Training Log Archive: Bash

The trash talk has already started for next weekend. No, I don't mean STORM The Trent - I have no idea [Jack] who will win that. I'm referring to the Rotary Classic Run in Brantford next Sunday, a fundraiser for children's projects in my home town. My Dad, a Rotarian whose only sports for the past 50 years have been golf and curling, and who has been living with cancer for 7 years, is planning to do his first 5K as a power walk. He's hoping to take me down by beating my 10K time. He's been doing double trips around the block as training so it may be close.

Because I hate asking people for money, I set a low target ($50) and donated it to myself but I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't mention that people can support Rotary Brantford's programs for children in need and take my pledge total above my feeble goal.

Regardless, it is GAME ON, Dad!!!

Coach Spaff had directed 'Bent to do an "easy" 2-hr bike session so we took trails through Palgrave West, then Duffy's Lane and rail trail to Inglewood for lunch at the General Store. I commented that we were riding the exact same speed on the rail trail that we always do, i.e. it didn't seem like an especially "easy" ride.Turns out 'Bent uses his heart rate to determine whether a workout is "easy", which may be part of the reason he's been slow to recover from surgery and injury. His cardiovascular system is stronger than his joints and ligaments right now, and it will tell him to go harder than he ought to go. That's how he ended up doing sub-4 min/km intervals in a recent easy run (and finished with a sore ankle). I suspect pace is a more valid measurement than heart rate right now as he builds back up.

However, even the most brilliant sports physiology insight from one's spouse would still be advice from one's spouse. :) And so our trip to and from Inglewood took the same amount of time it usually does. Absolutely stunning day. We met countless friendly dogs and families celebrating Mother's Day. We made side trips to Chez Knobless & Gorgeous and to the Caledon East cafe where Crash has been cooking and baking wondrous things. We were in Inglewood during the stopover of the Credit Valley Explorer train and it was cool to see people milling about town, buying souvenirs and treating the place as a tourist attraction. Excellent Tour de Caledon! (Even though we saw our first poison ivy of the season...)

Fun ride in and around Hilton Falls with our ESAR team - Patty and Mrs. Gally.





Lots of conversation and laughs. We did a bit of everything - fast double track, technical single track (including Mrs. Gally's amazing multiple log jump trick), arduous hike-a-bike over mossy rocks, scenic viewpoint admiration, and even a road ride up the 6th Line Nassagaweya hill.



We had coffee afterward and strategized our approach to taking down the Salomon Bobkittens. It's not going to be easy but I think we've got a good game plan.



(Sorry for the so-so iPhone pics. I will do better next time.)

'Bent and I went to Island Lake for a kayak paddle around the perimeter and a lift over a beaver dam to explore a little pond we usually can't get to when the water is lower. Felt great to be on the water and felt like the kayak erg has helped over the winter. (Not to mention a couple of weeks in New Zealand in February - but I can't use that trick every year!) Hope this was part of 'Bent's last-minute STORM the Trent training although unfortunately he is still a question mark due to injury.

April Report Card on 2011 Training Goals

The Good:
Expedition adventure race - APEX 4-day race in Switzerland later this month. Had wanted one more long race this year but am close to giving up on it.
24-hour rogaine + another 24+ hour AR - Did Eco-Endurance Challenge with Crash. One down, one to go.
Running 2+ hrs/week - Yes and no. Between the Giant's Rib Raid, the Wild BOAR and the Eco-Endurance Challenge, I did a lot of running that wasn't logged as running. So I'll give myself a passing grade anyway.
Quality training any discipline 1+ sessions/week - Yup, on average.
Total annual training 550+ hrs - On track
Make an effort to train/race with more people more often Better than last month - GRR with Goose and Coach CHuet, bike ride with Kirikou, Wild BOAR with The Biker, Eco-Endurance Challenge with Crash, night run with Hingo.

The Bad:
No Bad this month. Everything was either Good or Ugly.

The Ugly:
50 km trail race and maybe a 50-miler - Still wavering. Considering the Coastal Challenge stage race in Costa Rica in Jan. 2012, which would mean a reorganization of the second half of the year to focus on ultrarunning but I'm not convinced yet. The time will come soon enough to move away from team AR but I'm not sure I feel ready.
Get 7+ hours of sleep on most nights - Not so much
Strength training 1+ hrs/week - Virtually none this month. Once the snow is gone and racing season ramps up, I find it really hard to fit in strength training. Is it worth trying to keep it up over the summer? I do worry about losing muscle mass. Hmm.

In February, I added these smaller goals:
Get my kayak roll back - I did a pool clinic that went fine but now I need to find a place to practise. I've got a cool river running boat now and need to get it out in some whitewater.
Get a bike computer with cadence and work on increasing. - Done (the former) and working on it (the latter).
Start using HRM again - Used it for a few enthusiastic weeks, then fell off the bandwagon. This will act as my reminder.

Treadmill intervals - flat surface to give my knee a break for one more day. It's much improved but no sense messing with it too much!

I'd planned to climb the escarpment a few times via Grange Rd. north of Inglewood - a climb over 2 km long with some very steep sections - but they were grading the road. It's unnerving enough to meet a Smart Car on this stretch of road; it's definitely no fun when there is a dump truck randomly dropping piles of gravel, a big roller running the full width of the road, and some kind of mucky slurry on the road surface. Since I'd warmed up by riding to the base of the hill from where I'd parked my car, I did the climb once, then went over to Creditview for a longer down 'n' up escarpment climb. Then back down the steep, mucky hill past the road maintenance crew. Everything needed to be hosed down when I got home, including me!

I gave my inflamed knee a break after E2C but it was time to hit the trails again. My Specialized Epic MTB is back from its spring tune-up and I took it out in the sunshine for some further maintenance, adjusting its complicated shocks and installing a new seat before taking it for a spin on the Palgrave single track. After so much road riding to prepare for Coast to Coast, I'm still getting my technical instincts back, and Palgrave is a great place to do it. Tomorrow I'm going to do big hills and pretend that they're Alps. (This means I can eat Swiss chocolate after my ride.)

I was just going to do one UB (Urthbuoy Brick, i.e. 20 minutes) to be kind to my knee but the cool air and sunlight felt soooo good. When "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" started playing on my iPod, I was transported back to our long-ago 6 a.m. pool paddling sessions with Coach Bill Trayling, surrounded by other friendly adventure racers at a time when anything seemed possible. And so I added a loop through K-Bash woods instead of coming straight home.

This was my first test of the new Salomon XR Crossmax "door to trail" shoes, and the extra cushiness was just what the doctor ordered for someone taking it easy on their knee. I think this may well become my new rogaining shoe.

P.S. If anyone else wants to try them, the Crossmax demo night is at Running Free Markham tomorrow night from 5-8 p.m. Free Salomon gift for anyone testing the shoes. I'll be there representing the Salomon Flight Crew, then at 8 p.m. I'll change hats (well, I might keep my Salomon hat) and go sit with Getawaystix's navigation class, which runs till 9 p.m. There are other Salomon Crossmax demo nights in different locations over the next week or two.
http://www.salomonflightcrew.com/index.php?page=do...

Heading off on yet another tangent, we've had great response to our Wilderness Traverse AR clinics, particularly the one next Thursday night about "taking it to the next level", aimed at people who are new - or relatively new - to overnight adventure racing. Btw, if you're planning to do Wilderness Traverse, the earlybird registration fee is available till this Friday.

As promised, Team Running Free has a starring role in the Untamed New England DVD. Will anyone ever race with me again...?

P.S. Thanks, Randy - it's fun to re-live that race.

E2C race report is up now on May 1!

Any suggestions for a printer that does a nice job on both photos and documents? My old Epson Photo Sylus 1200, which could print beautiful 13X19" photos, has bitten the dust.

Icing my knee but otherwise feeling good. Looking forward to lobster dinner with 'Bent tonight; Crash and I shopped at the Halifax Airport. Nice food for watching the election. P.S. Vote! :)