Feb
16
Training
14 km run with 35 min in Zone 2
27 km bike with 15 min tempo
Olympic Highlight
Men’s hockey getting underway and then watching the Ignite the Dream fire and light show at Robson Square. Still can’t believe how crazy it is on Robson at night.
Feb
15
Training
3.6 km swim
79 km ride with 1.5 hours in Zone 2
Olympic Highlight
Watching Alexandre Bilodeau get his gold medal with Brian at LiveCity Downtown.
Feb
14
Feb
13
Training
1 hour hill run (ouch)
32 km bike with 20 min and drills
Olympic Highlight
Obviously Jen Heil winning silver but also seeing Wilco at LiveCity Yaletown
Feb
12
Training
4.1 km swim
7 km recovery run with 4 20 s accelerations and drills
Olympic Highlight
Opening ceremonies obviously but specifically the slam poem “We Are More” by Shane Koyczan.
Define Canada
You might say the home of the Rocket
Or The Great One
Who inspired little No. 9s and little No. 99s
But we’re more than just hockey and fishing lines
Off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
And some say what defines us
Is something as simple as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
And as for ‘your welcome,’ well, we say that, too
But we are more than genteel or civilized
We are an idea in the process of being realized
We are young, we are cultures strung together then woven into a tapestry
And the design is what makes us more than the sum totals of our history
We are an experiment going right for a change
With influences that range from A to Zed
And yes, we say ‘Zed’ instead of ‘Zee’
We are the brightness of Chinatown and the laughter of Little Italy
We dream so big that there are those would call our ambition an industry
We reforest what we clear
Because we believe in generations beyond our own
Knowing now that so many of us
Have grown past what we used to be
We can stand here today
Filled with all the hope people have
When they say things like ‘someday’
Because we are more
Than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
More than hills to ski
Or countryside ponds to skate
We are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can’t wait
We are first-rate greasy spoon diners and healthy living cafes
A country that is all the ways you choose to live
A nation that can give you variety
Because we are choices
We are millions upon millions of voices
Shouting, keep exploring
We are more
We are the surprise the world has in store for you, it’s true
Canada is the ‘what’ in ‘what’s new’
So don’t let your luggage define your travels
Each life unravels differently
And experiences are what make up
The colours of our tapestry
We are the true North
Strong and free
And what’s more
Is that we didn’t just say it
We made it be
Feb
12
It’s finally here.
I don’t what I’m more excited about, the Olympics themselves or the two week break from school. Either way it’s going to be two weeks full of training, interspersed with watching events on TV and even a couple live (thanks Dad).
The original plan for these two weeks was to be in Maui, training in the sun but that fell through so instead I’ll be slogging out my own training camp in the less comfortable climes of Vancouver. But before I get there, how about an update on where I’m at right now.
The past four months of training have been solid. Nothing spectacular, just consistently putting in the hours each week and seeing incremental improvements.
In the pool, I have yet to see a big improvement in speed but I know I’m much stronger than I was last year. I’m regularly putting in 15-16 km in the pool (which is more than I ever did in one week before this year) and can still swim strong at the end of our 4 km swims at Dolphins. So with my endurance at a new level, spring time will be the time to bring up the speed.
The bike has been coming along with what I feel like are some big improvements in technique from the spin sessions with Larry. With spin sessions now on Wednesdays with LETC it has become Sunday rides with Barb Zimich’s group the past three weeks that are the notorious bonk fests for me (in a good way). The hour or so of moderate intensity followed by filling out the ride with some aerobic threshold riding to hit 3-3.5 hours has done me in. The kind of rides where you just want to get off the bike and walk home by the end. So good.
As for running, I’m going to declare myself back after a solid benchmark run last week. Ran a couple of 1 mile repeats on short rest in 6 minutes. It wasn’t so much the time that I ran as much as the comfort with which I ran them. Being my first track workout since the foot injury I decided not to push myself and so to hit 3:45 / km pace so easily was a big confidence boost.
So now the next two weeks will be BIG volume to really solidify the base before I start picking up . After all, Spring Series bike races, a couple of 5ks I’ve got my eye on and the Delta Sprint are just around the corner. Bring on the racing.
Jan
23
‘nuf said.
Jan
18
Some great comments by former hockey player Jim Peplinski (Joel Otto’s accomplice in the kick in goal that cost the Canucks the ’89 series against the Flames…not that I hold grudges) about the real benefits of sport courtesy of Sport At Its Best:
What is the purpose of sport?
Sport can make people great athletes…
Or
Sport can make athletes great people.
Many people participate in a sport or get their children to participate in sport, invest countless hours and thousands of dollars with a view to becoming a great athlete or raising a great athlete.
This can work.
Is there another objective? A better objective? An objective that can cause you to play longer? An objective that increases your chances of reaching your athletic potential while improving personally through the lessons of sport?
Should we change our thinking on how we coach and approach sport?
If you approached sport with a goal to enjoy what ever sport you chose to participate in, to do your best and enjoy it, would you play longer? Would you be better rounded? Would you get more out of sport? Would you be a better person? And maybe become a great athlete too?
I believe so.
To me sport teaches character. Character is doing what you said you would do when it costs you!
To me sport teaches discipline. Get discipline. Get better. At anything !
To me sport teaches the value of fundamentals. Get great at skating, shooting, passing and you reach a high level in hockey. Get educated, you reach a high level in life.
To me sport teaches the value of health. Look after your body it looks after you.
To me sport teaches commitment. It is rarely the most talented who succeed. It is regularly the person who does the work and hangs in longest who is rewarded.
To me sport teaches empathy. Know how you teammate feels, instead of only thinking about how you feel.
To me sport teaches performance. Keep score. Measure yourself. Get better.
To me sport teaches mental toughness. Fall down. Get up. Push yourself through discomfort.
To me sport teaches responsibility. Take responsibility for your actions. Entitlement doesn’t win in sport. Entitlement doesn’t win in life.
So, get involved in sports. Stick with it.
Get good at a sport. Be a better athlete. You bet.
Get good at what makes you good at a sport, be a better person. You win both ways.
Best athlete, best person. Absolutely.
Jan
13
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”
- Ayn Rand
Dec
30
Out for drinks with an old friend the other night I was asked what music I have been listening to lately (a common theme when we get together). I was able to come up with a couple of examples but it got me to thinking what has really caught my ear this year.
So since the year is coming to an end and thanks to Grooveshark I have been able to put together my favourite 12 songs that I came across this year (not necessarily released this year) along with my favourite lyric from them. Some are not of the greatest quality but that just means you’ll have to go out there and buy them if you like them right?
Enjoy (especially the cameo by Stephen Colbert).
1. Dan Mangan – Road Regrets
It’s all business in the left hand lane
2. Junior Boys – Parallel Lines
If you found the words would you really say them?
3. Joel Plaskett – Through & Through & Through
You be Israel and I’ll be Palestine
4. The National – Apartment Story
Tired and wired we ruin too easy
5. Lisa Hannigan – I Don’t Know
I don’t know…if you eat what you’ve been given or push it round your plate. I’d like to cook for you all the same. If you want to, I am game.
6. Ben Harper – Fly One Time
Now I’m caught in between what I can’t leave behind and what I may never find. So fly one time.
7. K-OS – I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman
My shadow weighs a ton, call it baggage but I use it all to advantage
8. Alicia Keys feat. Stephen Colbert – Empire of the State (Part 2)
My community is gated, my shorties are all private school educated
9. Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost
Where would my body go? Africa or Mexico
10. Dan Mangan – Robots
Sing your stupid head off to the ones who are not listening
11. You Say Party! We Say Die! – Laura Palmer’s Prom
My heart needs a love dance
12. Matthew Good – True Love Will Find You In The End
This is a promise with a catch cause only if you’re looking will it find you
