Training Log Archive: Bash

Family taper run around Palgrave West in pouring rain and 8C. So nice to get rain after such a dry spring!

'Bent was harnessed to BazingaDog while AdventureDog ran off leash. This arrangement doesn't work for real training since BDog is erratic at times, but it was fine for today's purposes.

Between poison ivy clean-up and tick checks for humans and beasts, I think summer training is now more time consuming than winter training where we just have to put on more layers.

Elevation profile for next weekend's Kettle 100 in Wisconsin. I'm only doing the first 62 miles (101K) but it looks like there will be several serious climbs to keep us working.



For perspective, here is the elevation profile for July's Eiger Ultra Trail 101K in the Alps. It doesn't seem so bad now!



Of course, that all changes once we do what our math and science teachers always said: check the graph scale.

The difference between the high and low points at the Kettle 100 is less than 200 feet - about 60 m.

At the Eiger Ultra Trail, the high point is 1800 m above the low point.

Bottom line: The elevation profile of any trail race can be made to look really impressive if you try hard enough. :)

Shoulderhab, foothab, foam rolling and more. I need to make this a priority again. My left Achilles tendon is starting to feel stiff and ropey like it did before my heel injury, and my rotator cuff hurts more than ever four years after it started acting up. I've been seeing Thumbs_of_Death for chiro treatments on my shoulder for the past three weeks. It helps but OW!!!

Fun ride with six other women - a first for me, I think. It was part of a camping weekend organized by Virginia, my Raid The Rib teammate. All the women - except for SistaP and me - were Moms who had arranged a night away to ride, eat, chat and camp at Albion Hills. Tomorrow some of the husbands and kids will arrive, and there will be a changing of the guard when the men go mountain biking. Good arrangement!

We rode all the trails in the north section - a good pace with lots of conversation. There is plenty of poison ivy in the northeast now so I'll need to scrub my tires. I managed to get my bike into the back of the car without touching the tires, then I went and washed my legs just in case!

Great BBQ potluck dinner followed by a campfire and a Michael Jackson dancing demo by Mrs. Gally in her party PJs.



Mrs. Gally: "I like his music. I know he's gone through some rough times."
Me: "Well for starters, he's dead."

Used bike computer distance.

For fans of Caruso Gourmet Pizza in Bolton - the best pizza outside of Italy! - this is a very sad day. Domenic and Dina Caruso have retired and the restaurant has closed. I wish we'd known in advance so we could stock up our freezer.
http://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-story/565123...

Hard Core Live with Caron - last class till autumn for us. 'Bent was hurting.

Lots of twisting poses tonight.

Another ESAR team practice at Albion Hills (aka an excuse to hit the trails with Dee and Mrs. Gally!) I felt off before we started - not sure why. Maybe a bit dehydrated, still unaccustomed to warm days and short of sleep but none of that is unusual for me. Regardless of my low energy, we had a fun ride and I got filled in on their awesome Ireland trip. Gorgeous day and great company!

Mrs. Gally had to leave a little early to meet some clients so Dee and I went out for a final loop of single track. When we returned to the parking lot, we were swarmed by five police cars and more than a dozen officers. Damn, we've been caught - the jig is up! Let's put up our hands! Oh wait a minute, we didn't do anything.

Turns out, they were at Albion Hills with official police force mountain bikes getting training. When I left, they were covering basic stuff like bike pumps. Wish I could have stuck around to hear what's different about biking when you're on police duty.





P.S. Yes STORM, I asked them if they were doing ESAR and told them there is still room for teams. Maybe this MTB training program could be a good place to promote ESAR if it's a regular thing.

Used bike computer distance.

Thunderstorms were a-brewing and wind was gusting so I stayed out on country roads rather than going into the forest. I did several different out-and-back segments so I wouldn't get too far from home. I had a brief chat with Crash when she drove past on her way home from work.

Finally, thunder roared and big raindrops began to fall. Although I only had to run 1.5 km to get home, it felt like a long time.

I was thinking that I'd probably get a Darwin Award if lightning struck my Ambit or iPhone while I was running. That would be an unlikely honour, however, since 89% of Darwin Awards have been won by men - a statistic discovered by researchers looking into MIT (Male Idiot Theory). :)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-287...

Tempo run on rolling trail in Palgrave West at 10K trail race pace. I was melting at 30C but I need to get used to that.

Inspiration for a Monday. ;)


Actually, my ex is also my optometrist so I am nice to him.

Hey, it's Geek Pride Day! I think I'll go charge all my gadgets to celebrate. And it's Towel Day too. Arthurd, do you have your towel with you?

It's two weeks to the Kettle 100K, a race where heat can be a factor, so I ran the Hockley Loop in the middle of the day with a forecast of 27C.

Last night I put a 1.5 L bladder in the fridge and set up the Skin pack I'll be using at the Eiger Ultra Trail. As I was heading out this morning, I had a gut feeling that I should add another 500 ml soft flask of water.

Gut feelings can be incredibly helpful; they draw on considerable experience with long training days and hot weather runs. So would it have been so hard for my gut to remind me to take the 1.5L bladder out of the fridge and bring it along?!?!? Grrrr.

I realized my mistake in the Hockley parking lot when my pack was unbelievably light. Yup, unbelievable. I looked at the 500 ml soft flask and briefly contemplated running 23 hot, hilly kms with it. No, that would be insane. So I drove 10 minutes to the Hockley General Store and bought two 1L bottles of water. So now I had too much water and the bottles were awkwardly stuffed into my pack, bashing my lower back. Periodically, I had to stop, take off my pack and refill the soft flask from the big bottle. Ah well, I deserved it.

I did the loop counterclockwise from 5th Line for a change of scenery. It's nice to get the B*tches done early. (Btw for future hill training, it is 220 m elevation gain and 132 m loss in the 4 km from the 5th Line parking lot to the 15th Sideroad hilltop west of trail exit.) Podcasts were Endurance Planet, This American Life, CBC's Rewind and Under The Influence. No heroics - I walked a lot of hills.

I met Jocelyn B. and Lesa P.S. running the other direction near the north end of Hockley Provincial Park. They were on their 2nd loop of the day. I met them again when we'd both come around half the loop. They'd made a wrong turn and were now up to 44 km and had run out of water. It was their lucky day - and mine. I was 3.5 km from my car and still had a full 1L bottle of water. So we all filled up and I got to finish my run with 1 kg less on my back!

Was this some kind of Motorcycle Appreciation Day? I saw dozens of people out doing group rides - many more than usual. Veinbuster, know anything about it? Or is this just what summer will be like?

Sulphur Springs Trail Race - cheerleading for 'Bent's DontGetLost relay team and - to a lesser extent, of course - the other DGL relay team. Great to see so many friends - Trav & Baloney, Frankenjack & Rockstara, Hodgepodge & Nelvia, Super, Bender, Timato, Johnny_M, Anvil, Sudden, Tarno & Milla, Browner, Chris Phillips... I'm definitely forgetting some people. Mom came over from Brantford to help cheer, then we went to lunch.

I should have taken more pics!

Timato rocked his 50K.



'Bent didn't look at his watch and finished within a minute of his estimated 20K lap time in the relay.



Johnny_M was on his way to 3rd place in the 50 miler



Sudden powered up the final hill.



Anvil and Timato post 50K. Is it better to train by doing a few runs in between business trips or by doing lots of pull-ups? Looks like either method can work.

Hard Core Live with Caron. I don't usually attend the late spring session but it was nice to be back. We celebrated BGY's birthday with the appropriate number of two-stage sit-ups. (Lots!)

Class

Around Palgrave Forest with AdventureDog. I was worried about a right knee twinge after Tuesday's downhill running but it is gone now. Good thing since A-Dog made a sudden turn in front of my shins and sent me flying forward into the dust. My right arm and knee hit first and I needed a moment to regroup.

Time was also deducted for the standard dog pit stops and a swimming lesson fail. A-Dog was interested when I threw a stick into the middle of the pond but he was smart enough to check the direction of the wind and find the correct place to wait onshore for the stick to return.

A little more time deducted for another annoying "important call from Marriott Hotels". I should write and blast them but that steals even more time they don't deserve.

Given how much running I've done in the past week, I was happy with how good I felt. The cooler weather really helps. Unfortunately, we'll be back to Harps Weather again soon. Poison ivy is thriving btw. It was really hard to keep A-Dog from getting into it along the trail.

Coffee is good for us (again).
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/more-cons...

Inspired by BugsinTeeth's training for the Canadian Death Race, I went to the Grange hill near Inglewood. It's a moderate-to-poorly maintained gravel road with potholes, loose gravel and big corduroy so it's like running on a trail. The sign at the top claims the upper part has a 10% grade.

I did 5 repeats up and down, running (slowly) 100% of the time with no stops. Each uphill interval took almost exactly 10 minutes. I've never tried that before and couldn't have done it in warmer weather. The goal was 600 m vertical - a random number that seemed like plenty for today.

In case anyone wonders why I'm worried about hills again this year, this is the Eiger Ultra Trail profile - at 6700 m elevation gain for 101 km, that's a little more climb per km than UTMB - which has not proven to be my easiest race!

Mix & match of Caron Shepley's 10 Minutes 2 Zen Youtube videos. My body is relatively pain-free after Saturday's run, maybe because I've kept moving all weekend. All the same, I didn't want to push my luck by doing too much today.

Caron's "Mac workout" core strength video. Hoping to do more later but company is coming and the house is not tidy.

It's a glorious, warm, sunny day - perfect for paddling! However, 'Bent thought it was more perfect for biking, and I am such a good wife that I agreed to a humid tour of Palgrave East single track instead of a nice, relaxing, cool kayak paddle. :) 'Bent carried on for a little more riding in Albion Hills but I figured an hour of biking was enough after almost 6 hours of running yesterday.

Although I didn't think I would be, I'll be happy when the planned one-way signs go up in Palgrave. It's not that crowded but there are many places where you can't see an oncoming rider until the last minute; there's been at least one major crash.

Used bike computer stats.

Mix - regular strength training for core and upper body but avoided the hardest lower body work since I got enough of that on yesterday's run.

Btw Flight, so far I'm 10 minutes short on this week's 90-minute target for strength and yoga but I'm counting some of this week's hill running as strength training so I'm golden. You? ;)

Post-run yoga/stretching. I meant to do much more but 'Bent is a good cook.

With the Kettle 100K three weeks from today, this was the weekend for a final long run. I did a 50K race three weeks ago so I figured I should be OK but I haven't run a lot this year so you never know! I went somewhere between 50K and 100K pace (i.e. lots of hill walking), and boy does that feel good!

Sarah P and her husky Mika joined me for the first part of the run, which was a Hockley Loop starting at the northwest corner. Mika was the perfect pacer for today's run since she took breaks to drink from streams, and we didn't want her going too quickly up or down hills. Great company - the time flew.

They went back to their car when I turned north toward Mono Cliffs. I'd hidden an "aid station" cooler in the woods by 15th Sideroad so I stopped for Coke and a cold water refill. Then I headed up to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, which I don't know very well. I'd thought about doing two Hockley Loops but I wanted a change. Mono Cliffs had lots of apple trees in blossom; clearly, an autumn expedition will be required.

I added a couple of gravel road hills since the route is not quite as hilly up there. The best hill I found today was on my drive home. (Actually, to Dairy Queen.) On 3rd Line just north of Hockley Rd., you can start at the northern bridge and gain 100 m as you go north 1.3 km. There is access to the Glen Cross Side Trail from 3rd Line so it doesn't all have to be boring.

I felt good. No blisters, dizziness, sore knee (which I had most of this week), sore hip, sore feet - yay. Fingers crossed, I think I'm ready to run 100K in a few weeks. The other, bigger challenge will be running 101K in the Alps two months from now. I need to do a *lot* more hill climbing over the next while.

We said goodbye today to our friend and longtime dogsitter, Sylvia Penny, who passed away much too young.

One of the loveliest online condolences was: "I worked for many years with Sylvia at Wildcare. She served on the board, as a fundraiser, and as the most amazing animal rescuer I know. No-one but Sylvia could practically march into the middle of a large pond and walk away with an injured Great Blue Heron tucked neatly under her arms. Sylvia had a huge heart for all, and any animal that flew, climbed, swam, or slithered was a focus of her compassion."

It was a life well lived. All four of us will miss her very much.

Plan for tomorrow's long run: figure 8 of Hockley Loop and Mono Cliffs. Company welcome for either or both. Lots of hills, aiming for my 50 miler pace - 9-ish min/km.

Nice treat to see Monsieur le Phatty du Salomon on his quick trip to Ontario. Thanks to Coach LD and Goose for another yummy dinner!

ESAR team practice! Dee and Mrs. Gally travelled to my neighbourhood for a tour of Albion Hills and Palgrave single track. We had the trails almost entirely to ourselves on a perfect sunny, cool morning. Although we chatted, there was no lollygagging. Our team needs to be time-efficient since we are busy with an average of two children each (and I have zero!!) We kept moving and pushed up dozens of short, steep uphills. My legs are tired from the past week so my top gear wasn't there and I didn't have enough oomph (technical cycling term) for some of the rootiest uphill corners. But really, it could have been a lot worse.

No one fell but some mysterious sounds were emanating from Dee's bike. I was secretly hoping that someone would break a chain since I figured out yesterday that the plastic side cover comes off my multi-tool and reveals a small, hidden Allen key that will tighten the chain tool. Sweet! (All you bike repair experts: Go ahead and laugh at me. I deserve it.)

We have one more team training session planned before ESAR. Mrs. Gally is working on our costumes for the race - very exciting.

(Bike computer distance.)

If anyone is interested in a long, slow, hilly run on Saturday - or part of one - I'm planning about 5 hours that will probably include a Hockley Loop. If you're asking yourself, "I wonder if the pace will be fast enough for me", then it probably won't be!

Easy run around Glen Haffy with AdventureDog on a sunny, cool afternoon. There's a frost warning tonight so it's perfect weather for a dark brown dog to go for a long run.



We stopped several times at streams. If he wants to do any exercise in the summer, he needs to lose his fear of water.



I encouraged him to drink from creeks and threw a stick or two. He eventually got brave enough to step into shallow water and walk around a bit - major progress.

We ran almost all the hills today with just a few short walks. We stopped at a Bruce Trail viewpoint to look east off the Oak Ridges Moraine and admire the beautiful late afternoon light.



We saw two deer, one big patch of poison ivy and zero people. I did another Superman face plant - sigh.

Gotta get back to this. My trainer sessions finished for the summer a couple of weeks ago, and I'm seeing how helpful it has been to have weekly accountability to someone else!

I've just learned that Tuesday, May 12, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., will be the Salomon Toronto Friends and Family VIP Sale. This is one of two days a year when Salomon Toronto offers 40% off all Salomon products in their store (trail running shoes, running gear, active clothing, hiking shoes, etc.). There are usually deals (although not 40%) on Suunto Ambits, Petzl headlamps and their other non-Salomon products.

If you plan to attend - or even if you'd like to keep your options open - you need to RSVP to get on the list. To do this, just send an email to Shop.Toronto@Salomon.com and let them know that Barb invited you.

Salomon Toronto, Shops at Don Mills, 10 Aggie Hogg Gardens, Toronto, On, Canada, M3C 0G6
Store: 416-384-1661, shop.toronto@salomon.com

Some cool gear to check out, aside from all the great trail shoes:

S-Lab Sense Ultra Set pack - ultra-lightweight vest
Bonatti waterproof/breathable jacket
Fashionable and super-comfortable women's "Elevate" line of clothing, e.g. this tank top

Event: Storm the Trent
 

Storm The Trent
Trek Elite

Always a fun, well-organized event!

The forecast promised the hottest day of 2015 so far; in fact, a number of temperature records were broken. This was worrisome after my dizziness last Sunday on the *previous* hottest day of the year, however, it was a non-issue for some reason. I tried to stay well hydrated and fuelled with plain water, gels, chews and nut butters. I had cool eLoad in my PFD bladder for the final paddle leg, which went down well. I didn't push out of my comfort zone very often, which helped later on when I saw many racers taking breaks.

The course was Run-Bike-Run-Bike-Run-Bike-Paddle with some CPs to find on and off-trail along the final bike ride. I wore bike shoes (Pearl Izumi X-Alps with tread) for everything but the paddle, where I used sock feet on my kayak rudder pedals.

I realized today that it had been almost 2 years since my last AR, which is funny since I still think of myself as an adventure racer first. I expected to walk more than usual after WT course testing with Bob on Wed. and Thurs. - over 43 km on foot, a lot of it bushwhacking - but speed is never my forte anyway. I would need to navigate perfectly, especially with Arthurd racing.

Alas, that is not how things went. After running with the crowd to CP20 (the only logical control to do first, although 'Bent and Gally thought otherwise), I saw Arthurd, Meredythe and others turning off the road to do CP22. I decided to bushwhack first over to CP21 on the other side of the road to avoid crowds and nav on my own - a race-ending decision in the first 16 minutes!

After finding CP21 without trouble, I bushwhacked in toward the trail to CP22 but hit a different, unmarked trail first. I found the correct trail quickly but a major wetland combined with the unexpected trail junction convinced me that I was elsewhere, which led to a series of relocation errors and general silliness. If I'd come in from the road on the trail, I wouldn't have questioned the extra features in the terrain. Lesson learned. The GPS track says I lost 15 minutes, and I was one of the last to get back to the bikes.

We did 60 km of biking today, a mix of country roads and ATV trails. Although I usually don't like road riding because of cars, the roads today were so quiet, hilly, curvy and gravelly that I really enjoyed them.

Our next stop was Vanderwater Conservation Area - the longest trek nav leg. I wasted a few minutes looking for CP30 on the wrong shoreline since I wasn't tracking my distance but otherwise all went well.

A short bike ride later, we stopped at a cool little farm where mountain bike trails are being built. 'Bent was leaving as I was riding in, and he seemed cheerful. Browner ran with me to my first control, holding a GoPro. Nice to have a quick mid-race chat! When I arrived back at CP3, I offered $100 to any volunteer who might have a cold Coke. The racer behind me quickly said that he would outbid me! We were both unsuccessful. ;(

By the end of this final trek, I'd accumulated around 20 minutes of nav errors - ugh. Soon afterward, we left the road and started riding some fun ATV trails including a lovely shady section along a hillside covered with trilliums. I was riding well after our early season practice on the rocks in Sedona.

As we emerged onto Deroche Rd., a big truck was backing into our trail to turn around. I saw 'Bent in the passenger seat - aacckk! Amid the noise and confusion, we had a quick chat where I learned that a medic had pulled him off the course for low blood pressure and pallor. I really wish I hadn't seen him since it was a big blow to my morale. I felt worried and disappointed for him and wondered if I should have stopped too. Maybe he was going off in an ambulance?

Around this time, teams around me remembered the checkpoints we needed to find along the marked bike route, on and off-trail. These CPs were very effective in keeping racers on course and forcing them to focus on the map as they rode. I passed a number of riders who had stopped and were scratching their heads. I tracked distance and compass bearing while watching the map and had no trouble. My new Miry bike map holder worked well in its first outing.



Enroute to CP4 on a gravel road, a bunch of ATVs roared past. Then they stopped and roared past again. Shortly after that, I saw two bikes lying in my lane of the road with two bodies lying on their backs beside them. Yikes! I rode up and asked if they were OK. Yup, just taking a break. "OK, you know this is a road, right? With cars and stuff?" Grrr, I could just imagine the damage to the reputation and insurance risks of the sport if adventure racers got run over while resting on a road!

At CP4, I asked if they'd heard anything on the radio about ambulances. They only knew about one guy and it didn't sound like 'Bent so I stopped worrying quite so much. About half a km into the final ATV trail section, my chain broke.

Now, I know a lot of *theory* about bike repair. I can confidently say stuff like, "He sheared off his derailleur so he had to convert his bike into a single speed". But when it comes to the actual repair of bikes, (a) I have people for that, and (b) I've been extremely lucky to have very few issues in more than 20 years of mountain biking.

So... I wondered about running forward on the course with my bike - 18 km in the heat. Or I could go back to CP4 and drop out - much closer but obviously sadder. Then there was the third choice. I considered pulling out my emergency cell phone and googling a Youtube video. But first, I opened my bike bag and stared curiously at the multi-tool until I identified a thingmajigger where I could stick the end of my broken chain. Cool! There was a screw that would push out the pin but finger tightening wasn't enough, and my only Allen keys were on the same multi-tool that had the chain tool. So I needed another Allen key. Strange... (I later learned that the chain tool probably comes off the multi-tool.)

I didn't want to bother other racers passing by but then I saw RLindzon coming up the trail. Last fall he flatted before a race, and I gave him a tube and refused his offer of payment. I didn't feel bad asking him for an Allen key. Karma!! It worked and now I just needed to figure out the quick link. As I fussed with the chain, half of the tiny link fell into 10 cm of leaf debris. I thought that was game over but I sifted carefully through the leaves and eventually found it. The quick link clicked in but it seemed too easy. Miraculously, it got me through the rest of the ride. Although I lost 15 minutes here, I was so chuffed at my unexpected success that I didn't really mind.

A short while later, I found a racer lying in the woods near one of the off-trail CPs. He was also just resting!

Back at Trudeau Resort, I sought out Storm to confirm that 'Bent hadn't gone to hospital. He said no, so I headed to the paddle put-in, where I found 'Bent looking surprisingly chipper. Unfortunately, I'd missed a cut-off so I would have to skip CPs 63 and 64. My kayak is faster than a canoe so I was tempted to go for them anyway just for fun but I didn't want to break the rules. It had been 9 months since I'd last paddled a kayak so it was a little uncomfortable but it was so awesome to be on the water in the breeze with my cool eLoad!

It was great to catch up with friends afterward, enjoy a yummy post-race meal and drink a frosty beer. Arthurd was a worthy champion in her first Female Masters outing. Thanks to Storm, Browner and their fantastic team for another fun event!

More WT course testing up in North Ontar-eye-o.

WT course testing. Details to come - but not too many. :)

May 6, 2015
15.56 km
Climb 236 m
Time 32400

My friend who rescued AdventureDog - the one who manages the Northern Dogs Project for the International Fund for Animal Welfare - rescues dozens of dogs each year from northern Québec communities. So she meets lots of dogs, owns a few herself and can't afford to fall too much in love with every one she meets. So when she thinks a dog is extra special, I'm sure he is!

She wrote: "Know anyone? This boy is staying with us and is the most gentle loving soul. He deserves an awesome person. He's about 8 months. 45 pounds but will put on weight. I think under all that coat he's going to be a lab. Lab tail, lab head. Asian eyes. Has a big smile on his face. Housetrained. Great with dogs and cats. Submissive. Was kept tied up so he is building his energy."

Anyone interested in a puppy with a nice personality who is already housetrained? Looks like a good running companion once he loses his Arctic fur. Write me if you'd like to get more info from my friend.

I've gone running in Hockley Provincial Park a couple of times recently but this was my first Loop attempt of the season. I had the excellent company of Funderstorm, BugsinTeeth and Allison. I went into it quite tired after yesterday's bike/run with Browner, last weekend's 50K and a few training sessions in between. On one hand, it would be a nice back-to-back training weekend. On the other hand, as I commented to BugsinTeeth early on, it could be a silly mistake. (Foreshadowing!)

Actually, most of it went fine. We had fun and good conversation, and I felt good for the first 2.5 hours, then one of the things I'd originally liked about the day started to bug me. "Isn't it beautiful in the forest when the leaves aren't out yet and there's sunshine everywhere?" Well, yes, but when it's the warmest day of the year to date, sunshine becomes less appealing after awhile. I'm not good in heat and it takes me awhile to acclimate to summer temperatures. Clearly, I'm not there yet.

So I insisted that BiT and Alison go ahead so I wouldn't try to chase them. (Funderstorm had already taken an alternate route.) I'd started to feel dizzy at times so I wanted to slow down. They were concerned about leaving me but I was pretty sure I'd be OK if I could walk/run as my body dictated, and I agreed to text at the next road crossing with my plan. In the end, I decided to bail back to the parking lot at 4th Line rather than running through Hockley Resort. It made for a run that was almost as long as the Loop but easier for the final few kilometers - not to mention a better place to be found if I passed out. (Not that it came close to that.) By that point, my pace would have been more accurately described as "walking with running breaks" rather than the other way around. I managed to get four 500 ml soft flasks into my new Ultra Set Pack (two in the back pocket) so I had lots to drink. I took salt pills and ate food. My body just hadn't recovered from the past week and it said this was enough stress for today. Fair enough!

Yummy lunch and nice catch-up at the Black Birch afterward. 'Bent drove out to join us, which was nice.

Browner tricked me into a bike/run brick today. ;) OK, maybe I wrote a confusing email. Anyway, it turned out well since both of us ended up training more than we probably intended!

We started on bikes, riding from our place into Palgrave East where I think we did all the single track. We made the traditional stop at the Christmas tree to text Myka and let her know we haven't forgotten her. :)



We stopped for a chat with Crash Caylor, who was doing a preliminary loop with her dog before a longer ride.

Then we took Duffy's Lane down to Albion Hills and rode the northeast single track. We met a 3-person team clutching a map and compass, looking intense. Um... who ARE you? "The Wilderness Club. Sorry, we're in a race." OK, we get it. Cool!

On our way out, we stopped by the race HQ picnic shelter to learn more. It turns out they were members of the Wilderness Club at U of T Medical School. They had to find 5 sites in the park and administer first aid. Apparently, it's their biggest event of the year and they were surprised to learn there are other orienteering events in Toronto like the Wednesday park series. They took my name, email ID and Orienteering Ontario website name. They were just using the standard Albion trail map and had no idea there was a real orienteering map. I also told them about ESAR. Surely, medical students should be competing against paramedics? :)

From there, we rode back up, up, up to our place, stopping at Thinker's Hill for a short lookout.

It was a quick pace and afterward, we both realized we thought the other person wanted to go faster than we did. Again, more training than we intended. That turned out well! :)

(Used bike computer distance.)

Part 2: We drove to Centreville Creek Road and ran up K2 on the Oak Ridges Trail (formerly the Bruce Side Trail) to the Bruce Trail stile stopping at another lookout enroute. We did some good hills in there, speed hiking some of them since our energy was low and the weather was hot.

Then we crossed Coolihan's Sideroad to the north side and planned to do a short loop before running back down K2. Except... a team of two was running toward us with a map and compass. Huh? What's going on today?! They told us they were Cadets. I guessed where the race HQ might be and sure enough, I found Doug and Annette with a bunch of officers. It was the Ontario Championship, postponed from last fall due to the shooting in Ottawa. We chatted with them a bit, then moved on.

One more lookout on the escarpment before we bushwhacked down to join the Bruce Trail. Rather than climbing all the way back up when we got near the road crossing, we bushwhacked out to Glen Haffy Rd., then did a leg-pounding downhill run on Coolihan's before running past BGY's place and back to our car.

Tired! But a fun day with great company.

I found two of these on the trail near our place yesterday - about the size of a large chicken egg. I thought it might be a hawk but according to Google, it's a wild turkey egg. Not too surprising - we have a healthy local population (although not as healthy as it could have been!)