A Crazy Year...

From sitting on my ass watching TV to finishing the Peach Classic Triathlon...wow. Hard to believe. For the record, let me say that that Penticton course is HARD. Heat and hills, that's all there is.

I came it at 2:55:49, which my friend seems to think is awesome, but I felt a little disappointed, which is strange since I didn't expect to be able to race an Olympic Distance race this year. Still, I had it in my head that I would come in between 2:30 and 2:45. I have to remind myself that this is my first year in the sport (without any background in any of the 3 events, which others tend to have) and that what I've done thus far is impressive to say the least.

This race is also more elite than the others I've done. Many excellent competitors showed up on Sunday, many who were either finishers or champions of Ironman races past. Peter Reid, current Triathlon Canada champion was there...had I seen him I would have said hi.

So, the moral is that I have a long way to go, but my goal is to place top 3 in my age category (and finish an Ironman, but that will come along the way methinks) so I must continue training. Harder, Faster, Stronger...etc

11 months and a week since I first decided I wanted to do this sport, and here I am, a lean, mean fighting machine. I think I will spend the winter working on my swim, which needs to become faster, and my bike, which needs to be replaced with something, oh I don't know...FAST (though she has held up beautifully for me).

I still may do the Vancouver Tri, but I'm not sure. It's in September so I have time, and there a sprint dist on Sept 18 that may be a nice way to finish off the season and show me if I've improved on my Delta time at all.

Until next time, adios me!

Half-Life 2

Personally, I never saw what was so great about the first Half-Life. To me it was just another FPS. I didn't have a computer to play it when it came out, so maybe I missed out on the initial craze. The furthest I ever got in the game was being transported to the alien dimension. By then I had no life and was getting attacked by electricity mofos left, right, and centre. I also constantly felt that I had no idea what was going on in the game. Someone would say where to go but I would forget after 10 minutes of intense combat with either aliens, zombies, or marines.Still, it was a good game.

HL2 was pure fun though. I still had the whole "what am I supposed to be doing again?" feeling once in a while, but storyline stuff aside, the game is just pure fun. The game took the idea of "immersiveness" to a whole new level with the physics engine they used. I remember being in the city knowing that I was going to be attacked around this corner by some combine troops. I looked around and saw an explosive barrel next to the stairs I had to go down. I decided to push the barrel down the stairs and shoot it as it hit to kill whatever was hiding on me.

There was no one there, but the fact that I could do that if I wanted is a big step in video game history. I look forward to the endless possibilities that games like this will present to us gamers as time and technology improve.

HL2 has taken the idea of the fps and added a tactical/strategic element (in terms of environment) that the genre desperately needs to help redefine itself.

/my 13 cents

PS. THE GAME IS SOOOOO PRETTY!