Training Log Archive: Bash

I needed a "do nothing" day. My body has bounced back pretty well from 80K last week but there's no point being stupid about it.

Speaking of stupid, I'm tentatively planning a double Hockley Loop on Saturday. If anyone is interested in a loop (or two), maybe we can figure something out. This offer is limited to the small subset of people who run more slowly than I do - because *I* will be running more slowly than I do!

Here's a little inspiration to kick off the week: Adam Campbell of the Salomon Canada Flight Crew hard at work.



Perhaps an inspirational quote might help too.

Event: Elora Cup
 

Fun mass start sprint at Elora Gorge Conservation Area with butterfly loops, a handicap box and a map exchange. We saw lots of people - often more than once - since there were lots of controls and different versions of the course due to forking and different age/gender categories.

I don't think I talked to anyone who didn't screw something up, e.g. I failed to notice the start of one of the handicap boxes even though Ralph met me at the control and said, "Box" helpfully. As I ran toward the wrong control, it suddenly occurred to me what he meant!

FunRun threatened to take me down in a sprint finish but failed. Sad, really. ;)

After everyone was back from the sprint, we headed out again to do a middle distance course in a chase format. Andrei L had a big lead from the sprint, which he managed to keep.

Female racers were permitted to drop any control of their choice from the point-to-point course. Right after I picked up #1, I took a short walk break to figure that out. If I were the designer, I'd put the best control to drop early in the course before people might be thinking about that yet. The best option looked like #6. (There were 22 controls to choose from!)

There was a small loop of controls in a bit of a messy area on the east side of the map. I screwed up and stumbled onto #15 when I was looking for #13. Because of the different courses, there were people around me who were actually going to that control, which didn't help - oops! :) I lost a few minutes in that section but the only real crisis was the huge patch of poison ivy around our #14. Rats, now I have to do a full decontamination of shoes, tights and socks.

With the different courses and control dropping, we kept meeting the same people. Griz complained that he had to pass me 4 times, and I saw FunRun a few times too. We played at being fierce rivals whenever we saw one another but the speedy lad eventually shot to the finish line almost 7 minutes ahead of me. I guess it *may* have taken a little longer if he hadn't forgotten a control. ;)

Great fun - I punched over 40 controls in an hour. It was a "you snooze, you lose" kind of day - and I *did* lose by 3 minutes to AdventureGirl! in the women's category with Marianna 10 seconds behind her in 2nd.

Thanks, Nick, Ilona, Laura and everyone else from the Stars for working to put this together for us!

The Orienteering Ontario AGM followed. The attendance was the lowest of any AGM I've been at, but the mood and discussions were positive. I'm a director on the board for one more year. Two positions remain open.

I joined 'Bent for part of his long run along the Humber Valley Trail today. He was supposed to do some hills in the middle where he could use his poles so I brought mine too.

The good news: Running felt great, mechanically. It is, of course, impossible to have recovered from running 80K six days ago but I couldn't have hoped for any better than this. I tried to run in such a way that I wouldn't make my tibialis anterior (shin muscle) sore again. Success - not even a twinge! However, my shin didn't hurt yet after 2.5 hours last weekend so it's too soon to celebrate. I was super wimpy and walked up most slopes today which also made it easier on my body.

The bad news: Including the Humidex, I think it was supposed to feel like 35C in the hottest part of the day, which is when we were out. This was a hell of a long run to do for our first really hot, humid run of the spring. There were a few times when my heart rate went through the roof and I felt light headed and had to stop. I couldn't believe how slow our progress was, and this was not good since I had arranged to meet Osteo at Albion Hills at 3 p.m. I ended up having to leave the trail and push the last 2K on roads to get back to my car and race over there. We met at the entrance gate - phew!

Osteo had very kindly offered to do an assessment of my chronic gimpy foot while he was in the neighbourhood. It turns out I have an ill-behaved tibia and navicular bone. At least I *used* to but after some work in the Albion Hills parking lot, I am apparently fixed - at least for now! My gimpy foot feels more mobile than it has in ages. Now my good foot feels like the bad one. He gave me some homework assignments to keep things working better. Thank you soooo much, Osteo! :)))



[Distance increased by 0.6 km to match trail map.]

Awesome jazz vocal concert tonight by our friend and neighbour Andie Trepanier, daughter of artist Cory Trepanier who did ESAR with me a few years ago to get himself fit for a painting trip to the Arctic. Andie is only 18 and is preparing to study jazz in the fall but she is already a very polished performer. I think she's going to do well!
http://andiejazz.com

Got home to our 3rd big power outage in 16 days! Blah. Winter power outages are easy but not hot weather ones. No running water, no snow to melt and we could lose our fridge contents if we're not home when it happens. We'll have to get up every 4 hours in the night to start the generator if it's not fixed soon.

Easy ride around Palgrave West. I was thinking this might be the last ride before the single track becomes less fun due to poison ivy but as it turns out, I'm already too late for that. In two places, I started down a trail, then changed my mind because I just didn't feel like dealing with it. I've already had my first ivy rash of the year - probably from one of the dogs brushing against my leg.

Some folks may remember the Monster Bridge over the tiny creek in Palgrave West. Here's the photo. You can see the pair of 2X8s we used to cross the creek before. The new bridge had huge steel beams and four steps to get onto it. Now they have removed the steps and are creating long ramps on each side. They won't be able to take regular vehicles across but smaller equipment could use the bridge when this is done. I guess that's their plan.



They are continuing to look out for our safety in other ways, which is touching.



(Used the bike computer distance - 800 m longer.)

Registration closes at midnight for the Stars Elora Cup this Saturday morning. Two races at one event - a Sprint and a Middle Distance. Two categories - Advanced and Open. Then stick around and enjoy the beautiful Elora Gorge since the conservation area entry fee is included with the race. Maybe even keep me company and share your ideas for the sport at the Orienteering Ontario Annual General Meeting from 1-3 p.m. with light lunch provided.

Calvin, all grown up, by artist Craig Mahoney. Awww... :)

Slate article on Ultrarunning and Scott Jurek

Researchers have studied the nutritional needs and mental toughness of ultrarunners and found that they have a strong psyche that’s balanced by euphoria. For them, euphoria trumps pain. They regard 100- or 150-mile challenges as a great thrill, whereas regular athletes like me would think of such a run as the most miserable thing ever. Brain chemistry may help explain the difference between my pain scale and Jurek’s.

History was made 60 years ago today. 'Bent and I had the pleasure of meeting the fellow on the right a little later in his life - a very classy gentleman.

The Style of the Elite Ultra Runner Girl
http://networkedblogs.com/LCUS7

Glad that people at my level don't have to worry about having a "style"! ;)

Is it bad that I'm kinda disappointed there haven't been any updates in the Rob Ford saga since this morning? Sure, I could go read the latest on Harper and Duffy instead but the Senate scandal doesn't make as good a movie plot.

BazingaDog and I went out for an easy run in the misty rain. Everything is so green and lush right now that it sometimes felt like we were in a B.C. rainforest. I'll bet they don't have as much poison ivy out there though.

I felt good, and nothing hurt but I could tell that some muscles were still fatigued. I tried to identify which running motions contributed to the sore shin muscle and which ones alleviated it. I was also thinking about Carbon's comments about using ankles to lift the feet instead of toes, as well as the need to relax the foot behind the body.

Things that felt good (some of which I had tried at Sulphur to ease the pain):

- Pressing my toes down into the ground. I have a tendency to lift my toes up, which engages the shin.

- Stretching the shin when my back leg comes off the ground. In the race, I pointed my left toe like a ballerina at that point in my stride, and that felt good. This is where relaxing the back foot comes into play but while the shin is still tight, it feels better to do more than that.

- Thinking about keeping my strides symmetrical. Because my gimpy left ankle has less strength, I compensate by pushing up more with my toes but I don't come as high off the ground. I think this translates into a painful right hip flexor, which I also had during the race - but it wasn't a worry because I've had it before.

Carbon has sent me some excellent resources on running form and drills, along with all the great info she and Carbon's Offset put on their AP logs. I have my work cut out for me. I may also go and get a video analysis to see what a professional would notice.

Google Street View goes to the Galapagos Islands. This is gonna be fun! :)