Training Log Archive: Bash

Paddled in a good current on the Humber River from Duffy's Lane to Hickman St. on a sunny April afternoon. This may be the earliest date I've ever gone for my first spring paddle. With some luck, we might be able to ski tomorrow, given the forecast for 20 cm of snow!! Going skiing locally after our first canoe trip would be another first.

We had a good crowd out today. Goose, Coach LD, KD, Scooby, Rocky, 'Bent and I started together, and when we stopped for a cookie break at the halfway point, Phatty and Leanimal appeared from behind just in time to get their hands into the cookie jar! Rocky broke her streak, failing to do any swim training this time. Fun trip!



Cookie Break



Coach LD and Rocky did some interesting acrobatics where a tree had fallen across the river. The rest of us portaged.



Thanks to Goose and Scooby for the photos.

'Bent, Phatty, Scooby, Leanimal, Coach LD and I ran from the Doughtys' place back to Duffy's Lane on the Humber Valley Trail (28:30), then back to our vehicles. Phatty & Leanimal kept going on the HVT, since it's not long till E-Fix. I was feeling strong but I could tell that I haven't been running much lately. By the time I got home, my Snowgaine back injury had flared up the worst it's done so far. Looks like it's time to introduce Dr. Leanimal to yet another faulty body part - I think my warranty has expired.

While watching the first half of "Mystic River" with Sean Penn. The story was so gripping that I didn't look at my watch for the first 30 minutes, which is a record for me on the trainer. I pedalled harder during the stressful bits, which meant that I did a lot of hard pedalling. 'Bent had done a 2-hr Boston training run with Crash earlier, so he stopped a little earlier - but kept watching the movie. Now... to see how the story ends!

According to a quiz in the Globe & Mail, my "brain sex" score is 11/20, where 1 = very male and 20 = very female. So apparently my brain is on the fence. This may explain the mystery of my membership on the high school physics team. The author points out that your "brain sex" doesn't always match your biological sex, so 'Bent needn't start to worry. His brain is a guy brain with a healthy feminine side, based on his score of 6/20.

One of the questions that pushed me in the male direction was my "yes" answer to the following - and I'll bet most women reading this would say the same thing:

"I can find my way more easily using a map rather than landmark directions."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM...

Rode via Duffy's Lane to the Gore Rd. parking lot where I met up with Hurtn, who is back in training for his upcoming Arctic expedition. Nice to catch up - it's been awhile since we talked, and he always has lots going on. Beautiful sunshine, and I was able to get away with relatively light clothing, although I did wish that I'd brought long-fingered gloves for the first part of the ride. The rail trail is a little soft in places, but mostly in pretty good shape. Duffy's Lane was wetter and muddier. I rode around on roads because the trails in the woods are definitely no-go for now - even footprints are problematic in places. (Although I notice that a truck or ATV has been going around Palgrave West and causing damage to the trails. Boo.)

Hard Core Live with Caron. It's been a long time since I've been able to go, and this was a tough one!

Mmm, this felt goooood. It highlighted a couple more rusty body parts that I will need Dr. Leanimal to fix!

PhattyJR is a star! (And I'm not April Fooling.)
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/local/article/20587...

BulletDog and I went for a nice late afternoon run in the woods. There was some zip in my legs that was missing in Monday's run, which was good to see. The Salomon Dontgetlost.ca Giant's Rib Raid is just 10 days away, and I'm just starting to run for the year. Yikes! 'Bent and Rocky are doing the Raid with me even though they are both doing the Boston Marathon the following weekend. For that reason, there will be no towing in this race. So I've got 10 days to become a runner - eek! (Of course, I've *never* been a runner, so that's kind of like saying I've got 10 days to become a violinist or a neurosurgeon.)

Today's weird moment on the trail: I ran past the hunting blind that points onto the trail (not exactly legal). I always feel uncomfortable going past that spot because I need to check that nobody is sitting in the blind, and then I like to run quickly past the guy's house so it won't look like I was snooping around his hunting blind, which is just behind the house. I kept BulletDog close by so she wouldn't detour into his back yard, and we went over a little rise - and there he was, standing in the middle of the trail looking right at us. Gulp!! He was talking on his cell phone, so we just exchanged little waves, and I kept going.

While watching the news

While watching the Daily Show

Some final thoughts on the Rock & Ice Ultra... This event celebrates winter for its scenic beauty and variable weather conditions. It is a uniquely Canadian experience that attracts racers from around the world. Many of these people have impressive adventure resumes, and this race holds the same mystique for them as the Marathon des Sables and other exotic events they have done. Even for many Canadians, a trip to the sub-Arctic in March feels pretty exotic! We are lucky to have a race like this in our own back yard.

It's a well-organized event with a team of 50 volunteers and terrific sponsors who have already committed their (substantial) support for 2010. The race director Scott Smith wisely delegated some major responsibilities - safety patrols, logistics, base camp management, volunteer management, etc. - to some very competent people. Scott seemed to be everywhere, and he was always busy - boiling water at a remote checkpoint, greeting people at the finish line, coming into our tents to check on us, escorting the final racers into camp long after midnight, emptying the honey buckets (toilet bags), etc., etc. No job was too big or too small - he pitched in and did whatever was needed.

The safety team was fantastic, and the trails were well-marked. I'd had some worries about the potential for problems in severe conditions, but if I did the race again, I'd go into it with total confidence regarding safety, regardless of weather conditions.

Did I say "if I did the race again"? Hmm... I went into it intending to do the race once, then I'd move on to other marathon ski challenges, some of them in other countries. But we've both caught ourselves thinking about what we would do differently next time at the R&I, how we would pack, which event we would do, and so on. Say what? I had absolutely no interest in spoiling a nice ski by dragging a pulk along, which is the reason we chose the 3-day over the 6-day event. But now I find myself curious about how bad it could really be - so you never know.

The one thing this race *really* needs is more support from North Americans outside of Yellowknife. I competed in a category of 9 women, all of them locals except for me. It's a shame, because this event is world class, and it deserves more support from our adventure community. Winter is the perfect challenge for a Canadian adventurer!

While watching the news.

After a fun "welcome home" hike with ThunderDog, I headed out for a trail run in Palgrave West. I don't feel fatigued from the Rock & Ice Ultra anymore, but I still feel some stiffness from the repetitive motion of skiiing for 22 hrs of racing over 3 days. During today's run, my bad knee (which flared up due to tight leg room on the AC flight to the race) was feeling worse than usual, and the pulled lower back/rib muscle from the Snowgaine was hurting more. Neither of these injuries happened during the R&I, but I'm sure it didn't help them. On the bright side, my Achilles didn't feel out of sorts, so hopefully it's on the mend.

It's nice to be home! :-)

Rodney Yee Yoga for Flexibility. Not so flexible today.