Training Log Archive: Bash

Yay, Canada!!! 1st gold medal ever on home soil! Looking forward to 2nd, 3rd, 4th... :-)))

There are new photos from yesterday's ski outing if you scroll down.

Great result for Frankenjack in very nasty weather conditions at Coast to Coast in New Zealand! 13th overall in a time of 10:41. The top two guys were under 10 hrs, but 3rd place was 10:21, so he was right in the mix. Given how strong a kayaker he is, the fact that most of the paddling section was removed for weather reasons would have made the race more challenging.
http://results.nz.eventdirector.net/List.asp?Event...

Very few women are listed as "finished" in the results at this time, but Ursula should be on that same list soon.

Another great ski with 'Bent and BulletDog - this time in Palgrave East. There were a few bare or icy patches but mostly it was fast, fun skiing. Given how sunny it is, it's a good thing we went there today, as the trails probably won't hold up much longer. We stopped in to see PGB's Mom and make sure she was getting news about Team Untamed New England in Ecuador. Looks like the Canadians are off to a fine start.

Will the spectating never end? Tomorrow is the start of the 3-day Huairasinchi adventure race in Ecuador - "the highest adventure race in the world". The Milton Basement Racers (captained by Tiny) and the all-female Team Untamed New England (captained by Leanimal and featuring our neighbour formerly known as Crash) have been down there for several days acclimatizing to the altitude. Race briefing and map distribution will happen late this afternoon.

Main Race website

Online coverage - not sure how much English to expect, but at least they are promising "frequent updates"

Sleepmonsters

Twitter

'Bent, BulletDog and I went skiing in Palgrave West in terrific weather. We followed some trails and did some bushwhacking.





Even on the trails, there were some challenges. (BTW, these photos were taken 100 m apart on the same trail.)





Like BulletDog, we had a fun and crazy time.

Ran to and from Palgrave East to meet Coach LD.

This was snowshoe orienteering except that Coach LD was the one doing the orienteering as we took down the ribbons from 'Bent's contours-only training course. She did a great job!

We were both feeling kicked in the gut since we'd just heard the news about Novar Kumaritashvili and were imagining his family and friends being so excited about their 21-year-old loved one heading to his first Olympics, then having it all dashed. So tragic.

I wish they would stop playing the damned video out of respect. We saw it a few minutes after it happened, when the media didn't yet realize how serious the situation was, and I never want to see it again.

Still on a spectating binge and the Olympics aren't even here yet! Frankenjack and Ursula are competing in the Speight's Coast to Coast multisport world championships in New Zealand this Saturday (remember, that starts on Friday in our time zone). Weather is what everyone is talking about. There's rain in the forecast along with "howling nor'wester" winds, which could make it chilly to run trails over the Alps and nervewracking to control a kayak. Wishing happy (and speedy) (and safe) trails to our friends!

Live Coverage - already providing news updates - you can send a shout out to competitors

Various News and Interviews

Sleepmonsters

Hard Core live with Caron. It was one of her Hard, Harder, Hardest theme nights. I swear I could hear 'Bent weeping on the next mat over.

Also with a Hard, Harder, Hardest theme.

For those of us watching Team Untamed New England (Dee, PhattyJR, Harper and Relentless) in the Wenger Patagonian Adventure Race... they're OFF!
(***Updated List of Links***)

Race website

Race course map

Twitter Feed (so far, the only news since the race started with the cancellation of the first paddle section due to 100 kph winds)

Sleepmonsters Updates

Team Untamed New England website / blog

Facebook Fan Page

New National Geographic article about Patagonia

And of course, the main Attackpoint AR discussion forum will be the cool place to chat about it!

Snow!!! Last year we wouldn't have noticed 7-8 cm of fluffy new snow because we were constantly spoiled with 30 cm blizzards. But in the winter of 2010, we have to take what we can get, so I put work aside to hit the trails this morning.

Palgrave West and Palgrave East - sometimes breaking trail and sometimes following ski tracks made by 'Bent (and BulletDog), Aldo? who lives north of Palgrave East, and Mrs. Guy-Who-Hunts-Illegally-on-Conservation-Land. It's fun to live in a place so quiet that I can identify everyone who was out. I missed seeing the usual signs of Crash/PGB, who is away in Ecuador.

Fine snow was drifting down the whole time and it still is! It was soooo nice and wintry out, with lots of animal tracks - strangely, no deer though. It's still a good idea to use rock skis but the bare patches are all gone. Now let's hope for a stretch of cold weather to keep it snowy.

If any of our nearby friends are looking for a place to watch the opening ceremonies, we still have a few couch spaces available for Friday evening. Just let us know! Our Tree Hugger teammate Shifty is one of the TV cameramen, and after a dress rehearsal (about which he is sworn to secrecy), he is advising people to find a place to watch it in HD.

Wishing Goose and Gosling a fantastic, adventurous and safe journey to the Olympics. We are all jealous!

Ugh, food poisoning. And I had to smile and give a presentation to Town Council anyway. Just as I was starting to feel better, I saw these two items at the grocery store:

1) Blue Menu (i.e. "healthy label") breaded & fried chicken nuggets

2) Due to a berry shortage, the usual space was filled with huge chocolate-covered apples on sticks, decorated with coloured icing - bleaagh.

Based on the Nutrifacts, I can probably eat 10% of the food types in the average grocery store without inviting an early death. How the heck do so many other people survive on that junk?

Part of Bryon Kest DVD

Anyone who knows Phatty has heard him announce a "CONTroversy!" Well, here's a website dedicated to controversies. Now you can have an argument - on just about any topic - all by yourself.