Training Log: Dec 1 - 7 (18:40)

Great week of training. Some tough conditions, tough workouts, good pulling and a good long run. These are exactly the type of weeks that I'm going to have to keep stringing together before Rock and Ice. Was really great getting out for my first run with the pulk on snow and got me pretty excited thinking about the race...and it's still three months away.

Speaking of exciting...very thrilled that Sara has decided to run the K-Rock Ultra at Rock and Ice, so we'll be up there together. Our race course is the same for the first three days, then Sara will be able to come out on the course and volunteer for the last three days of my race. Will be very nice to be up there together this year.

Week Ending Total = 18:40

Mon/Dec 1 (2:51)
am (1:52) Crosslite2. Good run at Frontenac Park with Aaron. Lots of snow on the ground, but pretty wet underneath. Ran from Trail Centre along north Shore of Big Salmon Lake to Little Clear Lake and back the same way. Pretty slow going in places. Cold and a rainy at times, but sun came out on the way back, so warmed up a bit. Felt better today than the last few days.
pm (:59) Crosslite4. Soggy run on Cat Trail West w/Sara. Took it pretty easy. Felt good after morning run, but pretty hungry.

Tue/2 (2:34)
am (1:13) Raceblade Screwshoes. Early morning run at 6am before work. Started out with Sara, then ran to Curl Road on Cataraqui Trail West. Trail and road was quite icy, so glad to be wearing screwshoes. Woke up a bit on the way back and started to feel better. Nice to get out early for a change.
pm (1:21) Raceblade screwshoes. Tempo run. Warmup on Cat Trail West. 40min tempo run to Camden East and back. Footing very icy, but got into a groove and felt pretty good. Ankles felt a little wobbly from the poor footing, but ok.

Wed/3 (2:30)
am (2:00) Raceblade screwshoes. Started in Yarker and ran Cataraqui Trail to Crazy dog trail and along the west side of Varty Lake until marsh. Added on Paudyn loop to get in time once I got back to Yarker. Felt quite good.
pm (:30) Frees. Bubba run. Ran pulling Bubba the tire on our dirt road, down the hill into Colebrooke. Coming back was a real treat as there is close to a mile of uphill running before getting to the top of Boon hill. Legs were pretty pooched by the end of the run.

Thu/4 (2:25)
am (1:11) Skylite2. Ran Cat Trail West past Curl Road. Legs very tired at the start from pulling yesterday, but just took it pretty relaxed and felt quite good by the end. Even though I forced myself to slow down a couple of times because I thought I was tired, but times along the trail were about normal.
pm (1:14) Gazelle2. Hill Repeats. Warmed up in Newburgh. Then 30 minutes of Upper Newburgh hill (about 2mins each uphill). Legs pretty tired from yesterday. Solid workout though. Beautiful night.

Fri/5 (1:40)
am (:54) Skylite2. Ran with Eliza in Sydenham during her workout on Cataraqui Trail and Clearwater Road. Eliza is running very well and looked strong.
pm (:46) Raceblade screwshoes. Easy run with Sara on Paudyn Loop. Took it very easy as a recovery day. Felt pretty good.

Sat/6 (4:31)
am (4:31) Crosslite2 screwshoes. Ran at Frontenac Park with Sara. From Trail Centre, ran out on north shore of Big Salmon Lake, then up northeast end of park before coming back through 'Portage from Hell' and Arkon East. Had to add on some on Big Salmon Road to get in 4.5 hrs. Felt pretty good. Took plenty of fuel in hydration pack. Footing was pretty tough in places with quite a bit of crusty snow. Slow going and had to work pretty hard.

Sun/7 (2:09)
am (1:18) Crosslite4. Easy run on soft powder snow on the Cataraqui Trail West with Sara. Cool breeze. We both wanted to take it easy and run on a flat surface after yesterdays tough footing.
pm (:51) Crosslite2 screwshoes. First run while pulling Bubba the Pulk (sled). Ran Cat Trail West again. Felt great. Pulk was very comfortable with Nathan pack and rope fed through ski poles to pulk. Loaded a 20lb dumbell for an extra bit of resistance. Was really nice to not be pulling a tire for once, but be hooked up to the pulk. I think the training runs with the tire have helped a lot. Beautiful night out and felt like I could have run for a long time. Looking forward to it!