Training Log Archive: Bash

5 Peaks Durham Forest

I probably wouldn't have done this race so soon after pushing so hard at the Ancaster Old Mill 10K, but I'd bought the event entry at a silent auction fundraiser awhile ago. So I decided not to race all out today. I just treated it like a training run with faster runners. Normally, if I'm trying to race, I keep looking for pony tails ahead of me, then I see if I can catch them. If any woman who looks my age dares to pass me, I accelerate if I've got anything left. But today I set different goals:

1) Run the entire race, including all the steep, twisty single track. ---> I almost succeeded at this, but there was one very steep hill where I came up behind a line of walkers on a narrow trail - it looked like a photo of the Chilkoot Pass in the Gold Rush. Running up that hill would have been hard enough, but to go onto uneven off-trail terrain to pass all those people... well, I just didn't have it in me. I did sprint up the final part when there were only a few people left to pass.

2) Reach the 6K marker without wishing the race was over. I'm good at pacing for long-term endurance, but not good at pacing for "sprints" like this, so in both the Ancaster and 5 Peaks Albion races, I pushed too hard early on and spent the last few km wishing I was at the finish. ---> I succeeded at this. The second half of the race felt pretty good and my splits for the 1st half and 2nd half were identical.

3) Don't get poison ivy - which was everywhere! ---> It's only 30 hrs ago, so it's too early to know whether I escaped.

4) Run in difficult technical terrain without my Active Ankle to improve my proprioception - and don't twist the darned ankle again. ---> Successful.

It was a beautiful day for running; much of the race course passed through cool, shady forest. Since I didn't want to push hard, I made sure to let gravity work for me when it could, going fast on the downhills. I had no trouble ignoring what other runners did, since my goals for the race had nothing to do with them. So it was just plain fun!

Compared to 5 Peaks Albion, my pace was slower - but I think most people went a little slower, since the course travelled more single track. Compared to last year's 5 Peaks Durham race, my pace was 15 sec/km faster, which is cool, because I pushed harder last year (and - sigh - weighed less). I was 10th of 38 in my age group today, finishing in the top 20% of women overall. That's good for me.

Great race for 'Bent at 55 min. Winning time of 45 min was set by orienteer Laszlo Orosz. 'Bent had no nav errors this year! (The course is fully marked, but last year didn't go so well for 'Bent.) We were excited for our high school adventure racer friends. One of them won the age 15-19 category in the 5K event, and the other won his category in our 12K event, finishing 7th overall of 306 racers! Those kids are awesome!!

Adventure Attic called, and unfortunately they've had to cancel the Adventure category of their canoe race on Sunday due to lack of entries. I'd hoped that the adventure racing community would embrace this great new event, but I guess it's a busy time of year with all kinds of events going on.

Our canoe is too long for the Family category, which means we would start with a time penalty. That's not so bad, but we would also have to borrow basic canoe paddles from someone tomorrow, since for years we have only used bent shaft paddles - or kayak paddles for adventure racing - and both of these are prohibited in the Family category. Also, the Family category race course is only 5K, which is pretty short compared to the drive to the race. So we are reluctantly withdrawing from the event. I'm sure they would have refunded our entry fee, but we've left it with them as a donation, since the event is a charitable fundraiser.

Sorry, Mique! You tried super-hard to drum up enthusiasm. Hope it's a big success anyway.

Oooh, my quads are sooooo sore from the 10K! I guess that's good.

I was talking with some AP folks recently about tick-borne encephalitis in Europe. I had the understanding that the vaccine wasn't available in the U.S. It turns out that it is easily obtained in Canada. Unfortunately, we are supposed to take 2 shots one month apart (with a booster at 9 months), so it is too late for our upcoming trip. There is a 2-week rapid immunization schedule that would provide a lower level of immunity, but our travel clinic doesn't want to do that.

On the same topic, I couldn't find permethrin tick repellent/pesticide in Canada, but I was able to get some by mail from REI in the U.S.

Totally unrelated... I had a funny conversation recently with a woman who is a strong mountain biker. She was talking about early dates with men who hear that she bikes, so they want to go out on the trails with her, but they can rarely keep up. According to her, "I HATE having to fake it on dates!!! Ooooh, that hill was SO tough to climb - I had to get off and push my bike. Wow, that log was scary to ride over!!" Etc. :-)))

Wed. morning group ride at Albion Hills. 'Bent and I were joined by Eric, Suze and Smash. (The latter was formerly known as Angus, until he splattered himself on the trails during a recent night ride, breaking his glasses and getting blood all over everything. There were still some droplets on his helmet, which was sobering.)

It was a beautiful cool morning that turned sunny while we were riding. My legs started out feeling like concrete after last night's effort. They never got exactly zippy, but I managed to ride at a reasonable pace.

We met two ladies walking dogs on leash. Apparently, the previous mountain biker who passed them (before they were on leash, maybe) had emptied a water bottle on one of the dogs and complained that it wasn't right beside the woman. Arggh - it's tough enough for bikers to get trail access that I think we all need to be good ambassadors for the sport at all times. It's just dumb to ride on the double track at Albion Hills - which has a large, active campground - without staying on constant alert for children (less predictable than dogs) and other hikers.

McMaster Sprint. This was the first orienteering course designed by Slice and Bob, and it was a fun course with lots of route choice. (Thanks for setting it up!!) Slice warned us that it would be a bit long, but that was fine on such a beautiful night for running. I could tell that it's been awhile since I've done real orienteering. My reflexes were a bit rusty - I must look for more opportunities to get out with a map.

Speaking of rusty reflexes, my quads are now at the stage where it hurts to go downstairs frontwards. I guess my legs have had enough for a little while after last night's race and today's two outings.

Event: The Ancaster Old Mill Race
 

I decided to go to this race two hrs before I had to leave. I'd already paid for it, but I felt like crap this morning after barely sleeping last night due to a pounding headache that continued until this afternoon, making me feel nauseated. Anyway, I knocked back a bunch of Advils and hoped for the best. This race does have an excellent post-race meal, after all.

My plan is to use this race as an annual time trial, since last year was my first road 10K in many years, and I thought it would be interesting to see how my speed changes over the years on the same course. Everyone says that this isn't a 10K where anyone will get a PB, due to all the hills. (Note to You-Know-Who: that is NOT a sandwich.) I was surprised to finish 15 seconds faster than last year and repeat as 3rd/17 in my age group and 22nd/126 women. This mostly reflects the nice cool weather we had, since I know I felt better and stronger, and weighed 6 lb. less going into last year's race. Still, I'm pleased that I could hold it together on a day when my body was operating at a less-than-optimum level.

One thing I've worked on over the past 18 months is speeding up in shorter events. I tend to have one default gear that I use for everything, and I used to cross the finish line in shorter events feeling like I could have done more. I've also been concerned after learning that I'm around the age where you must use or forever lose any fast-twitch muscle fibres that you might have. (I suspect that I have exactly two - one in each leg.) Anyway, I'm not so good at estimating these faster paces, and today I learned that I have perfected my 8K pace. Too bad it was a 10K race. After seeing no women nearby for several km, about a dozen women passed me in in the final kilometer. I had no last kick left in me to go after them, and when I crossed the finish line, I felt a bit overdone. According to my Forerunner, my pace didn't fall much in the final kilometers, so maybe this isn't a problem, and those women would have passed me sooner or later. On the other hand, maybe I should reduce the chocolate and lose that extra weight.

Big congrats to Sudden for taking a good chunk out of his time from last year and placing 8th overall. He is tearing up all the race courses this year!!

About 3/4 of the way through Friday's flying, my bad knee started aching horribly, and it took most of Saturday to feel better. Given that the original injury appeared late in a 4-day kayak trip when my knee had been locked in one position for hours at a time, I guess that long flights aren't good for me. Glad I'm not a frequent business traveller anymore - I used to fly several times each week - yuck. My knee really hurt today, starting early in the first flight. Hope I'm OK for tomorrow's race. I sure haven't trained properly!!