Training Log Archive: Bash

O Cup #5, UKR
Scanlon Creek, Bradford
Extreme Winter Edition!

Fast, fun nav race up, down and around Scanlon Creek with a small but dedicated crowd, including five enthusiastic young Cadets training through the winter for the championships next fall.

Mick was confident enough to skip this race, assuming correctly that he could retain his lead in the O Cup Series. However, he'd better watch his back because Andre Logvin won today and added 12 points to his total! Actually, no one can beat Mick now but Noah Michelson could tie him with a win in O Cup #6 - unless Mick is in 2nd or 3rd.

Once again, I was 2nd woman after new O Cup racer Yoko Bamba, formerly the top female orienteer in Japan. It is amazing to see the way she moves through the forest. We need AdventureGirl! back ASAP to give Yoko a real race!

Many thanks to Eugene, Raymond and Igor for managing an O Cup race on the coldest weekend in years, and for standing in the chill until everyone got out of the woods.

I went to Timmy's afterward with DD11, Wilberto and Jan. Rolled up the rim. Didn't win.

'Bent skipped orienteering with me on Valentine's Day and took AdventureDog on a hike with his new girlfriend Sadie (Crash's latest dog) plus Crash and her other dog Skye. So this afternoon we went for a family ski around Palgrave West with BazingaDog. It was his first time skijoring this year and it was scary to see the speed. The weather felt positively balmy at -15C with still air.

Oracle Trail Race - 25K snowy run

The weather forecast was accurate with temperatures hovering around -25C to -23C with estimates of -40C with wind chill. We all knew this several days ahead of time so it seemed that most people were dressed properly. 'Bent and I didn't have any significant issues with the cold. My goggles iced up frequently in the first half of the race, my Thermos froze solid (nothing like racing with a brick for no reason), and my hands got too sweaty with the hand warmers in my gloves. But when the weather is this cold, you expect stuff like that to happen.

One thing I didn't expect was that when I started at 9:30 sharp on my GPS - the scheduled race start - the other runners had already been gone for 2-3 minutes. It was my fault - I cut it too close but I *was* on the start line on time. I had no idea what the course markings looked like so I had to ask volunteers, "Um, which way did everybody go?" Smooth, real smooth. :( After a couple of kms, I started catching people - about 10 runners, then I ran alone most of the race.

I don't like to be overly critical of a first-time event. There are always a few hiccups, and the organizers had no way of knowing the weather would be so extreme. To ensure safety in these conditions, the course markings would need to be exceptionally clear, all volunteers would need to understand the different race courses, and aid stations would need to be equipped with cups and warm (or at least unfrozen) drinks. Or they could ask us to carry cups, which I almost did and regret not doing. Volunteers would need a bombproof method of communication since most runners' phones probably died like ours did.

When it comes to course markings, I understand the arguments against using occasional arrows but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. I doubt any two 25K racers ran the same course today. Some people realized this but some people didn't. I stopped for a chat with Browner and Kathie, who were fully aware they'd been steered the wrong way so they were just going to have a fun run instead. (Story at 11!) But Browner is a smart navigator and a race organizer herself. It looks like some runners ran 4-5 km less than others, probably because so many people were within sight of one another and didn't always look for the ribbons since they assumed they must be on course, and the ribbons took some effort to follow.

Near the 2nd aid station, I was surprised to be caught by one of the first guys I'd passed in the early kilometres. Wow, had he really picked it up that much? He commented that this was the first aid station on the course and he'd expected one earlier. I said, "Yup, there *was* one earlier." While some runners inadvertently took shortcuts, there were a few good runners who passed me late enough in the race that they must have run extra distance in the wrong direction, then returned to the point where they left the correct route to finish legally. Bit of a gong show.

Toward the end, I saw a large group of runners ahead of me who stayed on the fire road and skipped marked single track sections. They weren't cheating; the ribbons were really easy to miss.

When I was 1 km from the finish, I turned onto a trail and saw a group coming toward me, along with a volunteer on a fat bike with a fluorescent yellow vest. As an adventure racer, I was comfortable that they were wrong. We had a brief chat, then I carried on. Then I heard them all yelling and the volunteer biker was waving. "No! We tried going that way! It takes you up a hill away from the finish line back into the forest. That's the route you took at the start of the race! You need to follow the biker!" I was grumbly because until that point, I was pretty sure I'd run the correct flagged route (plus 150 m extra when I briefly went the wrong way at a fork). Sure enough, now that I see 'Bent's GPS track, I was right and the group was wrong. In following them, I saved 150 m of running (making up for my earlier error) but wasted time in discussion. Ugh, you'd think I wouldn't be sucked in after so many years of AR and orienteering. But trail runners aren't usually navigators, and I know they meant well and sincerely thought they were saving me from disaster.

Aside from the fact that the event didn't work out as a "race", it was a beautiful trail run in the sunshine in spite of the chill. Although it didn't go smoothly this time, a winter trail race was a creative idea that could work better in a future year and on a warmer day. The volunteers were rock stars to be out there in this weather. They helped as much as they possibly could, cheered hard, baked cookies (some of them) and had big smiles even though it must have been hard to stay warm without running. Thank you!! I used Kahtoolas and probably would have been OK with just Snowcross. No traction issues at all. The hills were mostly gentle and the scenery was interesting and beautiful. However, given the confusion, it would have been more fun if 'Bent and I had just gone to Durham for a run with Simpy and Goose.

Congrats to 'Bent who had a great run of the correct course but unfortunately ran some extra distance due to sparse course markings and a volunteer who sent him on a 5-minute wrong turn. In a well-marked race, it looks like he could have been on the overall podium.

The forecast says that at the start of tomorrow's Oracle 25K trail race, it will feel like -38C including wind chill. (In Murkin, this is -36F.) I don't usually worry much about cold weather but I'm going to be out there sweating for 3.5 hours so it is probably time for extreme measures: XC ski goggles, neoprene socks, hand warmers, fleecy Buff, thick long johns, etc. Should be interesting!

Hard Core Live with Caron - a tough one.

Class. My right arm is pretty sore after the tough poling this afternoon. Hope I didn't injure it in some dumb way.

Late afternoon ski at Hockleycrest. There was just enough snow for skiing in most places but my pole tips bounced or slid off the rock hard ice beneath the snow. That made it really awkward on steep, narrow climbs!

It's almost heartbreaking to see how much work the volunteer trail manager has put into the ski network, only to be rewarded with the paltry winter of 2016. On the bright side, he has headed north for an XC ski vacation this week. There were a few tree limbs down on the trails from the wind and I cleaned up the ones that were partway down hills. It was slow going but nice anyway.

AdventureDog and I went for a midweek long-ish trail run at Glen Haffy. It's snowier there even though it's only 5 minutes away. Big fluffy flakes were coming down for awhile.

I figured the conditions would be similar to Saturday's Oracle Race - fresh snow on top of glare ice or frozen ground - and I wanted to check that Kahtoola MicroSpikes felt OK. There was 10-12 cm of fresh powder so I probably would have been fine with Snowcross but I know there's some skating rink ice under the snow, and it was nice not to have to think about it. The main risks were tree roots and rocks, which were invisible under the light layer of snow but just as risky as usual.

We decided to explore a couple of the nature trails but the coloured arrows petered out and we had to bushwhack for a bit.

I ran the first 6K, then decided to walk part of a steep uphill. AdventureDog came back and barked at me until I started running. Jerk!

Nice day in the woods.

It's a winter wonderland! We got about 7 cm of snow overnight in open areas and it remains stuck to every tree branch, fence post and rock. It looks like a Currier & Ives Christmas card.

Unfortunately, the ski conditions only rated a 2 out of 10 - although at least I was skiing, which made it good regardless. In the woods, we only got a few cms of snow on bare ground in some places. With all the TRCA's work to take down ash trees, there is a lot of woody debris so I had to bushwhack, ski over branches and steer around random logs. But it was beautiful and quiet, and I got to ski in coyote tracks for a long distance. Nice.

Physio and running-specific injury prevention exercises. AdventureDog was a great help whenever I had to lie down on the mat.