Training Log Archive: BashIn the 7 days ending Mar 2, 2008:
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Sunday Mar 2, 2008 #
XC Skiing race (Classic) 7:16:00 [3] 33.0 km (13:13 / km)
Milhouse, Dee, 'Bent and I cheered for Slice, Dog Runner, Leanimal and Phatty as they headed out at 9 a.m. We had to wait until 9:33 because of our penalty.
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day - brilliant sunshine, fresh powder and deep blue skies. 'Bent and I had no choice but to use skis. His knee couldn't take the impact of running or even walking on snowshoes. After a good start, we headed into the woods to pick up 54. I was breaking a fresh trail, and within a minute, 'Bent was in so much pain that he felt like throwing up. He took some Advil, and we decided to just go to one control, then we'd return to the finish and I'd spend the rest of the day skiing. But the Advil had kicked in by the time we returned to the snowmobile trail, so he decided to keep going a little more. The first 100+ minutes of our race were a train wreck, and we actually referred to ourselves as "not racing anymore". I wasn't sure if I should be the sensible one and force 'Bent to quit the race. I couldn't focus on nav, and I even managed to get 200 meters uphill from a control before I realized that I hadn't punched it. I skied back down and got it - argggghh. The scenery was fantastic, so in the middle of all this, we agreed that it was a fine day to be in the woods.
My teammate 'Bent was quite the trooper! He would ski in a straight-legged fashion, using his arms as much as possible. We switched skis so that he had my older, grippier waxless skis. Whenever he got ahead, he would kneel in the snow to ice his knee. It was disconcerting, but he swore that it was hurting less now that he'd warmed up. I revamped our planned route to focus on skiing and avoid roads.
After the first 2 crazy hours, somehow we were back racing for real again. After 54, it was 52, 41, 65, 75 and 60 (not in the plan, but it kept us off roads). Phatty & Leanimal found us having a lunch break at 60 in brilliant sunshine. The ski trail into there was fantastic, and with the Advil working well, 'Bent and I were enjoying ourselves a lot. There's no question that skis were the way to go in this race. Much speedier on trails and more fun in general, even though there were a few awkward moments at stream crossings and steep, bushwhacky climbs. I'd love to return to this area just to do some XC skiing.
Then 43, then out to the road where we saw Milhouse & Dee coming toward us with only 4 controls left to go. Then 47, 74, 56, 30. I considered making a run for the finish there, but 'Bent convinced me that it was worth getting 44 enroute. That gave us a chance to enjoy more fabulous ski trails. Then at the next junction, our roles were reversed as I twisted his arm to grab 62, then trek hard to the finish in our ski boots along 2 km of paved road. Phew, it worked - the late penalties on Day 2 were more severe. Somehow in this shorter day with all our troubles, we managed to collect 703 pts, which kinda surprised us. We arrived with 11 minutes to spare and gobbled up the wonderful hamburgers, pasta, chili, hot chocolate and cookies offered by the hospitable CNYO folks.
Milhouse & Dee took 1st place overall, skipping only #34. The dynamic female duo, the Salomon Bobkittens - Slice & Dog Runner, took 2nd place overall. The top male team took 3rd place, then 'Bent & I were 4th and Leanimal & Phatty were 5th. So it was a good showing by the Canadians, and hopefully we'll have an even larger contingent for this fun event next year. Thank you, CNYO!
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day - brilliant sunshine, fresh powder and deep blue skies. 'Bent and I had no choice but to use skis. His knee couldn't take the impact of running or even walking on snowshoes. After a good start, we headed into the woods to pick up 54. I was breaking a fresh trail, and within a minute, 'Bent was in so much pain that he felt like throwing up. He took some Advil, and we decided to just go to one control, then we'd return to the finish and I'd spend the rest of the day skiing. But the Advil had kicked in by the time we returned to the snowmobile trail, so he decided to keep going a little more. The first 100+ minutes of our race were a train wreck, and we actually referred to ourselves as "not racing anymore". I wasn't sure if I should be the sensible one and force 'Bent to quit the race. I couldn't focus on nav, and I even managed to get 200 meters uphill from a control before I realized that I hadn't punched it. I skied back down and got it - argggghh. The scenery was fantastic, so in the middle of all this, we agreed that it was a fine day to be in the woods.
My teammate 'Bent was quite the trooper! He would ski in a straight-legged fashion, using his arms as much as possible. We switched skis so that he had my older, grippier waxless skis. Whenever he got ahead, he would kneel in the snow to ice his knee. It was disconcerting, but he swore that it was hurting less now that he'd warmed up. I revamped our planned route to focus on skiing and avoid roads.
After the first 2 crazy hours, somehow we were back racing for real again. After 54, it was 52, 41, 65, 75 and 60 (not in the plan, but it kept us off roads). Phatty & Leanimal found us having a lunch break at 60 in brilliant sunshine. The ski trail into there was fantastic, and with the Advil working well, 'Bent and I were enjoying ourselves a lot. There's no question that skis were the way to go in this race. Much speedier on trails and more fun in general, even though there were a few awkward moments at stream crossings and steep, bushwhacky climbs. I'd love to return to this area just to do some XC skiing.
Then 43, then out to the road where we saw Milhouse & Dee coming toward us with only 4 controls left to go. Then 47, 74, 56, 30. I considered making a run for the finish there, but 'Bent convinced me that it was worth getting 44 enroute. That gave us a chance to enjoy more fabulous ski trails. Then at the next junction, our roles were reversed as I twisted his arm to grab 62, then trek hard to the finish in our ski boots along 2 km of paved road. Phew, it worked - the late penalties on Day 2 were more severe. Somehow in this shorter day with all our troubles, we managed to collect 703 pts, which kinda surprised us. We arrived with 11 minutes to spare and gobbled up the wonderful hamburgers, pasta, chili, hot chocolate and cookies offered by the hospitable CNYO folks.
Milhouse & Dee took 1st place overall, skipping only #34. The dynamic female duo, the Salomon Bobkittens - Slice & Dog Runner, took 2nd place overall. The top male team took 3rd place, then 'Bent & I were 4th and Leanimal & Phatty were 5th. So it was a good showing by the Canadians, and hopefully we'll have an even larger contingent for this fun event next year. Thank you, CNYO!
Saturday Mar 1, 2008 #
Snowshoe Orienteering race (Orienteering) 4:11:00 [3] ** 38.0 km (6:36 / km)
(Total distance covers both the running and snowshoeing sections of today's race.)
We joined the Canadian road trip to Sandy Creek, NY for the CNYO SnowGaine - a rogaine-style event where teams navigate around the same large map from 9-5 on two consecutive days, trying to maximize their points. Early registration fee was $35/team for the 2-day event including a huge quantity of hot food and drink at the end of each day. How do they do it?!?
The Bullfrog Van crew consisted of Slice (meeting her teammate Dog Runner in NY), Leanimal & Phatty, Milhouse & Dee, and 'Bent and me. We stayed at Harris Lodging, where each team got its own room, and we shared a communal kitchen and living room. Perfect arrangement, and it was great to have time to catch up with friends over the weekend. The driving weather on Friday night was horrible. We saw accidents along the 401, but our all-wheel drive and snow tires helped get us there in one piece - phew.
I think there were 16 teams, which means that a lot of people missed a great event. Eric Smith gave us our maps half an hour before the start. That's not much time to plan a 2-day race, so my plan was to try to divide the map into two areas as quickly as possible, then focus on choosing a reasonable route for Day 1. Eric had indicated that the top teams might complete the course, so I figured that the way to approach Day 1 was to assume that we would get them all, then we could always plan Day 2 differently if it appeared impossible. (Which it quickly did!) Last year we'd made the mistake of planning our Day 1 route so that we would skip controls on the outside of the map if we ran out of time. Then the next day we ended up going near controls that we'd already visited because we'd allowed our map to get "fragmented". This year I wanted to get out and completely finish the far northeast section of the map so that any missed controls would be closer to the start/finish, giving us maximum flexibility for planning a good Day 2 route.
The weather forecast was wintry - blowing snow and occasional ice pellets that made it very chilly along roads and in open fields. Looking at all the roads along our route, 'Bent and I decided to use snowshoes on Day 1, which was a mistake. We did a lot of road running (logged separately), sometimes on a hard surface and sometimes on soft snow, which was like running on sand. We used ski poles to push ourselves along while running, which was really helpful in the soft stuff.
For those who have seen the map, the control numbers will make sense. Otherwise, you'll just have to picture us running through the Winona State Forest, which apparently gets the most snow in the U.S. east of the Rockies. It was easy to believe!
Skipped #54 since I like to leave controls close to the finish area to allow more flexibility later in the day. Then into the woods in deep snow for 33, 72, 53. Found Milhouse & Dee's tracks at 33 and followed them for part of the time. Met Slice & Dog Runner coming toward us - hmmm, interesting. Out to 35 on the road, then turned north. Then I was the victim of a Bear Attack! No kidding, there were two big furry brown dogs barking and growling furiously at the end of their driveway, accompanied by two young children. I'm not afraid of dogs, so we kept on running as the children yelled, "Stop it, Bear!" Too late - Bear bit me on the bum. Argghh. We ran a short distance further, then 'Bent confirmed that my tights had no holes. I made a mental note to confirm in the evening that the skin wasn't broken, because otherwise I'd have to drive back to their house and ask for proof of rabies shots. Grrrrrr. (Luckily, it turns out that Bear was unsuccessful in his mission.) About 400 meters later, we were greeted by two barking pit bulls on the road, including an unaltered male. I love dogs, but this was different, since these two could kill us if they wanted to. We walked instead of running, keeping our poles poised and ready for battle. Their owner (shaved head & camo clothing) was yelling and running after them as they followed us down the road. Luckily, they weren't as gutsy as Bear. As long as we met their eyes (looking over our shoulders), they kept their distance. If we looked away toward the direction we were travelling, they ran up close behind us again. Some people don't deserve to have dogs.
Over to 61, then a 4.5 km out-and-back road run to 76 with snow whipping into our faces. We saw Milhouse & Dee and Slice & Dog Runner heading out as we were heading back.
No sign of Phatty & Leanimal all day, even on the sign-in sheets at each control. They must have done something *completely* different!
Then 36, where we stopped for a bit of lunch, then 57, which seemed a little misplaced. Fortunately, the three Canadian teams converged at the point where we expected the control to be, and we worked together to find it. Then up to 40, which was probably a mistake, but I didn't want to leave any controls in this quadrant going into Day 2. Slice & Dog Runner wisely turned west toward 60. Around 40, 'Bent's bad knee finally reacted to all the road running we'd been doing with heavy packs (snowshoes attached). We were as far as we could be from the start/finish, and he was using his ski poles as crutches to hurl himself forward. We decided to head to 77 (perhaps foolishly) then bail out. It was almost 11 km to the finish, mostly on hilly snowmobile trails covered in soft snow, and we had less than 1:45 to do it in. Pumped full of Advil, 'Bent bravely kept up a walk/run pace the whole way back. It would have been a little shorter to go through the woods and pick up 60 and 75 on the way, but we didn't want to take any chances.
It felt like Bargy Road would never end! In the last 2 km, Milhouse & Dee approached from behind, and we ran together to finish at 5:11 p.m., which gave us a 33-minute start delay penalty for Day 2. Total 540 points for the day. It felt like we had a good start, but things unravelled in the last 3 hrs. At least we succeeded in our goal to do all controls in one area of the map far from the start/finish, leaving all of the remaining controls available for Day 2. It was clear now that we couldn't get them all, so Day 2 would be an optimization exercise.
We joined the Canadian road trip to Sandy Creek, NY for the CNYO SnowGaine - a rogaine-style event where teams navigate around the same large map from 9-5 on two consecutive days, trying to maximize their points. Early registration fee was $35/team for the 2-day event including a huge quantity of hot food and drink at the end of each day. How do they do it?!?
The Bullfrog Van crew consisted of Slice (meeting her teammate Dog Runner in NY), Leanimal & Phatty, Milhouse & Dee, and 'Bent and me. We stayed at Harris Lodging, where each team got its own room, and we shared a communal kitchen and living room. Perfect arrangement, and it was great to have time to catch up with friends over the weekend. The driving weather on Friday night was horrible. We saw accidents along the 401, but our all-wheel drive and snow tires helped get us there in one piece - phew.
I think there were 16 teams, which means that a lot of people missed a great event. Eric Smith gave us our maps half an hour before the start. That's not much time to plan a 2-day race, so my plan was to try to divide the map into two areas as quickly as possible, then focus on choosing a reasonable route for Day 1. Eric had indicated that the top teams might complete the course, so I figured that the way to approach Day 1 was to assume that we would get them all, then we could always plan Day 2 differently if it appeared impossible. (Which it quickly did!) Last year we'd made the mistake of planning our Day 1 route so that we would skip controls on the outside of the map if we ran out of time. Then the next day we ended up going near controls that we'd already visited because we'd allowed our map to get "fragmented". This year I wanted to get out and completely finish the far northeast section of the map so that any missed controls would be closer to the start/finish, giving us maximum flexibility for planning a good Day 2 route.
The weather forecast was wintry - blowing snow and occasional ice pellets that made it very chilly along roads and in open fields. Looking at all the roads along our route, 'Bent and I decided to use snowshoes on Day 1, which was a mistake. We did a lot of road running (logged separately), sometimes on a hard surface and sometimes on soft snow, which was like running on sand. We used ski poles to push ourselves along while running, which was really helpful in the soft stuff.
For those who have seen the map, the control numbers will make sense. Otherwise, you'll just have to picture us running through the Winona State Forest, which apparently gets the most snow in the U.S. east of the Rockies. It was easy to believe!
Skipped #54 since I like to leave controls close to the finish area to allow more flexibility later in the day. Then into the woods in deep snow for 33, 72, 53. Found Milhouse & Dee's tracks at 33 and followed them for part of the time. Met Slice & Dog Runner coming toward us - hmmm, interesting. Out to 35 on the road, then turned north. Then I was the victim of a Bear Attack! No kidding, there were two big furry brown dogs barking and growling furiously at the end of their driveway, accompanied by two young children. I'm not afraid of dogs, so we kept on running as the children yelled, "Stop it, Bear!" Too late - Bear bit me on the bum. Argghh. We ran a short distance further, then 'Bent confirmed that my tights had no holes. I made a mental note to confirm in the evening that the skin wasn't broken, because otherwise I'd have to drive back to their house and ask for proof of rabies shots. Grrrrrr. (Luckily, it turns out that Bear was unsuccessful in his mission.) About 400 meters later, we were greeted by two barking pit bulls on the road, including an unaltered male. I love dogs, but this was different, since these two could kill us if they wanted to. We walked instead of running, keeping our poles poised and ready for battle. Their owner (shaved head & camo clothing) was yelling and running after them as they followed us down the road. Luckily, they weren't as gutsy as Bear. As long as we met their eyes (looking over our shoulders), they kept their distance. If we looked away toward the direction we were travelling, they ran up close behind us again. Some people don't deserve to have dogs.
Over to 61, then a 4.5 km out-and-back road run to 76 with snow whipping into our faces. We saw Milhouse & Dee and Slice & Dog Runner heading out as we were heading back.
No sign of Phatty & Leanimal all day, even on the sign-in sheets at each control. They must have done something *completely* different!
Then 36, where we stopped for a bit of lunch, then 57, which seemed a little misplaced. Fortunately, the three Canadian teams converged at the point where we expected the control to be, and we worked together to find it. Then up to 40, which was probably a mistake, but I didn't want to leave any controls in this quadrant going into Day 2. Slice & Dog Runner wisely turned west toward 60. Around 40, 'Bent's bad knee finally reacted to all the road running we'd been doing with heavy packs (snowshoes attached). We were as far as we could be from the start/finish, and he was using his ski poles as crutches to hurl himself forward. We decided to head to 77 (perhaps foolishly) then bail out. It was almost 11 km to the finish, mostly on hilly snowmobile trails covered in soft snow, and we had less than 1:45 to do it in. Pumped full of Advil, 'Bent bravely kept up a walk/run pace the whole way back. It would have been a little shorter to go through the woods and pick up 60 and 75 on the way, but we didn't want to take any chances.
It felt like Bargy Road would never end! In the last 2 km, Milhouse & Dee approached from behind, and we ran together to finish at 5:11 p.m., which gave us a 33-minute start delay penalty for Day 2. Total 540 points for the day. It felt like we had a good start, but things unravelled in the last 3 hrs. At least we succeeded in our goal to do all controls in one area of the map far from the start/finish, leaving all of the remaining controls available for Day 2. It was clear now that we couldn't get them all, so Day 2 would be an optimization exercise.
Running race 4:00:00 [4] **
Road or snowmobile trail running during the SnowGaine.
Wednesday Feb 27, 2008 #
Snowshoeing 1:20:00
I met up with my ESAR teammates for a snowshoe outing in spectacular late afternoon light. Hurtn, Damuhl and I carried backpacks loaded with weight for extra training value. The boys are preparing for a trip in the Arctic this summer, so their packs were a lot heavier than my 10 kg load. We climbed and descended some steep hills, bushwhacked through coniferous and deciduous forest, and followed a lovely stream. This was all behind Hurtn's house, just a short distance from our place. I love exploring new parts of the Caledon Hills!
There was lots of snow! Damuhl has maintained a good training schedule this winter, most of it indoors because he's a city boy. He was impressed by what a good workout snowshoeing can be.
We had a couple of challenging creek crossings with our heavy packs, and we helped our teammates out by carefully aiming our cameras in case of disaster.
Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the entertainment value of this log, all of our stream crossings went just fine.
It turns out that Hurtn has had some practice snowshoeing along streams.
There was lots of snow! Damuhl has maintained a good training schedule this winter, most of it indoors because he's a city boy. He was impressed by what a good workout snowshoeing can be.
We had a couple of challenging creek crossings with our heavy packs, and we helped our teammates out by carefully aiming our cameras in case of disaster.
Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the entertainment value of this log, all of our stream crossings went just fine.
It turns out that Hurtn has had some practice snowshoeing along streams.
Note
Great photos of our outing on Hurtn's log. He carried a big camera, since he'll have to do that in the Arctic, so it's part of his training.
http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_3590/p...
http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_3590/p...
Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 #
Note
More Snowshoe Raid pics here... thank you Mique!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24232244@N08/sets/721...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24232244@N08/sets/721...
Running hills 15:30 [5]
5 times up Deer Valley Hill with Leanimal, starting from the bottom every 3:30. Our interval times were pretty consistent, maybe a few seconds faster at the end. It seemed easier than last time, and no wonder - it turns out we did 6 hills that time! Oops. Definitely need to do more of this.
Running (Road) 34:30 [3]
Warm-up and cooldown around the streets of B-Town. Rocky drove by and we got to say a quick hello.
Note
Fun! We've decided at the last minute to join the Canadian contingent at the CNYO SnowGaine. It was a great time last year - both the group road trip and the event. This year we'll have 7 people in the Bullfrog along with skis and snowshoes, so it'll be quite a party.
Strength & Mobility (Core) 40:00 [2]
Hard Core Tuesday.
Because 'Bent wimped out on Monday.
Because 'Bent wimped out on Monday.
Strength & Mobility (Legs) 11:00 [1]
A few calf lifts, squats, lunges, etc. Need to do more!
Monday Feb 25, 2008 #
Note
Aacckk - I was going to have another contest for a milestone number of hits on my log, but apparently more people read it this weekend than usual, so the milestone is now behind me. Oh well. Serves me right for not buying dinner for Sherpa yet, as I'd promised for the previous prize.