Training Log Archive: Bash

Not feeling great today, and the pouring rain on our beautiful snow didn't make me feel any better. But I figured that I should make at least part of my body do some work!

Since there were still some flags and ribbons in the woods from last weekend's race, and since many of our club members are new to the sport, President KS proposed that we make it a training session as we picked up flags. We had a great turn-out on just two days' notice - about half the adult members of the club! Sid came out to help pick up flags again, solidifying his status as an honorary CN member.

I went out with Goose and Mrs. Gally, who had coincidentally contacted me last night regarding some nav coaching. I can teach math a lot better than sports, so I'm always leery about doing this stuff. Our small group put in a good effort even though I covered a kitchen sink full of concepts in a fairly short session. Oh well, these weren't novices, and who knows when we'll get out again?

The snow is still deep and fluffy 10 days after our last big storm, and we all tumbled down a few times on our snowshoes and rolled around in the powder, laughing. Absolutely *gorgeous* day in the woods!

There were still 3 distant flags left after the training groups returned, so 'Bent and I went back out to collect them. We did some snowshoe running this time, although my legs got tired quickly. So much sun and snow!

I'm loving my new Atlas Race snowshoes that 'Bent gave me.


'Bent used our old running snowshoes, which are pretty good too.


It's hard to imagine *anyone* looking more Canadian than Goose. I heard he brought maple syrup to drink instead of water.

Coach LD called last night to alert me that XC ski conditions on the Humber River were ideal. I'd never tried this before and had asked her to get in touch when it looked good. So we met this morning and headed out for a fun ski. Not many hills for obvious reasons, but a genuine feeling of adventure as we headed north on a winding journey through the deep valley. It's amazing how quickly it feels like wilderness as soon as you leave downtown Bolton. In some places the river was frozen all the way across, and in other places, we skirted frigid water on a narrow shelf. Very cool!

Partial results are posted for Thomass Caledon at:
http://www.orienteering.on.ca/results/Thomass2008/...

We hope to post more detailed results on the Caledon Navigators website shortly.

Apologies to those who may want to provide feedback on the event. The OOA Feedback page was cut off this afternoon, and it is apparently now "Too Far After Event to Provide Feedback".

As of this afternoon, you could still provide feedback on the Gators Thomass on Nov. 25 and the UKR Thomass on Jan. 27, in case you haven't had a chance.

Hard Core Live with Caron. It's feeling pretty good, but I need to work more on my lower back. "Swimming" and plank are still sweat-inducing work.

Power Yoga class. Small, keen group tonight due to Valentine's Day, so Caron made it pretty tough in places. 'Bent did a fine job on the flat-footed squats that give me so much trouble, but if I had big chest muscles and a small bum, I'd find it easier to stay balanced like that too! One young woman had brought her husband to his first yoga class in honour of the occasion. At the end, Caron asked him if yoga was what he expected. "No." "What was different about it?" "It HURTS."

I represented the Town of Caledon at a Toronto Public Health Air Quality Health Index meeting today, so I figured that I should use public transit. This meant trying the new GO Bus running south from Bolton and meeting the Malton GO Train. This was a great improvement over the old bus, but it still took 2 1/4 hrs to get from home to Yonge & Dundas, including a 15-minute train delay. The trip home was better due to less snow and traffic - just 1 hr 40 min. So that's 3 hrs 55 min to commute back and forth. Whenever I start mumbling about possibly returning to my old consulting life downtown again, please remind me about this log entry. Thank you!!

I went out into Palgrave West just after our latest snowstorm started. I started with a short warm-up loop with ThunderDog, who was absolutely thrilled to get out and play in the snow. Poor BulletDog is still limited to leash walks. She's taking it a lot better than I would!

Lots and lots of snow made it hard work to break trail - and even where there was a trail from another skier (Crash?), the snow was so soft that I still broke through in places. It feels like B.C. around here! But we're not complaining - as long as some snow is being held back for future seasons. This has been the most amazing winter in the decade that we've lived in Caledon.

The only small negative is that I have to be in downtown Toronto tomorrow morning. Should be a fun trip!

Caron's Power Yoga #1 with 'Bent. I have a new yoga tip to share: "Never wash your yoga mat with soap." My yoga mat was getting disgusting, so I cleaned it last week. I was surprised today to feel that it was still damp. Well, it was more than that - the soap hadn't rinsed out of all those little dimples. So some of tonight's workout was WAY harder than usual. A good portion of my effort went toward damage control as I fought to keep my hands and feet from sliding away in random directions on the soap slick. My Downward Dog came *this* close to becoming a spectacular face plant. Hope I've got it fixed now!

Sore throat and sniffles got steadily worse as the day went on. There's no mystery - I did 20 hrs of training in 7 days, then got only 2.5 hrs of sleep on Saturday night between the out-of-town wedding and the orienteering race. My immune system is peeved and I deserve its wrath, but I'm hoping to fight it off with ColdFX, Vitamin C - and one more day off.

If you're racing in the Thomass Eliminator event on March 16 - or even if you're not - please consider attending the Orienteering Ontario Annual General Meeting afterward. There will be a free lunch, and it's always good! These meetings have been poorly attended in recent years, and the sport needs more input from its current participants.

We have some very effective Board members, but they need help to grow and improve our sport. There are currently several vacancies for the 1-year term starting after the AGM. Even if you don't want to run for the Board, please come out and vote for people that you feel will represent your interests at the provincial level. There may be other matters to vote on as well, and your opinion matters.

Here's the meeting agenda:
http://www.orienteering.on.ca/events/OOA/AGM2007.h...