Training Log Archive: Bash

The Force was with us tonight - great film. I'd never been in a movie theatre with recliners before. Nice!

'Bent and I went to Highlands where we met up with Goose, who was working, and Coach LD. Most of the trails are open except for Back Red and two of the Red Black Diamond side trails. Conditions are very good when you get up the escarpment and decent down below. The views to Georgian Bay were spectacular with the sunshine and tufts of snow on the trees.

Coach LD was trying to skate really slowly to go easy on her strained muscle after a hard ski before we arrived. So she stuck with me on my classic skis. I felt like Bambi with wax problems today, which was surprising in the cold weather, but it was still great to be out in wintry weather. Heidi was there with a group from Waterloo.

Family ski around Palgrave West. AdventureDog led the way while 'Bent skijored with BazingaDog. I fell behind but BazingaDog insisted on waiting for me at trail junctions. The still, white forest was magical. We could use more snow but after a warm fall, it's just so nice to be on skis.

Then we went to Caledon Hills Cycling to pick up the Japanther shoulder season mountain bike boots that 'Bent is giving me for Christmas. Crash has a pair that she wore for the Tour Divide but she wears even warmer Wolvhammer boots in mid-winter. I'm hoping these will work for me for most cold weather biking situations. When it gets colder, I can try boot covers and chemical warmers, or I can wear winter hiking boots and use flat pedals. I don't do much biking once there is snow on the ground anyway - unless the other part of my present is a fat bike. :)
http://45nrth.com/products/japanther

We replenished all our skiing calories with our holiday dinner with Goose and Coach LD.

Hockley Provincial Park loop with Browner and AdventureDog. The ground was snowy enough to make the trail soft and occasionally slippery, but there wasn't enough snow to bury the rocks and roots deep enough to forget about them. That made it a tough loop but the company was great so the time went quickly. The Ambit thinks the distance was a little longer than usual with more climb. It sure felt that way!

I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast so my snowy post-run errands included a stop at Fromage gourmet cheese shop in Orangeville, where I got a grilled blueberry balsamic Brie sandwich on walnut bread. If you're in the neighbourhood, it's worth a visit.

Snowy trail run with AdventureDog in Palgrave Forest: the first part before I accidentally turned off my Ambit.

The rest of our run - beautiful, sunny, crisp and cold! I could have skied but I didn't want to hear that scratchy sound on the bottom of my new skis again. We'll be getting more snow soon. Too bad our roof and deck contractors didn't get finished in time.

40 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of foothab

Sweat Science: Exercise trumps air pollution when it comes to health benefits vs. harm. Do what you can to minimize pollution exposure, even when you’re not exercising. A good warm-up seems to help your lungs deal with it better.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2268346/dont-let-pol...

Dr. Thumbs-of-Death hurt me again but he wasn't able to inflict nearly as much pain on my foot and calf as he could a couple of months ago when I first started treatments. So the fun is all over. I'm officially dismissed until the next injury - or until the same one acts up again.

So apparently it's OK for runners to have a Christmas "fat season".
https://www.outsideonline.com/2264906/how-olympic-...

Snow!!! Just barely enough snow to ski but we can't be fussy when December has mostly been green.

I went downstairs remembering how awful my waxless backcountry XC rock skis are - old, warped, slow. To add insult to injury, I couldn't even find them in the basement. But... what's this? A brand new pair of Fischer Country Crowns in my length. Oh, right! 'Bent bought me new skis last winter and gave away the ones I hated. I didn't get to use them much last season but I took them out today and started the preliminary work of turning them into rock skis.

Palgrave Forest was beautiful even though the snow was thin. AdventureDog led the way. We went on some trails that we've been avoiding due to poison ivy, and we did some bushwhacking too. Nice!

Mila talks about the gym.

Foothab

Ski-worthy snow is finally here! Too bad our roof and deck didn't get finished in time.