Training Log Archive: Bash

Run/hike around Pretty River while 'Bent, Tarno and Martin were running. Lots of slippery mud, leaves and ice so my Salomon SpikeCross shoes were the best gear choice of the day. Cold rain started pelting down at the highest point on the Bruce Trail so I was glad to slip-slide back down to the car.

'Bent and I finished marking the Metcalfe Rock snowshoe trail in pouring rain with wet snow underfoot. Bracing!

Protested Bill 23.

Bought Salomon skin skis, ski boots and poles at Highlands Nordic.

‘Bent, AdventureDog and I re-marked the Metcalfe Rock snowshoe loop. Coach LD and Goose helped us locate the route a month ago and we marked it with the worst flagging tape I’ve ever bought - like a blue recycling bag, stretchy and translucent. We replaced it with my favourite highly visible hot pink tape and installed the seasonal wooden signs on trees at junctions.

It’s a stretch to call this snowshoeing, given that one of my snowshoes broke in the first 10 minutes so I only wore one snowshoe. It’s not that the snow was deep but we figured the snowshoes would keep us on top of the rocks and forest floor debris.

We ran out of daylight and had to hike out by headlamp, leaving 100 m of route marking for another day. Actual elapsed time was 2+ hours.

Brisk walk on the Newmarket trails with Veinbuster, who just returned from a long trip south. Nice catch-up! Time deducted for a sad Bill 23 discussion while overlooking a beautiful wetland and bird sanctuary.

First physio visit for my Achilles in a long time. I saw improvement last fall and early winter after weeks of weighted heel raises and half a dozen shockwave treatments (the maximum they do). That turned a big pain around the back of my heel into a smaller, thumbprint-sized area of pain near the lower back of my heel. We think I’ve reached the limit of what the physio’s tools can do. There is good strength and mobility. The calcifications may be causing pain although they don’t do that for everyone.

The physio is referring me back to the sports med physician to see if he has other ideas but this could be as good as it gets. In the meantime, I should continue weighted heel lifts and add some moderate stretching.

A hike in the melting snow with BazingaDog. He was naughty today, wandering well off trail, ignoring my calls and forcing me to bushwhack through burrs to bring him back. I was secretly pleased because this means his painkillers are working so well that he's able to be mischievous again. I've missed that. :)

Treadmill run. I was surprised when my Apple Watch said my HR hit 170 in my last run so today I wore my Ambit on the other wrist for comparison. I glanced back and forth occasionally and the measurements were usually within 1-2 beats of each other. Neither device thought I hit 160 today and my average HR was lower over the same distance. I left the Ambit running for a while after I got off the treadmill to watch the HR while I did a light cooldown. It looks like it dropped appropriately.

I have no idea what my max HR is anymore so the training zones are all wrong. I could have held a conversation - maybe not a super-detailed one - at any time so I don't think I got close.

Several of Caron's 10 Minutes 2 Zen videos on YouTube.