Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Remember

To all those who gave their lives for our Country, we will always remember.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

In the last few months i have been running faster than ever before. Unfortunately a month ago I severly hurt my back in a cross country race and it has never recovered. After a convincing win at our regional championships i was convinced that i would be at 100 percent at ofsaa. Unfortunately I was mistaken and about 1km into the race my back completely seized up.

Leading up to ofsaa I was in high spirits as I had a chance at medaling, as well as our team. We travelled down to Sarnia the day before to do a walk through to familarize ourselves with what would be most of our last cross country race as high school students. Everything went well and we headed back to our hotel to get some rest. We had a little nascar tournament and then packed it in for the night.

The next morning I did my pre-race ritual that included pancakes, shaving down and I was ready to rock. The day started out well with our midget boy placing in the top 60, and Kirsten placing in the top 50. Then it was time for the big boys. I did my warm up and everything felt great. After stretching I made my way down to the start line to do my strides.

The race started and everything was going to plan. I got into the top 10 and stayed there. Moe came by me at about the 500m mark and kept the pace high. I felt as though I was sprinting for the first km. Moe and the three our four that tried to go with him must have gone through that first km in about 2:45 with me trailing by about 5 seconds. About 100m after that point my back seized while climbing a small hill and it did not release. From that point on I was in survival mode. I ended up finishing 29, but more importantly our team was third, 10 points up of fourth. So although i didnt perform to my expectations, our team did exceptional in such a strong field.

After the race i could barely move. My back was in so much pain. I was walking around like Frankenstein and i am sure that it would have been qiute the site watching me walk around. This isnt even the most amount of pain that my back caused me, the day after I could barely get out of bed. It took a few more days before I had my mobility back, and now a week later, my back is still sore.

Some interesting news, Last tuesday I was watching T.V. when the doorbell rang. I answered it and they asked me if i was Connor Hammond. I said ya, they they told me that they were from the CCES and they were here to drug test me. I was taken back because I never thought that they would come test me, but I guess that means that they are serious about their testing.

So until later,

CH

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Cross Country

Well, another post another month. With the cross country winding to a close, I thought that I would recap the running season so far.

After the two week break after Nats I started to get back into the rythem very easy by winning the first race. I took a few races off so I didnt feel over raced this year and it has worked out. I had a significant setback a pre-ofsaa where my soas tightend up causing my back, quad and calf to seize up so I had to drop out. The next week was on and off depending on the terrain. I could run on the flats fine, but as soon a a significantly steep hill came i almost had to slow to a crawl in order to keep my back from seizing.

The next week went by very fast, and in that week I probably took 2-4 days off in order for my back to recoperate. The Thursday after pre-ofsaa was TVRAA and I went in trying to put in a solid 7km race effort. I really pushed the pace but after about 4 km I had to easy up in order to keep my back in tack. Some people would have been very frustrated with this, but I saw this as an improvement from the last week and this kept my hopes up for WOSSA a week later. What got my spirits up even more the the astonishing 18 points that our team tallied at conference.

After a solid week of training, I had established in my mind that I was back in action and ready to let it rip at WOSSA. With high hopes as an individual and as a team, I/we did not disappoint. We placed 1/3/7/11 totaling 22 points. I made my break at 3 km on an extremely hilly course and won by 30 seconds. Our team did amazing with all of us having stellar races. I know that not many people are picking us to medal at OFSAA, but watch out Ontario, after the smoke of OFSAA clears, Chris Balestrini, Mike Crosby, Zach Cahill, Justin Laing Troy Biddle and myself will be standing on the podium at the end of the race.

So with OFSAA a few days away, I am just letting the OFSAA gods take care of things. There is nothing that I can do from now on in that will make me any fitter. I can only make sure that I am getting enough rest, stretching, and eating right to ensure that I am fully prepared to give 100%.

So until later,

CH

Friday, September 19, 2008

More photos from the summer

Before Taylor's mullet
After
Kelowna race site
Mark pre race
Hill elite have to climb before we got through with it
I still have more photos that i will post,
So until later
CH

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Just out for a ride in Hamilton

Slim being slim

Ladies and geltleman, jason wilson, andrew yorke and karsten madsen

Andrew waxing his legs


If only Taylor had kept this haircut for more than a day
I will post more pictures tommorow
So until later,
CH

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Update

Well I guess that this is long overdue, long overdue. A lot of people have been telling me to update my blog, so I finally will. So where did I leave off, oh ya over 2 months ago. Lets start from the beginning, I will try and give as much detail as possible, but some things area a little hazy as they were so long ago. this is going to be a long one so if you have to go to the bathroom, go now.

Late July I did the Burlington 5km. It went alright, I had an 6 second personal best and the first road race win of the year.

Next was the PEI junior series race. We decided to drive out, what a mistake. This was the ride of death. Never again, longest drive ever. Before I decided to drive there I didnt relize that it was the same distance to PEI as it is to Florida. So Next time i'm deinately flying. Ok back to the race. I felt a little tired going in because we had been logging some big miles. The Summerside race committee put on a top notch race. They built a pontoon start and a ramp from the pontoon to the peir that shifted with the tide. So race day came and I was ready to let loose. I did a little warm up in each disipline. I was ranked pretty low going in so I did't know what kind of a starting position I was going to get, but as luck would have it, I ended up getting a spot between a couple of weaker swimmers on the left side. So the gun went off and had no trouble getting clear water. I was first to the first bouy a couple hundred metres out, and led the rest of the swim. Six or seven of us got out of the water together, but in the first few km's it split with Sharpe, Philips, Thomas and me in the lead pack and the other chasing. We worked together really well and kept our 45 second gap. The run came and i felt awful, Jeff passed me in the first 500m and kept pulling away. I stayed in second until 2 km to go where Matt passes me, and with a few hundred to go Ian passed me. This race didnt go as i planned, but it showed me that we can stay away on the bike in North America.

So back to Hamilton after a 18 hour drive. Im definately flying next time. Everything went well leading into nationals. So I stayed in hamilton for a week before heading home for for 2 days.

Ok now Kelowna. I left on the Thursday from London and had a pretty sweet flight the whole way out. I sat in the front row with a blind lady and her seeing eye dog so I had lots of space. I arrived in Kelowna and went to get my bagage and what do I see, the whole Hamilton gang waiting to get there bags. So we go to our hotel and made a quick bike down to the beach. I thought it was a nice beach, but we found a better one, more to come on that later. I felt very good going into the race and the training that I had done since december was going to prove it. Race day came and it was going to be a hot one. I was ranked number 1 so I got the best swim spot. The gun went off and I just went as hard as I could for the first 200 metres. I was all by myself and I couldnt feel anyone behind me so I just kept a nice steady pace for the next 2oom before Cole, Matt and someone else came by me and I hopped on the back of that train. The 4 of us exited the water together with Aaron a few seconds back. On the bike Aaron caught us and the four of us worked well to stay away. With one lap to go we had 35 seconds on the chase pack, but in the last lap they pulled back 10 seconds on us. We started the run and I went to the front, but it was not to be. I had gotten pretty dehydrated and didnt notice it until the run, and there was no way to recover from it in 5 km. The run just kept getting uglier and uglier. I don't know how i got across the line but it could not have come soon enough. My head hurt and i was starting to get pretty dizzy. After the race i had a searing headache for a couple hours, but nothing that a trip to the beach couldn't fix(along with a few aspirin). Now this is the beach i was talking about. One of the nicest i have ever been to.

The next day was the elites. Although not everyone had the race they wanted too, they never gave up and everyone finished, despite one person having an infected vertebrea, another with a concussion, and another with a broken elbow.

After this i stayed in Kelowna for a few days before taking the greyhound to Penticton (I did arrive alive with my head still attached to my body) to watch the ironman. I worked at the Ironman for the week, and it remember why i hated working there. Race day consisted of a 5am-1pm shift, then 10pm-5 am. Although work sucked, Penticton was a pretty nice town. So after being away from home since late June, i was finally home for good.

Right now I am in just starting the high school cross season (thats right, im one of those guys who for some reason comes back for a fifth year, my advice, DO NOT COME BACK, even if it means going to the University of Yellowknife or something). I am just getting over a pretty bad sickness so today was the first day back since monday, and it was pretty ugly. Thats basically it for now, ill post some photos later.

So until later, but hopefully not too long.

CH

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger

Since my last post not much else has happened. I finally got back in the pool, and man was it ugly. We did a time trial yesturday for those who need a QFG standard and it was horrible. I was 12 second slower in the the time trial than I did in practice at the end of a hard 400 set 2 weeks ago. Then today was our usual Gullivers lake brick. I had nothing in the swim, my arms were dead, but I still managed to lead 2 of the three from the gun. Oh well, it will take me a few days to start to feel the water agian.

My biking has been the worst. Ever since since I got off the trainer on Saturday there just hasn't been any power in my legs. They are extremely sore right now and I have no explanation as to why. I guees what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

My running is still there, on Monday we did 5x1km on a grass loop. I was knocking off sub three km's like they were nothing. My legs died a little on the last one but once again, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Tommorow i will be doing the Burlington 5km, so i will be able to judge my fitness from that.

So until later,

CH

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Gatineau race report and training

So I am finally getting around to writing a race report from the Gatineau Provincials last weekend. My fellow junior Mark Bechtel and I drove up the night before and did the course. I felt really good leading into the race, even after a killer few weeks of training.

I did my usual warm up, fired up the pistons and the engine was ready to go. They changed the swim so that it would be more fare since there were over 60 men starting the race. I started on the far right, and all the other good swimers seemed to flock over to my direction. I knew that I was going to have a good swim by the way I have been crushing it in every swim practice.

The gun went off and I imediately went to the front. I didn't take it out as hard as i could have, but i stil went out pretty hard. After the first couple hundred metres i moved into a clear lead after passing Mark Bechtel and led for the entire swim. After rounding the last bouy I noticed that I had gapped everyone so I just kept a nice steady effort in. Once I got out there was still a gap. Into T1 I went, but I couldnt find my bike. There were so many bike so close together that I couldn't find my bike. I still made the lead pack of 4 after chasing for a bit. Once the four came together we were like a well oiled machine. It wasnt hard staying in the pack, and I probably could have pushed a little harder to ensure that we stayed away, but I wasnt sure how my legs were going to feel going onto the run so I left that reserve there in case I needed it.

At the end of the second a lap 2 guys caught us, I thought that they were just over anxious guys sprinting off the front of the chase pack, but in fact they were from the third pack. I made the mistake of waiting for the chase pack since they were only a few seconds behind us, bad mistake. I chased for 1 lap, but there werent very many strong cyclists in our pack and they weren't working well. We lost time on the third lap. About 200 metres into the last lap someone took out my front wheel and had nowhere to go but down. I went down and when I got up i was jsut mangled with road rash. I tried to mount my bike but it was far from rideable, and the cuts on my body weren't co operating.

I just dont understand it. There were so many crashes in Gatineau, it wasnt even a technical course. I guess thats what you get when you combine elites, u23's and juniors, carnage.

That crash has set my training back a week, i wasnt able to raise my arm for a few days so that has kept me out of the water for a week, and i have a huge gash on my hand which has me on the trainer.

I have learned from my mistakes and i am looking foward to making up for my mistakes in PEI. Now i am not waiting and i'll be back in full force.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Tour picks

Here are my picks for the Tour de France. I have avoided the news all day so i have no idea what happened today. So here they are.

Top 3 1. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne
2. Cadel Evans, AUS, Lotto
3. Carlos Sastra, Spain, CSC

Green- Robby MCewen

Mountain- Juan Mauricio Soler, Colombia, Barloworld

Training has been going really well, and i am looking forward to ripping it up in Gatineau next weekend.

So until later,

CH

Friday, July 4, 2008

In the Hammer

So I arrived in Hamilton last week and have had nothing but good workouts. I am rooming with Andrew Yorke, Tyler Bredshneider, Andrew Woegerer, and the man from the island, Jason Wilson.

The training has been going amazing, in the pool im going times that i would have done in January when I was pure swimming. I still feel good on the bike, and have had almost no trouble doing hard workouts. After my last 3000 a week ago, it solidified in my mind that i am in amazing running shape, and the last few workouts are concrete evidence that I am. I am running 3 minute km's on the grass like they are nothing.

My next race is a week from now in Gatineau Quebec. This race doubles as a junior series race, and our provincial championships. It should be very competitive with both the British Columbia and Quebers showing up. After the last week I am feelin confident that i will have a good race, and hopefully my swim is good enought to only be able to break away ffrom the pack.

So until later,

CH

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Blog Etiquette

This blog started out just as a way so that people could check on how my progression was going away from home, but there is someone out there who has taken their comments a little too far. Although this message only applies to one person out there, I would like all of my very few readers to understand that this type of behaviour can not be tollerated. Whether it be on my blog, or on anyone else's blog, rude inappropriate comments are not appreciated.

On another note, I have done two races the past week. Sunday was the Guelph Lake Olympic, it went fairly well for my second olympic. I was first out of the water, with Shaggy just on my feet. I got on the bike and quickly took control. I led until 10km where Dave Sharret passed me, then at 20km Andrew Yorke passed me. I rode the rest solo, then the run came. Im not used to running after a bike like that so i struggled. I still managed to stay in third, now only if they had kept the prize money.

Then last night I did a 3000m on the track. I was really motivated to do well, then when I got to the track i lost all motivation. During the warm up i started to feel pretty good and that motivation came back. The gun went off and i immediately got behind my pace maker. Nathan couldn't have ran a better race. He did exactly what he said he could, getting me through 2 km in 5:48, then it was up to me, I easily bridged the gap to the leaders, and with 400m to go i started to make my move. I know that i don't have a kick, and that really showed last night as the winner closed 4 seconds faster than I. I finished with a 10 second PB on absolutely no taper. And thanks to Derek, whose motivational comment gave me a little laugh when i was running.

So until later,

CH

Friday, June 13, 2008

Finally Home

There has been a lot of commotion post worlds and things have been a little hectic, but the main reason i have not done a race report yet is that i have gotten lazy. So worlds did not go as i had hoped. I was probably in the best shape of my life going into the race and i had the potential to get a top 10 result if everything went to plan, but that never happens.

I was surprisingly calm going into race morning, I woke up, shaved down, ate and made my final race preparations. We drove down to the race site and watched the end of the Junior Womens race. It looked like it didn't go to bad, it wasnt as good for the canadians as last year, but they still put in some solid results.

My warm up went on uneventful. I felt alright during the run, and pretty good in the swim. I would have liked to do a longer swim warmup, but the water temp was pretty cold and i didnt want to stay in there for a long time. So i was number 48 going in, so i was right in the thick of things. The way the swim was set up was a huge atvantage for the lower ranked athletes because to first bouy was on the far right, and everyone off to the left had to swim all the way over. I also noticed that the swim looked incredible long, which could play out to my favour if i had a good swim.

It was now time to go onto the start line, and i was much less nervous than i was last year. I know that i have a really good beach start due to my long legs and good start speed. The gun went off and i ran in. I didnt have as good as a start as i would have liked, but after the first minute i was swimming clear of the field around me. I ot to the first bouy where i felt like i was in a good position, but in the act of swimming my way to the right, i was met be a pack, and it was an all out brawl around the bouys. I remember swimming beside number two, but somewhere along the line of swimming back in i went off course and lost their feet. As soon as i started to head back in, i headed straight for home, without realizing that there was another bouy. I ended up doing an almost 90 degree turn to make to bouy, which caused me to be father back out of the water. So i missed lead pack by 15 seconds.

I tried to bridge up on the bike, but the two guys with me did absolutely nothing to help. I rode the first 2.5 km pulling them before the chase pack caught me and the two wheel suckers. The bike was uneventfull, we lost a lot of time on the leaders during the first lap, but not much after that. I did get incredible cold during the bike. My hands got so cold that i could even shift gears. I could shift up easy becasue i could use most of my fingers, but when i wanted to shift down, I had to use my thumb, even though it had no feeling.

T2 came with bad results. I couldn't ge my helmet off for the longest time. Luckely my strap streched in the rain so I was able to slip it over my chin. I started to run but had absolutely no bounce in my legs, i couldnt even feel my legs. I was so . I was so cold i was shaking for the entire run. No matter how hard i tried to pck the pace up, I just couldn't. My body was so cold that I just wanted the race to be over a quick as possible so I cold get warm. I had some stomach problem again, so I will have to find the source of the problem before my next race.

Once the race ended i went straight into the medical tent there I got all of my went cloths off and had 5 blankets wrapped around me. They gave me some warm watered down gatorade, but I was shaking so much that they had to feed it to me. i couldn't even dress myself. I had to get someone else to do it for me becaus ei was so cold.

This Worlds was a experience that I will not forget. I have learned from my mistakes, and now I know that I cant just man through it, but I have to take to precautions of protecting myself with warm clothing so that my body just doesn't shut down.

Next year worlds are in Australia, so the two aspects that have impeded my performance at the last two worlds will not be there, a wetsuit, and cold weather.

So until later,

CH

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

In Vancouver

Well, I have finally arrived in Vancouver. The weather isn't as nice as I would have liked it to be but what the hell. The colder it is here, the more the hot countries will suffer from the cold

We left Victoria at 10 am. Paul and I did an easy swim at Commonwealth then we loaded all my stuff for the ride to Victoria. We took the ferry across. It was pretty relaxing with the buffet and not having to be all cramped on an airplane. We are staying at the university in a suite. It isn't bad, each suite has 6 rooms, a lounge and a kitchen. I am the lucky one because my room is the only one with a double bed, the rest have singles. You can tell that they are from the 70's because of all the concrete everywhere. The nice thing about staying here is that the pool is close, it has a kitchen and it also has a great view.

So my race is Thursday at 9 am. I am starting to get a little nervous leading up to it. I guess that that is a good thing because when I am not nervous I usually dont have a good race. I feel really fit right now, my swimming has never been quicker in triathlon season, my biking is there and my running speed has increased since last year. So what this all means is look out for me during the race because i will be moving.

Yesturday I recieved an email from Shaw TV asking me to do some media interviews before and after my race, and during my race they are going to be following my progress and talking to my coach len Gushe about what is going on. So now that I am doing this, I better not lose my suit or it will be on TV. More incentive not to do that again. This is going to be a great oportunity to promote the junior aspect of the sport, and I am glad that they are not just focusing on the elites.

Again i will post the link to the live broadcasting for our race here so this way my very few readers can follow my progress towards a great result.

So until later,

CH

Thursday, May 29, 2008

One week to go

Since my last post not much has happened. The workouts have steadily been getting better and more consistant. The soreness that has been there since I got here is going away now that the taper for worlds has started. I am glad that the taper has started for two reasons, it means that worlds is getting closer, and after 3 weeks of hard training, it takes a toll on your body that you need to recover from.

Last weekend I participated in the Shawnigan Lake sprint triathlon. It was a very nice course. It reminded me of the Muskokas with the cottages, rolling terrain and the beautiful lakes. The Friday before the race we participated in the VIP reception at the local resort, and wow, what a veiw it had. The resort was situated on top of a small mountain that overlooked a lake and had mountains in the background. I wish that i brought my cmaera to take a picture.

Our race was a 500m swim in a relitively warm lake, 22km bike on roling hills and 5 km run on a gravel trail with the first km being uphill. I had a pretty good day. I came out of the water 3rd, right behind Paul. It wasnt my best swim, but it wasn't the worst. I got onto the bike and it didnt feel good. Matt Sharpe and I rode together for probably the first 10 km before some other BC boys caught us, and then we rode the rest of the ride together. When the run started it felt like old times again. My legs were there unlike in Mazatlan so i could push the first km. After the first km of uphill i settled into a rythm. I didn't feel amazing, although it was a tough run on false flats on a gravel trail, so it isn't supposed to feel good. I did have the second fastest run of the day, 25 seconds behind Paul. Overall i finished 1:27 back of Paul and second overall. This race taught me that i have the running legs to be there, and with a flat course on a paved road i will have a ripper of a run once i am tapered.

Here are some pictures from the race.



For those who want to watch the world Championships in Vancouver next weekend, here is the link Triathlon. My race is Thursday June 5 at 9am Vancouver time.

So until later,

CH

Monday, May 19, 2008

Another great Workout

So yesturday didnt start out so well. I had a terrible run. We did mile repeats and I started out good but I just tightened up and couldn't keep the pace that I wanted to.

I did have a killer swim workout that day though. We did 3x800 1 on 11, 1 on 10:40. the first 2 were pull and the last one was swim. I dont know what it is but i can do pull short course so much better than long course. I was 10:20, and 9:55 for the pull, then I busted out a 9:15 for the swim. I was swimming beside Dano who put about 5-10 seconds on me by the 200 and held it till the last 200 where I started to pull him back.

Today we did an open water swim becasue all of the pools are closed due to the long weekend. My arms were pretty sore, and it took me a while to warm up in the wetsuit.

So this weekend many things happened. AP finished 7th at the Ixtapa Continental Cup, but more than 2 mintues out of the lead. My Coach len Gushe broke the Masters world record in the 400m IM this weekend clocking an impressive 4:48. On a negitive note, our Canadian Hockey team lost to our Russian nemesis. I was watching the game until part way through the second period when they were up 4-2, then I went out for breakfast with Paul and his future wife Lindsay, and when I got back they were presenting medals to the Canadians, but the wrong kind of medals, silver. I couldn't believe it. I missed their comeback, and overtime. Unbelievable.

So the countdown has started. Worlds is creeping ever closer. For all those who want to watch, my race is Thursday June the 5 at 9am Vancouver time, so 12pm london time on Triathlon.org. I am very excited to make up for last year, and I am extremely fit in all three aspects, especially the swim and run so Iam expecting big things.

So until later,

CH

Friday, May 16, 2008

Best Workout So Far

So this morning i felt pretty good in the pool so i decided to move up in line. It was definately a good choice. As soon as warm up started i knew it was going to be a good day.

With the set being 50x50 on 45, 4 strong, 1 fast. I started out a little slow, going 37's for the strong and 34 for the fast, but about 15 in i started going 34-35 for the strong and 32 for the fast. I felt good for the entire set. Next was the 500 fast. I started second, racing Simon. It was probably the best i have every felt in the pool since I left london. I went 5:42, which is probably the fastest 500 i have ever done, partly because i never do 500's, mostly 400's. I dont know my splitting, but Simon was close to me for the first 200, but i just kept going strong and finished quite a way ahead of him.

Just want to wish Simon a happy birthday(maybe that why i beat him) and good luck to Andrew Yorke and AP Baillargeon Smith at the Ixtapa Continental cup as they are both fighting for a worlds spot (i think).

So until later,

CH

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Getting the Feeling back

So I know that it has been a long time since my last post, and lots of things have happened since. There have been good days and bad days, and average days. One of the better days came when I was recently named to the Junior team to compete at the Vancouver World Championships.

Over the last week or so, I have started to feel much better in the water. My body position has been gradually rising (except for the odd bad day), and although my arms may be killing me,usually after the first activation set i have warmed up and let'er rip for the rest of the workout. I am still not in the same swim shape as i was in January, but i can already see improvements since I left Florida. The other day we did 80 50's sc. 3 on 40, 1 on 50. 20 of them were announced, then Joel liked the fact that nobody was talking so he upped it 40, then again he liked what he was seeing, so it became 80. I held 33's for the first 20, then i picked it up to 31's for the next 20. I backed of for the next 20 and held 33's. On the last 20 i started to feel it, and the last 2 rounds i was fading. It is workouts like this that lead me to believe that I can be top 10 out of the water at Worlds.

The bike is still going alright. I finally felt alright on my bike the other day during a brick workout. I felt good on the hills, but I still didn`t feel 100%. I never got dropped that day, but i miised more pulls than i would have liked to. The reason why i might not be feeling it on the bike might be because i am always sore. I had another good forkout last sunday when we did team pursuits on a 9 km . it started out in 3 groups of three. Dano, Kirsten and I would leave 20 seconds ahead front of the next group of Andrew, Paul and Colin, who left 20 seconds ahead of Simon, Kyle and Jordan. The first round it all came together with a couple km to go. On the second round, Colin and Paul stayed away after dropping Andrew, and our group stayed away from Simon`s until the very end. The last two rounds Adrew came in our group so it was a group of 4 and a group of five. They left a minute back from us and we held them off for the lap. On the 4th interval they left 50 back. They timed it like the Tour de France with Paul sprinting past our group with metres to spare.

The running has gone so-so also. I am running well on my own, but off the bike i just can`t seem to keep the pace on. I did a treadmill workout the other day. 2mins on, 2 mins off at 12 mph 10 times, and last week i was doing 3 times 2km on a hilly course in 6:29, 6:20, ans 6:22. Then yesturday we did a 3km run after a hard bike and i was so sore. I went out hard, then i tightened up hard and finished in 10:20, almost a minute slower than I would have liked to be.

I just want to wish Andrew Yorke, and AP good luck this weekend as they compete at the Ixtapa Continental Cup.

So until later,

CH

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


So I woke up this morning to probably the greatest smell in the world. Paul was cooking pancakes for himself this morning, and it was probably the only reason i got out of bed this morning for swim practice.

So now the good. This morning's swim practice was the first one since i got here that i could actually feel the water. We did 800 pull (or in my case swim), 8x100 on 1:30, then 400, 300, and 200 in the same format with 200m easy in btw. I was holding 1:10, for the 8. 1:09's for the 4, 8's for the 3 and 7's for the 2. I kind of faded towards the end, i raced Simon on the last two, and i tried to take him but i couldnt. He may be older (just a little bit) but he can still move.

The bad. We did a hard 2km run on a dirt road off the bike (to follow) and it went alright. It was a 2km, 1km out and 1 km back. It was all uphill for the first 1km and all downhill for the second km. I did the run in my bike shorts, and it didnt go so well. i was 3:24 on the way out and 3:05 on the way back. I don't know what it was the shammy, or the hard treadmill yesturday(probably a combo of both), but i never warmed up until partway through the second km.

The ugly. We did a bike run work out by prospect lake, and the bike was not what i had hoped. It only took a couple of km's before an attack was put in on one of the hills, and i just couldn't stay with them. the pack split into three groups, me being in the last group. i waited for kirsten to have someone to ride with, and i basically rode the entire thing at the front. Although the bike didnt go as i had planned, it could have been worse. On the second lap, kirsten and I passed Jordan Rapp, and he looked like he was having a really tough time. so although my ride was ugly, it could have been worse.
So here are some photos from Victoria.








So until later,
CH

Saturday, May 3, 2008

From East coast to West Coast

After arriving home for the weekend, I used the entire weekend to visit my friends, do some training with my local clubs the London Aquctic Club, and the London Runner Distance Club, and do all of my laundry just to pack it up again a few days later. I flew out of the massive London Internatonal Airport (all 2 gates, but it does have a Timmies) Monday morning and arrived in Victoria at 2 to a waiting Joel Filliol. I am currently living with Colin Jenkins, but i move into my upscale downtown apartment with Paul Tichlear this afternoon( i will post some pictures of it when i have some, it really nice). The training has been going well,

Sunday- hard 16 km tempo with the LRDC. We started out slow but by 10km we started to pick the pace up as one by one people began to fall off until there were only 2 of the origional 8 who started and one who jumped in at 10km. in the end we held 3:40's.

Monday- First day in Vic, just did and easy 1hr explore bike ride and a 50 minute run. Had dinner with Colin Kirsten and Joel to go over whats happening.

Tuesday- Swam in the morning, couldnt have gone any worse. They do a lot of pull here, and a 1500 tt on my first day was a good welcome present. Everybody was flying by me, and by the end of it my shoulders were shot for the rest of the workout. Ran in the afternoon with Simon. Did a fartlek, my legs were still incredibly sore from sunday so i wasnt going too fast. then did an easy 1hr explore ride to flush everything out.

Wednesday- Probably the worst day of the week for me so far. As i said, they do a lot of pull here. 800 pull, then 8x100 on 130, then 400 pull, 4x100 on 125, 300 pull, ect. I felt good on the 8x100 holding 110, and 111's, but then blew to pieces for the rest of the workout. Did hills on the bike and i could not have been more sore heading into it. I wouldnt even say that i blew up because i started out that bad, but it did get worse. By the end of the workout, it took all of my energy to just keep the wheels going on the slightest incline.

thursday- Just an easy day, run drills in the morning, 3km easy in the pool and an easy 1hr explore bike. On the bike i did find the place where i stayed 5 years ago when my dad, brother and I came our west for a trip. I will say that the place looks a lot nicer now from what i remember.

Friday- I finally started to feel it in the water. 15x 300, with the pace times descending every 5. i felt pretty ba on the middle 5, then we took a break before the last 5. I went out fast holding 1:13's then it gradually went up until i was holding miserable 1:17's before i let it lose on the last 150 of the last 300. transition, and a slow one at that (even slower than Hamburg) and onto the bikes for some short intervals.

So until later.

CH

Friday, April 25, 2008

Mazatlan Race Report

So i am finally back home in London. We left Value Village at 4 in the morning and drove straight through. I arrived home at 2 am after what felt like forever. Got home, just through everything in my front hall, had a little talk with my dad, and then had the best sleep of my life in my own bed.

So now the race report from the Mazatlan Pan American Champs.

I woke up at 4 am for my race at 6:30. Woke up, hopped in the shower and did a poor job at shaving down. Ate three peanut butter and honey sandwiches, relaxed for a bit, and by then it was 5:30 and time to go down to the race site. I checked in, went to the bike rack and guess what, my bike doesnt fit on the rack because my bike is too big to swing under the rack so i have to rack it on the back of my seat. I did an easy 10 min run,, same on the bike. i went to the water for my warm up, and it was still dark. I entered water, got out past the breakers, and only swam about 300m before i headed back in because i couldn't see anything. so i headed back in and by that time it was 10 minutes before race time.

So we are sitting on the beach, waiting for them to set up the swim bouys, quite amusing actually. They were getting them out there in seadues, one guy took off trying to get past the breakers. Just when you thought he was either going to wipe mout or make it through he got though, but the rope snapped sending the bouy back to shore. They finally got 2 of the 5 bouys out there at 7:00, so we started anyway.

I had a pretty good start considering my starting number. i was 36 out of 64, so i was right in the middle. The guys on the right had a huge advantage becuase the 1st bouy was off to the right. The horn went and i started well. A few good dolphin dives under the waves and i was through. I got to the 1st bouy in about 10th. i swung to the outside and just let it rip. i moved my way all the way into second, where i stayed for the maajority of the swim. With about 100m or so to go we hit the breakers again. I was just concentrating on swimming, then all of a sudden a way fell on me and sucked me under. I found myself fighting to get back to the surface. i finally did, and not a moment to soon. i ended up coming out of the water 20 seconds behind the leaders, so it looked like i was more effected by the waves than others.

The bike came and it was brutal, nobody was working. Greg Billington crashed right beside me and almost took me out too. The crash caused us to lose half of our pack. Willy took off, and i am pissed that i didnt go with him. I was one of the very few people that were working. two packs ended up coming together. Willy ended up putting 1 minute on us. i got off the bike cleanly and started the run.

I felt so bad right from the start. I was running a little behing Hogan, and then started to pick it up to see if i could drop them. At about 3 km into the run i started to experience stomach problems. I started to dry heave from all of the salt water i swallowed during the swim. For 1km i was basically slowed to a trot. with 1km to go i had to really dig deep because some other canadians were gaining on me. I fought through the last km to finish in 11, and second canadian.

Overall the race was not a complete disaster. I finished 11, second of 4 canaidians in the top 15, so i should be going to worlds. I learned that I have the swim fitness to be up there at worlds and if i had of had a good run i could have medaled despite my lack of speed work at this time. the next time you hear from me i will be in Victoria British Columbia training with the Canadian national team until after Worlds. I also want to wish my friend Andrew Yorke good luck for his 10km track race this weekend.

CH

Monday, April 21, 2008

On my way Home

So I am sitting in the Mexico City airport right now with nothing to do, so I figured that I would give a brief race report to everyone on how I did this weekend in Mazatlan. The race did not pan out as I wanted to. I finished 11, second of the four Canadians in the top 15, so I should still get my World's spot. I had a great swim until the last 100m were I, plus everyone else got hammered by the waves, and my run was sub par due to some dry heaving due to the amount of salt water that was swallowed in the swim. Although I didnt have the greatest race, I still made the Worlds criteria. When I get back to Clermont I will give a more detailed race report because the energy just isnt there after 4 hours of sleep thanks to some peer pressure by the BC boys.

CH

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Safe and Sound in Mexico

So i arrived in Mazatlan safe and sound, and it isn't very exciting here. After all the bad things that have happened to me over the past two weeks, i am due for something stellar. I got an ear infection, but the doctor didn't diagnos it properly, so i have been on antibiotics for over a week with no effect. I then found out that my bike fork was broken 5 days before i flew here, so i had been riding on a broken fork for god knows how long. I ordered my new 3T Funda Pro fork and got it the day before i left. Drove to Orlando and got it, then came back to find out that my Uncle had taken my bike box home with him(AHHHHH, this is not happening the day before i leave), so i had to borrow another persone bike box. So after all this happening to me you would expect the airline to lose my luggage, or my frame arrive cracked, but it didnt happen, so thank god.

For all those who have never been to Mexico or think that they can judge Mexico by seeing Cancun, it is a whole different world where i am. It is so dirty here, whether is be the ocean, streets, and even the people, all dirty. There are two things that have risen my spirits are how wavy the water is. I love the surf for two reasons, it separates the men from the boys, and it plays into my strenght as a good swimmer. The other thing is the heat. Because i have been training in Clermont Florida for the past 2 months, i have subjected myself to the heat, while most other people haven't.

I have not looked at the course (except for the swim), but it looks as though it is going to be pancake flat (AHHHHHH). The roads are in pretty bad condition, and when i went out for a ride today on my new fork i wasnt too excited about biking on the roads with all the crap that was on them.

The race meeting is tonight, so i will get to see my competition and eye them down with my new aero haircut, a mohawk courtesy of Sean Bechtel, who hopefully doesn't drop the triathlon business to go to barber school. i am feeling really fit, and i am expecting big things this race.

I just want to thank everybody who has helped me get here and hopefully to worlds, my coach Len Gushe(who set a wrold record in the 400Im in a time of 4:48 the other day) C3 for allowing me to train with them, Sean Bechtel, Nat Faulkner for riding me into the ground and putting up with me in their house for a week, my parents for supporting me no matter what happens, Epic Cycles in Clermont for heping me with all my bike problems, Simon Dearing for driving me to the airport at 6am, and hopefully my new training partner Andrew Yorke come this september for keeping me motivated. This race is for you guys.

CH

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Getting back to blogging

So after a few weeks of just being lazy when it came to updating my blog, i am getting back into the swing of things. During march break i competed at the Escape from Florida triathlon, then attended C3's camp, and i am now logging good workouts.

The Escape from Florida triathlon went alright for me. I had a good swim, not stellar, but good, got owned on the bike, considering the wind and the fact that i was on a road bike it went alright. Then the run came, i started onto the sandy beach and just bid my time until the dirt road came where i took off. I ran extremely strong, and considering that fact that i did it all by myself, and the you only ran on pavement for almost 1km of the 5km run. I ended up 9th elite, and having the second fastest run.

After the triathlon, C3's camp began. It lasted a week, and i put in a lot of miles. Over that week i ran 90 km, basically all easy mileage, probably 500km of biking, and a lot of swimming (most open water. All in all it was a fun week and it was nice to see all of my buddies again.

Now that C3's camp is done, i am training all by myself again, but it is going well.i have put in some really solid swims, bikes and runs since. the other day i did 15x100lc on 1:20 averaging 1:12's. So i have good swimming fitness right now, so the goal of leading out patco is still there. Unilt next time, which my goal is not to make it another month until my next post.


exiting the water, 3rd out of the water


1st loop of the bike


just out for a stroll on the beach


done the first triathlon of the year





Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Some solid workouts

So now that Len is gone, I have no way to get groceries. So I stalked up before he left, and I think that I timed the amount of food just right so that i will have enough food to get me to Barrie's camp which starts on friday.

Tuesday
I am usually not a very good long course swimmer, but the last few days have been getting better. I have been doing some sprint sets for the last few days working on my speed and body position. For some reason they had the pool at long course on Tuesday, but i did the set of 48x25m on 30s fast. I actually felt pretty good during this set. there was no way to tell what i was going for it because i was stoppin in the middle of the pool, so i can only estimate. After the swim, i ran down to the track, stretched, and did a 15km tempo back to the house. i did 4 km on the track, and then the real pain began as the hills were the next thing to come. i ended up doing it in 50:35, whiich i think is amazing for me right now.

Wednesday
I woke up this morning, and my arms were exhausted. to make matters worse, my swim was longcourse. No problem, i was doing som tethered swimming. after a 15 min warm up, i but on the belt and attached the surgical tubing to the staring blocks and began my set of 30 on, 30 off 15 times. After about 5 i was getting exhausting, but i stayed in the same spot for most of them. i took a mintue break from the last repeat, and then did an all out 50. i dont consider myself a sprinter, but for 35 metres a felt amazing, the last 15 was something else. i could feel my exhausted legs and arms start to fade. i still went low 28, which isnt bad considering how much i have done this week. After the swim i went out for a ride. I rode to sugarloaf and did 6 repeats. it didnt go as i planned. my legs were so exhausted that i was nowhere near where i wanted to be. oh well.

I regestered for the escape from forida triathlon taking place this Sunday, so we will see where my fitness is right now.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Now I remember why I hate days off

So i spent my day off at my grandparents house. Got a nice free, good meal, watched some satellite tv, considering where i am now only has 12 channels. So after spending the day there. i arrived home tyo find everything still in order. Now that Len is gone, i have no ride to the pool, so i hitched a ride with Blake Becker, a ironman pro on the Timex team. my set was 20x100LC, 10 descending on 1:40, a minute break and then 10 on 1:40 best average. After taking the day off before, i just couldn't find my groove. The times i was holding were miserable compared to what i am capable of. There is something about long course swimming that limits my potential. I just cant get my body to that hydro plaining position. The one good thing i can say about getting back to training is that i had an excellent bike today doing 2X 11.7km TT pn rolling hills.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Finally starting to feel good


After about a week of swimming, i am finally getting back into the groove. I did a 1500y time trial yesturday with len gushe. It was not amazing, but i went 16:00. Len beat me by 10 seconds, it was not that i died (i actually even splitted my 750's) but he picked it up. then today i did 400lcm 200 pull, 200 kick, and on the lsat one i went pretty quick. My running mileage is getting better. I did a 13 km tempo run on a hilly route, and averaged 3:30's, then 2 days later i did the orange road in 1:02. My biking is getting better now that i can ride outside. I guess that we willl find out how my training is coming next saturady when i do the local triathlon.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Getting back into the groove

Well it has been a week since i arrived in Florida and I love it here. The training is great with a great outdoor pool, although it is a little warm. The biking is fantastic with hills to one side and flats to the other, but with some hillbillies (whose stature in society is rated by how many wrecked cars on their lawn) being a**holes make it dangerous, but also amusing at times, and the running is great. The last few days have been ugly in the pool. I had a hard in the set 9 x 400 on 5:30 LC decendng. i started out on 5:20 and went down to 4:52. it wasnt the best set i have done, but i haven't swam in a week. today was much better with 40 x 50y on 35, i averaged 30, so i was moving. As for biking, did 6 x sugarlaof, fun fun fun. it went alright. I am not the strongest on the bike right now, but i was only 10 seconds slower than my personal best on the hill, so i am in not bad shape. My running is coming along, did 3 miles on the track decending 1-3 on 6:30 the other day. started out 5:20, then 5:08, then 4:48 in pissing rain. i could barely see 50m in front of me. So that is an update on my training so far.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Living the Professional Life

So i have arrived in Florida safe and sound. I am currently staying at my grandparents right now at golfers heaven. It doesn't interest me, but it is relaxing. So when i arrived at their house, i relized that i had forgot a few things, so today i got them from the local bike shop. I also picked up a pair of compression socks, they're pretty sweet. I am sure all of the old golfers think that i and mentally ill or something for wearing them, but then again, old people like to wear their high black socks, so we will never know. I start doing the serious training on Friday becasue that is when i wiull meet up with len at the pool, so until then i am just doing some light long training sessions, just putting in the km's. I finally got my new pair of Oakleys, and they look sweet.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I finally started my online courses last Thursday. It will take a while to get used too, but as long as i stay motivated to doing it, I should be fine. I bought a laptop, so i will be able keep up the blogging and school down in florida

So I finally started swimming again last week, and it was ugly. After basically taking 3 weeks off because of Brazil, exams, and my shoulder and being exremely sick, it made for a very tough week back. With the first distance set coming Wedn.esday morning, it caused me to be extremely sore for the rest of the week. The times that i was holding in the pool were not even worthy of a 13 year old girl. Usually I can tell right when the set starts if it is going to be good based on how well by body rises out of the water when i am going fast, but the past few days i have felt like a brick going throught the water. In a set that we do almost every other week (400's best average on 6), i was over 20 seconds slower per 4 hundred. hopefully i get my fitness back the first week in florida, which i leave for on tuesday.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

No Excuses

The next time i don't want to go for a run because it is too cold, or when i don't have the motivation to give 110% too a workout, i will think of this commercial

Saturday, February 9, 2008

I Guess Kids look Up to Me

Well, the 4.6km time trial was a little ugly. We got about 3 inches of snow last night, combined with the rain the day before, it made for slow and slippery conditions. I was running by myself right from the get go, and i could feel my hamstrings and calves getting tighter as the run went on. I finished exactly one minute from my best time done last April, so considering the conditions, i will take it.

So I went to the local YMCA to talk to the kids triathlon group. It went well, I think that i satisfied their curiosity with all of my experiences(all 3 of them) and how much i train. They seemed pretty interested to hear about my goals. I then talked to them about how loving the sport and having a free attitude should come above anything else. I think that i met all of their needs. It feels good to have helped these kids on their way to hopefully becoming succesful triathletes. I even had one little kid and his dad approach me after my speech to talk to me about the best approach to getting into the sport. 10 days until florida.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Update

Watching the show Lost right now, getting pretty exciting, i will have to do this during commercials. My shoulder is getting a little better. i am taking a week off from swimming to let my shoulder recover. I think that i may have pulled something when i got mangled in a wave during a body surfing session in Brazil. I leave for Florida on the 18 of February, so i am getting pretty excited to get away from all the snow. We just got about a foot, and i had to shovel the driveway and i can't wait to get away from it. I went to a local public school on Wednesday to talk about triathlon and it was my first time doing this. they seemed pretty interested to hear about my trips and my goals of becoming a future olympian. I am doing another talk to the local kids triathlon group, so we will see how that goes.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Long but Fun Weekend

Well, this is my first blog and i am still figuring things out, so bear with me. This weekend was very busy, i went to McMaster for their recruitment week and got to meet most of the xc/track team. Good times. Then i had a swim meet the next day and i paid for the night before, and my shoulder hurt from getting mangled while body surfing in Brazil.. I didn't get to my goal time in the 400, but i still took over a second, so i finished with 4:14. Went for a 50 minute run today and felt pretty good.