Training Log Archive: Bash

Rainy weekend in Algonquin Park including heavy rain through the night. This was the view through our windshield on our way to the Track and Tower Trail.



'Bent was brave to run with BazingaDog in such wet conditions - especially on a trail with so many slippery wooden bridges, boardwalks and staircases.



We hiked this trail a year ago because my heel pain (retrocalcaneal bursitis) had just been officially declared an injury and I wasn't allowed to run. The weather was exactly the same then so we will be curious to see this trail in sunshine some day. I was super cautious on the slippery roots and muddy slopes; conditions were perfect for an ankle injury.







Although it's hard to see it through the fog, the Track and Tower lookout is one of the nicest views I've seen in the park.







We took a different "drowned rat" selfie this year to go along with the one we got last year.



One nice thing about all the rain this weekend was that the creeks were flowing high; they looked amazing.



I'd like to say that the Group of Seven painted this spot because it looks like they should have. Maybe GHOSLO can find a painting to match!

Time includes photo and dog swim breaks. GPS data adjusted due to silly user error. Here's last year's report with full track. http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/per...

The rain stopped on the way home. We visited my brother's antique store in Gravenhurst, the Gypsy Market Mews, then dropped by his cottage to take Mocha for another short paddle. She was just as excited as yesterday. The ever-enthusiastic BazingaDog had to wait in the car.

We're staying in a cottage in Oxtongue Lake outside Algonquin Park. We brought the dogs so the first order of the day was to tire out BazingaDog.

We've been coming up here for years but have usually stayed in the park. Today we learned for the first time about the XC ski trail network behind Algonquin Outfitters in Oxtongue Lake. There is also a surprisingly nice hiking trail - the Beetle Lake Loop. It's hilly but I forgot my Ambit today so will have to wait for 'Bent to download his Garmin to get the elevation gain. The time includes photo stops, dog breaks, etc.







We weren't sure if it was hunting season so we wore our bright please-don't-shoot-me shirts. We heard shotguns in this area later so it must be the season for something up here.



Yes, BazingaDog's tongue is almost as large as his head.



It felt good to be running again. I'm sure I haven't recovered from UTMB yet but I'm getting there.

This is our annual anniversary trip, two weeks after the date. So after lunch at Arowhon Pines, where we had our wedding reception, we went to Joe Lake, where we were married on a canoe campsite.

We've never brought the dogs on our anniversary trip before but we hated to leave Mocha when she doesn't have much time left. One of our priorities was to take her canoeing. She and Tobler used to canoe with us but BazingaDog can't be trusted in a canoe so it had been more than 3 years since Mocha had gone paddling.

She was visibly excited to get in the boat and happily sniffed new smells as we went north up Oxtongue Lake. I'm so glad we were able to take her out. If the rain stops (she doesn't enjoy it), we'll take her out for another paddle tomorrow.







Our run this morning took us to the top of this cliff.



Many of you are familiar with Mr. and Mrs. GHOSLO's hobby of searching for Group of Seven painting locations. I had no idea it was so easy. ;) This sign was on the lakeshore.



GHOSLO's photo would have been better though.



Today was a big day up here for Group of Seven fans. There was an Arts Festival in Oxtongue Lake that featured the granddaughter of A.J. Casson unveiling a plaque. A local man has located a bunch of Group of Seven painting sites in the immediate area, and there were hiking and boat tours to some of the sites after the ceremony.

Off to Brantford to help my parents.

Last week Calgary's Nicki Rehn finished an amazing 7th female in the 330 km Tor des Geants - an Italian mountain ultra race that is based in Courmayeur and overlaps a small portion of the UTMB course. When I read her excellent report, it reminded me of why I've loved UTMB so much. I suspect for some other people, the report will further convince them that they *never* want to do such a thing!
http://nickirehn.blogspot.ca/2014/09/tor-des-geant...

Nice lunch with Dee followed by a torture session with Thumbs-of-Death where I really struggled to make friendly conversation instead of screaming and making a break for it. He doesn't think I need shoulder surgery but I should expect a lot of time, physio and pain before it's fixed. On the bright side, for once I don't have any injury bothering me *more* than my shoulder so I can finally focus on it.

After 4+ hours of mountain biking in the past two days, my shoulder is aching enough to banish any hope of spending the autumn paddling and riding. I've made an appointment with Thumbs-of-Death tomorrow to get started on fixing that. A slightly torn rotator cuff has been bugging me a little over the past 3.5 years but apparently I did something horrible to it on the way to France.

So... I guess I'll be running. This was my first run since UTMB (not counting Bob & Hermes' pre-wedding adventure run). Over the past 10 days, my musculoskeletal system has felt strong and my cardio has been pretty good - for low intensity activity, anyway. But I get fatigued more easily than usual, I sometimes feel tired in the middle of the day, and I'm sleeping much better than I normally do. (Perhaps this isn't all bad.) It's not a serious issue but I notice the difference.

We've been home almost two weeks so I don't think jet lag is a factor anymore. I guess it's whatever happens to my body after 32 hours of pushing non-stop on mountain trails. Hormones, immune system, inflammation - whatever. One of my Ironman friends told me that she used to take a day off racing for every kilometer she raced in a triathlon. Wow! Adventure athletes tend to underestimate their recovery needs but I think that's going a little overboard.

Today's run felt fine. I was just plodding along and would not have been able to speed up if a bear were chasing me but it didn't feel bad at all. Not even a hint of the tenosynovitis in my right foot so maybe it was just a short term thing post-race. Nice to dodge the occasional bullet!

Because I've been working on next month's MTBO map at Albion Hills, I got thinking about the last pure MTBO event in southern Ontario in May 2009. It was hosted by the Caledon Navigators and I was the race director.

I looked up the results and now I'm issuing a challenge! Six Attackpointers made the podium. They competed in Open Men, Open Women and Masters Men.

Hints: Attackpointers swept the Open Women podium. The top two Open Men blew away the rest of the field. The 3rd Open Man is frequently mentioned on AP and has raced with APers but has never logged here. Might as well try to guess him too.

No looking at the results. Who were these 7 talented MTBO-ers in 2009?

When the worst thing that happens to you all weekend is a software glitch that forces you to do the same mountain bike ride twice, there's not much to complain about. Luckily, my commitment for today got postponed so I was able to sneak out and re-do the portion of yesterday's ride that I needed to GPS for Mick. Making a map involves some hike-a-biking and backtracking so the average speed is sloooow. No one else was on the trails today.