Training Log Archive: Bash

'Bent was planning to do the virtual Canadian Ski Marathon later this week or next weekend with two other skiers but there is a thaw with rain forecast for the middle of the week. He and Stephen made a last-minute plan to start their CSM tomorrow so today was a flurry of preparations. They'll ski 60 km/day for two days, sleeping outdoors at their Gold Camp by the fire pit in our back yard at Kolapore. They have to carry all their sleeping gear, dinner, breakfast, extra clothing, etc. Yes, there is an Extreme Cold Warning. No, he wouldn't have joined me for the Kolapore Big Loop yesterday if he'd known he would start the CSM so soon.

I snuck out for a shorter ski this afternoon - a loop in the southwest of Kolapore. Conditions were fast and I included a few tempo intervals that earned 4 Strava crowns. Don't judge, lol. In a season with almost no racing, any motivation to push harder is helpful.



I ran into Bruce and Val again.

Kolapore Big Loop Counterclockwise with 'Bent, who wore a big pack with his overnight gear to train for the virtual Canadian Ski Marathon. We skied several trail segments for the first time this year. There were flurries overnight and this morning, which freshened up the tracks nicely. Beneath the new snow, the untracked powder had a thin crust from yesterday's drizzle. We both wore wider, slower skis because we'd expected more challenging conditions. We didn't see another soul on the trails for more than 2 hours on a Saturday.
(Time deducted for longer stops. Elapsed: 3:26.)

To be honest, AdventureDog whined about this too - and he only went there to comply with a mandate.

Trail work on snowshoes with 'Bent and the pooches behind our place at Kolapore. After some testing last weekend and checking GPS tracks to ensure that we stayed on our property, we pruned and flagged the Green Trail. It will take snowshoers to the southwest corner of our property without walking on our ski tracks. Fingers crossed it works! It's a more rugged route than our main trail. Unfortunately, in summer it will pass through a big patch of poison ivy.

As a break from that, we took the dogs for a hike through deep snow to a short stretch of the Bruce Trail, then made our way back via a different route so we could do a second pass of clearing/flagging the new trail.

'Bent and I snowshoed to our neighbours' place to see their set-up for Xplornet Internet. We've tried two types of rural Internet up here so far, and we're still looking for a solution that can stream video without freezing and doesn't cost hundreds of dollars a month.

Since all the fast runners are doing Tom Merrick's Bodyweight Warrior workouts now, I tried a short flexibility routine. Pretty good!

Just the most important physio exercises.

Our vaccine clinic was almost empty today - 72 appointments in 7 hours for 8 immunizers. Next week they're shrinking the clinic to half its current size. It makes sense. There are no line-ups anymore and the community centre's two hockey rinks are busy; we've been in their way. The clinic will only need one volunteer per shift so I doubt I'll go every week anymore.

Just under 50% of the kids aged 5-11 in Peel Region got a shot; the rate is higher in wealthier postal codes with more education. About 45% of eligible people have boosters. I don't think many more are coming.

Although the science supports it, I don't think Ontario will change its definition of "fully vaccinated" to 3 shots in an election year so the clinic won't get busy any time soon. I think it's more likely that most vaccine mandates in Ontario will end in the next couple of months.

There may be an Omicron-specific vaccine in the spring/summer, which would mostly attract the boosted population and vaccinated children. Vaccines for children under 5 will likely be approved in the coming months too, so there will be another mini-rush (literally).

Big asterisk: The virus is in the driver's seat so this could all change. If the next variant is more harmful to kids, more severe and/or more contagious, the clinic could get busier. In the meantime, I should have more time to work on my other volunteer tasks, which isn't the worst thing!