races. I don't have a fast gear but I focused on good posture, Chi lean and quick turnover. If I ever felt that I was in my comfort zone, I pushed myself just a little outside - nothing too crazy but I wouldn't have wanted to carry on long conversations. (This is the opposite of my ultras where I consciously try to drop back into my comfort zone if I move beyond it for very long. Much easier to do that!)

For me, it was a decent result. My pace stayed fairly consistent around 6 min/km as the course wove through hills and valleys, and grass, dirt, pavement and tree roots. I ran it all including the "No Whining" hill (twice) for kicks since I can't risk doing that in longer races.



Unfortunately (!) about 40 minutes from the end, I realized that I could finish under 2.5 hours if I maintained my pace. Sure, it's just a number but I'm an engineer and easily swayed by such things. So I had to keep my nose to the grindstone right to the end, and I finished with less than a minute to spare - phew! I knew I couldn't hit the podium in a huge, short distance event like this but I hit my goal of top 10% in my age category (9th of about 100 runners).

It was great to see Myka looking fresh after her first 25K. She has really taken her game up a notch this year. Let's make that two or three notches! There are no pics of her or of me - oops.

Mrs. Tiny was today's Rock Star, finishing in virtually the same time (2:32) that she ran last year before giving birth to beautiful Teeny Tiny. Her two lap times were only 16 seconds apart! Considering how much more time she had to train last year, today's run showed off her natural talent and determination. When she is able to get back into a regular training schedule, look out world!



Mr. Tiny aced his 50K run too, running all 4 laps in virtually the same time. His last lap was the fastest. When people look up the expression "Race smart" in the dictionary, they see this photo of Tiny.



'Bent and I had talked a lot about his pacing, and things started out well with 1:05 and 1:02 on his first two laps, putting him in 16th overall at the halfway point. His 3rd lap was 1:07 and he looked good as he ran by. Still in the right ballpark. Then the 4th lap... Myka and I waited and waited along the course. It had been too long so we went to the finish area. Ultra Char and Chris were there, and she said that 1:20 wouldn't be unusual for a first-timer, so not to worry.



But 1:20 passed and no sign of him. I figured that he either had such an amazing 4th lap that I'd missed him - which didn't seem likely - or else his knee had given out, and he had stopped racing. Then at 1:24, he came running up looking surprisingly strong. It almost seemed like there must be some mistake - until he staggered over and half-mumbled about nausea and washroom breaks in the final lap. Off to the massage tent for him, where he collapsed on the grass. My thoughts: "Yay, it wasn't his knee!!"



After a massage and some squash soup, he felt better - and when we checked out the results and found him in 3rd place of 23 men in his age group, he got downright perky! :)





Not an easy first ultra for him but in the second half of the race, he moved up from 16th to 13th place overall out of 125 runners. So even though he fell apart in the last 10K (read his log for the full story), he held his own. Good job, 'Bent - well done to keep going when you felt so bad!

Continuing to riff on my "athletes who could have babysat Ed Whitlock" theme, 100-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand has established a new (i.e. previously non-existent) world age group record for 100K of cycling - 4 hrs 17 min. That's an average of 23.3 kph. Did I mention that he's 100 years old?

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/1263785--pho...

Two years ago this week, I did my first 50K trail run at Run for the Toad while 'Bent sat loyally in the pouring rain with his leg elevated, recovering from meniscus repair surgery.

A number of people told him they had returned to running in an unbelievably short time after meniscus surgery. "One week!" "One month!" "Seven weeks!" For 'Bent, the answer was much different. It was tough; he isn't the patient type. He had gone from being a 3:10 marathoner to a guy who ran 10K with me on a rail trail during his recovery and ended up with an ankle injury that lasted for months.

He got good advice and multiple treatments from sports chiropractors in Bolton and Orillia. He has been very diligent about keeping up with his rehab exercises over the past couple of years. He has been able to do more and more as time has gone on, including two editions of Wilderness Traverse - although the 2011 race left him limping painfully. The twinges in his knee continue but they're not as bad as they were, and he never limps anymore.

Shorter runs have gone well this year but we didn't know if he'd ever be able to run a marathon again. So I am very excited about cheering him on in his first ultra tomorrow - the same 50K trail race at Run for the Toad that gave me the bug. Have a great race, 'Bent, and welcome back! :)

I did a major poison ivy decontamination session yesterday - 3 pairs of shoes + my bike. Inspired by my sparkling Specialized, I went for a quick ride around the single track of Palgrave East. What a beautiful day!

I'm feeling some sadness that I'm not heading to the North American Rogaining Champs in Washington with Carbon this weekend. This had been our plan all year but the organizer didn't start work on the event until a month ago and (incredibly) was granted North American Championship status 22 days before the event. We had given up by then, as had STORM and Browner and, I'm sure, many others.

There are 23 teams registered on the event site, racing in 7 different categories. The top 3 teams in each category will qualify for the world champs for the next two years. Each teammate can form his or her own team; they don't have to race with the same teammate - only in the same category. Only a handful of teams attending this NARC will *not* qualify for the worlds. If Carbon and I had been there, we would have qualified in both Veteran Women (no teams registered) and Open Women (2 teams registered). We would only have to find one control. With the World Champs taking place in the U.S. in 2014, it would have been nice to qualify if the event had been confirmed in a reasonable timeframe. It remains to be seen how important qualifying will be. If all qualified rogainers decided to attend, there wouldn't be room for anyone else. But that didn't happen this year - not even close.

There are some worthy teams heading to Washington - teams who would have qualified even if there were lots of competition. Best wishes to Mr. and Mrs. GHOSLO, Eldersmith and Sharon, and Revy and James, all of whom deserve to compete in the World Champs! (I'm sure there are other top teams going but a lot of familiar names are missing, and these are the only competitors I know!)

Congratulations to Getawaystix and Hermes! May they live happily ever after. :)

I've rested my ankle for the past two days and wanted to test it again before Run for the Toad this weekend. My foot is still quite sore in a couple of small areas but the pain doesn't go deep, and it doesn't seem to affect my running. It really was a weird injury but fortunately it seems to have been weird in a good way.

Today is Yom Kippur so 'Bent has been in Toronto since last night to fast and atone. He took BulletDog (since she has fewer things to atone for) and left me with BazingaDog, who is used to running at a crazed pace. I did my best to tire him out, trying to hold my Chi posture as B-Dog led the way around Palgrave West and screeched to sudden halts for various doggie purposes. Gorgeous autumn day; the leaves are just starting to change. Love this time of year! :)

Bike Commute Benefit Calculator by CBC News

Ed Whitlock is pretty cool but Canadian multiple world record holder Olga Kotelko (93) and Indian runner Mann Kaur (96) could have changed his diapers. Kaur will run a half-marathon this weekend, probably the oldest woman to ever race this distance. I didn't know that Canadian-born Mavis Lindgren holds the 90+ marathon record of 8:53. Another goal to reach for in future years! ;)

http://runningmagazine.ca/2012/09/sections/news/96...

Helpful advice for Mrs. Gally.

Kids of all ages are needed to help set a national record by joining a free 1-mile fun run in Caledon East this Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30. They're hoping to get 1400 kids out.

The C3 / Kinetico Running Festival also includes a fast 5K and 10K for adults. Proceeds benefit Caledon Community Services. Kids who run will get a free T-shirt, finisher's medal and race number, as well as the chance to meet elite athletes like Sean Bechtel, Andrew Yorke and Taylor Reid. A donation to the local food bank is very welcome.

I was limping noticeably on my injured ankle Friday night but after 24 hours, it had improved a lot. The pain wasn't gone but it wasn't severe and there was no feeling of instability - at least no more than usual. I guess I really did injure it in a different way. Not sure whether I should be pleased about that.

If I weren't in such a beautiful place, I'd rest it longer but both 'Bent and I wanted to get out on a trail one more time before heading home. We parked near the crossroads and ran in to join the Mizzy Lake Loop. It's known for its wildlife but the closest we came today was a couple of other adventure racers. A few kilometers of this run follow the old railway line.



Some of it is a smooth forest path.



There are some long boardwalks.



But mostly it's rocky and rooty - and very muddy in places at the moment.



We went past a few lakes and ponds.





The autumn colours have been getting better every day that we're up here.









We did the last 3.5 km as a tempo run along the old rail line with 'Bent literally running circles around me. I think he is ready for his first 50K this Saturday. The trails in Algonquin are a lot more technical than Run for the Toad. We've been working on a pacing plan so he doesn't go out too hard on his first lap. I've been reading "Chi Running" again while we've been up here so my goal is just to run 25K with decent posture. (I say "just" as if this will be easy. It's not. I'm unlikely to succeed.)

Great weekend up north! :)

Ankle still sore so we took an afternoon excursion to the Algonquin Art Gallery and took a few pics along the route.

'Bent and I went for an easy paddle from Arowhon Pines lodge on Little Joe Lake to Joe Lake and around to Camp Arowhon on Tepee Lake. Arowhon Pines was built in the 1930s and originally provided accommodation for parents visiting their children at the camp.



As always, we paddled past our wedding rock. It's such a great campsite that it's seldom unoccupied, so we rarely get to go ashore. This weekend was no exception.



The weather was chilly and sometimes wet but there were lots of canoe trippers enjoying the autumn leaves.



We poked around little bays and behind islands. Sometimes it's nice to just paddle without any particular purpose.





We found a PFD and pool noodle floating around that belonged to the camp so we returned them to one of the watersports areas.



I got fascinated with all their yellow canoes.






'Bent was more intrigued by the beautiful - but structurally unsound - old boathouse.



The clouds hinted at storms but the weather defied the forecast while we paddled. The afternoon brought rain.





The Arowhon Pines Saturday lunch buffet is one of my favourite pig-outs of the year so we picked up the pace to get back in time. I wouldn't want other guests to finish off the Maple Mousse!







(Time deducted for stops.) (Started with GPS on Auto-pause but it was too annoying and, based on the track, clearly wasn't working!)

Every year 'Bent and I spend a weekend in Algonquin Park at Arowhon Pines, the lodge where we and our guests stayed for our wedding. Given that our normal excursions into the wilderness involve wading through swamps, guzzling mud-covered snacks, and bashing various body parts against rocks, it's nice to have this annual excuse to sleep indoors and enjoy yummy food in a beautiful place.

We ran the Centennial Ridges Trail today; a lot of Ontarians are familiar with this scenic trail near the Algonquin Visitor's Centre. If anyone is looking for a road trip, this trail (and all the park) will have spectacular autumn scenery for the next ten days or so. The colours changed during our time up there but next weekend will be the peak.



The visitor's guide for this trail warns that it will take at least 6 hours to do 10.8 km! No, it's not that tough although you could certainly get distracted taking photos and enjoying your lunch. A lot of it is rocky and rooty, and there are some good climbs and descents to get on and off the ridges. But it's all worth it for the incredible views to the west and the scenic ponds the trail passes enroute.

This is the top of the lower ridge. In the background is Whitefish Lake where 'Bent and I got engaged on skis.



The running was fun until about 60% of the way through when my left foot pushed off from the back side of a small rock that was sloping away from me. A small root arched across the lower part of the rock, and apparently my toes were underneath it as I pushed. There was a loud snapping noise as the root broke, which freaked out both 'Bent and me since it took a moment to determine that it wasn't one of my body parts. My toes ended up bruised, and the forward momentum pulled my ankle up away from the rest of my foot (ouch!). Then, because it was my bad ankle, it turned for good measure. OUCH!

Unfortunately, I'm so experienced at this stoopid ankle business now that I instantly rated it a 6/10, which probably meant no running for the rest of the weekend, possibly skipping Run for the Toad next weekend, and definitely feeling it at the Oil Creek 100K in three weeks. The sudden "lift" of the ankle was different - pain in new places - so I couldn't be sure. At least I'm glad it was my bad ankle since it hasn't got much further to go downhill.

After a few minutes, we returned to running very, very carefully. It's such a beautiful trail that even an injury can't ruin it! After our run, I checked my phone to see how Snowpants was doing at ARWC. Just as we lost cell signal on our way into the lodge, they were 500 m ahead of AXA Adidas near the finish of the race. Suspense! :)

























[Distance recorded is official trail distance since my Garmin won't be as accurate on a trail like this.]

Lots of fun planned in the great outdoors over the next few days in spite of the forecast!

For once 'Bent and the dogs were still sleeping at sunrise, which suits me just fine. But my left forearm suddenly became extremely itchy, which woke me up, and I scratched it even though I knew I shouldn't. It got worse and I stumbled around the house until I found the anti-itch cream that had been mandatory gear for some long-ago adventure race. It didn't help immediately, and it may have just been the passage of time without scratching that calmed it down. But holy crap, that is awful. I've had lots of experience dealing with pain but I've never thought about how incapacitating it must be for people with chronic itchiness. No clues whatsoever from looking at my skin but I spent several hours this weekend running around in really icky vegetation - pollen, burrs, sap - so hopefully it's a delayed reaction.

Ran to Centreville Creek Rd. mostly on the rooty, rolling Bruce Side Trail. It was cool today and I was surprised to experience what 'Bent described earlier this week - a feeling that running on flat ground was like running downhill. I've worked on heat acclimation over the past few months, which has been beneficial but not all that pleasant. My body actually *likes* running in autumn temperatures; I'd almost forgotten this feeling.

When I got to Centreville Creek Rd., I stopped briefly to google "rabies itchy skin" - yes, I have a wee bit of hypochondriac in me. :)

I started out just working on posture, hips forward, short stride and high cadence - all of which blend together. Then when I felt so good, I turned it into a tempo run and included a few pick-ups to 10K trail race pace. Still slow by most people's standards but a fast trail training session for me.

Then because BulletDog is a good girl and deserves it, I took her out for a cooldown run in Palgrave West. We misinterpreted a trail detour 'Bent had explained and ended up surrounded by poison ivy. Sigh... When I got back, I had to wash BulletDog's legs with soap before she could come in the house, and my shoes are awaiting their poison ivy wash next. (I now have 3 pairs of shoes sitting outside for that reason.) But it was fun to run with my pooch anyway!

81-year-old Canadian Ed Whitlock broke the half-marathon world record for 80+ in Milton on Sunday - 1:38:59. How many people ever run a half-marathon that fast at any time of life?

http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/09/18/ed-whitloc...

Turkey Trot Long
Albion Hills
(Loving the FellCross for orienteering, btw!)

Perfect sunny day, not too hot! I ran in a younger age group so I could do a longer course - the same one 'Bent was doing. I felt good - not fast but moving consistently on and off-trail. I'm quite familiar with Albion Hills, which helped but wasn't always an advantage. When racing in a familiar area, there's a tendency to read the map less carefully and think, "Oh, I know that hill" - when actually, you don't. But I didn't mess anything up significantly - other than #7 where a new trail led a lot of us astray. I collected a bunch of burrs that managed to chafe my right quad in a number of places - ouch!

'Bent started 1 minute behind me, and I saw him a couple of times on the course. I last spotted him near #8 as we headed out on the long leg to #9. From that point on, much of the course was well-suited to faster runners - but surprisingly, he wasn't at the finish line. He arrived shortly afterward with a tale of woe related to #9, and we headed over to MJ to get the verdict from the SI download. YES! Marital bragging rights are mine - with a slim 57-second lead. I was 2nd of 18 people in the various age/gender groups on our course. 'Bent was 3rd and Tom Wolever was the fastest, 5 minutes ahead of me. I can feel that my nav skills are rusty but I'm pretty happy with how things went this weekend. Maybe I wouldn't make a fool of myself if I went to NAOCs after all.

Turkey Trot, TOC
Claireville Conservation Area

It's been sooo long since I've orienteered! It was great to see friendly faces, hear stories about summer vacations, and get back on a map. The late summer vegetation was lush so the going was tough today. Many areas mapped as open were filled with thick, tangled weeds including lots of goldenrod which was above my waist in many places. Luckily, I'd worn my ankle brace for the first time since early spring. I needed it!

In spite of the extra effort to get around the terrain today, it was fun. I had a 2-minute error on one control but most of the others were OK, albeit not perfect. I was 3rd of 20 people running the same course in various age/gender categories. Good thing I didn't let it go to my head because the sprint was humbling...

About 40 seconds into my first attempt at this race, I found a young orienteer weeping because he couldn't find the trail so I stopped and suggested that we run back to the start together, since his parents were there. But they'd headed out to watch him along the course so we got new start times one minute apart so I could keep an eye on his first leg, and his second attempt was more successful (with moral support from Dad, who appeared at just the right time). When I was that young, I wasn't that brave - good on him!

I had a few good controls. Heck, I beat Galyna on two splits. But mostly, it was a disaster. My brain never got into the 1:5000 version of the map, and the sprint included some of the worst vegetation bashing of the day. I lost 10 minutes on two controls alone, which is hard to do in a sprint! This was unsurprising after 4 months away from navigation races. Although it felt like the worst sprint in history, I'm surprised to see that I was 8th of 18 people on the course so I guess I wasn't alone. One very experienced orienteer had a 23 minute split on a leg that took most of us around 4 minutes. It was just that kind of day.

Rain has been falling steadily in Palgrave for the past few hours. Bring it on! 80% of the U.S. is experiencing some form of drought, which is going to affect our food prices over the next while. Looks like the climate scientists may have had a point about droughts and extreme weather events... ;(

29C and hopefully (!) one of the last hot, humid days of summer. I planned a paddle-run brick at Island Lake. I hauled the surfski out of the garage, heaved it on the roof of the car, tied it on, and found my PFD and boat kit. Then I packed running shoes and socks, waist pack, water bottle, Garmin and dry clothes for afterward. Phew, all my adventure race packing has made it a breeze to get ready for a complicated little training session like this.

I'd driven about 1.5 kms when I realized that I hadn't brought a paddle. :(

There was a gusty southwest wind that kept me on my toes and even whipped up a little chop at times. I love paddling into a headwind - it makes me feel like I'm somewhere a lot more adventurous than Island Lake! It was great to be out.

A short run on the Vicki Barron Trail. I can't believe that in all the times I've been at Island Lake, I've never tried this. The trail is relatively new, built a few years ago, and when I've looked at it from the water, I usually see families with strollers or people out for an easy Sunday bike ride without helmets. I guess it looked too civilized. Turns out it's wide like a rail trail but with some hills. The short section I did was quite pretty. I think I'll tack on a run after future paddling sessions. There aren't a lot of trails at Island Lake but there is more exploring to be done.

TSN2 has been showing a TV program about the Centurion Horseshoe road bike races. A kind friend took this photo to prove that I was leading 'Bent up the biggest hill on the course!



Unfortunately, this was 2 minutes into the race, and 'Bent left me in his recumbent dust shortly afterward. :)

Five tips for a woman....

1. It is important that a man helps around the house and has a job.
2. It is important that a man makes you laugh.
3. It is important to find a man you can count on and doesn't lie to you.
4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.
5. It is important that these four men don't know one other.

:) Just kidding, 'Bent!

If 'Bent posts a "Big Dog Free to a Good Home" ad, please don't answer. Apparently, today's bike commute home with BazingaDog was a disaster. 'Bent is in the garage now fixing his broken chain...

For those who like photos... Thanks to DoubleDown_on11 and his great photography skills, I've added a bunch of new LRS pics to my race report, with explanation as required.

http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920...

Mrs. Gally is getting ready for the Oil Creek 100-miler next month so today she went out for not one but *two* Hockley loops. She wisely booked Dee for Loop #1, which they completed in a speedy 2:31. I met them at noon, then we said farewell to Dee, and Mrs. Gally and I headed out for Loop #2 in the counter-clockwise direction. I rarely go this direction but I think it is a little easier. That is, it's easier if you don't make a wrong turn while involved in a conversation and go halfway down Hockley Ski Hill by mistake - oops! That's OK - we needed the extra climbing to get ready for Oil Creek. (Tiny and I will be there too, doing the 100K.)

It was fun to catch up. I'm always amazed at Mrs. Gally's energy - teaching a spin class at 6 a.m., running two Hockley Loops, running and biking in the evening with her personal training clients, all while being a wife and Mom to three kids. Phew! No wonder she looks fresh as a daisy after an overnight adventure race - it's probably the easiest day she's had in months!

Although she has many attributes, a hydration pack is not one of them, and she ran out of water with an hour to go. It was a hot day, and I had enough water to share for an hour if we rationed it. We were going to have to push hard to meet her babysitter's time constraints so we decided not to run through Hockley Provincial Park at the end of our loop. Instead we continued south on 3rd Line to the bottom of the valley and ran Hockley Rd. to the parking lot. It was only 2 km shorter but there was less elevation gain. It still made for an impressive day of training for her - more than a marathon distance through some of the hilliest terrain around. My legs are still fatigued from LRS but I felt better than expected so this was great training for me too.

We were discussing pacing plans for Oil Creek. Coach Dee thinks Mrs. Gally should run with me for the first 50K loop, then run her own faster pace after that. It would probably drive her stir crazy but there would certainly be no risk of her going out too fast. Interesting... Maybe I could build a lucrative new career as a Slow Pace Bunny! ;)

Monday mornings can be tough!

I've added some pics and explanation to my LRS report. Thanks to Harps, Eco and 'Bent for sharing their pics. I'll add more after Double_Downon11 posts his collection.

Huge congrats to Carbon's Offset who completed the challenging Superior Traill 100-miler this weekend. He has earned all his UTMB points - plus an extra point just for kicks - since doing his first ultra just 3.5 months ago. Awesome.

Event: Logs Rocks and Steel - A Multisport Adventure
 

Splits are up now. I finished exactly half an hour slower than last year, and the difference was almost entirely the bike leg - some of it due to the wet trail but mostly because I haven't been riding enough this year. Tsk tsk.

Paddle 5th/18 solos (male & female)
Bike 12th
Run 7th
Overall 6th

Yup, it's pretty clear what I need to work on!

Salomon Logs Rocks and Steel multisport race

The day before, the weather forecast was so bad, it was laughable. We were supposed to get up to 50 mm (2") of rain in a 24-hour period. 'Bent and I stayed at my brother's cottage and listened to rain drumming on the metal roof all night, which sounded much worse than it actually was. (Although to be clear... it *was* a lot of rain!) I awoke at 3:45 a.m., and my mind was so active that I couldn't fall back asleep. Ugh, not a good start.

I'll admit that in those sleepless hours, I briefly considered making excuses. After all, I had the sniffles and my bad ankle has been feeling pretty sore lately. But after a cup of coffee, I snapped out of it and realized that the weather was a terrific opportunity for a gear and clothing test, even if it wasn't ideal for racing. The forecast improved a little too. We ended up having steady rain for a couple of hours, then a few hours of clouds with occasional spitting rain followed by a hurricane with wind and rain blowing sideways. Fortunately, when you're out in that stuff, it's not nearly as bad as when you're indoors looking out a window.

'Bent and I were doing the Championship Course solo for our anniversary weekend celebration. 'Bent had suggested racing together as a coed team but it would be a shame not to paddle our nice boats. I also figured it would be good for 'Bent to get a chance to race solo since he has been cramping in races this year for some reason, and it would be interesting to see what would happen if he just raced his own race.

The pre-race briefing was indoors because God forbid Getawaystix should get damp in such weather. ;) If you look closely, you may notice the extra padding I'd stuck under my hat so I could portage the kayak by balancing the hard seat on my head.



We started on the water - 14 km paddle with three short portages. I'd offered 'Bent the surfski, and I used my JKK Eclipse kayak, which goes a little slower for me.







Frankenjack shot off from the start as if he had jet engines in his boat. Incredible! You can just see him at the right side of the photo - the last race photo he and I appeared in together. And technically, only my kayak's bow is in this photo - not me. :)



I think FB was 2nd solo using Will's fast tippy Cobra. Even he probably didn't see Frankenjack on the 2nd loop though!



LosDobos and Susan shot ahead in their canoe, paddling really well.



Frankenjack hit the dock with nobody in sight behind him.



Two of my three portages were just plain silly. On the first one after 3.5 km, I paddled in with 'Bent and Coach LD but fell a few hundred meters behind them when things went haywire on the trail. My paddle slid mostly out of the cockpit, and when I grabbed it, my head slid forward so the boat was off-balance. I couldn't see anything and ended up going off onto a side trail, then had to merge in behind other people. The whole time, I was worried about slamming the boat into an unseen tree, damaging both it and my head.

On another portage, one of the front airbags kept falling out and I had to grab it over and over. I couldn't see and went off the main trail *again*. Sheesh.

At least I avoided the trouble I had at the camp's high dock last year when volunteers helped the racers ahead of me, then got busy and weren't able to help me get out of my tippy kayak right away. It's virtually impossible to keep my kayak upright at that dock on my own so yesterday I scoped out a shallow place beside the dock where I could get out without help.

That was the second portage and the only one that worked well for me. This time it was 'Bent and Coach LD who had trouble at the dock, and I was able to sneak by them as a result. When this pic was taken, I was about 75 m behind them and over to their left (beyond the right side of this photo) aiming for the shallow water. I didn't appear in any photos here, which makes me think about that dentist who faked all his good marathon results. Really, I did paddle two loops - honest! :)



Harps was taking photos as we came by on the portage.



'Bent discovered that the surfski doesn't portage as easily as one might think!



'Bent was obviously not feeling great on the paddle, as I was able to stick with him and eventually pulled out of the water ahead of him. The SI control is over a hill about 400 meters away from the place where we dropped our boats so I knew he would win the split. Rather than competing for marital bragging rights (which 'Bent felt I'd already earned), I stayed at my boat doing half my transition there, putting all my paddling gear into the boat. I remember last year that it was bulky and just got in the way when I took it all to the main transition area.

I was pleased when our good friend Coach LD entered the race again, since the tough competition would push me to work hard. We're pretty evenly matched on a paddle leg like this but this year it was Coach LD who had the bad luck at the high dock instead of me. We overlapped in transition.

I knew she would pass me soon enough, as she is much stronger on the bike, and she had 52 km to build a lead. However, I would have the advantage on the final 17 km technical trail run, so the question was whether there would be enough race course for me to chase her down. It was going to be fun trying, and I told Coach LD that she and her orange jacket were going to be my carrot all day!

The universe unfolded as it should. Coach LD passed me within a few kms, and the race was on. Even with the ridiculous amount of water on the course, the dry summer meant good trail conditions for the most part. Most of the rock provided great traction, even when wet. I've had a couple of bad endos this year so I did the first half of the ride cautiously until I finally began to trust that most puddles were rideable because of underlying rock.

Even though conditions were far from perfect and I was far from fast, I loved riding the bike course even more than last year. The LRS bike leg is a great ride - so much variety, and it's a real treat to ride on the Torrance Barrens, Ontario's answer to Moab.

Here's the 'bent bike that gave 'Bent his nickname!



At this point (the 1st bike aid station), he was riding with Coach LD.



I didn't see many other people on the bike. About half an hour after Coach LD went by, I passed FB at the side of the trail fixing a flat. He'd had a great paddle so that was sad. When he finally passed me a few kms later, I was happy to see him - partly because I like to see a friend doing well and partly because I'd made a deal with myself that I would stop to pee as soon as he passed me. Believe me, I was cheering for him to get that flat fixed quickly. :)



A few minutes after he went by, I was passed by a man who said, "Did you see that guy? With the jacket?" So... that would describe most people on the race course but I knew he meant FB so I nodded. He said, "He passed me on this super technical section, and he was going so fast, you would have thought he was riding a gravel road!" Yep, that was FB, all right.

Tom and Julia passed me just before the aid station on the Barrens where Harps and Will were volunteering. (A number of these pics are Eco's finish line photos - thanks!)


This was late in the bike leg and I was surprised that I hadn't seen them before - and that I'd only been passed by 2 solos and their team. Since paddling is my best discipline and biking is my weakest, I usually count on seeing a lot of people on a ride like this. The conditions must have held back some of the better riders today, I guess.



One person who is not affected by weather conditions is Coach LD. I asked Harps how far ahead she was. "20 minutes". Crap! That was the worst kind of answer. If Harps had said "1 hour", she would be clearly out of reach, and I could sit back and try to cruise to 2nd place. Or if he said "5 minutes", I could keep riding the same way I had been, and I'd probably get that time back on the run. But a 20 minute lead is in the twilight zone - not big enough to concede when there's 33 km left, including the one discipline where I should do better. However, it's a damned big lead, and it meant that I would need to start pushing harder. I would have been happy for my friend to win but neither she nor I would want to compete based on anything but our best efforts.

When I got to the two sets of train tracks on the road back to Camp Pine Crest, I slowed down and put a foot down. I was thinking of my friend Erin with the metal plate in her wrist from last weekend's bike accident. At the 2nd set of tracks, I noted that there were no flashing lights, and I glanced both ways out of habit. There was a truck coming along the train tracks toward me! He stopped in time but it was a surreal moment.

I took a little longer at the final bike/run TA. I refilled water and food, emptied some items from my pack to reduce weight, and changed to a light technical T-shirt. I apologize to all, as this act was undoubtedly what brought on the hurricane rains and winds that hit us 20 minutes later.



The jacket came off within 15 minutes and it probably would have been wise to put it back on again when the hurricane struck, but I didn't.



I haven't been doing as much technical riding as usual for the past few months, and as a result, my knee started bugging me during the ride and continued on the run. Other than that, I felt great. With rain blowing horizontally at times, there was incentive to keep moving. On the southern trail section of the out-and-back leg, I saw the 2nd place solo running toward me followed by 'Bent a short time later. He looked like he was feeling great and running well - awesome!



With Coach LD's lead on the bike, I wasn't sure if there was time to catch her but if I did, I thought it would likely be around the 2nd bushwhack in the last 5 km of the race. Suspense!

But unfortunately, I found her at the halfway point of the run on the connector trail between the main snowmobile trail and the Barrens aid station. She had gotten turned around relative to the course markings in there. *Such* a letdown for both of us since we were having a great head-to-head race, and now we would never know how it would have turned out. We chatted and I led the way to the aid station.

I considered running together to the finish but I wanted to see my time on the run compared to last year, so I told Coach that I would ask Getawaystix to just make it a tie between us. She protested but it wouldn't feel good to win under the circumstances. I should know... this is the 3rd year in a row where I have won LRS but another woman (or women) on the podium has had difficulty following the course, so it doesn't feel like a real win. Unfortunately, it didn't end up being possible to adjust the results since another woman in the open category finished between us.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the run. It was a treat to feel cold and wet after a ridiculously hot summer. I had good energy and just felt happy to be alive running around in beautiful terrain in a rainstorm. My training has been different this year - less multisport and more long slow runs. If there is one thing I've improved at (and there may *only* be one!), it's running when I'm tired, so this final leg of the race was exactly what I've trained for.



It was great to see friends at the finish line. 'Bent was there, all tidied up since he had been there for 55 minutes. He was 1st masters, 3rd solo overall.



Hermes handed me a frosty beverage. Funderstorm, Iris and FB were there too.







Frankenjack, the male champion, had been in for well over 2 hours. He had taken off on the paddle as if there were jet engines in his boat. In the end, he beat Eric Batty's male team by less than a minute - what a battle!



They are extremely competitive bikers and runners, and that's why Frankenjack purposely built up such a ridiculous lead on the paddle. It worked!



Frankenjack and Team Batt-Kins shook hands then jumped in the lake together. Awww, so sweet to see these fierce rivals playing nicely together. ;)



I didn't see Amber till after the finish but it sounds like she had a tough day out there on the bike. Next time!



Camp Pine Crest always treats us well, so we got yummy food after the race, and it was great to chat with so many good friends who were racing or volunteering. I have to give an extra shout out to the volunteers... So many of them are friends who are also racers. It was awesome to see them and to benefit from their generosity in giving back to the sport. Thanks, all.









And thanks to Getawaystix for putting together this excellent event which, amongst other things, included some behind-the-scenes work with town council that was a little stressful and time-consuming. Although I don't work on LRS, I do get to see how much effort is required to put on an event like this. Only a small percentage of race organization is the fun "glamour" stuff - course testing, greeting top racers at the finish line, etc. We are really lucky to have some top race directors living in Ontario and putting on quality events for us - thank you!



P.S. Thanks to DoubleDown_on11, Eco and Harps for the photos.

"LRS" tomorrow:

Light Rain Showers

Nope, let's be honest... Lightning & Rain Storms

Lake Rising Steadily

Legs Really Slow

Love Rocky Singletrack

Long Run Solo

Lotsa Racer Socializing

Happy 16th, 'Bent! Note the wedding support crew approaching in various types of watercraft. No surfskis though. :)

Crash invited me for a chatty morning trail run around Palgrave East and West with Skye-Dog. It was humid and warm but the forest is definitely starting to look autumnal. The huge climate-change-enhanced patches of lush poison ivy are starting to turn yellow around the edges. I won't miss them!

We checked out the big new map sign and discovered that the trail use designations are different from what the TRCA agreed upon with the advisory committee. The designations can't have changed that much; the sign must be wrong. Currently, there is a random kilometer of mountain bike single track in the middle of the conservation area with no bike access permitted from the trails it meets at either end.

A Garmin stop was required in my final kilometre to move a huge pile of horse poop off the trail that 'Bent and BazingaDog will take home tonight. What does it take for equestrians to recognize that horse droppings = feces that can carry nasty diseases?

A neighbour once picked up a bunch of garbage that was dumped nearby and found enough identifying information to be able to mail it to the person who had dumped it. Hmm, I'm getting some inspiration about these big piles of poo...

Fyi the Three15er rogaine on Sept. 29 in Washington State has just received approval as the 2012 North American Rogaining Champs with three weeks advance notice. Kinda makes you wonder if the designation of "championship event" is supposed to mean something. I'm on the committee that makes these decisions, and I presented my point of view a few weeks ago but avoided the vote since I didn't want to be a Grinch and take the opportunity from other people. I am one of the people who had planned all year to do this event, then finally bailed a couple of weeks ago since the website only became active one month before the event. I know there were others who abandoned their plans as well.

Conditions have improved substantially since wintry weather forced organizers to short-course last weekend's Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. My only question is... has Salomon stopped sponsoring Kilian Jornet? He looks a little, um, short of gear this morning.

For the 3rd time this summer, my car spent a full day at the Subaru dealer in Toronto. Today was supposed to be the end of it - a brand new catalytic converter replaced under warranty. The morning rush hour trip was nasty - 1 hr 40 min of stop-and-go driving in fog, construction and heavy traffic. I only had a couple of small errands in the city, and I was restless thinking of all I needed to do back in Caledon.

My phone rang after almost 6 hours. Turns out the mechanic broke the new catalytic converter when he installed it. They need to order another one. The car will continue to emit stinky toxins and stall at dangerous times. It will have to be taken back to Toronto for a 4th full day.

I felt strangely calm. The service manager explained it to me several times using different words; I think he figured I didn't grasp the situation since I wasn't upset. This surprised even me since I'd been dreading the trip to the city so much, but I guess if you've done wilderness tripping or adventure sports, or if you've just lived long enough, you get used to the fact that sh!t happens and it doesn't help to throw a tantrum; you just deal with it.

Adventure athletes run into this all the time. Your tire goes flat, your teammate feels nauseated, the best part of the race course has to be cut out because of water levels. All of us have been there. I can definitely remember a time when I would have reacted with frustration, and it's cool to realize that my experiences have moulded me. (Or maybe I've just gone mouldy!)

We also gain perspective. Instead of the service manager on the phone, this could have been someone telling me that a family member had been in an accident or that my blood test showed cancer. Or I could be pinned under a rock in a kayak or I could be in deep wilderness with an injured friend. Or I could live in the third world and never own a vehicle.

Having a piece-of-crap car is not such a bad problem to have.

Maybe we could attract new people to our sport by marketing the Zen of Adventure Racing!

On a less philosophical note, I visited my friends at the Salomon Store today and contributed to Phatty's salary. Some of the fall/winter merchandise has arrived, although there is much more to come between now and mid-October. Bargain alert: There are 50%-off racks of clothing, and some types of shoes are marked down significantly. For men, there is now a Salomon bike jersey and bike shorts - cool looking but even the XS jersey was too large for me.

Not happy with your marathon PB? Try the new Paul Ryan Marathon PB Calculator ;)

So sad for my young friend Erin who came up from Calgary to support me at the Death Race. She's in the hospital in Kamloops today after hitting railroad tracks the wrong way during a weekend bike ride. Wrist is badly broken - heading in for surgery. :(((

As a keen cyclist, she was pleased to report that her bike seemed to be OK. It's still at the local fire hall, she thinks.

Traditional Labour Day paddle and picnic with the Doughty family - Coach LD, Goose, KD, Pops and Susie. I did a couple of kms on the surfski, then switched to the stern of a whitewater canoe with Goose's Dad in the bow. Pops is a very experienced paddler so my job was easy. It was a treat to use a single blade canoe paddle in a canoe for a change - something we don't get to do when we're racing. Beautiful weather, great picnic, Dairy Queen, Starbucks... a nice celebration and now I'm ready to go back to school. The only minor problem is that I don't *have* a school.

'Bent and I are both doing Logs Rocks and Steel solo for our wedding anniversary. (We're such hopeless romantics!) As my gift to him, he gets to use the surfski. I love the cockpit of the Epic V8 and think it's possibly the most comfortable boat I've ever paddled. 'Bent has very little body fat, none of which is on his bum, and he finds the surfski uncomfortable. He wants to install a padded seat with glued-on velcro attachments while I want the cockpit to stay smooth and chafe-free. Our discussion on the drive home today was getting serious and veering perilously close to an (N+1) solution. Then he said, "If only there were a way to use suction cups so I could remove it completely when I'm not using it." I foolishly said, "Something like our gel shower mat would work."

So now I'm getting ready to have a shower on what's left of our mat. The rest of it has disappeared outside to be used in an Important Manly Project. I just saw 'Bent portaging the surfski across the yard, apparently testing how comfortable the shower mat feels against his head. Fellow LRS competitors, I must warn you that he seems extremely well prepared. ;)

'Bent and I rode to Caledon East via Palgrave West singletrack, Duffy's Lane and the rail trail. After picking up Goose, who had ridden up from Bolton, we continued by rail trail through Inglewood, then by roads to the trail system of Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. We exited via the Elora-Cataract rail trail which took us to Erin where we finally (phew!) arrived at The Shed for lunch. I indulged in a toasted roast beef and swiss cheese panini, chocolate zucchini loaf and latte in a bowl. Yum. :)

We went home via Belfountain and the technical trails that lead from Caledon Mountain Drive to Grange Road and the quarry, and descend the escarpment into Inglewood from the west. I don't think we ever take the same route through that area twice. I really need to go for a ride in there with my GPS some day and make myself a map.

Somewhere along the way as I bounced over rocks, I made the highly specific diagnosis of a "spokey" sound coming from my back wheel. I looked optimistically for a stick caught in there but it was, in fact, a broken spoke. Luckily, we were only 20 minutes away from the Caledon Hills Cycling shop when it happened, and they were right on our way home.

My legs are now officially ready to relax for the rest of the long weekend! :) This doesn't mean I've earned a rest day. It means we'll be paddling tomorrow!

Myka, whose previous longest run was 14 km, decided that doing the Hockley Loop would be great preparation for Run for the Toad 25K. Funderstorm and I signed up to come along, although we assured her that she'll find the Toad much easier! We had little celebrations when she exceeded her longest run and when she passed the half-marathon mark. This is a tough place to push your distance limits but Myka was a rock star.

'Bent came along in an Energizer Bunny mood so I sent him off to explore side trails, do hill repeats, and run ahead to the road and come back. I think he got in an extra 6-7 km but he missed out on some of the best girl talk. We stopped to enjoy the beautiful views at various lookouts around the valley. We met Eco and Eco-Hund after their hike, then we all went for a long relaxed lunch on the shady patio at the Black Birch. A great kick-off to the holiday weekend!

Photos are by Myka: