Training Log Archive: Bash

Harps, 'Bent and I managed to make our three different training plans converge for part of the day. Harps wanted a 4-hour ride; 'Bent's coach had assigned a 3-hour ride with easy 1st/3rd hour and moderate 2nd hour, and I was looking for 1-2 hours of climbing and bumps to test the adjustments 'Bent made to my mountain bike last night. (Thanks to Harps for switching his plans from road to MTB to make this work.)

Harps rode from Campbellville; 'Bent rode from Palgrave, and I drove to Inglewood to meet them, then we rode trails from Inglewood to Belfountain. As if ascending the escarpment on rocky, rutted trails wasn't enough of a challenge, I realized after the first 10 minutes of climbing that I'd left my wallet, keys and iPhone back in Inglewood - *hopefully* inside the van but, well, you know, maybe it was on the ground beside my shoes... say, you guys wouldn't mind going back down and doing that climb again, would you? :)

The reward, as it often is in these parts, was an iced latte and treat at The Shed in Belfountain - sitting in Muskoka chairs under the big umbrella watching the world go by. Ahhhh.



Dave and Eddie Corner (Shed owners and 'Bent's WT teammate) came in on their road bikes while we were there, as did a bunch of other cyclists. It was tempting to just hang out but we headed back on a slightly different combination of trails. We got creative and took random turns on trails between The Grange Rd. and Inglewood. There's really no way that you won't eventually get where you're going since the block of land is fairly small but I've never mastered the spaghetti network of trails. It'll be interesting to check the Garmin track to see exactly what we did.

Fun day - legs felt good after I'd warmed up. Bike worked fine. Thanks, 'Bent and Harps!

In light of my pathetic strength training program, 'Bent made me carry the big plastic box around the LCBO and across the parking lot. We're all stocked up for the final 2 weeks of Tour de France viewing. C'mon over!

1 set of:
6 reps X organic lager
5 X apple cider
4 X Mike's Hard Limeade
4 X Cabernet Sauvignon

Ya ya, OK. :)

While watching le Tour.

The last time I rode my mountain bike, it was complaining at times in the small chain ring so today's goal was to test every gear combination under load to find the exact problem. Got it! Looks like something 'Bent can fix, so I shouldn't need a tune-up before next weekend's 48-hr Equinox Traverse in Pennsylvania.

Holy Poison Ivy, Batman! Much of the single track in Palgrave East was lined with the stuff and I couldn't wait to get home to rub Tecnu on my legs. It's a bumper year - another one of those climate change things, I'm told.

After 4 consecutive weekends of racing or course testing, I'm going to take it easy leading up to the race. "Recover" and "Taper" periods have totally overlapped over the past month and I think I could use this week to build up reserves.

The Run for the Toad 25/50K trail race on Oct. 1 is 85% sold out. I'm not sure it will fit in the schedule but it's a great event so I've signed up for the 50K just in case.

This high noon run around our hilly country block was intended to be heat and humidity acclimatization for next weekend's Equinox Traverse. It was only 26C though - warm and humid enough but not stifling like last weekend.

I trust that JayXC and Sony are doing some bad music acclimatization in preparation for listening to me sing to stay awake at 3 a.m.

I worked on a few things today - pushing up the hills including a good effort up Noxon Hill on Duffy's Lane near the end of the run. Also worked on posture, forward lean from ankles and quicker cadence, especially uphill. The latter was interesting since I realized that my complete lack of fast twitch fibres makes it really hard to increase cadence. I can shorten my stride but if I can't maintain higher cadence, all I'm doing is running more slowly. Grrrr, stupid muscles.

I also tried to lift my right arm up higher since it had been too low in a couple of the Creemore photos, and now I know what the problem is... That's the elbow I smashed on a rock during the Wilderness Traverse course test after banging it on a kayak rack earlier in the week. It feels like I've got a big bone chip loose and if I keep my elbow at a 90 degree angle while I run, my hand goes numb. Adventure sports... so great for your body!

This is a route that I've sometimes used as a time trial in cooler weather. Although I tried not to think of it that way today, I ended up equalling my previous PB which is probably worth a Dairy Queen reward. Apologies to any teammates who may need to tow me over the next couple of weeks.

It was announced this week that the 2014 World Rogaining Championships have been awarded to the Dakota Rogaining Championships - Aug. 16-17, 2014. Several of us made the trip to the inaugural Dakota Rogaining Champs in the Black Hills last year. It's a beautiful area with lots of wildlife, and the event organizers are terrific. They were previously involved with Primal Quest in the same area. If you have a 2014 calendar, mark it now! :)
http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...

Fyi,
2012 WRC - Czech Republic
2013 WRC - Russia (Although the world championship normally happens in even years, a good bid may be accepted for an odd year.)

Training in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area is so hot right now! I met Funderstorm for an early evening paddle down the Grand River from Inverhaugh to West Montrose.



Funderstorm and I both have Jackson Hero whitewater kayaks that are overkill most of the time in southern Ontario. They're designed to be able to jump off waterfalls (although we are not). We've been planning to get them together for awhile.



This is a beautiful, quiet section of river with lots of riffles to keep things interesting. It would be fun to come here earlier in the season for a class 1 paddle.



We had one portage around a huge fallen tree.



Funderstorm was braver about her launches than I was. This one was a re-launch since the first attempt without a skirt ended in major dampness.



Whitewater boats don't like going in straight lines which actually made it a better workout!



We took out at Ontario's last remaining covered bridge at West Montrose. Cool!




Fun paddle with great conversation on a lovely summer evening!

I just watched a TED Talk that said you are more likely to achieve your goals if you *don't* share them with people. The act of telling people makes you feel good, as if you've already made some progress. In fact, that good feeling is so satisfying that you become complacent and less inclined to work toward your goal.

But I don't think it works that way for me, so here I go ignoring the psychology studies!

Mid-Year Report Card on 2011 Training Goals

THE GOOD

24-hour rogaine - Did Eco-Endurance Challenge with Crash.
24+ hour AR - Doing 48-hr Equinox Traverse in Pennsylvania with JayXC and Sony next weekend.
Running 2+ hrs/week - Pretty close and I've done a fair bit of running during other types of logged training. I'll need to step it up in the second half of the year though, since I'm aiming to race longer distances.
Total annual training 550+ hrs - On track for over 600 hrs.
Make an effort to train/race with more people more often - Yup, and it's been fun!

NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD
Expedition adventure race - Attended the 4-day APEX event in Switzerland but didn't race it due to teammate illness. We did get to enjoy some of the most beautiful parts of the course unofficially. Probably won't do another exped race this year and undecided about doing any in future.

THE BAD
Quality training, any discipline 1+ sessions/week - Started the year off well then fell off the bandwagon when racing season arrived.

THE UGLY
50 km trail race and maybe a 50-miler - Thinking seriously about Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in 2013 preceded by Sinister 7 in 2012. So I really need to schedule my next 50 km and plan my first 50-miler. No longer considering the Coastal Challenge stage race in Costa Rica. Forgot I'm a cold weather girl!
Get 7+ hours of sleep on most nights - Not so much
Strength training 1+ hrs/week - Racing season is always busy but grrr, I'm not even trying. Need to think of a different way to approach strength training because I do need some.

February mini-goals:
Get my kayak roll back - Did pool clinic. Just got permission to access a clean body of water where I can practise.
Get a bike computer with cadence and work on increasing. - Yup.
Start using HRM again - On again, off again. Very useful at the Creemore Vertical Challenge.

New July mini-goal:
Increase running cadence.

Fourth of July Tour de West Caledon

Thanks to Harps' flexible job which permits him to celebrate a wide range of national holidays, Princess and I met him for a hot, hilly, chatty road ride today.

I drove to Cheltenham, then rode 8 km southwest to meet him since I'd misinterpreted the route map he'd sent me and thus we'd inadvertently planned for him to ride 60 kph to reach our intended meeting place. Oops, tee hee. So I got in an extra 16 km of training which was just fine.

After plunging back down the Cheltenham valley, we rode up, up, up to the Badlands - where we stopped, of course, because we were being tourists today.



Then down, down, down into Inglewood then uphill into a headwind to the beautiful Forks of the Credit Road, then up, up, up, up Alpe D'Huez into Belfountain for lunch and iced lattes at The Shed Coffee Bar.



Then west toward Erin, then south and downhill at last. At Sideroad #32, Harps turned west and I headed into Terra Cotta (giving Princess an unexpectedly bumpy ride on a rough gravel section of Winston Churchill) and back to Cheltenham. Fun ride!

Note to self: Average cadence was 80, which is fine since cadence is 0 on downhills when I'm not pedalling much so that will always skew it lower.