Video showing how hectic the portages can be, positions can be lost and won
Southampton Hasler race
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Saturday, 16 October 2010
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
http://www.marsport.co.uk/Racing%20site/Marsport%20Limited.html
Friday, 15 October 2010
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 .................
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 .................
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