Breaking the Stupid 10% Running Rule

There's this old adage in running that says never increase your mileage more than 10% in a week.  EVER.

See:
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/the-10-percent-rule

She even refers to it as "one of the most important and time-proven principles in running"

Wow.  Serious business.  Surely that 10% must come from some very rigorous science to be so strongly entrenched!

Nope.  Someone pulled it out of their butt, other people repeated it, and it became running gospel. 

This kind of anti-scientific stuff drives me crazy.  I've frequently broken this so-called rule - in fact this year I've run once a week as many times as I've managed twice a week.  And guess what... 

... nothing bad happened.  I got to run more.  It was great.

A Better Rule

What rule do I follow instead?  It's the "listen to your body" rule.  If something doesn't feel right, give it attention.  If everything feels fine, give 'er.  It's worked way better than arbitrary percentages pulled out of people's butts.

Bam!

Paddling Conditions - Wind and Water Flow (Canada)

As I do more paddling, I've found it increasingly important to know the conditions.  This is especially true on large bodies of water (wind!) and up/down rivers and creeks (water flow).

Water Flow (Hydrometric Data)

Site: http://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/

This is an invaluable resource.  Live updated water flow data from stations across Canada, telling you in very near real time just what rivers/creeks are doing.

The water levels and discharge usually track each other pretty closely, but if you're going into a river/creek that has shallow areas it's good to know when the levels are high enough for you to have clearance.

This weekend I paddled the Big East River as part of a race - I had heard the currents can be very strong, so I compared last year's data to this year's and realized the flow was about 50% of what it had been, so it was going to be fine.

Wind

http://www.windfinder.com/

Screenshot from Windfinder
Android App (Pro)

There are two forecasts - the so-called "Superforecast" seems more reliable generally (apparently it uses more data sources).  And it has the word "super", so it goes without saying it would be great, right?  Who do you trust more, "man", or "superman"?


There is also a WindFinder phone app - I bought the Android version, it's handy, lets you save favourite locations and such.

My wisdom about wind on a large body of water:  the more water the wind travels over to get to you, the bigger the waves.  So if you have a wind out of the north but you also have shore to your north, you'll have protection... if you are on the south shore and have an entire lake to your north, look out!

Also wind can really impact the boat's handling, tends to spin you ways you're not trying to go.  You often end up paddling on one side what seems to be forever just to go straight...

Enjoy!

Race Report: Big East River X (40km solo)

The Race

40km of paddling, starting in Huntsville (Ontario).  Mostly river paddling, first up-river, then down-river... with  small lake thrown in.

Really well run event - great people, and how can you beat a $12 pub voucher for the post-race meal?  You can't!

My Race

This was my first time in a canoe race this long (previous longest was 20km!), and also my first solo.  Seems like a bad combination.

I used my Wenonah Wilderness canoe, which is not a racing boat really... so this was more just about racing myself than everyone else.  I ended up 4th in category, which was a little disappointing... I didn't see any other boats out there ahead of me that looked like C1 "stock" - turns out it includes some really narrow fancy boats!  Mine's almost 30" at the waterline, some of the other stock C1s are 22"... I thought they were proboats but guess not!

Things I Found Out

• 5 hours and 25 minutes of paddling is hell on the butt.  Why the butt!?  I don't completely know.  It's almost like the bending over stretches out the muscles that connect through it, combined with sitting for that long... I mean it seriously hurts, like can't sit on uncushioned chair hurts!
• 5 hours and 25 minute s of paddling is blister inducing.  Both hands, blisters everywhere, 8 in all.  One popped near the end, that hurt until it was over
• I can maintain a pretty steady pace for 5 hours and 25 minutes!  Other than the aforementioned butt/blisters, I actually felt remarkably good through the whole thing.  

On to My Race In More Detail Than You Probably Care About... Feel Free to Skip!

The Start and Up the Muskoka River

It was a mass start, not sure how many boats but 50 or more.

Given my lack of competitive ambition and knowledge that my solo stock canoe would be slow, I lingered a bit farther back at the start.  

Gun went off, I started in clean water, and just looked for boats that were about my speed.  All in all it was a pretty clean start (although one kayaker managed to find his way into the drink - oops!)

After awhile I managed to tag onto the back of a C2 (2-person) canoe paddled by two rather exceptional teenage girls.  I bit awkward being a 40 year old dude drafting off teenagers, but I got over it when I felt that headwind - yikes!  

The Lake Part 1

About 3.5km in you stop going up the Muskoka River and dump into a lake.  This was a little choppy, but nothing compared to the way back... I'll get to that though!  My speed to this point was pretty good, wind was at our backs, felt great.

Big East River - Upstream With a Paddle

The river started out quite wide and with a slow current, so at first I figured this was a piece of cake!  I was holding my own against a few of the C2s anyway, live was good.

As we went further and further the current got trickier and trickier.  At times it was quite strong, and lots of corners.

My boat corners really well, and doing all the time I do in Duffins Creek in Ajax I'm pretty good at knowing where to stick the boat.  Passed a few floundering C2's on the way up, and generally felt OK... although I was very ready to turn around by the turn-around point!  That was almost 3 hours into my race, more than I'd ever paddled, and it was only halfway.  

Big East River - Downstream 

At first the river was fast, and again my ability to read currents and get my boat in the right places had me keeping up with the boats around me.  But as it slowed down and the currents eased off, it got harder and harder... I didn't really run out of energy, but my advantages slipped away and I got passed by two of the C2s that I'd passed going the other way (including those teenage girls - the horror!)

The Lake Part 2

The wind had really picked up, so there was a fair bit of chop on the lake.  I had kind of hoped this would work to my favour but I watched as the C2 teams pulled away, and one from behind caught up (to the point I could hear them doing their "huts").  This was my toughest section, my little boat got tossed around pretty good, hard to keep momentum.

Muskoka River and Finish Line!

Finally we turned back onto the Muskoka River.  The 3.5km that had gone by so quickly on the way up felt like forever, even with the nice tailwind...

Midway back I felt a blister in my hand pop.  Between that pain and my butt pain I was really ready to be done!

I hustled to make sure I stayed ahead of the aforementioned C2, and finished just shy of my 7km/h goal (6.9km/h... so close!)

All in all a good day, did about as well as I'd expected I could.  Not sure how eager I am to do another solo canoe race, having a partner is a nice advantage!

Race Preview: Big East River X

Race Website

I'm doing the 40km solo in my Wenonah Wilderness... it's in the "stock C1" class.

My Boat... so pretty

This one is more just for experience and enjoyment than competitive.  I don't have a racing boat, just a fun little solo ultralight.

Water Flow

I have recently found a great site for river flows, it's the Canada Water Office.

We haven't had massive rain this week, and the flow has reduced since the rain last week... looking good for the up-river portions.

Wind

I recently bought the WindFinder Android app, which includes what they call a "Superforecast".  It is pretty super, reasonably accurate from my experience!  It's predicting winds out of the south, which is OK news for the lake portion (headwind on the way back, though).

Race Report: Moraine Relay 2015

Great race, great weather!

First off I just want to thank Mazda for letting me be part of their corporate team, but more importantly for their sponsorship of the Moraine Relay.  It's huge for this organization to have that kind of support, does a lot to make sure the trails stay amazing.

We didn't form our own team this year, so I was a refugee and joined Mazda for a single stage (stage 8).

I parked at the stage finish, then biked back to the start.  During that journey I encountered these guys... pretty sure they have the right of way?  Best to stop and take a picture either way.

Stage 8 is mostly roads, asphault and gravel, and super fast.  Last year I did it in 35 minutes, so that was the bar.  It was a bad headwind, so figured this year it couldn't be any worse.

It was much better.  Wind was out of the south, stage goes west/north, so little bits of tailwind and some very tolerable cross-wind.

I hammered it right from the start - only doing one short stage means you can go all out!  I don't need these legs again, so kill it!

In the end I finished in just over 31 minutes, so killed my 2015 time.  I might win the stage - should be in the running anyway!  Their timing isn't very sophisticated (rounded to the minute) so a bit of a coin toss if it's close.

Edit: I had the fastest time of the day for Stage 8!  Who00t! 

In any case it was nice to be a part of a really great event and a great organization that does great work.  Hope to be back in 2016!

Race Preview: Moraine Adventure Relay 2015

My History At the Moraine Relay

This race is a 14 stage relay, starting with a canoe stage, then a series of mountain bike and trail running stages across the top of Toronto.  You can have teams of 15 or fewer (depending on how many stages each team member is willing to take on!).

We have done it as:

• 2010 - Trail Pythons
• 2011 and 2012 - Blood of the Ridge
• 2013 - Ridge Racers (joined existing team)
• 2014 - Four Guys Walk Into A Bar

Last year was really great, with only 4 of us it came together really easily, minimal logistics.

2015

This year we couldn't pull the same people together, so it was a choice of actively recruiting or just letting it go for the year.  So we decided to take 2015 off.

... until a few days ago, when a team looking for a cyclist reached out and I signed up!  So I'll be doing Stage 8 again this year, a short fast bike stage.  I have done it a few times, it's mostly roads and fast, the only difficulty being the wind if it's from the West (it almost always is!).  As well there's one rocky/sandy off-road section near the end, but it's short.

Still also have feelers out to see  if anyone needs a canoe team, just to make a full day of it.  Probably not by this point, but who knows!

Race Report: Canoe the Nonquon 2015

Nice day!

Nonquon River

Started with a leisurely paddle through the twisting bends of the Nonquon River.

Sidebar: Talked to a local chap near the start, he remembered back 20 years when they started quite a bit further upstream - even further up than the first time we did it.  Really would like to see that restored someday!  Although I've read some race reports of water too shallow and mucking through so maybe not.

We did OK, got the hang of the sharp turns pretty quick this time.  In the 18' flat-bottom no-rocker canoe those turns are tricky, but a little rudder'ing helped get it through.

The wind was pretty strong, mostly in our face on the way down the river (although a lot of protection from trees and such).

Lake Scugog

I still have nightmares about 2013, when we came out on Lake Scugog and were rocked and rolled... then spent the next hour and change paddling straight into a headwind at our slowest ever pace.

Shudder!

2015 was much kinder - we had a stiff wind, but it was at our backs.  At first that was great, but as we went on a few kilometers from the mouth of the Nonquon it got fairly choppy.  Not as bad as 2013, but enough to distract us from moving the boat forward.  Hard to get a nice solid paddle stroke when the water is up and down below you!

We managed, though.  In the end we averaged 8.4km/h (compared to 8.1km/h last year in low wind conditions).  It isn't wonderful (thought the tail wind would help more!) but still not bad, considering we haven't put in a huge amount of time in the boat so far this year.

Next up?

I'm toying with doing the Big East River X race up in Huntsville, Ontario.  My partner is on vacation so this would be solo, and it's a whopping 40km... so could make for a pretty long day, 5 hours plus.  I haven't spent that much time in the boat, but I can't get it out of my head that it would be interesting to do... we'll see!

Race Preview: Canoe The Nonquon 2015

This will be our third time doing the Canoe The Nonquon.

The Race

Historical!  47th annual running.  No portaging, all different ability levels, it's a lot of fun.  Starts in a twisty river, becomes a slightly less twisty river, and ends with a soul-destroying paddle across Lake Scugog.

Our History at Nonquon

2014 was a bit of an anomaly - due to low water, the race started 5km downstream from the normal start.  Fewer twisty bits plus favourable lake winds mad it easier for us, and we actually won our division!

2013 was the full length and we really suffered into a brutal brutal headwind on the lake.  Our average speed dropped to like 5-6km/h, although it felt a lot like 0km/h.  Rough conditions, too, which given our relative inexperience at the time was distracting and slowed us down further!  Not much fun.

This Year...

This year the weather is looking promising so far.  Possibly a tail-wind on the lake?  Or is that too much to ask for! Not entirely sure on the water levels, it rained a lot this past weekend but it was very dry before that, might not translate into much higher river levels.

Looking forward to it!

Ontario Highway Traffic Act - New Laws Effecting Cyclists!

New laws are about to take effect in Ontario, and a lot of them impact cyclists.

• "Dooring" a cyclist will be a $1000 fine.  Still a good idea to stay out of the door zone, but at least there is a recognition about how seriously dangerous this can be.
• Failure to have proper lighting - fines increased (as high as $500!), and the red light in the back may now flash (previously only solid red was allowed).  Front light must still be white and non-flashing.  Also note that reflective strips on the forks and seat-stays are mandatory.  (Note: all of this lighting business applies from the 1/2 hour prior to sunset through to the 1/2 hour after sunrise)
• 1 meter clearance while passing cyclists - this one is long overdue - motorists will have to leave 1 meter of space between their vehicle and a cyclist, or face a whopping fine.
• Legal to ride on paved shoulders - previously it was illegal, although common practice.  The law is now changing to allow us to ride on paved shoulders.  

This article from the National Post runs down the rest of the law changes (they aren't all about cyclists!).

This is the actual act.