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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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