Training Log Archive: Bash

Thanks to my engineering class reunion last night, a pile of Wilderness Traverse work, and a BazingaDog chase around the yard with a headlamp at 5:30 a.m., I felt blah this morning. But it was a gorgeous day and I wanted to breathe cool air in the forest so I took my bike for a quick tour of Palgrave East single track.

So glad I did! For the first time in weeks, I felt like pushing hard. I rode about as fast as I ever have through the twisty, rooty single track and it was a blast! These trails aren't maintained frequently so I had to be alert for damage from Friday's storm - the one that passed through here and eventually caused tornadoes around Ottawa. This was on our neighbour's trail; I didn't run into any trees across the public trails.

A few of my besties from engineering school at the University of Waterloo. We had 22 classmates and 13 partners at our reunion; that's about a third of our classmates who are still alive. Big thanks to 'Bent for his support and for staying up well past his usual bedtime!

Final planning for tomorrow's university class reunion mixed with Wilderness Traverse preparation made for a long day!

Speaking of long days, Jamieson Hatt spent 20 hours on the Bruce Trail today. He's in Dundas tonight at the end of Day 11. Just 136 km left to Queenston! I'd guess he'll get there on Sunday afternoon.

Jamieson was so grateful for company and conversation on the Bruce Trail yesterday that I decided to go find him in west Caledon. I need some time on my feet and I might as well help someone out. The only problem is, he is unique among Bruce Trail through-runners in his preference for being on the trail from 3 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Yikes! But I would do that for a race so why not?

At 5:45 a.m., I arrived at the corner of McLaren Rd. and Puckering Lane near Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. If I could park there, it would be possible to run back by a more direct route after spending a few hours with Jamieson. I wasn't totally surprised to find "No Parking" signs around the intersection but I *was* surprised at how far they extended. With the narrow shoulders, I could see why. I turned around a couple of times looking for options and I finally ended up 0.6 km downhill in an offroad parking spot with no signs in sight but I still wasn't 100% sure it was legit.

I checked his GPS tracker on my phone. While I'd been faffing about, Jamieson had crossed McLaren Rd., climbed the big Puckering Lane hill and turned onto the single track. He was about 1.8 km ahead of me. I don't like to run alone in the dark, especially that far from home, but after getting up at 4:45 a.m., I wasn't going to let him get away! It took me a 3.2 km push with a lot of climbing to catch him.

We came down through Forks of the Credit and up to Devil's Pulpit.



We went over to The Grange where his parents had set up an aid station. From there, we passed to the west of Inglewood.



We were excited to see the new Bruce Trail blazes taking us into the Cheltenham Badlands area, which has been closed for a few years.



The main Bruce Trail doesn't have a view of the Badlands but there is a short Badlands Side Trail. Jamieson didn't need any extra distance but on my way back, I took the detour.



Jan Hannah waved from the IFAW van as we headed up Olde Baseline Rd. I continued to the corner of Mississauga Rd. and Boston Mills Rd. west of Spirit Tree Cidery. At that point, it would take me about 10 km to run back to my car by the shortest route so I turned back.





But I knew exactly what Jamieson needed as he headed toward Georgetown: Mrs. Gally! I texted her and she went there straight from work. I haven't heard any updates yet - just that she found him and her phone was dying. I'm sure she gave him all the motivation and conversation he could handle, and that's exactly what he needed. Thank you, Mrs. G!

His tracker link is here in case anyone else has the time to hang out with Jamieson on the trail. Now that he's in more populated areas, I hope he'll have company most of the time. Hope to see photos of him in Queenston in a few days!
https://share.garmin.com/JamiesonHatt

I'm logging this all as a run today although Jamieson is just hiking briskly because of his sore foot. I probably ran about 40% of the distance.

My entire GPS track is shown here but the time logged for this session is just for my run up to Hwy 9.

Jamieson Hatt from the Windsor area is doing a through-run of the Bruce Trail. He'd originally hoped it would be an FKT but he is now just aiming for a finish. He is being supported by his Mom and Dad, who are pulling a rented camper trailer that has had a few issues.

The Ontario trail running community embraces Bruce Trail through-runners - typically one per year. The current male and female FKT holders have spent hours on the trail with Jamieson. A stranger (to them, not to me) showed up one day, took their laundry home and returned with clean clothes. People have appeared with vegan food for Jamieson. People have offered to drive up with parts for the camper. He and his family have been blown away by the support.

I went Jamieson hunting this afternoon. I parked at Coolihan's Sideroad and ran the Bruce Trail to Hwy 9. No sign of Jamieson. I refreshed his tracker, which had been near the highway twenty minutes earlier. Hmm. Then he appeared and we introduced ourselves. Turns out he'd taken a 15 minute nap because he was zoning out. He said it really helps to have company and conversation to help the time go by and to distract him from some foot pain. He's in great spirits for someone who has gone 600+ km in the past 9 days. At this point, he's hiking briskly at about 5 kph. He has placed 2nd at the Haliburton and Sulphur Springs 100 milers so he is a strong ultrarunner.









We had a nice chat, then at Coolihan's, I handed him over to his parents and his next pacer: the current male FKT holder, Adam Burnett.



He'll be heading into the Georgetown/Milton/Hamilton area over the next couple of days. If anyone has a chance to get out to spend a little time with him, he really appreciates it and he's a very nice guy. He tends to start before sunrise and stop around dinnertime or early evening. You can find his location here.
https://share.garmin.com/JamiesonHatt

This was the hike back from Hwy 9 to Coolihan's Sideroad with Jamieson.

I wanted to do some strength work but it was such a beautiful day that I didn't want to be inside. Luckily, I figured out a way to have it both ways. I followed one of Caron's online workouts with lots of lunges and squats, then added some foothab at the end.

Happy 25th anniversary to my brothers, Dave Campbell and Tim Webb! They threw an awesome party, and their talented theatre friends provided great entertainment at the open mic. At one point, we were chatting with Veronica about ballet when it dawned on me: she is *that* Veronica. Weird to be somewhere without any adventure racers in the crowd but they were all very friendly to us anyway. :)