Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set

(10) DB Bench Press: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 30lbs x2
(10) BB Front Squat: 50lbs / 60lbs / 60lbs
(10/side) DB Alt Bench Row: 25lbs / 25lbs / 25lbs
(10/side) Calf Raises: BW / BW / BW
---Break
(10) Leg Press: 200lbs
(10) Ball Roll-outs: 10
(10/side) Cable Str Arm Pull-down: Setting 3

--Duration: 21mins

Open Water Swim

6 x ~325m, against current / with current

Lap 1: 8:29 / 7:17
Lap 2: 8:33 / 7:14
Lap 3: 8:49 / 7:13

Skills: rolling, 80% catch-up, wrist pulling, relaxed fingers, corkscrew turns

--Distance: 2,000m
--Duration: ~55mins

Mudnewton

This was a small local "obstacle" race that looked pretty shabby, but I signed up because my Spartan buddy ES was turning it into an awesome birthday party!

Just a few of the Solo crew

It did in fact turn into just a cute little 10km trail run (on fairly nice mix of open field, forest, single track, downhill), and the obstacles were pretty sad, but that wasn't what this was about.

It was about ES bringing in about a quarter of all the entries to the event through her friends and training mates - some from as far afield as Montreal and from Soldiers of Fitness in the Kawarthas! It was about her writing her nickname "Solo" on everybody's forehead in camo paint, including many of the volunteers and bewildered onlookers. It was about settling a racers' rivalry with two of our friends by running the 5K and 10K events back-to-back. It was about her racing with bib number 1.

As far as small, family-friendly fundraiser events go, they had some cute ideas for a few obstacles, like using advertising for other charity runs as a kind of slalom obstacle, or an entire trashed-out school bus as a tunnel, again with advertising for an international charity. I had a terrible run, though. My legs were not moving at all, and I was seriously overheated. But again, not why I was there! I was there to give ES an appropriate b-day gift though: shampoo and soap to wash all the mud out.

--Distance: 10km
--Duration: 1:13:20

Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set

(10) DB Bench Press: 20lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
(10) BB Front Squat: 50lbs / 50lbs / 50lbs
(10/side) DB Alt Bench Row: 25lbs / 25lbs / 25lbs
(10/side) Russian Twist: 25lbs plate / 35lbs plate / 35lbs plate
---Break
(10) Leg Press: 160lbs / 180lbs / 200lbs
(10) Ball Roll-outs: 10 / 10 / 10

(10) Inverted Rows: 4th Rung / 4th Rung / 4th Rung

--Duration: 28mins

Bala Falls Triathlon

	S	T1	B	T2	R	F
Place in Discipline	16	8	10	11	8	10
Place in Real Time	16	15	11	11	10	10

Wilderness Traverse - sort of!

This was a kill-as-many-birds-with-one-stone-as-possible kind of weekend. I had accidentally realized that both one of the MSC series' triathlons and an adventure race several of my friends would be in would take place in the same Muskokan town of Bala on the same weekend. Add to that that Tough Mudder was taking place not too far south near Barrie, and I made quite a weekend of it! I just had to survive it all to make it to a friend's wedding (!) on Sunday afternoon, and look decent at that.

I definitely bit off more than I could chew, and although I had signed up to volunteer at the Wilderness Traverse adventure race, the RD suggested that maybe it's best if I just hang around and take some photos or whatever, instead of being posted to a real job - wise words. This is definitely more of a story of my own misadventures that night rather than much to do with the race itself!

I finally rolled into town and a nearly-empty race HQ around 7pm, about 11hrs into the overnight race, to find race co-director BC fiercely manning the race computer, tracking teams and updating standings. Race blogger PD was also typing away, with an incredible dedication and wit. Both were looking a bit frazzled after a very, very long shift since the race briefings the night before, with another whole night and day ahead of them.

I had intended to crash at a friend's motel room while he was volunteering somewhere out there, but after a snafu with the room keys and an unpleasant confrontation with the motel owner (so rude!!) I decided to just drive out to CM's checkpoint/TA and hang out. I was of course still caked in mud and looking pretty feral after Tough Mudder, so I took a little "shower" in the bathroom sink first.

TA2 was located in Severn Falls, technically not far away from Bala as the crow flies, but with miles of wilderness between them in the Wahta Mohawk Territory, the drive around to the 400 and back in was about 50km. After I left Bala, I saw my gas light come on. I thought - I'm entering a reservation - there'll be plenty of cheap gas! Alas, I drove through the entire Wahta Territory with nothing on offer but one general store and every roadside home selling all the smokes I could smoke in a lifetime. I knew the 400 was up next, and surely there would be gas there! Actually, this has to be the loneliest stretch of the highway, with nothing but trees stuck to the Canadian Shield, and not even other drivers on a Saturday night. I turned back off towards Severn, and saw a sign for a place called Big Chute. Salvation, right? Not so! Big Chute is nothing but a small marina with a big name. I knew I'd be pushing it getting to Severn Falls, but I figured that at least sounded like a real town. I crawled in at twilight, drove past the TA and towards a cluster of buildings. There was a marina, a bustling restaurant, a big general store, and... no gas station.

At this point I was really kicking myself, having put myself and a friend in this situation when we ran out of gas in the middle of the Laurentians on the way to our Tremblant Spartan weekend. I can't seem to remember the fact that once you go within a certain short distance north of major cities, you really need to plan ahead for things like late-night gas purchases. I did see some pumps for the boats at the marina, but the marina itself was closed, so once again, I would have to wait till morning to fill up. My triathlon (remember the triathlon?) was to start at 8:30am.

Nothing to do but to hang out at the TA and enjoy the show. I had great timing, because just after I drove in, my friend CL and his team trekked their way in, which was also great for CM, who was technically part of the team but not racing due to injury. The boys were smiling and excited, which was a great to see. The winning team had gone through here about 4hrs before, but the big pack would begin to stream through just now at dusk. Since this was a trek-to-bike transition, the lawn was covered in clusters of numbered mountain bikes and strewn with big team bins with long-awaited stashes of dry clothes and tasty food. I was told the trek was particularly tough this year, and some teams were in danger of missing the cut-off at this TA, while many others would likely not make the subsequent cut-off and be short-coursed.

It was exciting to watch the teams go through the TA steps: pull on fresh clothes, shovel in as much food as possible ("I knew I had this other Snickers bar in here!" nom nom nom...), and get their bikes in order before calmly riding away into the night. In between, TA bosses CM and EV were marking down the time-in and time-out as well as noting any issues the teams were having and trying to report this info back to BC at headquarters via largely ineffectual satellite and cell phones! They eventually had to accept the withdrawal of one team due to very beat-up feet. I hate to benefit from another's misfortune, but this team would inadvertently save my butt that night.

After the big pack had gone through, I finally revealed to CM that I was stuck without gas, but not to worry - I had plenty of food, warm clothes, and even a tent (why?) so I would have no problem camping out while he and EV moved camp to another CP further along the course.

Shortly before 11pm, we got a text from WL, a tireless hero who had been charged with driving all over the 150km+ long course and delivering supplies or rescuing teams. He was to come and pick up the one team that withdrew here, but he had realized that he would need to catch the last gas station still open in all of Muskoka - all the way down in Coldwater! I grabbed the phone and begged him to also buy a small canister of gas, reasonably sure that gas stations in the middle of nowhere readily stock empty canisters. Half an hour later, I had 10L of gas and a way out! I was unbelievably grateful. But then again, I somehow always believe things will work out if you let them. Don't panic, and everything will be fine.

I packed out some TA trash, said goodbye to the team and headed back through the beautiful nighttime Shield country to Bala. As my first and last contribution to the race, I donated a six-pack of beer to the frenzied HQ staff and crawled into my sleeping bag behind the theatre curtain on the stage of the community centre - where a few volunteers were also crashing at this point. I woke up briefly around 3:30am to the sweet sound of the first team finishing the race overall - Pentathlon des Neiges from QC, the first team to win the WT twice in a row. They would go on to place 13th out of 64 teams at the Adventure Racing World Championship in September.

By the time I got up before 7am, I was surrounded by many other bodies, some volunteers cocooned in comfy sleeping bags, some obvious muddy racers crashed out on the bare floor as they stood. With an overall cut-off at noon, the race was far from done, but the place was definitely bustling now. Because of their short course, CL's team once again rolled in just as I was walking out, all smiles still after just under 24 straight hours of racing. I tried to stay out of the way as I prepped for the triathlon about 500m down the road. But I did bump into WL, who had spent the entire night on the road; he looked me up and down with a craaaazy look in his eye - "Did I bring you gas last night?" Oh you certainly did, thank you!!! "I don't really remember; that was sooo long ago."

I did get to my race alright, but this was quite a lesson in not taking on more that you can handle all at once. Next time I volunteer to volunteer - I will actually give the event my full attention.

Tough Mudder

Starting off a very jam-packed weekend of activities with Tough Mudder!

I had mixed feelings about this event - when I first heard about it a couple of years ago and before there was even a Toronto event scheduled, and before I'd done any other obstacle races, I thought this would be so totally awesome. A team-building muddy challege perfect for any graduate of Soldiers of Fitness.

Then once I signed up nearly a year ago, I started really fretting about certain of the challenges - such as the monkey bars traverse and the one where you have to jump off a cliff into water below (a great one for someone with both a fear of heights and a fear of being under water!) Then they started bringing in the electro-shocks, and I got really anxious. But I decided that I have loads of time to prepare for and overcome these issues. I planned to go to a pool with a dive tower and work my way up to jumping off a pretty big height - our impromptu bungee jump from 200ft into water on Canada Day kind of eliminated that necessity! Then I saw photos of my friend TH conquering the 10,000 volt shock wires in a US event, and I realized it can't be the end of the world.

Soldiers of Fitness - We do it in the mud!

TH actually created a group to run our event with, as he was visiting family up here, so I joined in. Later on, the SOF crew created a huge team as well, so I hoped to see them on the course. With over 19,000 people registered over two days, it seemed everyone I knew, down to the most unlikely person, would be at Tough Mudder. Getting into the event site required some luck and wiliness. I cut across a country road to get into the parking lot ahead of others, and snagged the last spot on a shuttle bus from the back of the line when they needed a single person to fill it. Still, everyone was at least an hour late for their wave, and I had no hope of finding TH and our team. It was more great luck that I saw the orange t-shirts of the SOF group All the Way and Then Some - so I decided to switch teams and go out with all my old training mates.

Tough Mudder is not a timed race, it's more of an experience. You are expected to take an oath at the start to help others and accept their help. After all the cut-throat Spartan races I'd done, I wasn't all that into this, but going through it with SOF was the best way to experience this event. We had quite a big team, so we were moving comfortably slowly with lots of laughs and pats on the back. It really brought back great memories of the teamwork that is so central to SOF.

The obstacles had a totally different feel than the Spartan ones. On the one hand, many of them were insurmountable for someone of my size without the help of big, strong friends. But others were quite a bit easier, as they were constructed in a really orderly and neat sort of way. Case in point was the low wire crawl - which had regular wire below the barbed wire for safety (!) plus there were neat trenches dug, so that each person had their own little lane. Not for me.

Arctic Enema was a double dip into frigid water tanks that totally took my breath away; it did help with the heat though! The Berlin Walls were Spartan-style but so big that only the taller guys and gals could manage to catch the top and pull themselves over; I needed a leg up. The Mud Mile was just a long shallow pond crossing - more annoying than anything else. I tried swimming it, but took a mouthful of the most disgusting quarry water ever - blech! Hanging Tough was my first big failure - these were American Gladiator-style rings to swing on; I'm proud to say that I managed one full transition to the next ring before I dropped. Spider's Web is the cargo net climb, and despite the oath on helping others, for some reason we weren't allowed to pull the net taut!

Trench Warfare would test the resolve of anyone with claustrophobia - it's a rather long and tight underground tunnel crawl; I'm very proud of one of our teammates for getting all the way through it. Up next was Walk the Plank, where not one but two of my phobias would come in to play. I'm really grateful for the bungee jump, which was from a height over 10 times this one. I looked at the pool of murky water 15+ft below me but didn't hesitate much and jumped off. It did seem like I was underwater forever though!

Greased Lightning was more fun than obstacle - a huge downhill slip-n-slide which I took head-first like most of my friends. But what comes down must come up in these events. Over the course of a few hours we went up the ski hills at least four times, and this is where most people struggled, same as at the Spartan Beast. Thankfully because it wasn't a race for most people, there were very few "dead bodies," as we like to call those who have become stricken by dehydration and severe cramping from pushing themselves too hard for their level of fitness.

I'm not in this pic - but look at the climb on that thing!

Next up was the other strength obstacle I was sure to fail - the pyramidal Funky Monkey bars over another pool of water. I don't know where I mustered the strength in my grip (I have none!) and the mental calmness to pull myself across, having to climb ever higher with each bar and watching others drop off all around me. I took it one bar at a time, regrouping with both hands on rather than swinging - it worked! I got across! I consider this my second-best triumph in strength since I went up to the top of the rope climb at the Spartan Beast.

Electric Eel was another big challenge - a watery low crawl in between hanging electrified wires. Our first taste of high voltage. If you were adept at these crawls like me and picked a good path, you could avoid the shocks. I only took two hits, and although I can't describe them as painful, they were kind of mentally paralyzing. Horrible. I just couldn't wait for the elecroshock finale.

Right before the end, Hold Your Wood was a rather tame version of SOF's log p.t. with our big log Pain. The option was to carry a tiny chopped piece of log by yourself, or a full log with others. Although even the long logs were dry enough to be super-light, I really missed the old "up on left" / "switch!" / "down on right", so I grabbed my buddy AB and we motored up the hill with a log together for old times' sake.

           That's me!

The second last obstacle was a doozie - Everest (trademarked, WTF??) is a slippery curved ramp that few can run up on their own. Our former trainer CF quickly perched himself on top to grab the hands of any of us trying to get up. I caught his hand on the second try and got pulled up. And thanks to JW's boyfriend's tireless work on the camera, earned a really awesome photo too!

Having descended the mountain for the final time, we had to prepare ourselves for the inevitable Electroshock Therapy before crossing the finish line. The volunteer there urged us to stay in a tight group rather than going it alone. Well that works fine for the people in the middle, but what about the suckers at the front? Thankfully I'm small and ran through with a few minor shocks - hated every single one though. It's like time slows down each time you get shocked, and it seems to last forever. I'm very lucky though - two of our girls got hit so hard, they collapsed in the mud and had to be pulled out.

Couldn't avoid this tight mess of wires! You can just make out SC as she goes down after a bad hit.

This was a really fun event to do once. I definitely prefer the Spartan races, both for their set-up and their ethos. I won't be coming back, but I can say that I had so much fun with my old training team - it was like taking a school field trip! All the Way and then Some!

--Distance: 16km
--Duration: 3:35

Onward to Muskoka to attempt at helping with the adventure race Wilderness Traverse...

XSNRG Running

Route Link

First sprint workout since probably April. Needed to test my hip because I'm getting through the longer slow runs just fine. Missed the club workout, but did it on my own.

Warm-up: 1.4km run-in + dynamic warm-up

20 x 1min sprints, 30secs walk

Covered about 200m each interval, but slowed down on the second half. Kept up mid-foot striking and full sprint stride almost throughout.

--Distance: 6.5km
--Duration: ~50mins

Bracebridge Olympic Triathlon

Olympic-distance triathlon - take two!

Back to lovely Muskoka for me, this time solo. The weather forecast was looking grim for the race scheduled for Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, the sprint race had been nearly entirely washed out, and after numerous course changes, finally ended up being a splash-n-dash. As I drove up towards Barrie, the rain intensified and an ominous pitch black cloud moved in. Just past Barrie in Oro country, the rain was so heavy and the water on the road so thick, I thought my car would get swept into the ditch. I had to pull over and call my campsite to let them know I'd be a late arrival.

Yes, I was going to camp in this weather! When we did Gravenhurst, ML and I had camped at Camp Hillbilly, a cute little family grounds just south of town that allowed us to get up at a reasonable 5:45am rather than ... not sleep at all! When the monsoon relented a bit, I continued on, and thankfully the rain was a drizzle at the camp. I was so proud of myself for very quickly erecting my nearly-never used tent super-fast, using the car lights for illumination. I made it with the whole construction just in time for the heavy rain to resume.

Somehow the rain stopped overnight - phew! It left behind a damp set of roads in the Bracebridge area, but the full race could go on. Now, I am notoriously bad with getting my tires inflated before races. The first time I had attempted to inflate them, I deflated them instead. I've let others do it for me ever since. Except that I'm incredibly shy about asking! The race was about to start, I was already in my wetsuit, when I see a guy panicking because he needs to change a tire. One of the officials actually started to help him. I waited for them to be done, and I pounced, knowing there would be a pump available. The announcer was asking people to leave the TA at this point, so the official actually inflated the tires for me! Thank goodness, I had 20psi in them, holy mama. What a nice guy, that official.

The Bracebridge swim takes place in the Muskoka River, which is so narrow that it's a time trial start, every 5 seconds. At my speed, I can't seriously take advantage of keeping track of passing people (more like people passing me), but I did enjoy the easy sighting - if you keep next to the shore, you basically can't fail.

This race was the second time, by the way, where I somehow managed to lock out El Satellite Dish by pressing some random buttons. I continued mashing various button combinations whilst in the quick-moving line towards my start interval, and finally found the right combo (Mode + Up) while the girl in front of me was already starting, yeesh! It's a terrible set of lock-out buttons, as I naturally hold the watch by them while pushing other buttons - that is bad design!

T1 was especially fun for me, because not only did I have to get rid of a wetsuit, I had to unpack and fasten a band-aid to the crease of my instep, after my improbable crash in upstate New York the week before left me with an open wound that refused to heal. I would have to do this again in T2.

What followed was the most white-knuckled ride I'd hitherto taken in my short cycling career. Damp roads. Steep hills. Shitty pavement. Fast cars. Fast riders. Lack of riding fitness. Jitters from my little crash. It's all a horrible blur, except for a couple of particularly evocative moments. The one long sick climb towards the lollipop turnaround, where I just gritted my teeth and slowly and endlessly climbed. Then on the lollipop, we turned off onto the worst road in northern Ontario, where I had to slow right down to avoid getting thrown, so I then consequently made a very slow right straight into a super-steep uphill. I could already see one girl walking her bike towards the top, and I thought, "That's not gonna be me!!!" I have no pride. I didn't downshift, I just dropped straight into the small ring, stood up, and fought my way to the top. As I passed the girl, she told me she'd actually tipped her bike. Of course, as soon as we were both on flat ground, she got back on and left me in her dust.

Maybe the last part of the ride on Santa's Village Road wasn't too bad, but I also just think I was glad to be ever-closer to the finish. I changed my foot-dressing again and took off on the run along the other side of the river. What's great about smashing up your heel in a bike crash? You really, really focus on mid-foot striking. The run course is basically all-flat, except for one little hiccup. I finally started to feel great here. My club-mate CL passed me and cheered me on. I could see our other friend MQ ahead as well, so all the TTC tri suits really boosted my mood. Once my untrained legs started to loosen up, I got faster and faster. I still got passed by someone in my AG, but I felt amazing. I finished off with an awesome sprint. I negative-split the 10k by nearly a minute.

So there was my first Olympic triathlon. Kind of a comedy of errors, but I'm happy I pushed through it and even enjoyed it at the end.

Swim: 33:40
T1: 3:29
Bike: 1:32:15
T2: 2:07
Run: 55:15

	S	T1	B	T2	R	F
Place in Discipline	7	9	7	8	7	7
Place in Real Time	7	7	6	6	7	7

--Distance: 51.5km
--Duration: 3:06:45