Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Quote of the week

"This is the good life"-TL

Saturday, May 8, 2010

My new Home

I was only home in London for one week before it was time to return to Guelph. I moved into my new home on Monday, which is a relatively nice house when compared to most student housing, so I can't complain. Only problem is it is a little far from the university, and although the bus stop to the university is just a few metres away, I have no bus pass during the summer months so I resort to biking to swimming in the morning, which isn't very pleasant. During the summer months my roommates chose to live at home, so i will be all alone for the next few months, I'm not complaining, but if you talk to me in a few months I am sure my life will be like the plot from The Shinning. So we will see how this plays out.

I competed in a bike race last weekend in the pouring rain. Nothing big, just a 45 km road race/crit that I used to do when I was younger. I wanted to race cat 3, but you aren't allowed to compete in that division if you are racing on a one day permit, so I raced cat 4. My goal was to go in and just keep attacking in the hopes of forming a successful breakaway. I must have attacked 10 times, most of which were solo, but the pack just would not let anything go. It ended up coming down to a sprint. With 1 km to go I found myself in about 8th position. I just stayed there and let the lead out men keep the pace high. With 200m to go people stated sprinting, and I was forced to squeeze through 2 people to get to the front before I could unleash my sprint. As soon as I started sprinting I knew that the W was mine, as no one could match me. I have never won a bike race, and although it wasn't very competitive I am still pleased with the effort that I put in.

Training in Guelph has gone alright. With most people gearing up for racing down south in the next few weeks, I find myself doing most of my longer bike workouts alone. Just me and my ipod. It really sucks seeing everyone starting their race season already while I am sidelined due to a bad winter/spring. Oh well, you got to make the best of every situation, so while my season is delayed, I have taken the opportunity to become a stronger biker. Nothing like ridiculous hours in the saddle with terrible weather to keep you sane.

Springbank Road Race Podium

And as I write this it is snowing outside. Gotta love this weather, 25 degrees one week, snow another.

So until later,
CH

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What up.

Well I have neglected this long enough, and now that I have nothing to do I might as well return to writing useless information on a site that nobody reads. A couple weeks ago, between countless hours in the library, I remembered that I had a blog. In an effort to rejuvenate my motivation to update this thing, I decided to give this site a complete overhaul. Sadly it didn't work.

The last few weeks have been really hectic with exams, training, and other miscellaneous things. I finished up exams on Friday, so I have officially made it through first year. It was tough to get motivated for exams, as countless hours were spent in the library when it was so nice outside, and all I wanted to do was train. So hopefully all that time spent at a desk paid off.

Since finishing my last exam I have returned to London. Wow is it ever nice to get out of res, sleep in your own bed, and not worry about running out of money on your meal plan. The bonus thing is that I am forced to eat healthier, and since the caf isn't a 5 min walk away, it means no more vending machine meals because I am to lazy to walk that far.

Training has been going really well, I am biking like crazy, and swimming and running are coming along. I decided to skip the first two ITU races, Monterrey and Ixtapa because I felt that I could not meet my own standards, one because Monterrey was right during exams, and two because I hurt my ankle a month ago and that put me off running for a while. My first race will be in Milton on June 6. Milton is my favourite race. Although the frigid waters are usually a deterrent to most in early June, I just can't pass up the opportunity to race on one of the hardest courses in Ontario. 5 km into the bike you climb the escarpment, then 25 km of rolling hills. As soon as you begin the run your have to climb an incredibly steep hill, and the next 7km is never flat. During my early years it was always my first tri of the season, but the last few years I have been forced to skip it as more important races were on the agenda. So it will be nice to get back to my roots.

Now some bad news. Since October, a group of people have been striving to be the best, and last week their dreams were crushed by a little boy with a whisper stache. Yes, I am talking about the Ottawa Senators. Another year, another crushing defeat. One day it will be our time, just not this year,

So thats it for now, hopefully the next time I update it won't be months from now. Here is a commercial for the Canadian Athletes Now Fund that does a good job of summing up everything an athlete has to go through in order to support them selves financially. Enjoy;


So until later,
CH