Training Log Archive: Bash

Albion Hills trails are in great shape.

'Bent and I rode to Albion Hills, doing a U-turn enroute to help out a painted turtle who was taking too darned long to cross Duffy's Lane. It was my first ride of the season and the trails are in incredible mid-season shape. Usually we can't even start to ride there until late April but conditions have been dry for several weeks.

My main Specialized MTB was rushed straight to the bike hospital after its shameful showing on Wednesday so I was using my old Gary Fisher, which hasn't been tuned up in awhile. It's a little creaky, and the geometry is funny because the handlebars are lower after a major repair. However, it still climbs well even though it makes me feel nervous about endos.

We had a nice treat when we ran into Coach LD and chatted with her for awhile as we all rode together. She was one of only two bikers we saw; I guess everyone is at Paris to Ancaster today. I'd considered doing it again but decided it wasn't worth devoting most of a weekend to it after being away so much lately. It's a fun day but very congested when we did it. Maybe next year...

Run off the bike with BulletDog - part of the bike/run ultra training strategy. Took awhile for my legs to start working properly. I'm sure they would have gotten even better with more time but I could hear some red wine calling me.

Hockley Loop - Mixed it up by starting a clockwise loop at 5th Line and Hockley. I should choose different start points more often so I don't fall into a rut, e.g. always being tired on certain hills or pushing hard on the same final section. Today's version of the route had the steepest hills clustered together after 2.5 hours of running followed by a long, quad-bashing downhill dirt road run to the car.

Since it rained this morning and was mostly cloudy this afternoon, I expected the usual solitude. It was warm so I wore a running skirt. I love running skirts but feel that the public should be spared the sight of me in one, so I only wear them at home or on trails where I don't anticipate much company.

Turns out I got it *totally* wrong. At the road by the Hockley Ski Club, I ran through an entire Cub Scout troop and a few Dads. They were cheering and sticking their little hands out for high fives. Less than a minute later, I spotted a large Japanese hiking group. Although I still felt self-conscious about the skirt, I've run past lots of Japanese hiking groups on the Bruce Trail in the past, and they have always been very nice and good for the ego. They tend to smile and nod, sometimes even clap, but there is little or no English conversation. Today was the same except that when I got to the top of the hill, one gentleman stepped forward to address me. I expected a greeting consistent with all the approving gestures but he wrinkled his brow and asked, "How come you are out here all alone?" I had no snappy answer so just smiled, said "hi" and kept on running.

After that, I met families, couples, groups - the busiest day I've ever had on that trail. I even ran into people I knew - Andrew Reeder and Tessa Bobessa training for UNE with big packs, and old friends Bruce and Val King from 'Bent's University of Toronto Outing Club.

Fun run! Nice to get out there with tired legs from the past week's activities. Today's podcasts were The Bugle and a couple of Endurance Planets. Interestingly, the EP coach was advocating two approaches to ultrarunning training that I've adopted:
- Multisport instead of just running
- Focus on time instead of distance

He also outlined several "key workouts" that he tries to do weekly, each of them using hills a little differently for power, VO2max or tempo.

Interesting... With temperatures forecast to hit 30C, the Boston Marathon is allowing runners to defer their race to 2013 (with payment of another entry fee).

Run trails, people! Treadmills aren't just boring - they're dangerous.

Although I've been riding a lot this spring, this was my first ride on our home terrain - tight, twisty, rooty, hilly southern Ontario single track. It's interesting how different it is to ride the various types of technical mountain biking terrain. Moab made me more comfortable with rocks and sand but when I hit mud during Wednesday's Wilderness Traverse course test, I felt out of practice. Today I found that I wasn't turning the tight corners and hitting the roots and logs as precisely as I need to, so I'll need more practice to regain my mid-season skills.

First I rode cross-country to Crash's house to see how her GRR-injured hand is doing. Something in her thumb is torn but nothing is broken. She still can't ride single track, which is unfortunate given that it's just 8 weeks until she starts the 4,418 km Tour Divide mountain bike race from Banff to Mexico. Fortunately, she's improving every day.

I did an easy cruise of Palgrave East and experienced a wave of "I'm so lucky to live beside these awesome trails" feeling. My knee didn't feel perfect yet but it didn't interfere. I think all systems are go for a long run tomorrow.

Tabata Core with Caron

Had to skip some poses because my left knee is inflamed. It's the one that I crashed onto a rock in Moab two weeks ago today. After a week, it still hurt a lot when I ran but it was feeling good on Saturday for GRR. I probably banged it on something yesterday and started the healing process all over again!

Spring is here so it was time to head north for more Wilderness Traverse course testing.



Well, actually, the right time would have been mid-March when it was 25C but that's not the way we roll. Bob and I hope that if we test the course when it's cold, rainy or buggy, we'll gain some karma that will result in perfect conditions for our racers in August! Today it was a windy 4-8C with occasional steel grey clouds that threatened rain but never delivered. Just as well - we were chilly enough in the breeze without being wet too. Of course, this was Canadian Shield country and we eventually *did* get wet - but that comes later in the story.



We started with a classic wilderness trek that we've really been looking forward to. We hiked and ran over 30 kilometers between roads and visited a couple of planned CP locations along the way. As usual, we made a few detours to check things out. "How visible is that old trail?" "Is there a campsite on that point?" "Do you suppose we could just wade across that?" (See previous paragraph re "getting wet".)

Bob is heading out next week for the Costa Rica Adventure Race so I tried to keep up a good pace in the forest. I can't push as hard as he can, of course, but at least I try to move fast enough to keep him from getting cold!



We did a lot of bushwhacking, mostly through open forest with great visibility since the leaves aren't out yet. We scrambled over countless rocks and followed some rough trails. When the going was good, we ran; otherwise we hiked quickly.







The most incredible thing about the Bala area is the huge amount of open rock - amazing for the long views it offers. It's a good place for a team to move quickly. Naturally, it was on this relatively easy terrain that I turned my stupid ankle. :(









We encountered wetlands everywhere. Some were dry enough to walk across. We skirted others or tried walking gingerly across the floating moss, hoping we wouldn't plunge in neck-deep when we had to leap across stretches of open water. Warning: Bob can leap a huge distance with those long legs of his, so it's not always a good idea to follow him.





Beaver dams are our friends and we are always on the look-out for them since they make crossings easier.



Some wetlands are covered with tangled alders - slooow progress here.



If I paused too long with my camera, Bob could easily disappear from view in there!



We hit a few skinny lakes separated by high ridges of rock. When we were heading in the direction of the ridges, life was beautiful. When our direction of travel was perpendicular to the lakes and ridges, we got a terrific hill workout. Win-win.





Here's Bob deflating our pack raft. We often take a pack raft along but we don't use it the same way racers would. We would never paddle the length of a lake since we want to check out the forest along the shore, even if pack rafting would be the faster route. Conversely, there are water crossings that would be easy to swim in summer but this early in the season, we're feeling a little too soft to immerse ourselves in the frigid water.



We managed to do our first-ever pack raft paddle where we didn't get a single drop of water in the raft. I was feeling pretty good about that since we were biking after the trek, and I didn't want to be too wet for that. Unfortunately, our luck ran out. There was a narrow channel that we thought we might be able to cross by balancing on a long, slimy floating log most of the way, followed by a 2-3 meter wade at the end. As it turns out, we should have pulled out the pack raft but by the time Bob had made it across doing a wild, out-of-balance dance with great leaps and waving arms, it was too late. I had to get over there too but if I was going to try Bob's method, I might as well start swimming from the start. I sat on the sinking log and inched my way along it to the end, then made a big leap toward shore while grabbing Bob's arm. I managed to keep everything dry - except for the part of my body below my armpits. Brrrr!!

The official Wilderness Traverse animal has traditionally been the garter snake - the largest animal we typically see on the course. Today we stepped around a number of impressive piles of scat early in the trek and observed what appeared to be bear scratches on trees. When we heard brush rustling loudly 50 m away, we froze in our tracks and waited to see which animal would come over the hill. It was a fast-running deer who had undoubtedly heard us but didn't stick around to see us.



We sometimes pass by cabins or hunting camps in the bush, usually looking very inhospitable with plywood on the windows and padlocks on the doors. Today at lunch time, we had the luxury of finding a well-kept little cabin with a sign that invited visitors to come in and take good care of the facilities. This strategy obviously works; the place was in great shape. It was so funny to spend hours in the bush, then take a lunch break where we could sit on chairs and lay out the map on a kitchen table!



We've both been checkpoint volunteers ourselves so in addition to placing CPs where they will create route choice, we look for pleasant locations to spend a number of hours and possibly go swimming if it's hot.









It's a privilege to stumble upon beautiful wilderness locations that few people have seen.







Here's our best find of the day - a great blue heron nesting area. The birds were everywhere, and nearly every tree in the water had a huge nest on it. It was magical.





One of today's highlights was meeting a gentleman who owned a cabin in the area. We seldom encounter people, and when we do, they are usually fishermen or ATV drivers who are nice enough but think we're a little warped. This fellow thought that Wilderness Traverse sounded "cool". He provided all kinds of useful information and pointed things out on the map. He had even mountain biked part of the route we're planning. Hope he'll be around on race weekend to cheer on the participants!

At last we emerged from the woods and found our bikes stashed in the trees where we'd left them early this morning. The trek was fun, scenic, interesting and challenging - everything we'd hoped for after staring at the maps over the winter. We're so lucky to have wilderness areas like this close to home. Can't wait to watch the SPOT trackers as teams take different routes!

Sigh... I had to wait for Bob while he dawdled at the Trek/Bike transition. ;)



Actually, we were both wet and chilly so we tried to warm up here - added layers, changed our socks and ate yummy snacks. It would have been great to put on dry clothes but we had to take everything with us from here so we hadn't left much stuff with our bikes. This was my first time using my new men's Salomon XA20 pack - a little larger than the women's version, which is perfect for course testing since we need to carry more emergency gear. It was no problem to attach my wet, muddy shoes - a handy thing to know.



We mostly rode on snowmobile trails. At first we were in mountain bike heaven because they were rocky and fun.



But then came a dose of reality. It's early April and there are still some big mud pits on those trails!



On top of that, my bike started misbehaving badly - a reminder that it was time for a spring tune-up. We had been making good progress but now we were looking anxiously at our watches. The sun would set shortly before 8 p.m. and we wanted to be out of the woods. We had lights with us if we got stuck but we really wanted to make it to the burrito place in Barrie before it closed.

We got lucky. We figured out a way to make my bike a little happier, pedalled hard for the last few kilometers of rugged trail, and arrived at the car exactly 5 minutes before sunset. Phew - that even gave us time for a latte.



Already excited for the next testing expedition!

Dropped off my car at the garage in Palgrave - because the right time to get your snow tires taken off is when you see flurries in the forecast. I stopped by the dental office to pick up BazingaDog and leave BulletDog. 'Bent commuted barefoot today for the "One Day Without Shoes" campaign and it only seemed fair that he should have a well-behaved dog for one of his runs. BazingaDog and I headed through Palgrave East and got in the door just before the hail began.

Getawaystix and I were supposed to be course testing in Muskoka today but postponed till tomorrow to avoid the sleet. The forecast doesn't look a lot better so I'm packing a bunch of layers.

I wanted to hit the trails but the wind gusts got crazy later in the day, and I didn't feel like dodging flying branches. The "RIDES Las Vegas" DVD took me back to Moab - or at least as close as I could get in our basement.

Ave watts: 158
Ave speed: 24.8 kph
Ave cadence: 82
(excluding cooldown)