Stress relief

6 weeks down, 6 to go. If I can make it through the next week with out having a nervous breakdown and ripping the hair out of my head, then I should be fine. School isn't all that hard really, just do the work and you will be fine. Only problem is work just piles up and before you know it you are swamped. I don't know how some of the other students deal with the stress, but as I sit in class I can see the students on their laptops playing farmville on facebook (man I miss farmville, but this is exactly why I got rid of it), or watching videos. One of my towermates likes to play Supermario. He is going for all 120 stars.

I guess that some students have farmville, others Supermario. It got me thinking, what can I do to relieve the stress of school, then it hit me as I was right about to go for a run. I train. It might not be as productive as harvesting your crops or raking leaves from your neighbour's farm (get farmville on facebook to know what I am talking about), but it gets the job done.

Since my last post I have moved on from Scrubs to another medical show, House. Although I haven't had much time to watch it because I have been so busy with school.

So until later, probably after midterms

CH

Back to School

I have been back at school for 3 weeks now. I only missed a few days of school from being in Australia, but those few days add up. It took me over a week before I had all of my textbooks and other reading material, and another few days before I was caught up on my readings. Having not been at school for over half a year, I had developed a rather slack work ethic, but I am back on track now. I am majoring in Human Kinetics, so I am taking lots of science and math courses, which will make for a hard semester, but I am only taking 4 courses instead of 5, so that lightens the workload quite a bit.

I am still on my down time right now. The rest of the gang started up last week, but I am taking until after Thanksgiving off. Since I have a lot of free time, I have been watching Scrubs. Here is one of their better clips.

So until later,

CH

World's Race Report

Well it is 4am, and I can`t sleep. I am talking to Yorke on msn right now, he is in the same boat. The 14 hour time difference is really killing me, now back to the race.

Leading up to the race I was pretty nervous. Because we raced on the last day, there was a lot of time between the u23`s and our race for the nerves to gather. Usually there aren`t any signs of nerves until the pre race meeting, but watching the u23`s seemed to bring them out, and the pre race meeting later that night only brought them out more. The one thing that seemed to make them go away was the elite mens race. Just watching it seemed to ease the tension.

We raced at 1:15 on Sunday, which is unusual for the juniors. The only race that I have ever done that late was Lubbock back in April, and that didnt go so well (puking on the run due to poor nutritional). Race morning I got up and went for a run, took a shower and shaved down, then I had a modest breakfast. There wasn`t a lot of talking going on with me, which usually happens before a race. To kill time I downloaded some new music, which really helped.

We left the hotel at 11:15ish to ride over to the race site. Yorke watched our bags while we rode along the spit. Got to the race site, checked in, did a short run, and a nice long warmup in the pool. I felt great the whole warm up, and absolutely amazing during the swim. After I finished my warmup I headed down to the beach to get in a few starts, but by the time I got down there they had already started marshalling everyone, so I had to can that. Usually I am a nervous wreck in the final 30 minutes before the race, but I was more excited than nervous this time. Some thanks has to go out to Tyler Bredshneider for that. Remember earlier when I said that I downloaded some music that morning, well I remembered Tyler talking about the movie Any Given Sumday, and Al Pacino`s pre game speech played a small part in what allowed me to cross the line between partial nervous breakdown, and excited to kick some ass.

I was number 7 going in, so I was pretty close to the end, but that meant that I had a long time after being called to visualize about my race. Sharon, and Craig have this saying, just think about the first 10 strokes, dont think about anything else, and that really helped. The horn blasted, and I just killed the first 10 strokes. By that time I had put everyone at my hip, and over the next few hundred metres I just kept distancing myself from them. I was tied for 1st to the first bouy, and myself and the other guy swam the next few hundred metres side by side. Rounding the final bouy I started to pick the pace up and moved into the lead for good. In the final hundred metres I pushed it a little more so that I could lead out, which i did. So the part of the race that terrified me the most was now over, and couldn`t have gone any better.

I had a smooth transition and headed out onto the bike. I rode solo for probably the first 500m before the pack caught me. Brownlee really wanted to stay away, and of the eight of us, only about 5 of us were doing work in the first few km, so i decided to let everyone else wrk while i sat in . It was not that I didnt have the strenght to pull through, I atually felt great on the bike. It is more that I was just content with saving my legs and not wanting help someone I knew was a really fast runner distance himself from everyone else on the bike. I took a few pulls a lap, but I wasnt going to be working my tail off with 4 other people just sitting at the back, so I decided to be one of those people. Sure, if I had worked really hard, we could have stayed away, and maybe that 20 second lead we started the bike with may have grown, or may not have. I am still confident that I made the right decision. We stayed away for 2.5 laps before a pack of 15-20 caught us, and after that I didnt go to the front. I just stayed in the top 10 to keep safe. On the final straight away everyone was crushing it to make it to the front, including me. Making the final corner into transition I was sitting in about 5th, which was perfect.

I had a clean dismount, but my bike pedals kept spinning, so my shoe kept hitting the ground causing my bike to skip, so I had to carry it for a few steps so the pedals would stop turning. I had a smooth T2 and headed onto the run in third. My race plan is always to build the run, so start controlled and pick guys off during the second half. I felt really good the first km. A few guys had run through me, but I felt that I had gone out steady and had enough left to crank the second half. I finished the first loop and was in about 8th. A few hundred metres into the second lap a group of guys caught me, and I didnt have that extra gear to go with them. I tried, but after 500m I dropped off. At the turnaround I tried again to pick it up, but it still wasn`t there. With about 500m to go there is a hill, and I gave it everything I had to catch the group in front of me, but by the time the hill was finished I was still off the back and was totally spent. There wasnt much left in the tank for a sprint finish, so I stayed in the same place, 12th.

Overall this was the best race I have ever had. I felt great the entire race, and although I didnt have that extra gear that I know is there, it was still my best race. All of the Canadian Juniors had great races. Some may tell you other wise, but few people come to world`s their first year and rock it. It is all one big learning experience, and they all did better than i did my first trip here. Alison Hooper, in her first year of triathlon was 6th, 6th!!!!!!!!, Kyla Caotes was 8th!!!!!!, and Rachel Edwards was 31. Matt Sharpe was 26, and Ian Donald was 42 despite having a stellar run. I wish they would schedule the Jr. women on a different day because I have never actually seen it. I only see about a minute of it because I am always focused on my race.

So Australia was a blast, I had a great time hanging out with everyone, now if only I could get back to my regular sleeping pattern.

So until later,

CH

Australia Update

We left Victoria Thursday night, and after the 12 minute flight to Vancouver, we boarded our 15hr Air Canada flight to the land down under. When we arrived we had to pass quarentine, which was a hassle. They have sniffing dogs everywhere to smell out food. One found me because I had had a turkey sandwich in there at the Vancouver airport. The lady searched my entire bag top to bottom, and when she found nothing, she still insisted that I had something in there, so she searched it again. The whole time I am telling here that I had fruit and a turkey sandwich in there 15 hours ago. Finally she let me go stating that it must have been the remanents of that turkey sandwich.

After quarantine is when the real fun began. We were supposed to fly from Sydney to Brisbane at 10am, but we didnt make that flight, so the group was booked over three flights. Lucky me, I ended up on the last one at 4pm, so I was stuck with a handfull of others in the Sydney airport for 6 hours after a day of travelling. The only good thing that came out of that was some very fierce games involving a tennis ball. This included hurling it as hard a we could trying score between the oposing team, target practice, volleyball, and cricket. The airport people finally pulled the plug on us at cricket when we were hitting the ball a ways through the terminal. That killed a few hours, although it did leave everyone who played with very sore shoulders for the next few days. We finally made it to our hotel at 7:30pm, where upon i went to bed and was k'od for the next 12 hours.

Training has steadily been getting better. It takes a while to recover after a day and a half of travelling, but the legs/arms are starting to come around. I have had some effortless sessions in the pool, and my legs are starting to get that spring back in them.

Yesturday we went to a protected park for a run. We saw a few kangaroos and wallabies, but we didn't see any koala bears, and we were looking. A couple people almost took a spill because they were running while looking up at he trees.

Today is the U23 race, which officially marks the beginning of the World Championships.

So until later,
CH

Londoner off to Oz

Connor Hammond heads to Australia for junior worlds after winning two silver medals in P.E.I.

For full article click here

Victoria

So I have been out in Victoria since last Wednesday for a Pre Worlds training camp. It is nice to be back, although I was only here for a month last year, I missed it. I don't know if I could see myself living here all year, being in Vancouver last year turned me off the whole living in a place where they get no snow, but get a whole lot of rain. I am homestaying with Matt Sharpe, his mom Barb, and fellow PTC'er Ian D. They live about a mintue walk from Commonwealth pool, which is nice in the morning.

I have done a little tour around town, refreshing my memory of Victoria. I had breakfast at Lady Marmilade'sthis morning with ian, yorkey, and Jairus. Lady Marmilade's is this little restaurant below my apartment last year that has the best french toast, which everyone got, and it is still as good as I remember. Craig took us on part of the waterfront loop, and I have done a lot of riding around the observatory, which was still quite fresh in my memory.

Training has been alright. My hamstring has steadily been getting better, and I have more power on the bike and run due to that. My body was a little shelled from a track workout that we did last week. It is not that it was a tough workout, more the fact that I did it 2 hours after landing in Victoria after a 5hr flight. I have been doing most of my workouts with Pat Kelly's group, with the National Team guys joining in on a few of the workouts. Today was one of those days where they joined in. We did 3X(2X Broadmead loop[a hilly 4.5km loop]) round one was tempo, and rounds 2,3 were building to race pace. That pace is all relative becasue it was geared towards the National Team guys. Rd 1 I was pulling my share, even though some of the hills were done as all out sprints. Rd 2 I pulled twice, once in the first 30 seconds, and once in the last 30 seconds. Rd 3 I just hung on the back for dear life. The problem was that they would climb the hills so hard that I would need time to recover, on the flats I was fine, but if I pulled on the flats I would have been fatigued going into the hills, which would have resutled in me being dropped. So I decided to play it safe and hang on for dear life on the hills. After the bike we had a 3ish km hard run on trails. My legs were pretty fried, but I still managed to post a good time.

I am only in Victoria until Thursday, I wish there was more time, but with Australia creeping ever so close, its almost time to hop on a 15 hour flight to down under.

So until later,

CH

Greatest Blog Ever

Click here for your viewing pleasure.

So until later,

CH

Canada Games, Day 6/7

the last two days haven't very exciting. Yesturday we went for an early swim, then we watched the Ontario womens beach volleyball team face New Brunswick. It was a close match that came down to the last set where the won by a few points. the rest of the days training was just a nice light hour bike.

I went an watched Ontario wrestle Quebec yesturday. Although I didnt get to see everyone wrestle, from what I saw Ontario had no problem beating them. We won 47-7, which is quite substancial. I dont know if Quebec is a powerhouse, but based on their population, they cant be too far behind us.

Last night the entire team went to Dorelles parent`s cottage for a little get together. We played some ultimate frisbie, in which my team dominated. they we played croquet, where Alexander killed everyone. He was done the course before we were even halfway, hidden talent discovered. They had tons of seafood, and fresh PEI potatoes for dinner, which was all excellent, and a nice change to the pasta, rice, and steamed vegetables that we get here everyday.

Today we went down to the race site to get in an openwater swim, and to practice our relay takeovers and dives. Tommorow is the team relay. Eight or nine teams will tow the line with a 300m swim, 6.6km bike and a 2km run. B.C. has to be the favourite with their dominate performance in the individual race. That doesnt bother us, we like being the underdog, no pressure.

My body is starting to come around. I wasnt that sore after Tuesdays race, but I can feel the power that has been lacking the last week start to come back. `

So until later,
CH

Canada Games, Day 5

I didn't have time to right a post last night, so you are just going to have to deal with it 12 hours late. Yesturday was the individual race for the triathlon. Race morning went off without any problems, got up, ate, made sure I had everything packed, and then we took the shuttle down to the race site.

I set up my trainer in the athletes tent facing the race course so that i could watch the girls go by as i warmed up. Dorelle had a good race, coming 5th, Joanna was 6th, with the fastest run, and Domi was 11th. Aparently the water was really choppy, so we lucked out with that, but it was so much hotter for us.

I did a nice long run and swim warm up, and then it was go time. We were lined up by province, with me in between Tristan and Ian. I had a fairly good dive, gaining about half a body length, but then everyone just kept clawing at my feet for about 25 metres before I could get clear. The B.C. guys and two N.S. guys were all side by side for the first 300m to the bouy. Then it strung out a little, with me getting forced back in the pack. I just swam on feet the rest of the way in having no trouble doing so. Into T1, a ran past my bike to antoher cervelo, then realized it wasn't mine, so i had to go back a few bike to mine. This almost caused me to miss lead pack.

On the bike i just had nothing. I have never had any trouble pushing the bike in a tri before, but it took everything that i had just to stay in the pack. My legs just felt awful, and i know that if i had felt well i would have had no problem pulling through. We put about 1 minute on the chasers on the bike, so we started the run about 1:40 up. In the last km, JP broke away, putting about 10 seconds on us, and i knew that the other B.C. guys werent going to chase him, so i decided to let him go, and maybe that little surge would take something out of his legs.

I started the run with the mindset that i would build throughout it. I guess it worked. I felt awful from the start. My hamstrings were killing me, and I just had no pep. After the first loop I had dropped about 10 seconds behind a group of 3 guys. I started to feel a little better, and I emphasize a little, so I picked it up. In one lap I brought back that 10 second gap, and gapped them by about 10 seconds. The third lap really hurt, and the heat was starting to get to me (35 degrees). My hamstrings were giving out, and it was all I could do to stay ahead of Cole for second. I crossed the line in second, 50 seconds behind JP and 10 seconds ahead of Cole. Congrats to both of them, they both had amazing races.triastan and Ian posted the 1st and second fastest runs, I know they are a little disapointed, but you have to take the positives aways from this race.

Here is a photo from our newsletter of me at the finish, found here.


So until later,
CH

Canada Games, Day 4

The heat wave continues to roar across PEI. The last few days we have seen temperatures reaching 35, which reminds me of last years summer back in Ontario. The only way to escape it is to workout either very early, or very late. Which means that I was up again at 6:15 so that I could eat and then go for an hour ride, all before 8:30.

We went down to the race site today for a quick open water swim, nothing special, just some 50m starts. I have been feeling really good in the water the last few days, and with B.C. and us starting close together, I am sure that that feeling will come in handy. My running and biking legs are steadily coming around. I dont know if it was the short flight, or just some overall fatigue, but when I got here my legs just felt awful.

Tommorow is the individual event for triathlon. We race at noon, with the girls going 2 hours before us. I am excited to finally race, the games experience is quite something, and I am happy to be one of the first athletes to compete in triathlons debut at the Canada Games.

Thanks to everyone else who has sent me an email, and thanks to everyone who has helped me out this year. Here is one of my bigger fans, although she can't talk yet, and I will tear it up.



So until later,
CH

Canada Games, Day 3

Not much happened today. A few of us woke up early to get in an hour bike. We rode along the waterfront, it was a nice ride. Well paved roads, with almost no cars, although it was 7:30 in the morning. After the ride it was time for a quick little snack and then off to the pool. Most people did a little over 3km, but I have found that I swim better on a little taper, so i did the main set twice, and a longer warmdown, totalling 4500m. Once the swim was over I had a nice nap, more of a short sleep actually.

We had our pre race meeting today, nothing I haven't seen before. The course is the same, except for the run which they lengthened the loop to limit the amount of laps (5 last year, 3 this year). I was interested to find out the starting order, which was selected randomly. Each province is designated a sport by their starting number, which they cant change once they get on the pontoon. Sask. is first, and B.C last. Ontario is ranked second last, with N.S. in between us. That is great because most of the good swimmers are on the left side, which will create a good train.

Here is a picture from the Opening ceremonies that the team Ontario photographer took of me. It also made it into the days newsletter, here.

So until later,

CH

Canada Games, Day 2

Today we had the opening Ceremonies, I have to admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but after seeing the setup of the athlete village, my skepticism subsided. Our day started with getting up at 6:30 so that we could do a short swim/bike before we had our pep rally. We decided to swim at the beach instead of the harbour, big mistaked. The water was so shallow that we could get our swim in because no matter how far we swam out, we could still touch the bottom with our hands while swimming.

We made it back for our pep rally, which was kind our cool. They showed some videos of various sports, and the day before, one of which yours truly managed to sneak into, lol. After getting "pumped up" we had lunch, then hopped on a bus to the opening ceremonies. We were given a bunch of Ontario pins to trade, which is very popular around here. I managed to get a few before i got bored and stopped. I will steadily build up my collection over the coming week.

Once everyone was tired of the heat outside, we moved inside to the staging area, which was even hotter. After some cheering and music, and what felt like 5 hours (was actually around 2) we finally got to march into the arena. My doubts were imediately dismissed. It was quite the setup, with lots of cheering fans. We did a loop around the stadium, which included meeting the Prime Minister, and then we took our seats. After that there were some speeches, a few bands, and they raised the flag. this took another 2.5-3 hours. It would have been a lot better if they had shortened it just a little. The benches, coupled with the amount of people in there made it a little uncomfortable for that amount of time.

I will upload some pictures ffrom the opening ceremonies tommorow.

So until later,
CH

Canada Games, Day 1

I will take lots of photos, and try to post everyday while I am here, its a long shot, but it can be done.

I arrived in Summerside PEI this morning to a hearty welcome. We left Toronto on a chartered flight (its nice to just get off the bus and walk on the plane without haveing to deal with checkin and security). After a two hour flight, we arrived in Summerside. The 150 or so athletes got off the plane to be welcomed by banners, and a quick usher into a conference building for a briefing.

The athlete village used to be an old army barracks/converted hotel, in which they took everything out of the rooms and put bunk beds in instead. We are rooming with the sailing team, which makes 6 people in a normal hotel room. That isn't even bad, our girls team is rooming with 11 rowers, which makes 14 of them to a suite, which is 2 rooms, and one bathroom, ouch.

There is a cafateria, in which they serve three meals a day, and unlimited snacks for 6-11pm, which is nice. There is also a games hall, in which there are video games, comptuers, a pool/ping pong table, and a couple tv's. A few of us played some wierd bean planting card game that Craig had. Thanks to some crafty tactics I won.

As far as the training goes. We went for a short ride down to the beach along part of the bike course. The roads look fairly well maintained, there are a few bumpy sections, but nothing I havent experienced before. Last year the swim was barely wetsuit legal, not an issue this year. Stepping in the water reminded me of Des Moines (30ish degrees), but as we got farther out, and the water got deeper, it cooled off. The temperature will definately make in a non wetsuit swim :).

So until later,
CH

Misc.

A little recap of the last month or so since I went off the grid. Des Moines was a good learning experience. A good wake up call for when I move up to the u23 category next year. Our team (Kyla, Myself, Sarah, Jeff) had no expectations going in, and we were thrilled to have such a great final result. i think we were 13thish of 19ish teams. I came home, had a week or so to recover for nationals in Gatineau. I needed all that time to do so. Nationals finally rolled around, I hadnt tapered for it, just a few days of rest. Had a great swim/bike with 3 of us staying away. Started to cramp on the run, fell back to 5 or so by the end of the first lap, rallied on the second lap by just pushing through it, and magically started to feel really good, so i just kept building the second lap, and kept reeling guys in. I finished first, so my second National Junior Title, which is nice to get back.

I now have Canada Games on the adgenda. I leave tommorow morning. Wow did it ever creep up fast. I remember after Coteau, when I still hadn't made up my mind to whether I wanted to go or not. I only get one shot at this team because of my age, so I am glad I made the decision to compete. I will be competing in both the individual (Aug 18), and team competitions (Aug 21). I must admit, I am more excited for the team competition that the individual. It is definately a more exciting race to watch, and to race, althoughit is also much harder to race.

so until later,
CH

Des Moines Team World Championships

Live coverage here

So until later,
CH

28.8 Degrees

Well it is very warm here 28.8 degrees celcuis. Some people may say that 28.8 isn't very hot, but let me finish. It is not the air that is 28.8, it is the WATER. At the athlete breifing last night they said that 28.8 degrees was the lowest that they got. When the sun is out in full force, as soon as you step outside you start to sweat.

Tommorow is the world cup with $750,000 total prize money up for grabs, and with my race on Sunday, I am excited to watch. The set up here is absolutely top notch. The race venue is second to none with a little merchandise village and tones of seating around the finish line, now if they could fill the seating with fans, then that would be impressive.

The course for the Team relay is relatively easy, loop swim, a 3 loop 7km flat bike with tons of corners, and a 2km flat run.

so until later,

CH

Coteau Race Report

Ok, so i am finally getting around to writing a race report. So here is how it went from what I remember. Race morning I had a small breakfast then Tyler and I headed to the race site.

I was a little worried leading up to this race because I had just finished my biggest training week of the year so I was unsure how my body would react to the stresses of racing. I did a short warm up on the bike and run, then got my wetsuit on and did one loop of the course, and I felt awful the entire time.

I was ranked second coming in behind Matt V .so I took a spot beside him at one end of the pontoon. It was a wierd start, all of us on the left couldnt hear the starter, so all we heard was the horn. By the time we reacted, everyone was already in the air, which caused the pontoon to shift out from under us, so everyone on the left basically belly flopped into the water. I swam the first 50m with my head down, then looked up and everyone on the left had about 15 metres on me. I took me the better part of 500m to finally work my way past everyone to get up to lead pack. I exited the water in 10, in what was definately my slowest/worst swim in a few years. I had a quick transition, and headed onto the bike.

I had to hammer the first km of the bike because i was in no mans land, but I finally cuaght on. A group of 7 or 8 of us formed and some of us worked well together. Sharpe flatted after the first lap, so that left us a little short, but there were enought people pulling in the pack that i didnt have t really worry about getting tired. Overall the bike wasnt too stressful, and we entered t2 with about a minute lead.

On the run, the leaders took off like they were running a km repeat. I just stayed back and let them die off. About 1km into the run I moved into the lead annd just kept building. At the turn around I noticed that the chase pack had some strong runners, so i really pushed the third stretch, then at the turnaround I knew that there was a big enough gap that Iwasnt going to be caught.

So I was first overall, and a relative newcomer to junior racing, Tristan Woodfine, a first year junior was second. Watch out for this kid in the future because he can run.

So until later,

CH

Coteau du Lac

Race report to come later

Canadian Triathletes Connor Hammond and Kyla Coates Win Teck National Junior Series in Quebec
—Paula Findlay stomps field en route to winning women’s elite gold

COTEAU-DU-LAC, Que.—Canada’s Connor Hammond and Kyla Coates won the second stage of the three-race Teck Triathlon National Junior Series on Saturday in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec near Montreal.

The 18-year-old Hammond, who finished second at the PATCO Championships earlier this year, maintained pace with the lead pack through the 750-metre swim and 20-kilometre ride on the bike before storming to the lead in the five-kilometre run. The London, Ont. native crossed the line with a time of 57 minutes 42 seconds.

“It was a great day and I was able to get out of the water with the lead pack. We worked well together on the bike and I just gave it all I had in the run,” said Hammond. “Last week was a very tiring 24-hour training week so my legs were a little tired and I was really fatigued coming in. I’m happy I was able to finish on top.”

Hammond was joined on the junior men’s podium by Ontario’s Tristan Woodfine, who finished second with a time of 58:01 after posting the fastest run time. Quebec’s Marc-Antoine Christian locked up third spot at 58:33.

Victoria’s Kyla Coates continued her golden streak by winning her third consecutive women’s race in as many starts this year. Coates, who captured the PATCO Championship title and the first race of the Teck Junior Series in Winnipeg this spring, bolted her way to the top of the podium again on Saturday with a time of 1:02:53.

Coates was joined on the women’s podium by Ontario’s Joanna Brown, who locked up second spot after posting the fastest time in the run. Brown stopped the clock with a time of 1:03:12. Christine Ridenour, of British Columbia, powered her way into third place after clocking-in at 1:03:50.

Meanwhile, Coteau-du-Lac also hosted the elite men and women Olympic distance races under ideal conditions Saturday.

Edmonton’s Paula Findlay stomped the field in her first race of the year after recovering from a stress fracture in her foot. The 20-year-old budding star on Canada’s national squad clocked a golden time of 2:03:50 in the women’s 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike and 10-kilometre run.

“I was really happy with how I raced today especially since it was my first of the year,” said Findlay. “I have been slowly progressing on the run and need to continue working hard, but I was just happy to be able to finish a 10-kilometre run without any pain.”

Findlay was joined on the elite women’s podium by Victoria’s Kerry Spearing who finished second at 2:04:50, while Ontario’s Ayesha Rollinson ran up from the chase pack to grab third place with a time of 2:07:35.

The elite men’s results were not available at publication.
The Teck National Junior Series is the nation’s premier development race circuit which allows athletes and coaches the appropriate focal points for training and monitoring athlete progression. The annual three-race series is used by Triathlon Canada for World Junior Team and Canada Games selections.

Canada’s top junior triathletes will now head to Gatineau, Que. for the third and final stop of the tour, July 11.

(Although the elite results weren't up, AP was second and Yorke broke out of his shell and had an amazing race to finish third, congrats guys)

So until later,
CH

Popular website

Well, Craig has gotten on my back about not posting very much, so here is a very popular website that I like to visit a lot.

Training is going well in Guelph, so can't complain about that.

So until later,

CH

Next few days

A couple days ago I came down with a little illness. It was just a mild cold, I took a day off of training and i feel a lot better now. Hopefully I can be fully recovered for tommorow becasue I am competing in a 5km on the track in London. I am looking to finally crack that 15 minute barrier. The start list is very competitive, with about 20 people entered under 15 minutes, so if i am going to finally break the barrier, this is going to be the race to do it at. A performance list can be found here.

On Thursday I am heading down to Guelph for the summer/next 4 years, so I am looking foward to that. Thats it for now, not much has happened lately.

So until later,
CH

"I would rather Die than go to Guelph" My Bad

I know, I know, if you had talked to me last year about where I would be going to university I would have said McMaster, and maybe something like "I would rather die than go to Guelph". But after comtemplating about it late last year, I decided that Guelph is a better place for me. With my coach, Craig Taylor, based out of Guelph, and a great squad training there, with the edition of a few athletes next year, I really feel that it will be great for my developement. After spending two weeks there during March I feel that I made the right decision.



So until later,

CH

Oklahoma Race Report

Well, what can I say, PATCO could not have gone any better. One of the best races that I have ever had. Leading up to the race I had been training very well, so I knew I was capable of doing very well.

I had a solid warm up, which helped to take the edge off of the nerves. I was ranked 49th, and with the largest field of the day, 75, I was right in the middle. Everyone before me decided to line up on the left because it was slightly shorter, not much though, so i took the right side. After that people started to line up beside me. They screwed up on the number of spots and had to extend it, so i lost my end position by 5 places. They were a little disorganized for the swim start. They didnt have any speakers, so one moment I was standing there, and the next the horn went. Withing about 20 strokes I was in clean water. I swam the next few hundred metres by myself before hitting the first turn in about 4th. From there on I just swam on some feet and rested for the rest of the race. I exited the water in third, had a quick transition and was first onto the bike.

I realized my lack of bike fitness about 200m into it. An American took off, then a South American went too and I was unable to respond, but that fitness will come over the next few months. Cole, Aaron and I rode together got 5km before two guys caught us. we worked together for another couple km before Aaron and I made the decision to wait for the chase pack which was only a few seconds away. After that the pack pretty much grinded to a halt. We caught the chase pack, but other than that nothing happened. There were attacks, but none of them sucessful. The roads had many cracks and holes in then, so a few people went down. In the last few kms, I made my way to the front of the pack and entered transition in the top 5, about 1 min down on the two leaders. I had a good transition and made my way onto the run.

Just exited T2

Starting second loop of the run

My plan was to build the run. I felt great on the run, and was running behind the leaders of the chase pack not even trying, so I passed them. Ian joined me about 500m into the run, and then an American, and the eventual winner (ran a 14:18 5000m indoor this year) passed us right after. Ian and I worked well to catch the leaders. After the first lap we had caught one of the leaders, but the two Americans remained up the road. At the turn around we were within sight of one of the Americans, and the eventual winner was running with him. With about 200m to go, 2nd place was about 20m ahead of me. I started sprinting, I had caught him with about 100m to go, I passed him, but he surged ahead and passed me, then gave it everything I had to put it into final gear. I held him off for second place, and about 20 seconds behind the winner.

It was not only a great day for me, but many Canadians. Kayla placed 1st, and Marianne 3rd in the junior womens race, and Andrew McCartney placed 3rd in the U23 division after leading everyone, including olympians out of the water, and congrats to Ian Donald who had a breakout performance on the international stage. Last year the Junior men only had one in the top 10, this year we had four, so our junior men are finally beginning to establish themselves in the world, congrats guys.

Me on the podium

Canadian Juniors collecting 3 podium finishes

So until later,

CH

Oklahoma Update

PATCO went well, placed 2nd. I will give a proper race report tommorow because i have been travelling since 5:15 this morning. Here is a media article from Tri Canada about PATCO.

Canadian Triathletes Win Four Medals at PATCO Championships

OKLAHOMA CITY, U.S.A—Canada’s next generation of Olympic triathlon heroes stormed the podium by winning four medals in men’s and women’s races at the PATCO Triathlon Pan American Championships in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Saturday.

Victoria’s Kyla Coates set the pace early in the junior race consisting of the 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-kilometre run, to post one of Canada’s best-ever overall showings at the PATCO Championships by winning the women’s race under cool and very difficult morning conditions with a time of one hour six minutes and 30 seconds (1:06:30).

Full article Here

Oklahoma This Saturday

So it has been a few weeks since my last post. I never did give a race report for Texas, so it will be one of the many things included in this post, along with my lead up to PATCO.

So my flight was cancelled due to severe thunder storms on the way down. I didn't end up getting to the hotel until around 7:30 the night before the race. Lubbock is a pretty desolate place, with almost no trees. I put the bike together and then went out for dinner. The race was in the afternoon, so I got a nice sleep in.

The course was interesting, a really short swim, a hilly windy bike, and a flat run. Swim didnt go very well, after the first 100m my heart was in my throat, so I had to back off a little. I still came out of the water 2nd, but a ways behind the leader. There was a nice present for us out of transition in the form of a big hill, then another one about 500m after that. The bike never got organized, and I ended up soloing about half of it. Run came and we were 2 mins behind the leader. I took off out of t2 in third, but my legs were very tired. I started having stomach problems about 1.5km in to it. About 100m after the halfway point I pulled over to the side of the road and hurled. 4 guys passed me during my pit stop, but after that I felt great and managed to finish in fourth.

Last Saturday I rabbited the Ontario 10,000m championships in London. I would have loved to have been able to run the whole thing because I have great endurance right now, and it was a competitive field, but with PATCO being my main focus, it just was't an option. It was a very windy day so the race was going to be tough, good thing I was only going to 4km. I split it perfectly, knocking off 3:05's like clockwork. I rolled through 4km leading the chase pack of 4 or 5 guys in 12:20 running relatively easy.

I got my new Nineteen Frequency Wetsuit the other day. Being a swimmer, I can`t stand to have any restriction on my shoulders, and the frequency is about as close as I am going to get to that feeling. It has 5mm legs, and 1.5mm rubber for the wingspan that makes for a very felxible suit. Thanks Nineteen, I am looking forward to setting some fast swims in your suit.

I leave for Oklahoma tomorow, so I am getting pretty excited. My training has been going very well the last month, so I am excited to see what I can do.

So until Later,
CH

What to do, What to do

Today is going to be a very long day. It started out with getting up at 4am in order to make it to Detroit for my 8am flight. I made it with plenty to spare. The 3 hour flight to Dallas was went smooth for the first 2 hours, then we hit so rough weather. It was a little nerve racking with the lightning coming every minute or so, but we got through it with only some minor turbulance and arrived in Dallas to torrential downpoor.

Once in Dallas I took a nap because i had a 2:30 layover. After a 45 minute nap i woke up to find out my 12:45 flight was cancelled. I got put on stand-by for a 1:40 flight, and booked a 5:10 flight. the 1:40 got cancelled, so i am about 20th on stand-by for a 3:30 flight. So it looks like I will be getting into Lubbock at 6:10, just in time for the mandatory 4pm race meeting. Awsome.

So as you can tell i am bored out of my mind. Its not like there is anything to do in an airport but wait, and i am tired of listening to music after 6 hours of it.

So until later.

Results are in

Well it has been 6 days since the 5km showdown, and I have been dreading this moment the whole time. I lost the 5km showdown between my dad an I, so the people that voted for my dad won, sorry i let everyone down. In order for me to win, I would of had to run a 13:50. I think my dad was lying about how fast he could run in a ploy to get the radio back. No one runs a minute thirty faster than they think they can for 5km. So that is my theory.

My race went really well. I had a seven second pb that I set in July last year, with no real speedwork. The course profiles for both are perfectly flat, so they should run roughly even. I went out really hard, and paid for it the last 2km, but i was running with 2 other people, and i didnt want to let them go. I was second overall, but I lost to a kenyan, so it is basically a win. Results can be found here.

Tommorow I leave for Lubbock Texas to compete in the first tri of the season. I fly out at 8ish am, so that means an early morning, awsome. I am really looking foward to getting all the cobwebs out. Matt Vierula and I are the only Canadains going, so it should be fun.

So until later,
CH

5 KM CHALLENGE

Connor VS Bruce

2______1

Here are the results of those who voted. The race is only one day away, so if there are any straglers out there who haven't voted, time is running out.

So until Later,

CH

Beginning of the Season

So training the last week has gone well. The weather has been very inconsisstant, but what ya gonna do. One day it is 10 degrees, the next it is -5 with a few inchs of snow. I just finished a hard four week block, and now I got a rest week leading into the first race of the year.

There are only 3 days to go until the Good Friday 5km, so keep the votes coming in on who you think is going to win between may dad and myself. We only have a few votes so far. I am really looking foward to getting the season underway. The week after Easter is the first triathlon of the year in Lubbock, so i am really looking foward to that.

Last night was the end of March Madness, and the team i was cheering for got rocked. Michigan lost 89-72, last years game went into overtime, this years was over by the end of the first quater.

So until later

CH

Training/racing/other useless blabber

Training has been going really well since I left Guelph. I am in the third week of a four week block, and I was still going strong, until today. I will explain below.

Every other Friday in the pool we do 10x100 on 1:30 best average. I was pretty skeptical when i got in because i hadnt't been feeling the best lately, and warmup was no exception. My stroke felt long but laboured, so I was hoping that I would loosen up before the main set. And I did, I started out just above my 400 pace for the first four, and then from 5-9 I held under it. I kind of died on the last one, but nobody's perfect.

On the run, I know that I have been running well over the past month, but I had no way to guage it. My running coach Steve Weiler and his squad the London runner Distance Club hold two winter time trials a year to guage where your fitness is. At the end of February I ran a 15:10, and in one month i have knocked 45 seconds off of that time, which puts me at a pace that is just over my personal best for 5km. I was pretty surprised to see how fast i had ran it in because i was a little sore heading into it. But now my legs are exhausted, just standing kills me(maybe a little over exageration). So hopefully with a few lighter running days before Wednesdays hard run will be enough time to recover.

It is confirmed right now, the first triathlon is only three weeks away. I am heading down to Lubbock Texas to participate in the Twenty-Twelve Talent Identification sprint distance race. It is a cool concept, anyone from the ages of 16-23 are allowed to enter, and if you're 24-34 you need to be a top age grouper in the USA. There are no elites allowed, and you must finish the swim in under 16 minutes(it is going to be close). There is $4000 total prize money up for grabs, so hopefully I can dabble in that. Myself and last years National Champion Matt Vierula are the only Canadians that i know of that are going, so it should be a fun race. Because this is just a race to get all of the the winter cobwebs out, I am trying to make it as cheap a trip as possible, so i am flying in on Friday, racing Saturday afternoon, and flying out Sunday. It should be fun.

In other news, Kirsten Sweetland won the first World Cup of the year, Congrats. After being injured for most of last year, winning the first race has to get a lot of weight of the shoulders.

So until Later,

CH

5 km showdown

Well, it has been one day since I posted the challenge and my Dad is already playing mind games. My Dad has already used two alias', Kara Thrace is a character on Battlestar Galactica, and the character John Locke from the show Lost is an alias of Jeremy Bentham. Nice try there Dad.

A little background on my Dad. He is runnining about 10 miles a week, and he says that the best he will probably be able to go is around 22:30.

So keep the comments going, and leave your name, and I will administrate which comments are reliable, and the one's my Dad are writing.

So until later

CH

First camp has come to a close

Well, although my first training camp wasn't in the deep south of Florida or the desert of Arizona, going to Guelph was definately a good choice. Over the two weeks spent there, I could really feel the energy in all three sports come back. It is amazing the difference training as a triathlete has on you compared to training under coaches who specialize in individual sports. You end up going faster in the long run because your training is set up so that your are not trashing the same muscles over and over again, which leads to fatigue, and eventually injury. Only problem with training as a triathlete, is there are very few environments that allow you to do so.

The last month I have felt lousy in the pool, but after the first few days in Guelph, I began to get the zip back that was there early February. I was able to have some very solid workouts, and even got down to 3's and 4's on one set of hundreds. The total over the two weeks in the pool was just over 45 km. It would have been 50, but the pool was closed one day for some waterpolo thing.

With an increase in temperature over the last few weeks (it actually got into the double digits, and it wasnt negative double digits), it meant that I could brave it outside. It was nice to be able to finally take the bike off the trainer and hit the road. Now the next set is to be able to do it with out tights, jackets, and knee/arm warmers. Its hards to gage your fittness on the bike this early when all you are doing is base work, so we will see where i am in a couple of weeks when the local bike races start here in london. Total over two weeks was 6 rides/7hrs, so do the math.

Increase in temperature meant shorts on the run. Not quite warm enough to sport the bare chest, but i'll take whatever I can get. I was running very well knocking off under 3:10 for 1250 repeats, and then the next week I was doing them in 3:05's. It looks like all of the base i have done over the winter has paid off, now i just need the speed, although i did knock off a 29 second 200 at the end of a long workout. Total for the two weeks was 125km.

Firts race is in little over 2 weeks, a local 5 km. This race ranks in the top three of the year, right behind Worlds (if i make it) and PATCO. There are some very high stakes. My dad and I always do a 5km each year, I give him a handicap, and at the end whoever comes out on top wins control of the radio whenever we are in the car together, until the next challange(usually a golf match during the summer. I have held it since September, so he is getting a little ancy). As of right now I am giving him 7 minutes. To all my very few readers out there, post a comment on who you think is going to win, and leave your name, that way I know that it isnt just my dad voting for himself over and over agian in a ploy to indimidate me(its hard to be intimidated when im giving him 7 mintues), and on Good Friday (April 8) we will see who comes out on top. The last time we had out race my dad beat me bay a few seconds, so we are predicting another nailbiter.

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.