The life of Thomas Evelyn Lokody

Thomas Evelyn Lokody was born in a small town in nothern Russia called Yakutsk in 1945. Yakutsk is one of the coldest cities on the planet with temperatures ranging from -45C in the winter to 30C in the summer. At the age of 5, Thomas Evelyn Lokody was already swimming. He made a great living as a spear fishermam during the winter because his full head of hair and lumberjack beard allowed him to swim for great lenghts of time. While the other fisherman were resorted to fishing through the ice, Thomas Evelyn Lokody could swim between ice holes catching fish.

At the age of 10, Thomas Evelyn Lokody began to lose his hair. This put an end to his spear fishing career because he was no longer able to keep his body temperature high. After losing his job, he set out on a treck to find his place in life. Thomas Evelyn Lokody eventually made it to the Paccific Ocean after a year of travelling, where he decided to go for a swim. Unfortunately the current was too strong, and it dragged him out to sea. Rather than swim back, Thomas Evelyn Lokody decided to take the Hard Road and see where this journey would take him, so he began to swim out to sea.

For 2 straight years Thomas Evelyn Lokody swam. For food, he used his spear fishing experience, and for sleep, he slept on the backs of whales. He eventually made it to Graham Island B.C. where he hitched a ride on a fishing boat to mainland B.C. From there he worked as a logger for 7 years.

At the age of 20, he set out to find out what the real world was like. He eventually made his way to Vancouver, where upon asking for directions, he was mugged by a blind 10 year old boy and his dog named Skruffy. Not knowing what the real world was like, Thomas Evelyn Lokody had no idea what was going on when the boy asked him if he could borrow his wallet for a few minutes to show his friends. After waiting for a week for the boy to return, Thomas Evelyn Lokody left and eventually made his way to the railroad station where he road the rails all the way to Thunder Bay.

After spending a few years in Thunder Bay flipping pancakes at a local breakfast establishment, Thomas Evelyn Lokody decided to go for a bike ride. He made it to Barrie before his bike broke down. From there he ran to Toronto. Upon arriving in Toronto, with nothing but the cloths on his back, Thomas Evelyn Lokody worked as a rickshaw driver. That is how he met Craig Taylor. Craig`s car had broken down, and he needed to make it to Guelph to coach a run practice in just over an hour and a half, and his only hope was Thomas Evelyn Lokody and his rickshaw.

An hour into the ride, Thomas Evelyn Lokody was ahead of shedule, he had been riding his bike at over 100km and hour, but that is when things started to go wrong. The massive power output that Thomas Evelyn Lokody was exerting on the old bike was too much for it, and it disinegrated. Not wanting Craig to be late, Thomas Evelyn Lokody carried Craig on his back for the last half hour of Craigs journey to the University of Guelph. They made it just in time. Craig was so grateful that he offered Tom a spot to train with his group. Tom accepted, moved to Guelph, where he would meet his future wife Erna.

That is the story of how my homestay came to be a triathlete. I will always be gateful to Thomas Evelyn Lokody for allowing me to stay in his home for two weeks while I trained with him. So with out further adieu,

Thomas Alexander Lokody

Thanks for the awsome two weeks. Here is a picture of Tom with my favourite two foods, along with me wearing a shirt his Grandmother from South Africa gave him.

So until later,
CH

First training camp of the year

After training in London by myself for the last few months, I needed a break. Although my first training camp isn't in the sunny state of Florida, i do have good training partners, and that is all that really matters. Craig thought that it would be a good idea if I came to Guelph, so here I am. I am staying with Tom Lokody and his wife Erna.

The last few days of training have gone really well. It is nice to be doing triathlon specific training again. Monday was a light day, Tuesday was a a moderate day with a tough 2 workouts. I had a great swim and run that day, but it left me a little sore for the next day. Wednesday was light agian, and so was today. tommorow is a big day, and I am looking foward to getting in the trenches with some good hard work.

I satrted writing this post a few hours ago, and the reason for the amount of time it has taken to publish it is because I was inturepted by the CCES. Yes that is right, the CCES came to Tom`s house so that I could be tested. It was quite the scene when Erna answered the door, and then later when Tom arrived home to find us in the kitchen.

I will try and keep everyone updated over the next week and a bit that I am in guelph.

So until later,

CH

Just knocking off the Miles

Not much has happened in the weeks since my last post. Training has had its ups, and its downs. My swimming hasnt felt right since the meet a few weeks ago. I just feel like a brick going throught the water. There is the odd set where I feel excellent, but most of the time I am just surviving. My arms have been sore for two weeks now, but that means that I am getting my endurance back, so not being able to lift you arms during workouts has its advantages.

On the bike, what can I say, It is not the most exciting thing in the world to be doing, but it has to be done. Andrew Woegerererererererererererer just picked is his need bike for the year, so we are going to hit some trainer sessions every week.

The run has steadily been improving. I started running with the London Runner Distance Club again, and over the past month i can really see an improvement. Two weeks ago was the first of two winter time trials. The conditions werent the best, but I still managed to be 20 seconds from my personal best. And since that time trial, I have felt better with each workout.

So until later,

CH

The Last week

The last week has gone very well. Training has gone very well, along with racing. Last weekend I had the WOSA Regional Swim Championships here in London, just a low level meet where I have to swim a ton, even with my lack of fitness. Wow is it nice to be able to get out of your own bed and drive 10 minutes to go race. It went much better than I thought. I swam the 800, 200fr/bk, 100bk, 400fr, and although I didn`t set one personal best, I raced much better than expected. My final race to the season was the 400 free, and it couldnt have gone any better. I started slow and built into it. I executed the perfect 400, 1st 100m steady, 2nd 100m fast but easy, then 4x50 decend. I felt amazing during the race and didn`t start to hurt until the last 50. I even finished within a few seconds of my personal best, and with the amount of training I have been doing this year compared to last year in the pool, I was surprised to see such a good result. You can find the results at the London Aquatic Club website.

I am looking outside my window right now to see pouring rain. The weather has been very odd this year. I can`t remember the last time we got so much snow, and had so many days at -10 or colder. But the last few days have been above freezing and today it is supposed to go up to +11. Yesturday I went for a run in pants and a long sleve shirt, and I was over heating. I almost should have worn shorts, in February.

So until later,

CH

What am I going to do with my free time

I am officially done high school. I wrote my last high school exam Wednesday, and although I was happy to be done, it was wierd to think that after spending the last four and a half years of my life here, I will never be attending class in this school again. So with high school done with, in seven months i get to look foward to spending 4 more years of my life at another school, hurray(just a little sarcasm).

Training has slipped the last few days so that I could concentate on my exams, but now that I am done and have more time to devote to training I will get back on the wagon. Next week I have a swim meet, I havent really swam in the last week from being sick to exams so we will see how it goes. I have been running about 50km the last few weeks, most of it outside in -10 degree weather. I dont know about everyone else, but I have had it with winter, I cant stand to cold anymore, and the snow, oh the snow. We have so much that I am running out of places to put it after shovelling my driveway. The stacks have to be four feet high.

So until later,

CH

Getin'er done

Last weekend I drove down to UofT to race at Senior Provincials. With a month and a half of swim training under my belt, I didn`t expect much. I raced the 1500, probably not the best race to do after very little training. My plan was to build throughout the race, but it never works that way. I took the first 400 slow, then descended the next 400. I probably took the second 4 way too fast. At the 900, my lack of swimming kicked in and my stroke grew to a halt. I finished, barely, but almost a minute off my best time. At this point last year, i went 30 seconds faster swimming a a long course 1500 at this meet, but then again, i didnt start swimming in late november last year.

That was the Saturday, on the Monday I got the flu, it was pretty ugly. Even after 5 days, I still feel the effects of it. I am running low on energy in long workouts.

Yesturday was my last official day of high school. I have exams next week, then the end of the Victory (I guess you can call it that) Lap. I am looking foward to finally finishing of high school and beginning a new chapter in my life.

So until Later,
CH

No Running Nike Commercial

I'm Alive

Another post, another year. Hopefully this year I will more consistant, but it is the ugly part of the year where you slug through the miles in the pool, on the trainer, and on snow covered roads, so there really isnt anything exciting to talk about.

The other day my high school cross coach showed me this funny video, so i thought i would share it with everyone.

Remember

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

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