Sunday, January 27, 2008

2008 B.C. Airgun Championships - February 29 - March 2

The Joe Elkin Memorial - 2008 BC Airgun Championships are being held once again in Richmond, BC on February 29 - March 2nd. The BC Target Sports Association website has been updated with PDF downloads of the Regulations and Registration forms.

That will be an extremely busy week for me as I'll be in Toronto from February 21 - 26 and then will only have a couple days before the BC Airgun Championships.

Less than 4 weeks to go until the Canadian Airgun Grand Prix. Exciting! :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

"Ban handguns says Toronto mayor"... uuuhhh yeah okay.

From : National Post

"Mayor David Miller called for a total ban on handgun ownership after the fatal shooting this weekend of a passer-by outside a club on one of the busiest stretches of Yonge Street."

I haven't blogged about the negative perception handguns have by some people. It's truly unfortunate how tragic some violent crimes are. It's also unfortunate that more often than not a gun is used during the crime. If all guns were banned some other weapon would be used. It won't prevent crime, it would just reduce crime with handguns, something else would take it's place. Tasers? I welcome any comments about where you stand on this issue.

I worry about what all the negative news means for my sport. I primarily compete with air pistols but would like to be competing in the 50m pistol events this coming year. Both are Olympic events. Hopefully getting all of my paperwork in order won't be difficult.

Now for the good news...

My hotel and flight are all booked and confirmed. I'll be in Toronto February 21 - 26, 2008. I'm looking forward to this match, being an Olympic year I suspect a lot of national teams from other countries will be attending. The event has room for 300 competitors so it is definitely going to be interesting to see how I do.

If you're going to the Canadian Airgun Grand Prix next month (especially anyone from British Columbia) let me know (email me: al [ @ ] allanharding.com), I want to make sure we get our teams registered and to see if we can get a BC Team dinner or something going one night.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

2008 is MY year... everyone's actually!

Happy New Year!

Well I was going to spend some time over the Holidays to clean up my blog a bit but instead I got sidetracked building a little Facebook application which I just finished the first version of tonight. It's called 2008 is MY year and lets you enter goals for 2008 and track your progress to achieving them. The nice thing is starts to show you where you're investing your time which can lead to some clarity in your personal work / life balance.

I found myself keeping notes on Post-Its, note books, sometimes in text files on my PC or laptop but I needed something a bit more concrete to help me accomplish them. Now I've got them right in Facebook (and soon outside of Facebook). If you have a Facebook account do me a favour and try it out and offer up any feedback you can. Thanks!

As for shooting... vacation is over. I'm back in training mode and getting ready for my 1st big match of the year -- The 2008 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix next month in Toronto.

Wishing everyone all the best this year! This is YOUR year! Go!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Confirmed registration for 2008 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix in February

I received confirmation that I am registered for the 2008 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix being held in Toronto, Canada next February. This is the largest airgun competition in North America and usually attracts teams from Japan, China, Europe, and the USA.

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Lots of changes happening in my life these days. Good changes. Positive changes. I've been getting my work / life balance shuffled around a lot, changing diet, sleeping a lot better. Good stuff.

This past weekend I ran the 5km Santa Shuffle run in Stanley Park. I ran this last year and got a time of 42:00 and this year I beat my time by about 9 minutes and finished it in 33:10. I usually don't run a lot due to the impact on my foot and leg -- I have a metal plate and 7 pins in my left leg thanks to a break a couple of years ago. I'm happy with my new time and will target 30 minutes next year.

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I still haven't found much time to update the look of allanharding.com but I think I'll get around to some updates over the holidays. :)

Sunday, November 4, 2007

562 / 600 - 3rd place finish at Hibernation Match

The competition is now over and I shot the following scores 555/600, 556/600, and a 562/600 today. The combined score was enough to put me in 3rd place in the Master class and the top pistol shooter from British Columbia. Some excellent competition flew out West to attend this match. Stan Wills from Alberta placed 1st, Jesse Olsen who is originally from Burnaby, BC flew in from Saskatchewan and placed 2nd. Jesse recently returned to Canada after attending the Military World Games in India a few weeks ago.

The big story from the pistol side of the competition was with the junior men shooters. Matthew Hendry (Saskatchewan) and Tyler Johnson (British Columbia) who broke records at the Canada Winter Games did very well at this competition. Matthew Hendry was the overall Match Winner beating all of the Master class. I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses... at 17 he's going to be one to watch. Tyler Johnson shot a new personal best of 568/600 which is a new BC Junior record. Nicely done! That score betters my 566/600 record I set in 1993 and tied again in 1995. The BC Men's Air Pistol Record is 578/600 set by Arno Baron in 2000. I've got more work to do. ;) Earlier this year at the 2007 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix a BC team record I set 12+ yrs ago was also broken by a few points. This is great to see!

I'm definitely pleased with my own progress this far, considering I've only been back at it for 6 months (after 12 yrs away from the sport) and I'm only 4 points off my Junior personal best.

The competition season for me is finished until February 2008 when I travel to Toronto for the Canadian Airgun Grand Prix. I'll be back to training after a short break later this month and will finally get around to making some of the updates I've been working on. I'll also try and get the rest of the match results posted.

A quick shout out to British Columbia Target Sports Association.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

UPDATED: Richmond Airgun Match this weekend

I've been slow to update allanharding.com and keeping busy with life, training, practice, work, etc.

I'm shooting at a local competition in Richmond, BC on November 2-4. The event is being held at Sportstown BC and both relays are completely full and a wait list has been started.

UPDATE: I got my numbers wrong... there are 30 positions available and 58 competitors registered for the competition.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Finished 3rd at the Western Canadian Air Gun Championships

I went into the Finals in a tie with Edmond Lee at a score of 1114 / 1200. I shot a 95.8 in the Finals which gave me a total score of 1209.8 which left me short 0.7 points behind Edmond who finished at 1210.5.

The best part of this weekend was seeing my average go up. Shooting more 10s, fewer 8s and an overall tighter grouping. I shot many 9s which just missed the 10 ring.

Stan Wills shot way ahead of us with a combined score of 1241.1. I remember shooting in the early 90s and seeing Stan shoot some amazing scores. I still have yet to beat him... I will do it in 2008. :)

Later that afternoon I went to the Calgary Firearms Centre with Dorothy Ludwig and Lynda Hare to meet up with Jason Caswell to try skeet shooting. Jason is one of Canada's best skeet shooters and went to the 1996 and 2000 Olympics games.

Al Harding and Jason Caswell
Skeet Shooting with Jason Caswell

Jason gave us a quick overview of what Skeet Shooting is all about. It was definitely a great experience being able to shoot a shotgun and get tips and advice from one of the best in the sport!

A great weekend in Calgary, beautiful weather, experienced so much and had an incredible time. I can't wait to come back next year. My next competition is on November 2-4, 2007 called the Hibernation Match being held in Richmond, BC in the same building I train in.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Arrived in Calgary for the Western Canadian Air Gun Championships

I arrived in Calgary Friday morning and ventured into downtown to see what Calgary is all about. I haven't been here in many many many years, actually I don't think I've spent much time here other than at the airport.

Visiting downtown Calgary
Medal ceremonies for the 1988 Winter Olympics were here

I started out by checking out the Calgary Tower and the various parks and buildings left over as legacies from the 1988 Winter Olympics held here. The Tower is pretty cool, then again I'm a huge fan of buildings and man made structures. I particularly liked the glass floor of the observation floor. Freaky!

Calgary Tower
Looking up at Calgary Tower

Glass floor at the Calgary Tower
Stepping on the glass floor of Calgary Tower

Later on Friday I met up with my friend Lynda Hare who I was staying with and we got to the range and went through equipment check and had about 6 minutes to practice. It felt good. The range is well lit and the target carriers are electronic.

On Saturday I was on the last relay so I would be shooting at 11:00 am and then again at 5:00 pm. The first match went well with a score of 560 / 600. I can definitely tell the training and practice is starting to get me back to my old scoring range.

In between matches my friends Lynda and Dorothy and I ventured out to the Canada Olympic Park. This was something I really wanted to see while here as I always missed getting to see it on my other visits to these parts.

Canada Olympic Park - September 2007
The Canada Olympic Park is buzzing with activity year round

We didn't have long but I got to see and experience what I wanted to see. I definitely want to come back in the Winter time. It's neat seeing the park so active in the Summer.

Al Harding rocks the bobsleigh at COP
Good thing this wasn't actually on ice... I'd probably hurt myself. ;)

The Ice House at Canada Olympic Park
The Ice House at Canada Olympic Park

The indoor training facility called the Ice House is a pretty cool facility. Literally. ;) Apparently it is the only indoor training facility in the world for sliding athletes. We got to see bobsleigh athletes training on the indoor track.

Back to the shooting range, the second match started out well but my endurance for shooting so much in one day is not up to where it needs to be. My first 3 strings were 94, 95, 93 and it got harder and harder to lift the gun for the last 30 shots. I'm going to be working on this over the next few weeks as I have a local competition coming up in November where 3 matches are shot over 2 days.

I'm currently tied in 2nd with another BC shooter and will be shooting in the Finals tomorrow morning. I haven't shot in Finals since Nationals in 1995 when I shot in the 8th position. I was still a Junior at the time but shot high enough to shoot with the Men that year.

Finals are shot to the decimal point so shooting a perfect 10 is worth 10.9 points. BC shooter Edmond Lee and I are currently tied with 1114 points each.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Flying to Calgary Friday

I wasn't able to attend the match this past weekend. I've been getting out to practice when I can and the recent changes I've made seem to be working out well.

Who would have thought moving and super busy work schedules could be so time consuming! ;)

I fly out Friday morning and will be home late Sunday night. I'm going to try and find some time during the weekend to post up event photos and scores. Stay tuned to allanharding.com.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Vancouver's BC Top Gun match this weekend

It's been a chaotic last few weeks with a hectic work schedule and with moving. I've moved to downtown Vancouver to be closer to work, clients, etc. I'm still trying to get things sorted out in order and on top of that the BC Top Gun match is this weekend.

This weekend will be an early indicator of how recent modifications I've made to my grip, trigger, and stance are all working. I probably should have only made a few minor changes and seen how the changes worked but I've been super excited since getting back from Nationals and putting some new ideas into practice. :)

Next weekend I'm flying to Calgary, Alberta for the 2007 Western Canada Air Gun Championships. Once I get back from Calgary I'll shift into training mode again and I have a few goals I'm going to work towards. One of my top priorities will be giving this website a bit of a design change. ;)

I'm only competing on Sunday morning and need to finish moving and organizing a bunch of my boxes so I will send an update again after the match is over and the results are in.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Registered for two competitions in September

I've submitted my registration forms for two matches in September. I'm excited that I have the opportunity to attend two matches only a week apart. In Europe I could probably compete every weekend if I wanted to, but here in Vancouver there are only a few matches every year.

The first match I'll be attending on Sept 7-9 is the 2007 BC Top Gun Match. It is a 5 gun event, but until I get my firearms license paperwork finalized I can only shoot Olympic Air Pistol. This is okay though as it is my favorite event. :) I will definitely be writing about the experience of navigating through Canada's firearm laws as I go through the process.

The second event is the Western Canadian Air Gun Championships, this event will have two matches with the combined score used to determine the winner.

I'll be making some modifications to my training over the next 3-4 weeks. I'll be adjusting my stance a bit and working on my grip and trigger control. For my stance I'll be shifting my feet around so that I'm raising my shooting arm more in front of me instead of out towards my side. In the image below my shooting arm goes out directly to my right.

Al Harding Pistol Shooting Stance Changes
The new stance brings the left leg forward and rotates the right leg


As you can see from the shoe prints it isn't a major change, but the slightest change in foot position can actually make a big difference in a precision sport.

My busy work schedule is starting to pick up so I'm hoping to get out to train enough before I leave for Calgary.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

14th place finish and 3rd place in a team event

I finished the match in 14th place. Good, considering there were close to 50 male competitors and I was shooting with most of the top 10 back in the early 90's. These guys have been shooting awhile... several of these guys are on the National Team.

One of the BC Team's we entered was for the Air Pistol event. Our team placed 3rd so we got the bronze medal for that. My teammates were Edmond Lee and Mark Johnson.

I'll be shooting two matches in September, one is in Vancouver and the other is in Calgary. I'm hoping that a few more matches will help me get back to my 94% range. Getting all of my firearm paperwork will also be helpful as I'd like to be shooting 50m Free Pistol again.

Long travel day tomorrow. 2 hr drive and two flights... :) It will be good to get back to Vancouver.