Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Rock and ice Ultra day 1.
Forecast for this day was the worst for the whole event- -25 in the morning with a strong headwind and snow forecast.
The elite skiers and runners set a very fast pace off the start into the wind.
I did my own thing and cruised just behind them at around 9- 10kph.
The trails between lakes were slower going in soft snow. The last 20 km of the day was the crux, a wide open lake straight into the storm. I caught the top runners, including Greg McHale and then the crazy-light Jason with his tiny pulk. Jason was weaving a bit in the whiteout and was pulled off hypothermic and frostbitten. I actually liked pounding into the wind, but was glad to get into camp with Greg and into warm heated tents. We were 7 &8 overall, 55 min behind Thompsen the leader. Phatty jr, Slice and Bash all came in looking good over the next couple of hours, but racers trickled in up to 1AM! The poor safety crew had to cover the whole field.

Note- 10 min before the start I'd noticed the McHales using the same Atlas Race that failed on Bash, and sure enough Greg's were 90% torn. We fixed them up a bit, so hopefully he can repeat his win.

C • Wax issues? 4

Hard and icy on the way to work- I had to wait for Bulletdog, who only has claws and 4WD. Nice running on the crust though.
The way home was a spring run, +10 and sunny.

Note- got our skis waxed beautifully by the now bipedal Goose.

C • When do you guys leave for R&I 3

C • Good Luck! 5

Groan. Bo-o-oring, but last chance before R & I.

Note- we watched VO2max at the 50K Canadian Nationals. Icy at first, and they were absolutely flying downhills. It slowed down as the day warmed up, to a sluggish 2:08 winning time. I got a workout running back and forth along connector trails to watch. Bash got about 3Gb of pictures.

C • Sluggish 2:08 2

Pretty much packed for R&I. A bit of fine tuning left. The dufflebag's fuller than I expected.