Dimensionality

As the sun has now set on a rather spotty season of "racing", my mind turns to all the things that winter and the off season have to offer.

Well, I say off season - I did actually take a full week off running, but was back at it in the dark of our early night on Sunday evening.

Making friends along the way.

My ankles - which took a pounding over 43-odd kilometers at Horror Hill and then another 50 at The Beav in a 2 week period - are still calling the shots on when I run. I did manage to get 4 days in a row from Sunday to Wednesday, but took Thursday off running as the right one is still being a jerk.

The sun angle is so low on my lunch runs these days

That's also why I decided against getting my cross-country skis out when we got the big dump of snow last week: I didn't feel like my ankles were strong or rested enough to strap on the boards for the first time this year when conditions were decent, and despite the bitter cold we've had the ski-able snow didn't really last.

There will be time to ski later, and snowshoe as well. There had better be - I've actually signed up for a snowshoe race in early February, and figure I might as well try training for it a bit...especially since my snowshoes are not really designed with running in mind.

If I had this little monster's enormous back feet, I wouldn't need snowshoes at all!

I'm looking forward to taking some time to do the things that fell by the wayside as I pushed to train and race at the highest level of which my injured arse was capable. I've actually made it back to the pool for the first time since May the 8th (!), putting in 1,700y on Saturday and another 1,300y last night in lieu of a run.

I didn't even need the lifeguard to fish me out!

Just those couple of swims have shown me how much I've been missing by ditching my pool workouts. I've come to realise that some of the issues I've experienced this year are actually due to the lack of swim training in the past 6 months - there is just no replacement for the muscle engagement and movement patterns required to swim the four main strokes (front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly), and the delicious soreness that has come with the return to the water tells me that I may have made a grave mistake in foregoing the pool in order to try to get more sleep.

I do have a master of the snoozing arts to teach me, if she can find time between naps.

I haven't managed to get on my bike (or my motorcycle) due to the weather, but it's not all about training anyway - it's the damn off season! We're actually going tonight to pick up a pass for one of our favourite local climbing gyms this evening (because SALE PRICING people!), and I can't wait to actually get out and pull on some plastic again. I've kept up with doing some pull-ups on the rock rings in my livingroom weekly in an effort not to lose all of my climbing strength, but we haven't climbed at all (other than a bit of scrambling last month) since the via ferrata route at Parc de la Chute Montmorency back in mid-July.

Oddly enough, I'm also really excited that the local ski hills have started to blow snow in an effort to get their base layer built. I was really disappointed that they all closed for the season long before my ankle was ready to try snowboarding again, and I honestly can't wait until I can strap into my bindings and do some very careful shredding. It might seem strange that I'm amped to go do a thing that hurt me so badly 9 months ago - particularly since I'm still dealing with the effects of the injury - but I've been in love with snowboarding since I was 17 years old. I've broken bones while doing so, dislocated a shoulder (long story), and knocked myself silly trying stupid things in terrain parks years before helmets were mandated for such things. It may not be the safest thing for my clumsy arse, but it's also something in which I find a lot of joy, and I'm stoked to get back out there again even if it does cause me some pain.

Reminds me of some other activities I could name..

Let's just hope I don't do something completely foolish that leads to another year like this one.

I've got more spring in my step..

..than the weather does. It's bloody well snowing again!

But, it was a glorious (if chilly) week, starting all the way back on Good Friday.

Tanker and I had a bit of brunch, then headed out for a hike on the Grand Valley Trail through Dryden Tract. It was muddy and messy and icy in places, but also sunny with a few green hints of what is to come.

Behold the majestic Tanker, still sporting his winter plumage.

We got home from our wander with enough time to hit up Core for some evening bouldering - the first time we'd been back (or done a dedicated bouldering session) since early February. I was pleased that some of the skills I'd been building on the high ropes had me climbing more aggressively even without a harness, managing to pull off some moves I'd read about and seen in videos but never before achieved.

I actually did a Gaston! And kept myself in place hanging from a pair of roof jugs when my feet slipped off the holds!

I also engaged in some shenanigans for Good Friday that were far more difficult to achieve than I'd expected when I had the bad idea..

It's ok - if I fall I'll rise again in 3 days.

Climbing is hard enough as it is - doing so backwards is almost impossible. It's also incredibly tough to make yourself let go of a hold in order to turn around while on the wall. This was the best I could do out of a few tries in a couple of different places. 

If you're angry about my cheeky poke at Catholicism, don't worry - I was repaid for my heathenism by tearing my hands to shreds.

Flappers everywhere..

Saturday morning dawned cold but beautifully sunny again, and I looked forward to trying something I hadn't done in a very long time. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to get out (after a rather-too-heavy brunch of eggs benedict, plus getting our grocery shopping out of the way) I ended up racing the sunset and trying not to blow away or become mired in mud on my first real trail run since I jiggered my ankle almost 7 weeks prior. 

There was singletrack, and climbing, and mud.

Fortunately it went pretty well - I was able to get a little more than 10km in, and even got to check out the new boardwalk!

Yes, I brought a pole along. I didn't know if I might end up needing a cane..

I was feeling so good the next day I even got to go for an Easter trot along the Applewood Trail in Mississauga before spending the afternoon with my Mum. It was chilly once again, but the wind (while still over 30kph) was much less intimidating and the sunshine was glorious.

It's only a paved pathway, but it does run through the lovely Applewood Hills Greenbelt

Lovely Etobicoke Creek was running high - it actually washed over the path in one spot!

I went appropriately dressed for the occasion.

"You're the weirdest looking bunny I've ever seen"

My ankle even let me take advantage of a really beautiful afternoon - the nicest I think it's been since that incredible 16c day at the end of February - on Monday for a lunch run, but was feeling rather tired and sore so I gave it Tuesday off.

Apparently the weather has decided it will try to thwart my attempts at running real trails, as Wednesday brought a whole new meaning to the word "windy".

A HUNDRED AND FOUR KILOMETERS PER HOUR

I was lucky to have a point-to-point as it was mostly a cross- or tailwind - the couple of blocks I had to run into the gale nearly stopped me dead in my tracks! But I finally made it down into the shelter of the Cooksville Creek valley, and back to my Wednesday happy place.

Heavy flow from the rain the night before.

Happy girl!

I got another run in last night, too, which actually brings me to a respectable distance for the past week, having run 5 out of the last 7 days.

Long way from the top of the leaderboard, but not bad for a semi-cripple!

It seems like I may actually get to enjoy the best of the spring season on the trails, assuming it ever arrives - the snow today is certainly most unwelcome, and the weather isn't really supposed to improve in the next week. I'm clinging to this image of my Mum's lovely crocuses as a sign that new life really is happening around me.

Even with the skiff of snow around them..

Hopefully the weather is just holding out until I'm strong enough to put in back-to-back trail runs on the weekends - I can't wait to frolic through the green woods again!