Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Too hot and smoggy to bring a dog for the ride.

Legs felt surprisingly quick today. Knee seems OK too. Huuuuuuumid!
Bazingadog had a great swim session with his friend Brock.

Easy recovery spin with Bazingadog around the Charlevoix trail.

Foot/kneehab

Noticed the adductors that are sore are the ones that lift my knee up, not pull the knees together. Maybe they need more training.

Event: Emergency Services Adventure Race (ESAR)
 

ESAR with Tiny and Shedman Dave. Actual race time 4:58.

This course format reminded me of the Mountain-X Storm race a few years back.
At the start 1 team member had to run a small loop and collect 3 flags, to spread teams out a bit. Tiny got the task, and came in top 1/3.

Onto bikes, where within a few km we were leading the race. Nice bumpy ATV trails, followed by really nice flowy smoother ATV trails to TA1, with a good lead. A fairly short run around Kawartha Nordic I think, which I did in my AR bike shoes. I'd hoped for more running and trekking....

We messed up the first CP pretty well, going in too early, but the rest went fine. I felt strong on the run, but it was 30C and deerflies were bountiful. Lots and lots of mid-pack racers standing at the trail as their teammates went in for the CPs, hundreds of meters away. The police teams were the worst scofflaws. Not that they're in contention, but it would be nice to see less of that.

Back at the T/A we learned that Beowulf had left 7 minutes earlier, and Long Sault Longshots were ahead of us too. We caught Beowulf shortly after, when they unfortunately had a flat in deerfly hell. Loads more fun ATV trails, with loose sand, rocky descents, fast sections, to 2 advanced CPs. At one point my calves were just starting to cramp up. I tried my top secret weapon- Pickle Juice prescribed by FB, and it seemed to help. We caught and passed LSL, and I was back taking turns up front.

A bit of confusion at the first advanced CP let LSL catch up, but we lost them and Tiny nailed the next CP perfectly. Back on the bikes for even more great ATV trail then some flowy road. My crampy legs weren't good on the climbs, but on the flats and descents I could take a pull out front on the 'bent.

Next up was a 5k paddle, and predictably my adductors immediately cramped on and off for the whole thing. Passed a lot of teams, got swamped by some inconsiderate boaters.

Back on the bikes, and a new one for me- the dry heaves. I guess I would have puked anything in my stomach.

Still able to get going if a bit slow on the uphills at first, and sailed into the finish.

First overall followed by Beowulf. If they didn't have a flat it could have been close- they ran a great race. LSL were about 25 min back.

Great suffering with the boys- Dave was strong on bike and Tim was solid throughout. We were pretty well matched- I had a better race than at Storm- still cramping, but less, and rode harder in hotter weather.

STORM puts on a good race, but this one was particularly good. Ran like clockwork, tons of true AR biking and loads of fun. Sorry we had to leave early and miss the party, BBQ, beer and awards.

C • Congrats!!! 10

A little spin on the paddle erg, a little easy kneehab and a few pushups and pull-ups to keep limber.

Commute with Bazingadog. Also cut a big fallen log by hand, and Gary happened by just in time to help me move it.

Home gym workout 1 + foot/ kneehab, pull-ups and KBs.

To work with BZ dog (Mocha still has a sore knee) with extra pond loops, and back before dark.

Too humid and smoggy for Bazingadog to do any extras today.

Off to Caledon East on the rail trail to meet Goose, then to Inglewood to pick up Bash. From there we rode to Erin and the new Shed for iced lattes. Goose showed us a great route via Forks of the Credit.

Met hundreds of fellow cyclists, including dozens we know.

Back to Ingelwood via Belfountain, Grange and the trails to drop Bash off after refuelling on ice cream, then back down the trail with Goose and home.
Wonderful ride in the shade on the rail trail, except when I swallowed the biggest bug I've ever had the misfortune to encounter in that way.

Knee wasn't too bad, but the legs sure felt the one steep climb after yesterday's outing.

Test drove some Salomon Fell Cross (Felt good- I'll be getting a pair!) and some Speed Cross (Too high and didn't feel great). Also a short loop with PH.

Out for a post-race spin with the gang. See how my knee likes this tomorrow.

5 Peaks Hardwood. Part of Team Attackpoint AR

Went in after a pretty heavy week of training and not much taper, and my knee's been a bit dicey. I ran my HR, which seemed a bit high due to mega-humidity, and meant backing off on uphills a bit but driving hard on the flatter bits, where I passed guys.

I ended up 16th overall, about 1 minute behind Pat-hectic and a bit ahead of WilSmith. A skinny kid in the 10-14 category ran the whole thing with me, and I felt bad about dropping him at the finish. He'll destroy us all next year.

First in my category! Pleased with that, as I outran 2 fast guys in the cat. who used to beat me. Knee was a bit sore after.

Good showing by the entire team, with Sergei 3rd overall and Hansel, DD on11, FB,Galyna, me and Leanimal on the podium in our categories. .

C • Great Race Bent 11

The works- foot/kneehab, home gym, KBs, core.

Knee not 100% for tomorrow's run.

Easy commute with BZdog.

A little foothab, pushups and cable back flies while finishing up the Bashblaster between sets. Will finish the workout tomorrow- too much fun fiddling with electronics.

C • Bashblaster?! 5

Bah, decided to shower and drive to work since it was pouring. When I came out of the shower it was sunny and 22C, but too late to run or bike.

Easy run home with (the former) Bulletdog.
My knee's about 90-95% right now, but she's got a sore leg so I was waiting for her.

Great ride down to Albion, with some extras in the NE corner as Chico had marked some hills backwards for the Tuesday Night race so I tried them both ways. Trails are perfect- dry but not sandy.

Biking legs are coming back, and I surprised the heck out of 2 strong riders when I caught them at the top of a hill after some doubletrack. They dropped me like an anvil on the singletrack though.

I ran out of legs on the final hills, and ran out of time and sunshine when it started to pour on me just as I was heading back.

Some easy foothab/kneehab after.

Anybody want to ride Albion tomorrow morning?

C • That would be fun! 2

Easy commute with Bulletdog

Quick post- commute spin.

Ride to work via pond hill and back around Palgrave Northern double track with BZ dog. Got a flat on the way to work, but the tubeless tire caught well with a cartridge so I was on time.

Suffered up th Paso de Giau with Ryder and the lads, then a nice ride down to Cortina. Gorgeous scenery- we hiked here once. Total sweat- fest on the climb at level 4.

C • Bike 3

Out for a hilly spin with LD, who dropped me on the biggest climb. Legs still not there, but good to get out.

Nice run with Bash through Palgrave and Albion. We missed the rain.

Even at an easy pace, I'm aware of the knee. I spoke too soon about being recovered.

Bazingadog has won the lottery- a close neighbor has agreed to let us run the beasties on her 18 acre fenced, forested property complete with pond and an equally fast playmate for him to tear around with. They all ran themselves ragged this morning.

C • Nice! 1

Horrible weather out and feeling sluggish, so I put the Giro stage to Cortina on instead of going running.
Worked hard up 2 big climbs, but my legs felt it and I pulled the plug before the final climb as my knee started to hurt. A bit disappointing as I had planned a long ride.

Still feeling sluggish, so just light kneehab, foothab, wobble board, core and some easy sets on the machine and KBs.