ENTRY 9 (race day)

Sunday 7th November, scraping the ice of the car windscreen at 7am wasn't the ideal start to the day I was looking for, it was going to be one very cold day.
Down to the club for 8am to get the boat trailer loaded and my boat loaded onto my car and then of to the Bishop Stortford's club about 40 min's away.
Today was going to be the day where I'd get all my questions answered, cant say I was feeling nervous at all until we got in the water for a warm up after the main briefing, looking around I was thinking this is an awful lot of boats and a not so wide river, had been warned the starts can be a bit fraught.

During the summer we have the Hasler series, a series perhaps more based on the individual, starting in the lower divisions and working your way up based on your performance, the winter series is perhaps more based as an inter club competition, unlike the Hasler series where you'll find yourself in a group all roughly matched in performance, the winter series and in my case class 3 Veterans (old codgers) is just simply based on over 35, so again in my case you could be competing against a division 1 Hasler racer or someone 15 + years younger than yourself, seems a little daunting but with the right attitude it gives you a possible goal to aim for and  great preparation for the summer Hasler series where you'll return to a class perhaps more evenly matched.

Starting was a lot less formal than I thought it would be, each group lines up and goes, lots of boats jockeying around for position in a not so wide river was a bit of fun,
K2's were first of the line followed by group 1 and so on, my group 3 was called up to the start line, there just wasn't enough room for everyone to get on the start line, what little space there was I could only get the nose of my boat in and wouldn't have been anywhere for me or the the boats either side of me to put the paddles in the water.

But as I had been told the start can be fraught I thought it defiantly wise to hang back, looking at the other boats on the line most had the faster boats in comparison to mine, the mini against the dodge vipers lol.
It was a wise move, the water just seemed to explode and the wash from the other boats felt like you'd just hit the surf water, the bow waves were also bouncing back of the barge next to us making it a bronko ride.
Took me a little while to recover from the start only now to see the main group disappearing around the first corner, a little disheartening but there was some others lagging back of the main group so I had something to aim for.
Never being on this river before or knowing what the portages were like left a little apprehension, I knew the distance to the first portage was fairly short and the other 2 portages were more spread out over the next 4 miles to where the turnaround point was, leading up to the first portage nothing seemed to work together, co-ordination seemed to have taken a leap somewhere.
First portage came into sight fairly quick with 2 racers in front, caught the nearest just as he got on dry land, a bit of a muddled and rushed portage got me level the other end of the portage, unfortuanatlly for him he slipped on the wooden lower step and went in with his canoe, thankfully for me he found that out before I did,
felt a little guilty leaving him to sort himself out.
Seemed to feel a lot calmer after the first portage and co-ordination seemed to be coming back, one more in front of me which was another club member who started in group 2, didn't take long to catch him and pass, then there seemed to be no one in front at all and felt a bit of a slog to the next portage as the banks were more exposed to the wind, this portage went ok, hard work lugging a heavy boat and trying to run in a coordinated fashion lol, half way to the next portage I could see a boat in the distance, a k2 mixed pair, was gaining but it seemed really slow, the last portage saw me gain at least 200 mtr's over them, certantlly showed that a good portage can gain a lot of distance on someone, got me thinking about the Devizes race with 77 portages, the ground that could be lost or gained must be huge.

On the way near to the turn point 4 miles out I got first sight of the leader's making their way back, a few words of encouragements from John and Stewart as they went past in their K2 was great, got sight of the K2 that I was tracking coming back up the river, turn point must be near, yup next corner, took forever to turn my London bus lol.
Now I knew what lay ahead and that seemed to make a big difference for me, at the initial start with nerves etc I felt drained pretty quick but now I felt really settled and still full of energy, my pacing had been quite slow up to this point, so knowing what I had in front of me it was defiantly time to start digging in and concentrate, next target was the K2 in front, caught them at the next portage and went past on the portage, the rest of the race went past very quick, the co-ordination defiantly got better, but too often I was forgetting to use my legs, finish line arrived very quickly and defiantly felt I could have gone further, but the first race was over, wasn't last so I achieved what I set out to do.

Now Ive done my first race the next I know what to expect and what I should be doing, I know ill never be in the front with the boat Ive got and do realise ive still got a million miles to go with technique, so my target is to finish higher up and to do my best to hang on to the main group, and over the next 2 weeks to get as much help as possible with technique, Ive proved easily I have the strength and stamina but boy it dont count if you dont have the technique.
It was frustrating being in a slow boat but if I had chosen a faster less stable boat Im pretty certain the start would have kicked me out, hopefully the winter series will build my fitness and skills and when the Hasler race starts and I get the faster boat it should be like taking of the lead boots to going bare footed.

Next race 21st November at Barking and Dagenham, slightly shorter race of 7 miles and no portages and one turn, a flat out race, so no pain no gain

A really big well done to my 12 yr old eldest boy as it was his first race as well, hes only had 4 trips out on a canoe, didn't go so well for him as he got caught out with an on coming C2 with steering problems which pushed him out the way and capsized him into the freezing water, and boy was it cold and on his first turn he fell in again, he made it back to the portage but was so wet and cold he couldn't carry on, his lips were royal blue, well done Ben x

Just got the results, finished 9th out of my group of 12 and beat 6 others on groups that started before me, and hit my target time of 1hr 20 min, 8 miles one turn and 6 portages, quite pleased with that for my first race :)

ENTRY 8

Haven't had much time on the water over the last couple of weeks with my holiday in Spain and a really yuk virus, managed to get a couple of trips out today and covered about 10 miles, feel far better than I thought I would and hopefully a few more days It'll be gone.  Did manage to get in a canoe over the holiday, best I could lay my hands on was a sit on, did feel 10 time wider than what I normally use and a really crud paddle but a least I got to paddle a boat in Spain and had some fun with it

First race in 3 days time, a little apprehensive about it as I haven't paddled on that river and not familiar with any of the portages, but im sure there'll be plenty in front of me to show the way lol.
Overview for me on Sundays race is just to enjoy it and use it as an experience in preparation for the second race the following month, cant really say my preparation for this race on fitness and training as being top notch but I think |I can give a reasonable performance.

Spent some time out with another later adult group this evening, defiantly does take some getting used to canoeing in the dark, especially one stretch where theres no lighting at all, nightmare trying to work out where you are and see your paddles as they are jet black, certantlly good training if I want to the Devizes race in a K2
Still got a long way to go on technique but time and practice should get that sorted, the boat Im very comfortable  with and can really throw it around, catch 22 as I want to go faster and the itching to get in the next faster boat is strong but I know I would put myself back a few steps as I would be fighting the stability, frustrating as it is I think getting the technique sorted now will pay divendends for early next year................

Southampton club Hasler race

Video showing how hectic the portages can be, positions can be lost and won

Southampton Hasler race

Marsport

Found a brilliant website full of information for sales and training information for the Devises to Westminster race

http://www.marsport.co.uk/Racing%20site/Marsport%20Limited.html

ENTRY 7

Its been a hectic couple of weeks but Ive managed to get a fair bit of training in.

Had a closer look at diet, it does seem to be a science all of its own and to be honest I find it totally confusing.
There was an article about training and diet in the Canoe magazine from the BCU that perhaps made the most sense to me that was explained in easy terms.
I had always got mixed up with what was carbohydrates and protein, the easy way to remember it is protein has come from something that was once living and moved while carbohydrates comes from plants, protein is needed for muscle build and carbohydrates for fuel, thats a fairly rough analogy thats reasonably accurate.
Sugar seems to be one to avoid, it'll give a quick burst of energy but can quickly be followed by a low, so called energy drinks come into this bracket as well and perhaps best avoided.

The ideal seems to be a well  balanced diet but perhaps a little higher on the carbohydrate side, the minerals etc are just as important, water being one of the most important with around 2ltrs a day minimum needed (tea and coffee isn't inc.),  like a car we dont just need fuel, there's also the oil, water, hydraulic, transmission fluids to consider as well, were no different.
So at the amateur level a good water intake and a well balanced regular diet is the simplest  rule of thumb, oh and dont miss breakfast.

Its amazing what difference a couple of weeks can make, starting to get to know more people in the club which has meant going out with various groups of various ability's,  quite enjoyed this as training on your own is pretty boring, joined one of the Saturday adult beginners as I had a spare Saturday morning,
turned out to be a really good training session for me, ping ponging from  the front to the back was good practice for being in the choppier water from the other boats and weaving in and out as you may do on race day, one particular young lady was pretty fast and it was a challenge hanging on behind her, overall it was a good session and great meeting even more nice people, also interesting with the coaches working with the group as I would defiantly be interested in coaching myself at some point in the future.
Also had some good advise from one of the coaches for race day,
choosing your line on the corners, very similar to car racing lines,  but just slower lol, also taking note of the water flow direction and keeping out of the faster flow if youre heading up river, and making use of it downstream, again like a car you can also draught the person in front by keeping about 6" directly behind them, does make a difference and allows you a breather for a bit, another tactic is if someone else is draught you and you hear them pull out to go past you can increase your speed and make it hard work for them to pass.

Im still using the older boat "cirrus" as I am quite comfortable in it and the water is getting quite cold for the dipping and I have very little time before the first race, plus Im missing a week whilst on holiday so the emphasis is more on technique,
Ive been blagging the use of a carbon wing paddle until my new one arrives, Im almost there with it, when it all works the difference is huge and you can really feel it, leg work has improved tremendously and again the difference in power is quite noticeable, the wing paddle technique is far different than the aceametric paddle, once the paddle has bitten the design  allows the paddle to move away from the boat on the draw stroke, imagine ice skating, if you moved your feet choo choo train style you'll hardly move, when the leg moves outwards you get your forward propulsion, the wing paddle works very roughly on the same principle, does take a little while to get used too though but the rewards are worth it.
 If I had opted for a less stable and faster boat I do think I would have been a lot further behind on technique as I would have been fighting just to keep upright.
The first race on the 7th November I have resigned myself to it being for experience, mmm would like to be a little higher than last place though lol, got a feeling its going to hurt more than I think it may, but got to say Im looking forward to it.

Had my best training session yet, joined Mo on her group with the youngsters as the others I usually go out with start later, was quite happy to hang back and do my own thing but Mo said I could join in with some short races, simple tasks of starting, portaging at the club house, leaving your boat in the water and running to the boat house and back in your boat, down to the bridge and return to the start, ok sounds simple, er wrong.

10 plus boats all heading for the same spot is fun, get it wrong and youre sandwiched, one adult looking a twit in amongst the kids lol, get to the portage and out (got my own unique style to doing this) come back to your boat and there's no guarantee its still there as the others portaging have shoved your boat out the way or youve got back in your boat and youre sandwiched in and cant move, one adult first to portage and one adult last to leave adult lol, the turns mmmmmmmm same thing, mine turns at one speed only, very very slow, allowing for the cheaters, getting blocked, cut up, rammed, pushed,  one adult in last position again lol and having to work hard to catch up, a real eye opener for race day, its not just about paddling, there is a lot more to it, and I think they've inadvertently shown me some of the more devious tactic lol.
The run back to the club house meant going through what I call the tunnel, high concrete sides through the town centre which allows the waves to bounce back and makes the water quite choppy, 10 plus boats going for the same bit of water makes for one good traffic jam and not a chance to get your paddle in the water lol

Thoroughly enjoyed that session and really was quite a laugh, learnt quite a lot from the youngsters that night, would quite happily go out with them again.

till next time .................

How To Use the Kayak Ergo - Part 2

ENTRY 6

Well I never got to do what I planned in the end lol.
Getting quite a conflict on what others say where I should be heading next, one side says just get into the next boat up and worry about technique later, with the idea that if I get the technique on the lower boat I wont want to move to the next boat up, and ill be stuck in that boat throughout the winter
The other side says no, stay in the one you're comfortable with  and get the technique right before moving up.
Both sides have merit, perhaps the latter makes more sense, but too I can see getting too used to something you wont want to move up especially as the waters getting colder.
So a compromise, ill get my technique in the lower boat sorted but on each session dedicate quite a lot of time in the next boat up and be prepared to get wet before the water gets too cold.


OK did just that tonight, next boat up and about 3 dunkings, every time when I slow to turn, straight line not too bad, like I said before it was a knife edge boat to me once and it's feeling a lot better, aint giving up on this one too easy.


Had a few minute's on the Ergo machine (indoor machine) with another member, my stroke wasn't really resembling what the top guys were doing and I was having trouble getting it right and using my arms too much, you'll always find the penny drops at some point and I've now found for me it was simply a case of locking my arms straight at the elbow, this forces the torso movement which is giving a lot of power to each stroke together with the leg and arms, 
the catch (where the paddle enters the water) should be from fairly high and like stabbing something, mmmm E'x's do have a use lol.
Back out on the water I've now got something that resembles  along the lines of a racing technique, definitely faster, and a few more muscles used, now its down to practice. 


Had a go at a few race starts with some of the others, quite amazing what don't come together when you push it hard, caused a few wobbles and found the boats steering does get effected when some boats are ahead from their wakes, again practice and more practice :)

ENTRY 5

Ive opted to stay in the Cirrus boat for a bit longer, although I'm feeling a lot more comfortable in it  I'm getting a little out of shape when I try and push it as I still haven't got fluent with my technique, Ive been told I'm using my arms too much and not enough core movement.
I'm still using the standard paddles, must admit using the wing paddle I did find easier on technique, 
got my new paddle coming in 4 weeks, not in time for the first race though, spoke to Tim from Canoesport and ordered my first carbon wing paddle, wasn't cheap but its a piece of kit that should last a long time, gone for the fully adjustable one.


Training, pushed a little harder and longer this time, managed one capsize in the really weeded part on a turn, got me paddle caught in the weeds and over I went lol, wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, but hell trying to swim through the weeds with a 5mtr boat full of water, I'm sure there's many more to come yet.
There's a couple of areas of the river as it passes through the town with concrete sides, areas I don't relish falling in and trying to get the boat sorted, especially one part as you usually get the hecklers and wolf whistler's  having their fag breaks outside a local pub, not a desirable place to have the ejector seat active :(


Got a little further with a training routine and diet, fairly lucky as my job is physical,  Ive started to use squash as another activity, works the leg muscles well and core muscles and certainly gets the lungs working, plus I enjoy it.


No smoking clinic on Wednesday, I wana but the first few weeks I'm not looking forward to, I have 2 boys, by the end of 2 weeks I may have none lol.


Going to set up a time for an 8 mile training run tomorrow with 5 portages and 6 turns on 3 laps of our town circuit, really just to give me a a benchmark as to how well I'm doing each week and how it differs when I change to a different boat, and a few weeks later when Ive stopped smoking :)

ENTRY 4

Just for a laugh I brought a uni-cycle from the local boot-fair, can defiantly confirm the uni-cycle is far harder than a K1 kayak, the only difference is its drier and easier to get back on than a K1, quite a laugh though.

Back out with the club on a different part of the river I hadn't been on before, a real winder of a section, takes some getting used to steering around each bend with something that's got a turning circle of  a dumper truck.
Put a lot more effort into this training session and into leg work, its getting there slowly, played around with seat position again and getting my heals planted down and the rudder pedal between my big toes, can feel a lot more power  on each stroke and a lot less effort required off the arms to maintain a reasonable cruising speed,
one of the notable things I found was trying to catch someone up in front is kinda slow motion compared to say running.
Starting to get a reasonable rhythm going now and finding it fairly easy to keep up a good speed,  and starting to get a good feel for body position but did suffer lower back ache at the end of the evening though but I'm sure that'll get there, correct posture in the kayak is important with a slight lean forward, also allows you to get the paddle bite as far forward as possible and a longer stroke.
Had some fun at the portages at the locks with the banks being quite high from the water level, some not so graceful exits and entry's, something I've got to perfect as nearly all races have portages and especially the Devize's race having 77, lots of time and position can be won and lost at the portages.

The clubs younger fast racers were out practising sprints, had a sneaky see if I can keep up, didn't do too bad considering I was in a slower boat lol, hoping to join them in a couple of weeks if they don't mind a Granddad tagging along.

Overall a good evening, no real aches and pains except my lower back which was pretty much gone by next morning, pretty pleased to that I can get a good speed and maintain without out too much effort, totally happy in getting my seat and leg position right every-time now, and miles more comfortable with the "Cirrus", I'm suffering a little bit with my modified wet suit as I'm getting to hot with it, preservation in case of falling in is going to have to take a back seat now.

Back to the club and I pestered Mo for the use of one of the racing carbon wing paddle's, totally different from the standard paddle, the locked in feeling described to me is really evident, wasn't the most graceful of try's but there is a definite faster speed with these paddles, a few more pennies to save before I can get my own, next thing I know Mo's given me the next boat up "Raven" and said this is what you should be playing with not paddles, She did say I'd be moved up before I got too used the current one,
this is the one that I have previously described as like sitting on a knife edge, ah well what the heck the waters warm , a lot more unstable than my now comfy one, but it felt a lot better than the last time I sat in it,
these boats are a lot more stable when you get moving so it was bite the bullet and dig in and move, it didn't feel too bad  once I'd got some speed up, the rudder was a lot more sensitive and could feel the boat was faster straight away,  turning round though at slow speed the ejector seat got me fair and square, I'd got this far and wasn't gona be beaten so all emptied out and second try, an un-graceful u turn turn but I beat the ejector seat this time, well chuffed as this boat seemed impossible the last time I sat in it, but I think I'll need a whole evening to truly get comfy in this boat, could  be a real love and hate relationship we'll have :)

ENTRY 3

Been a busy few days with work and the kids but managed some time back down the club, had a long look at training programmes and diet over the last few days, so much information on the net its a little confusing what's going to be right for me, the Kayak racer web site has some useful information http://www.kayak-race.com/trainingplan.html.


Back out on the water with the Cirrus K1 it just didn't seem right from the last time I went out in it, nope nought wrong with the boat so must be me!!!!! the other club members, most being dedicated to racing are  brilliant when you ask for help, but there's still an element of sussing things out for yourself.
50 yds down the river and it was just to uncomfortable trying to keep upright and an area where the weeds were really bad and not an ideal place to be ejected, so a quick un-graceful U turn back to the club house to suss out the problem, 
Simple solution in the end, my seat was to far forward and my knees too high, a few clicks on the seat and my legs a little straighter made a big difference, still wobbly but controllable.
No format to the evening, Mo's instruction was simply up to the viaduct and turn round, we have a loop to the viaduct and back then to the weir and back which is a short 3miles.
So a simple evening just to paddle and get used to the boat, all fine till I hit the first corner and a new element was thrown at me, the wind, just to upset the balance even more, quite surprising how much the wind can effect you.
As I said there is a huge amount you have to suss for yourself, with questions answered and you tube videos watched it was now simply a case of putting something into practice.
Wasn't getting on to bad, loads of other members on the river, fast K1's and 2's, open canoe and youngsters, kept a reasonable pace to everyone, and found another element that upsets the balance, bow wash from the larger K 2's going past on full steam.
Paddling technique must have been ok as after nearly 8 miles all be it not a pushed evening I didn't have any major aches or pains, had trouble with getting the right toe position on the foot rest and being comfortable and just couldn't deliver the power through the legs on each stroke, there's a little piece of wood that sticks out between your feet that operate your rudder, I'm still looking at the thing when I need to steer as a learner driver looks a the gear stick, 
managed to get it sussed on the last loop in finding the right position, which meant I could start delivering power through the legs on each stroke and in turn using more power from the torso twist into each bite of the paddle and felt like the I'd got into second gear at least lol.


Overall a good evening and a little more confident about what I have to do and aim for, was a little surprised  it was nearly 8 miles covered as it didn't seam that far and even better news my first race will be over 8 miles :)
Full training and pushing a lot harder, and work on technique starts this week, not that long before the first race and not helping is Ill loose a week as I'm on holiday a week before the race, so I'm hoping I can bag the use of a canoe and have a paddle around the Mediterranean while I'm there 

ENTRY 2

Back down the club and expecting to jump in the K1 for some more practice I was told I have to complete my BCU 2*  which this time involved the open canoe, mmmmm wasn't impressed as I wasn't interested in a David Crocket style boat that resembled a floating bath tub, I wanted practice and a fast boat and a whole paddle instead of half a one.

No getting out of it club rules in completing the 2* in the open canoes, club instructor Roger was very diligent in explaining what to do, seemed straightforward, so with half a paddle and boat launched the simple instruction was to go straight up the river for 100yds, what seemed straightforward in instruction was not in practice, think I spent the first 20 min's going round in circles or in the left hand bank and advanced about 10 yrds further up the river, and then I think the wind contributed to most of that, got to admit David Crocket made it look easy in the films, this was getting frustrating and it was getting tempting to ditch the paddle and use my hands.

When you paddle from one side of the boat the boat wants to go to the opposite side, to counteract this you use what is called a J stroke where the paddle is twisted to an angle at the end of the stroke and creates a countering rudder effect and keeps the boat tracking straight, it just didn't and wouldn't come together no matter how many times Roger explained, 

it took about another 15 min's and the button suddenly clicked, straight line at last, well that was until I was told to paddle on the other side, and doesn't help as the river in Chelmsford pass's through the shopping area and your lack of finesse is viewed by all.

Eventually it all clicked into place and a little bit more respect for the floating bath tub, and with a new partner added to my boat we could manage a fair speed and the seats were far more comfortable than the K1's.

So with our new found skills Roger put us in more streamlined and narrower and a lot faster boat, got to say I was really starting to enjoy the open canoe as we could manage quite a speed with little effort, just like the opening clip from Hawaii 5 O, 

all in all it ended up being an enjoyable evening and it brought home " don't knock it till you've tried it.

Next session but with Mo was to complete the final part for the 2* and be rescued and rescue, yup back in the cold river again, well I'm kinda getting used to it now, it was all pretty straightforward but quite a laugh, its seems customary that if everyone knows you're going n the river is time to watch, more to laugh than provide sympathy, 

getting from the river  and into your rescuers boat is a bit tricky, needless to say there's no real finesse to it, you'll land like a sack of spuds in the bottom of our rescuers boat, It was hysterical, I did my level best not to rock the boat but as soon as I tried to sit up that was it, back in the river including my rescuer, sorry Sam! well at least you didn't much time to think about how cold the water was lol.

All in all I ended up enjoying the open canoe, another new skill and my 2* completed and ready to get on with K1 training.........................

ENTRY 1

20 plus years out of the sport and after 2 years of thinking about getting down to the local Canoe club I finally managed to get my butt into gear.
Mo from the local club took me out in a general kayak, I was OK till she slid me into the river from the bank, one of the most stable boats going and I resembled a piece of wobbling jelly, 
Luckily after about 10 minutes  everything came flooding back and it looked like I was going to be spared a premature dunking, beautiful sunshine and a lovely saunter through Chelmsford town centre on the river, thoroughly  enjoyed it, well that was until Mo explained I will need to complete the BCU (British Canoe Union)1* and 2* courses, guess what it involved a dunking, 
self rescue and rescue of others, the water was like entering the Baltic, at this point I'd have liked to have sworn but oxygen just wasn't entering my lungs, it took a few minute's to get used to it, wet suits don't keep out the cold shock but they are pretty good after a few minutes.
Having spoken to Mo about my interest in racing she gave me one of the more stable K1 boats to try out,  a little different to a closed cockpit kayak as your knees are on show to the world and the cockpit a lot larger, liked that as getting out would defiantly be a lot easier, as im to find out too easy sometimes later on.


Overall had a fab time and I thought a reasonable achievement for one day and got my BCU 1* and loads of lower back ache for a bargain :)


The backache does get better once you become more relaxed and use the correct posture, stretching of the ham strings is very helpful and has helped a lot.

Bob's first attempt at Marathon K1

Training for Devizes to Westminster Race

Devizes to Westminster 2009 - Part 1