Training Log Archive: Bash

Merry Christmas to all! :-)

Leg strength exercises in my parents' well-equipped, but unfortunately underused home gym.

We were sorry to miss the Swedish Christmas treats this morning, but we did think of our GCG friends as we ran on a snowy golf course with the pooches.

Leg strength exercises - longer session than usual as penance for allowing 6 days to lapse since the last time. Watched Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" with special guest Jimmy Carter, who had no trouble keeping up his end of the witty repartee. Jon's first question was why, 25 years after his retirement, Jimmy is working harder than the current President? The experience was slightly marred by periodic appearances of The Canadian Tire Guy.

:-((( Our neighbours have brought loggers onto their property, and they are taking down some of the biggest, most beautiful trees I've ever seen. Several of these trees are old friends that I've been watching out my window over the years as the seasons change. Their forest is completely trashed right now, with our usual trail into the woods blocked by two fallen trees with branches over our heads. We can still get to the conservation area another way - and I'm sure they will clean it up a bit - but it was still sad to have to watch it. Our neighbours are good people, legitimately trying to do the right thing in terms of forest management, but some of those trees were so special that I would have kept them regardless of whether the forester marked them. :-(((

Night snowshoeing in the Humber River Valley near Kleinburg with Gazelle, Bent and Adidas P&L. We were running for a good portion of the time, slowing down for the bigger hills and deeper snow. I kept thinking that at any moment, I'd have to admit defeat and ask them to slow down, but my foolish pride got the better of me, and I kept pushing. If I thought my body was ready for some recovery time before, boy it could *really* use some now.

Gazelle hosted us all for the rest of the evening, tempting us with 2 kinds of homemade Christmas squares, followed by a sauna. VERY relaxing, but our arrival home at midnight made it impractical to do my leg strength exercises. First thing tomorrow morning then, and no excuses!!!

Finished scouting the course for the Jan. 7 Thomass race in the Dundas Valley. Things went much more smoothly today, with my ideas transferring more easily from paper to the field, with minimum modification required. That meant more running and less standing around rethinking strategies, but I still managed to get chillier than I would on a regular run.

I think my body is begging for some R&R, but I know that I have several days of rest and overeating coming up this weekend, so I hate to take days off now. In any case, we've got another night snowshoe expedition scheduled with some AR friends tomorrow night, so I can't take a break until Thurs.

Night snowshoeing, mostly off-trail, with P&L of Team Adidas Canada. Yup - we were training with yet another team that's going to beat us in the Mansfield winter adventure race! It was a great night to be out climbing big hills and skidding down the other side. The snow is just deep enough now that it feels worthwhile to use snowshoes. Fun!