I'm back from Toronto, slightly worse for wear but kept afloat by my bronze medal podium finish at CIRCs.
While I won't get into details about my trip to and from the T.O. via Via Rail, I will simply say that something needs to change with that crown corp. Unfortunately, Canada doesn't have the population density, even in the Montreal-Toronto corridor to support a privately owned train network, as everyone's favourite pseudo-blogger PH pointed out. What makes things worse is that Via Rail's passenger service is trumped by CN Rail's freight transport priorities, and they don't even run efficiently. They have little incentive to keep the tracks in good condition, little incentive to maximize the quantity of goods being transported across the country, and in short, no incentive to maximize profits. This leaves those of us who want to travel by train to have no choice but to learn to live with the delays and frustrations of our publicly owned rail network. Possible solutions include boosting the population density of the country by implimenting a 'minimum 4 child policy', thus creating the market for a private network, while a less draconian measure might simply be to blow off steam by complaining to our Minister of Transport.
Delays persisted despite being off the tracks, a characteristic ubiquitous to rowing events. While my race, Senior B Men, was scheduled for 230pm, it ended up being rescheduled to 315pm, and didn't end up starting until 415pm. This is tough for any athlete. Staying mentally focussed for that period of time is always tough, especially when you warm up and stretch, only to be told that there's been another delay. On the bright side, this delay enabled my friend B to catch my race, (which he almost missed due to a long recovery after attending the Engineers without Borders national conference - an honorable excuse if there ever was one). Once the race was finally ready to start, I got set up in Lane 12, waiting anxiously for the screen in front of me to count down from 5 to 0, giving the twenty of us the green light for pain. The CIRC setup is great for spectators because you can see everyone's boat on giant screen in the middle of the atrium, displaying the race as if it were running on water. These screens are also in front of each athlete's machine, but it can be dangerous to spend much time watching your position in relation to everyone else when you really have to focus on your stroke rate and split time on the monitor directly in front of you. When the race was under way I began to watch the meters drop at alarming speed, an indication that I was pulling too hard in my start sequence and had to find the equilibrium that I would keep up for the entirety of the race. With 500m to go I could feel the acid burning through my muscles, every breath being shorter than the last. I began to hate my coach, standing behind me, for screaming out orders that I couldn't see myself being able to do, but with a little persistence and masochistic determination, I brought the stroke rate up a precious one or two points. I made the mistake of looking up to the screen in front of me, only to see myself slipping away from the #2 boat but still ahead of #4. Before I knew it, the race was finished, and I could hardly breath. Standing was simply not going to happen, so I was content sitting on the erg for a good few minutes until I felt confident I would be able to stand under my own strength without collapsing. Luckily I had B to lend a shoulder to lean on, and was able to walk away from the erg of death. For the unitiated, the twenty minutes following a race are the worst part of the experience. Nausea, dizzyness, headaches and thirst all combine to create a perfect storm of discomfort. The last time I raced in November, I was able to keep things under control...or rather, inside. This time, no such luck. Despite not having eaten since 130, three hours back, my body decided to return my Chile Con Carne and Power Bar for refund, if you get my drift. Luckily this made me feel much better, and able to stand for what proved to be a very short but triumphant stand upon the podium with the two guys who beat me by an uncomfortably large margin. The exact times haven't been posted yet, but I came in at 6:23.3 (or .6), with the first place finisher close to 6:10. Damn. Third place at the CIRCs is good enough for 10th in Canada, based on a direct comparison with the Monster Erg at UVic, held last weekend. Our first place finisher was first in Canada, beating Monster Erg's first place by four seconds. I'm content with my time and proud of my bronze medal, but I know I can go faster. Just give me time.
I discovered this morning that the race killed me, leaving my immune system open to a wide variety of bacterial insurgents. Today was brought to me by the letter K, for Kleenex, with our evening program made possible by viewers like me, Neo Citron and Actifed.
Received my grad photos from Josten's today. They turned out quite well, I'm pleased to say. The fur on the shoulders takes some getting used to, though. [wouldn't that sound strange if you didn't read the preceding sentence?]
My good friend Aviron will be receiving a reply to his response to my Belinda post as soon as my nose gives me the go ahead. In the mean time, North Vancouver-Seymour's local weasel and disastrously useless backbencher Ted White seems to be dealing with a little competition. It seems as though North Vancouver is so desperate for change that some people are taking drastic measures in order to unseat White, one way or another. While I don't support the means through which they are attempting to do so, it's time for a respectable and progressive, non-SSHRC hating North Vancouverite to step on to the scene. Anyone outside the Conservative Party? Surprisingly enough, given our reputation as the Left Coast...unlikely. Somebody...anybody...just not Ted White! (Way not to update your party logo, Ted...)
While I won't get into details about my trip to and from the T.O. via Via Rail, I will simply say that something needs to change with that crown corp. Unfortunately, Canada doesn't have the population density, even in the Montreal-Toronto corridor to support a privately owned train network, as everyone's favourite pseudo-blogger PH pointed out. What makes things worse is that Via Rail's passenger service is trumped by CN Rail's freight transport priorities, and they don't even run efficiently. They have little incentive to keep the tracks in good condition, little incentive to maximize the quantity of goods being transported across the country, and in short, no incentive to maximize profits. This leaves those of us who want to travel by train to have no choice but to learn to live with the delays and frustrations of our publicly owned rail network. Possible solutions include boosting the population density of the country by implimenting a 'minimum 4 child policy', thus creating the market for a private network, while a less draconian measure might simply be to blow off steam by complaining to our Minister of Transport.
Delays persisted despite being off the tracks, a characteristic ubiquitous to rowing events. While my race, Senior B Men, was scheduled for 230pm, it ended up being rescheduled to 315pm, and didn't end up starting until 415pm. This is tough for any athlete. Staying mentally focussed for that period of time is always tough, especially when you warm up and stretch, only to be told that there's been another delay. On the bright side, this delay enabled my friend B to catch my race, (which he almost missed due to a long recovery after attending the Engineers without Borders national conference - an honorable excuse if there ever was one). Once the race was finally ready to start, I got set up in Lane 12, waiting anxiously for the screen in front of me to count down from 5 to 0, giving the twenty of us the green light for pain. The CIRC setup is great for spectators because you can see everyone's boat on giant screen in the middle of the atrium, displaying the race as if it were running on water. These screens are also in front of each athlete's machine, but it can be dangerous to spend much time watching your position in relation to everyone else when you really have to focus on your stroke rate and split time on the monitor directly in front of you. When the race was under way I began to watch the meters drop at alarming speed, an indication that I was pulling too hard in my start sequence and had to find the equilibrium that I would keep up for the entirety of the race. With 500m to go I could feel the acid burning through my muscles, every breath being shorter than the last. I began to hate my coach, standing behind me, for screaming out orders that I couldn't see myself being able to do, but with a little persistence and masochistic determination, I brought the stroke rate up a precious one or two points. I made the mistake of looking up to the screen in front of me, only to see myself slipping away from the #2 boat but still ahead of #4. Before I knew it, the race was finished, and I could hardly breath. Standing was simply not going to happen, so I was content sitting on the erg for a good few minutes until I felt confident I would be able to stand under my own strength without collapsing. Luckily I had B to lend a shoulder to lean on, and was able to walk away from the erg of death. For the unitiated, the twenty minutes following a race are the worst part of the experience. Nausea, dizzyness, headaches and thirst all combine to create a perfect storm of discomfort. The last time I raced in November, I was able to keep things under control...or rather, inside. This time, no such luck. Despite not having eaten since 130, three hours back, my body decided to return my Chile Con Carne and Power Bar for refund, if you get my drift. Luckily this made me feel much better, and able to stand for what proved to be a very short but triumphant stand upon the podium with the two guys who beat me by an uncomfortably large margin. The exact times haven't been posted yet, but I came in at 6:23.3 (or .6), with the first place finisher close to 6:10. Damn. Third place at the CIRCs is good enough for 10th in Canada, based on a direct comparison with the Monster Erg at UVic, held last weekend. Our first place finisher was first in Canada, beating Monster Erg's first place by four seconds. I'm content with my time and proud of my bronze medal, but I know I can go faster. Just give me time.
I discovered this morning that the race killed me, leaving my immune system open to a wide variety of bacterial insurgents. Today was brought to me by the letter K, for Kleenex, with our evening program made possible by viewers like me, Neo Citron and Actifed.
Received my grad photos from Josten's today. They turned out quite well, I'm pleased to say. The fur on the shoulders takes some getting used to, though. [wouldn't that sound strange if you didn't read the preceding sentence?]
My good friend Aviron will be receiving a reply to his response to my Belinda post as soon as my nose gives me the go ahead. In the mean time, North Vancouver-Seymour's local weasel and disastrously useless backbencher Ted White seems to be dealing with a little competition. It seems as though North Vancouver is so desperate for change that some people are taking drastic measures in order to unseat White, one way or another. While I don't support the means through which they are attempting to do so, it's time for a respectable and progressive, non-SSHRC hating North Vancouverite to step on to the scene. Anyone outside the Conservative Party? Surprisingly enough, given our reputation as the Left Coast...unlikely. Somebody...anybody...just not Ted White! (Way not to update your party logo, Ted...)
posted by Per at 7:13 p.m.
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