Training Log Archive: Bash

Eureka!

Crash has just crossed the U.S. border on the Tour Divide and is riding into Eureka, Montana. That's 274 miles of riding in 3 days and she's not done for the day yet!

I'm in taper mode so I joined Goose and 'Bent for the most interesting section of their long ride. I met them in Inglewood, then we went north to Forks of the Credit Provincial Park where we rode Dominion Trail over to the falls, then west on the rail trail to Erin. We rode to the south end of town for iced lattes and chocolate zucchini loaf at The Shed, then across to Belfountain and trails back to Inglewood.

Without exaggeration, I can't remember another day when I've seen so many cyclists out for a ride. It was slow driving to Inglewood because they were everywhere (yay!), then when I got to the village, I had to drive a couple of blocks to find parking because it was jammed. Getting into the Caledon Hills Cycling bike shop meant weaving through a throng of happy people in bike jerseys, and we ran into a bunch of people we know at The Shed and the bike shop. This was amazing given that today is the Tour de Grand, the Albion Hills O Cup and the Ride to Conquer Cancer, so cyclists had lots of other places to be today. Maybe we will take over the world after all!

Event: 5 Peaks Trail Race- Hardwood Hills
 

My warm-up was in the Salomon demo tent - 75 minutes of talking about footwear and getting racers set up with demo shoes that a surprising number of them chose to wear for the first time in the race.

Team Attackpoint AR was out in force again, thanks to the dedication of FunRun, who also put in hours of volunteer work marking the course. It was great to see so many friendly faces!

The race course is the Gnarly mountain bike trail - mostly twisty single track with some hilly double track. After all the rain last night, the roots, rocks and wooden bridges were slick so I placed my feet carefully to avoid a silly injury before next weekend.

Inquiring minds want to know... did Bash manage to stay on the marked course? Well, almost. The short and long race courses diverged for a short distance behind Aid Station #1, and the volunteers and tables were set up in front of the arrows marking the course split. The volunteer steered the guy ahead of me to the right fork, which made sense since we were on the longer course and I expected to be on the outer loop. Luckily, a couple of guys grabbed my attention by bushwhacking and leaping onto the trail behind me, exclaiming: "We went on the Enduro Course by mistake!" Oh crap, I *want* the Enduro course. I ran back to the fork and went the correct way. Garmin says it only cost me 70 m and 35 seconds of extra running so at least my errors are shrinking. I'm aiming for perfection (in following the trail, that is) next Saturday.

Other than that, the run went well. I didn't push 100% but I pushed harder than I have for awhile. I love running on trails like that - always climbing, descending, turning and changing in character. It sounds like Mohican will be similar - but for a lot longer!

Great performances by Team Attackpoint AR!

Back (L->R): ?, Galyna, WandAR, FunRun, Bash, 'Bent, DoubleDown_on11, FB, Will
Front: Hansel, Leanimal, Pat-hectic, Run-it
Missing: Wilsmith



Team awards are largely based on rankings within age groups and Clydesdale/Athena categories, and we dominated in the running department. However... we were edged out for the team win by the "Preparing The Trail" crew who cleaned up on volunteer points - and had matching shirts, which is what did us in last time. If we'd put in one more volunteer shift instead of leaving it all to poor FunRun, we would have won. Next time!







Our star was Run-it, who placed 3rd overall.



Our heavy hitters were in the Clydesdale category where DoubleDown_on11 and FB took 1st and 2nd.



'Bent won his age category and had a respectable placing overall. Yay - so glad that knee of his is functioning! :)



Galyna and Leanimal were 2nd and 3rd in their age group.


Hansel was 3rd in his age group and our team's 2nd fastest runner.

'Bent, Leanimal, Pat-hectic, FunRun and I went out for a short recovery ride since it seemed a shame to waste an awesome biking destination - even though our legs didn't feel like it and the initial heavy rain was a little discouraging. Pat-hectic is new to single track mountain biking and as everyone knows, it is crucial to learn how to fall correctly. That is why I had a yard sale early on - for educational purposes. It was a fun, social ride - a little tricky with the ruts, mud and slimy roots.

Packing up to race with Team Attackpoint AR at 5 Peaks tomorrow. A note to my teammates...

VO2Max just posted a video of Crash two hours into the Tour Divide! Looking good. :) He rode with her for two hours. (People can ride with her as long as they provide no assistance, including navigation.)

I'd expected to do lots of running over the next 6 days between the 5 Peaks Enduro and pacing for Charlotte's Bruce Trail record attempt. Now that Char has stopped, I need a new plan leading up to next weekend's 50-miler. It will undoubtedly be better prep than what I was *going* to do but I should have spent the past week differently too, e.g. should have done the full Hockley Loop with Dee and Mrs. G.

Because of the change in plans, I went 48 hours without training - a rare occurrence. I grabbed the opportunity for a follow-up test to see if I have any white blood cells to speak of. Low WBC can indicate some nasty things, which is why my doc has her eye on me, but it's not unusual in endurance athletes. It's not that athletes have fewer WBCs; it's that they have more blood plasma so the proportion of WBCs is lower, and that's what the test measures. That, of course, is my vote for what I'd like to be wrong with me. It sounds like WBC level is lowest right after training so I'd been waiting for a lull where I might appear normal. Any other low WBC endurance athletes out there?

Ran around Palgrave West. I'll be working in the Salomon Demo Tent at the 5 Peaks event on Saturday. Runners can try out trail shoes - even use them for the race if they want. Last time we mostly had S-LAB 4 XT Wings and FellCross for men and SpeedCross and XR Mission for women. I hadn't run in the FellCross yet, and I've been excited to try them so today was the day. Very cool feeling! They are low profile with good tread designed for traction in mud, dirt and wet grass. The one trade-off I'd heard was that they were less grippy on rocks, slimy logs, etc. so I did some tests. I'd say they are less grippy on those surfaces than the Salomon XA Pro Ultra, which is my baseline for off-trail scrambling, but they didn't start slipping unless the surface was really slimy or steeply sloped. So I wouldn't use them in situations where I expected to be scrambling up rock slabs but for most trail runs, the trade-off (a need for extra caution on those types of surfaces) would probably be worth it.

I've never used such a low profile shoe and it was a really interesting feeling. My gimpy ankle felt bombproof so low to the ground, and I could feel my feet working more - like when I wear Five Fingers. I could see trying them out for orienteering or other races under 2-3 hours. For someone like me, who lands more heavily than faster runners, I think I'd want more cushioning for longer races than that, e.g. SpeedCross or S-LAB XT Wings.

Sorry for this - I'm an engineer.

Oh man, it is hard to look at the photos and video from the 4-day APEX Race in Switzerland. I'd hoped to go back this year but the stars didn't align. Such a beautiful part of the world!

http://www.arworldseries.com/arwsportal/apex

It's 11 days until the Mohican 50-miler and because of my involvement in Charlotte's Bruce Trail record attempt, much of the next week is going to be crazy!

In a recent Endurance Planet podcast, they talked about a "reverse taper" - not recommending it for everyone but mentioning it as an alternative approach that works for some people. It means that the athlete plans her lightest training schedule three weeks before the race, then builds up over the next two weeks leading into the race.

To make things sound more scientific, I am officially announcing my "reverse taper" for the Mohican.

Just to be on the safe side, I bailed out of the full Hockley Loop today but I still wanted to hang out with Mrs. Gally and Dee, so I arranged to meet them where the trail crosses the road at 5th Line, then we ran the south side of the loop together.

I was prepared for a nice, manageable run. They would already have 14 tough kilometres under their belts by the time I joined them. Furthermore, they are both injured. Mrs. Gally fell off her bike and tore her rotator cuff on Friday night; Dee had to cut a recent run short due to knee pain.

Well, I should have known better. Dee was on fire, running up every hill. Yes, this is the same Coach Dee who advises us ultrarunners to walk up hills. Mrs. Gally worked hard to stay on her heels and I ran more hills than usual but a gap still opened up whenever we got to good running terrain.

Near the top of the ski hill, we had the opportunity for a helicopter evacuation but chose to carry on. Dee was restless when I took this photo, and it was only then that she admitted to a time goal for the loop. Uh oh!



When the trail finally turned onto 2nd Line with a huge gravel downhill and medium uphill to the parking lot 1.4 km away, Dee turned on the jet engines. Mrs. G sprinted with her, swinging her good arm hard and keeping her injured arm snuggled tight to her body. It was impressive to see two determined athletes refusing to give in!

Post-run recovery lunch at the Black Birch was as good as last time. Mr. Logie arrived with Little Logie, who spent the entire time smiling and bouncing around - until I tried to take his photo. He's still a cutie even when he's not pleased.

As Crash gets ready to ride across the U.S. from north to south on her way from Canada to Mexico, another friend is preparing to cross the U.S. from west to east. Jason "Hammer" Lane is in California doing some last minute fine tuning before the Race Across America (RAAM) starts next Wednesday. He's aiming for the rookie win. Here's his latest blog entry:
http://www.teamhammerfest.com/1/post/2012/06/ocean...

Facebook users can "like" his page to get updates.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Hammerfest-RAAM...

Ran around Palgrave West with a long break at Crash's place. We reviewed one of the latest re-routes for the Tour Divide and figured out where it should go on the map. It adds a few more kilometres but when you're already riding 4,500 km, what's another half hour? She heads out tomorrow morning and starts riding on Friday - from Banff to the Mexican border. So excited for her!