Training Log Archive: danfoster

Mild temps and light winds lured eight of us out to go sea kayaking on the north shore. Paddled across Gloucester harbor and then played our way down along the rocky coast to Magnolia for lunch. There was just enough energy in the waves to keep the rock gardens interesting, and nobody really wanted to push the envelope, given the water temps. Caught some rougher water and clapotis rounding the headlands.

Thought that paddling would be a good rest for my right knee, which has been bothering me for the last few weeks. That was wrong! I was in some serious pain after two hours in the boat on the way to lunch, and again on the final mile back to the car.

AMC winter backpacking trip to High Cabin near the summit of Mt. Cardigan. Temps around zero overnight, with a cold west wind this morning. Things were a little touch-and-go when we struggled to get the new wood stove in the cabin burning cleanly, but eventually we warmed things up inside. Calories consumed greatly outnumbered the calories burned, even with some bushwhacking through deep powder on the hike out.

Mountain biking at Landlocked Forest with Janet and Steph. The first meeting of our 2020 MSAR team. Soft snow made for some slippery climbs. Brought along the map board and had my hands full trying to keep up with all of the twisty turns - luckily there were ID numbers on about half of the trail junctions.

Strong Machine Dev Squad hike with Nick on a bluebird day at Pawtuckaway. Views to Boston from the North and South summits. Talked about AR training and race prep, and pulled out the topo a few times to double-check our location.

Woods are still holding just enough moisture and ice, and there's more sloppy stuff on the way tonight. So, I set out on what actually might be my first ever self-initiated solo ride on pavement, at least since "the Huffy encounter" (with a car windshield) back in high school. It was actually quite pleasant, I discovered that there are all sorts of back roads with all sorts of apple orchards that I didn't know about right up the road, and no windshields were harmed on the ride.

Another dreary day, with 40 degree fog and morning drizzle. Went for a dog-assisted trail run. Trails were a mix of wet ground and wet ice. Jess seems to be getting the idea and pulled hard through the pond-side singletrack. Took some breaks when we hit the icy sections, and later after a red squirrel dashed across right in front of us. Jess did a good job of leaving it after my frantic "whoa, wait, no, stop!"

Lead an AMC group up Mt Moosilauke. We rescheduled to today due to yesterday's -36 degree windchill. We certainly got the better conditions - cold, calm, and blue skies on the way up, a packed trail with enough loose snow for easy snowshoeing, great visibility from the summit, and enough wind to give a true alpine experience. The group butt-sledded our way down in record time. I've never seen sledding conditions quite like that. We probably did 1000 vertical feet of sledding on the descent. I had a very big grin and a very soggy bottom for the ride home.

First fatbiking in a week or two, since there hasn't been any snow. Unfortunately the snow was quickly followed by rain, and everything is icy ruts and frozen footprints. Trails will be lousy until this completely melts, or gets buried under something better.

Skipped my pre-ride check and ended up having to immediately go back to the house with a half-flat rear tire.

Overnight rain left the trails muddy, so Jess and I ventured out on foot to try this whole "running" fad that seems to have gained so much traction in the last 100 years. After some initial confusion getting me strapped into the canicross/skijoring harness, we headed out to the trails.

Jess seemed a bit confused by this whole "faster than a walk, slower than a bike run" jogging pace, and alternated between a fast walk that kept the line loose and a "squirrel" run, that had me gasping for breath and hoping each footfall would find solid ground. Strangely enough, the tighter the trails, the faster she wants to go (both on bike and on foot). I'm beginning to realize she doesn't run for the joy of running (despite her husky DNA) but rather runs in hopes of surprising a squirrel around the next corner.

Got lots of compliments on my "ugly Christmas sweater, holiday dog edition" jersey, and someone in the parking lot actually asked us if we were training for ski joring. I think we're still a long way off from tackling this nonsense on skis, especially given this dry winter.

Made some changes to our setup to get some extra length on the leash, and headed out for a second day of practice. Jess really took off once we hit the first mile of singletrack, and it was quite a thrill ride! We had one disagreement about which side of a small tree we should take (I was in favor of the side that had the trail on it). Got ambushed by some squirrels right before the mud crossing, and I let Jess run free for the north loop to revel in the distractions.

Hooked back up again on the return, which was at a much more moderate pace. As it was yesterday, convincing her to head for the exit and home was the hardest part of all.

Exploring some more new trails in the state forest. Met a friendly lab, who left his owner to head my way, and then nearly got hit by a car on the only road crossing on the entire ride.

Read an article in the Boston Globe a week or two ago about the rise in dog-powered sports like bike joring, skijoring, and canicross. Since Jess' DNA test claims she's 1/8th Husky (yeah, right) and she already pulls me down the street by the leash whenever we go biking, I figured that land-based dog-sledding would be right up our alley. (Plus, I might enjoy trail running more if I had a puppy-power assist)

All the gear showed up today, and within an hour I had the bike antenna hooked onto the stem, and we harnessed up and headed off to Delaney. Jess seemed fine with things on the access road in, so we ground our way up the hill and into the woods. It's definitely a challenge riding singletrack while tethered to a running dog just a few feet in front of the wheel, trying to modulate the brakes to keep the leash taut while following her line. We made it through, walked the icy stream crossing, and then took a shortcut back, skipping the harder stuff on the north side.

We ran into Jess' good friend Millie four different times on the way back, so the leash came off and the two of them romped around and much begging ensued.

All in all, a good first time out!