Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Active recovery waddle. Funderstorm, MsTiny and I went to explore the tropical side of the island while the long-distance ladies stayed closer to home.

Funderstorm had a plan, and found us rugged cliffs and pounding surf on quiet beaches, and lush mountain towns.









We had a great picnic lunch but we didn't find a spot for happy hour like last time.

C • Where are the all the bro's... take me next time (HA!) Gorgeous. 2

Legs are trashed. Can't walk off a curb or down a ramp.

Did some swimming, water-running and pool stretching.
We also hobbled around the finish as Funderstorm came in, then more hobbling around Tunte to see Bash come through, looking fresh and composed.

Nice authentic Tapas dinner in a nondescript bar- the real deal cooked by a nice lady who decided what we wanted as Vegetarianos.

C • The trashed Vegetariano 1

Transgrancanaria Marathon from Richard Ehrlich on Vimeo.

TransGranCanaria Maraton.
I hadn't really done any long run training, and certainly no big downhill runs, but this race sounded cool. I was hoping all the skiing would give me great poling power.

Ms Tiny and I had a 4:30 alarm, then a dodgy bus ride in the dark up the switchbacks. Cold and foggy at the start, but a little warmer when we jammed into the start corral under the hollering announcer, wearing all our layers. We were near the back of the 5-8 hr section.

Slow start as there were huge bottlenecks into narrow singletrack sections. I was about 550/950. Once we got to the high point of the island there was some technical descent where I could pass nervous descenders and the jams opened up. As we got lower the clouds lifted and I stopped to take off layers. Nice runnable descent all the way down to Tunte. My secret weapons were supposed to be my trekking poles but 1 snapped very early on.

Feeling good at the first aid station, through town and back up a long easy climb. Some good descents from the ridge, and I'd pass train after train of tenative descenders. I was able to do a lot of filming with the GoPro. I had been warned not to descend at full bomb to save my legs, but it went well down to AS2 at Ayuguares- a nice oasis with palm trees and bananas. I did some foot taping and ate 1 cube of cheese and 1 orange slice, but turned down a big plate of paella with sausage. I had moved up to 325 or so.

Another easy road ascent, a little technical descent, then a looong section of riverbed with grapefruit-sized rocks. I was able to cruise the lumpy bits while everyone else seem to be walking or shuffling, so I passed a ton more runners. I was still feeling strong, and enjoying the race.
I was hoping to see the ocean, but we just ran a flat trail then a drainage ditch, then a dead-straight sidewalk and road in to the finish, which was a bit of a let-down after the spectacular start.
The last K or two were a bit of a "keep moving or else" run, but I was able to finish well. I finished in 216 overall, 9/80 in my age group, which exceeded expectations given the starting jam, broken pole and general lack of running training. It would have been smart to start further up in the pack, but I'd been expecting a slower race.

I was instantly nauseated once I stopped, and heaved up what little was in my stomach (tiny bit of water and an S-cap I had 20k before), and had to lie down for quite a while. The ladies took good care of me, and I could get a little food and a lot of drink down later. I would call that a win!

GoPro movie to follow.

C • AHR??!! 15

Stroll around Los Palmos old town after some hairy driving in streets so narrow you have to pull in the side mirrors with some very odd lane rules. At one point we were supposed to drive facing traffic on the wrong side after some pirouettes through roundabouts with poor signage.

Interesting visit once we abandoned the car and caught a cab to old town.

Hike around Roque Nublos with the ladies (Bash, Char, Funderstorm and MsTiny.) pics on Bash's log.

It was cooler up top than back home in Canada!

Roque Nublos from Richard Ehrlich on Vimeo.

C • Roque Nublos video 4

Not really log-able but logging it just because we can.

Morning run from our villa with Char. Area looks pretty spectacular.

C • Have fun!! 3

Poor sleep as Bash woke me at 1AM with headlamp trouble. She'll have to use mine for Gran Canaria- the Glowworm needs a fix.

Our villa has a pool!

No escalators or moving sidewalks for us with our packs in airports.

Run with the hounds. Icy in spots, slush in others.

Sloppy conditions in spring weather varying from snow to slush to standing water. The dogs insisted.

Nice Hockleycrest tour.

Also hiked the hounds - fairly hard going in breakable crust.

Just a little rehab on a rest day.

Workout 2 + foot/kneehab and some core.

Ride in to work with AD. The first bit on F&M's trail was almost unrideable with crust over soft snow and I had to hike-a-bike the hills, but once I hit trails that had snowshoe or fatty traffic the riding was really nice, and we did extra singletrack. The last bit was a tough slog again but probably better than skiing on refrozen snow.

Night ride home. Again the middle was pure bliss, but the beginning and end were AR-tough slogging.

Ski in with the mighty bazingadog. Good fast conditions skiing in at -5, slow and sticky coming home in +5. The big boy met 7 other dog buddies, including an 8week old Border Collie who could be Adventuredog's mini-me.
Looks like fatbiking is the way to go right now.

Came home to a shock- table set, candlelight, 3 course gourmet dinner plus dessert- I am not worthy.

Pics from yesterday (see Bash's log for more)

Ski to work in quicker conditions than yesterday with my big boy. He was the perfect ski-dog.

C • Love those pics 4

Out with Bash and the boys. As always AD drove the big guy nuts at first but they settled in.

Personal Best snowshoe/run duathlon.
Barrie put a big target on my back in his pre-race announcements.

I did the Snowshoe/run - two 4k snowshoe laps and one 4k snowy road lap. I led the pack of snowshoe runners from the start and never saw the ones behind me- just ran my HR.

I did pass a bunch of fatbikers, and lapped some 4k snowshoers. A fair number of the 8k bike/4k run category folks were ahead of me on the out-and-back run as they got a 3 min head start and biking was faster on this flattish doubletrack course. All 3 of my "4k" splits were within a minute, and very close to the 2015 race. I transitioned to studded shoes and left my Razors in the snowshoes, which was fast.

It may be that some of the hardcore athletes chose to bike instead. There was also a 16k bike, and the leader passed me on lap 3 just as I was finishing lap 2.

Barrie did play up my win at the finish, which is fair I guess after hyping at the start.
Barb was 2nd female in our race.

The event was well run, and Barrie took extra care to make sure nobody went off- course.

C • Nice pace 13

Full workout 1 and rehab.

Out testing the new front wheel with 40mm carbon rim and 2.8 tire, now the ice is covered a bit.
Took each dog for a shift.

First tracks at Hockleycrest. Dave had rolled the trails, and it was pretty good. Skied everything.

Dogs were nuts so they took me for a fast run around the 'hood.

Nice backcountry snowshoe with Bash and Logan the adventuredog. The little guy stuck with us even as we went through the main deer corridors.

Another Microspike run- no pooch today. Feels like running on concrete in Palgrave E.

Workout #3 plus rehab. Did extra hamstring stretches I learned online.

Run with BZdog. Palgrave West was OK- hard breakable crust over snow. Palgrave East is glare ice all over the place under a dusting of snow. The big guy was sliding and slipping. Studded shoes barely adequate for a flatter route, will don Microspikes for the run back.

I used the Kahtoolas this time, and the big guy was very cautious about sliding out- he did some careful walking beside the trail in Palgrave East.
I think the crust is a bit hard on his feet in Palgrave W too.

Back to running in the spikes with AD. I brought Kahtoolas in case it got really ugly but didn't need them. Back home in the freezing rain, but at least in daylight.

Skijor in with the big boy. Without his brother to entice him to insanity he's pretty sedate.

Out for some extras before the ice storm via k-bash and wheelie woods, then past the farm. The big guy was all stop-and-sniff in Palgrave East but a skijoring machine on k-bash. Met Crash heading out on her fat bike with lights, and also met the 2 big farm dogs who got out of their fence. Bazingadog was interested in making friends but when one of them tried to get aggressive he sent them both packing pronto.

Stars WAR with Bash. Snowshoe-only this year.

We started out on the West side of Airport road, a nice hilly area. We were in the mix until I helpfully stepped on Bash's snowshoe and the binding tore out.
I had equipment to fix it, but it ate time and Bash struggled with the wonky snowshoe. Eventually we switched snowshoes and things went better after losing about 8 minutes. By then everyone else was gone, and so was the race urgency.
We still had a decent race after that, if not pedal-to-the-metal. Bash's nav was dead on, and I was pleased to be on top of the map too. We ended up running out of controls within reach, so finished 8 min early.

We never broke out the tow rope. We managed to win masters, so that was all Bash's pace and strategy, despite my "help" with the snowshoe.

Nice to see a female overall win (AG and Hermes). We met up with Tiny and Aud several times on their way to co-ed win.

Fun course, despite the lack of skiing and hence simpler strategy.

Quick little outing after hiking the dogs on the leash-free property.

Out around the 'hood with the boys.

Run with Bash up the ORT to the Bruce, then via trail and road to the Personal Best studio in Mono Mills to hear Barry's talk.

Night run back with with Bash, this time with more trail. Nice crisp night for a run!

Good ski commute. The big boy was in good skijoring form.

Caron's core class. Any time she wears orange, look out.

My left leg is still restricted in lunges and hamstring stretches, and I guarded my neck.

Workout 2- back towards the big boy weights- rehab and lumberjack.

Woo hoo- a little soft snow beats lumpy crud. Did the Charlevoix loop and the rollercoaster with AD trotting behind. Some trees down on KB will be a pain to get around.

Night ski home.