I hope to catch up over the next couple of days, managed to get behind with entries over Christmas and with work
Barking and Dagenham race 21/11/09
Managed to get a reasonable amount of training in for this 3rd race of the winter series, had no idea what I was up against for this race other than there were going to be no portages.
Took a little while to find the club as the sat nav only took me near it, they had good facilities with the clubs home being in the base of a tower block and the 1st floor, unusual but a good friendly atmosphere.
Now I find out were on a tidal water, the river leading down to the Thames and massive in width compared to the usual rivers Ive been on so far, it did make it a little more daunting, you could see a flow on the river that didn't look too bad, well that was until the tide changed and was quite surprised at how quick the flow picked up with the changing tide.
With the briefing it was made clear where our course was to run, from the club to the tidal barrier, then back to near the club for the second turn, back down the river for a midway marker turn and back to the club for the finish.
The start was a bit hectic as everyone descended on the water in one go, It wasnt until I got on the water that I realised my footplate was not far enough forward, which meant my knees were a lot higher than usual which makes you feel less stable, mmmmm didnt like it, but I couldnt return to the jetty to adjust it as they were quick to call everyone to the start line so no spare time, it made things a little more nerve racking as it wasnt a river I wanted to fall into and feeling unstable wasnt helping.
The starter started everyone off very quick, I hadn't even got near the start line before the start was called on our group, guess for the best as I didnt want to get caught in a manic startline, it took about 5 min's before I started to feel comfortable and for my brain to start kicking in as to what I should be doing, were going against the flow of the river so that meant keeping away from the centre flow where its at its strongest and keep to the edges, and as sheltered as possible from the wind which was difficult.
Once I got myself sorted it didnt take long to get past a few boats, then Toby from the group in front of me, took me a little bit longer to get past the next boat, didnt know who they were but he seemed evenly matched to me, really had to dig in to get past, I had a couple of the faster boats go past me from the group who started behind me fairly early on, manage to hang on behind them without loosing any more ground to them, was pleased with that, getting near the turn point Stuart and John from our club came into view heading back to the club house for their second turn after doing there 1st turn, was preying that the turn point was just round the next bend, no luck I was still some distance away so not a hope in hell of catching them, one day boys!!!!!!! lol
Heading back after the 1st turn the wind was head on, by rights I should be heading with the flow, couldnt get any indication of it though by looking at the water, so ducked and dive a little from shelter to the open water, I seem to be doing ok, was loosing ground very slowly to 2 of the faster boats that had gone past me early on but a 3rd one I seem to be catching back up with, mmmm must be doing better than I thought, got past him, dead chuffed with that in my slow boat, but he caught back up with me on the second turn, mmmm not doing as good as I thought, think he was just having a rest, he soon disappeared off in the distance, Bu****r, I think my energy levels were dropping rapidly in the last stages of the race,
back down river to the midway point I had lost sight of the boats I was either chasing or trying to keep up with as the shorter distance class's were also mixed on the water now so knowing who was who had gone completely, with the last turn it was it was a short stint to the finish line
I enjoyed this race in the end, was pleased the wobbly feel of the boat had gone quickly after the start, but it did show Ive got to concentrate on better fitness and technique and my slow starts, I still appreciate Ive got a long way to go still but the more I do the better everything is coming together, can at least to some of it slowly coming together, till the next race :)
The beginning
At 47 most would regard you over the hill as an athlete, hopefully I can prove that's not always the case, and Ive got a few more puffs of steam left yet.
Ive chosen the fantastic sport of K1 Kayak marathon racing for my last ditched attempt of a physical endurance sport before I fall the wrong side of the hill.
The last time I did any Kayaking was well over 20 years ago, technology has made vast improvements in construction and weight saving, paddle technology too has gone a long way in deign and efficiency, but the overall concept has changed very little.
I have chosen to enter the Devizes to Westminster race Easter 2011, raced in a solo K1 its a race against the clock over 125miles of the Thames river, with 77 portages (get out of your boat and carry it around locks etc) over a period of 4 days,
if raced in a K2 (2 man) then its a race non stop from start to finish inc. through the night, advertised as one of the worlds toughest Kayaking races it not only tests your fitness and stamina, but your mental endurance as well together with the help of a good ground crew providing support with food and water.
Have a look at the posted YOU TUBE 6 part documentary to get a better idea of how tough this race can be, and for a laugh there's a couple of videos showing how difficult it can be trying out a K1 kayak for the first time.
I'm planning to enter one of the winter 6 race series starting on the 7th November to help towards the Devize race, my general fitness is OK and quite reasonable for endurance, perhaps bordering insane to take this on, got a feeling I'm going to be feeling some pain along the way.
I am smoking but that has another 7 days before I stop, aghhhh I have to :( I'm getting so much grief from my boys so all in all it'll be a good thing and a few more coins in my pocket.
Technique does play a major part in this sport, but fitness and training can't be ignored, so much to achieve in a short time, where to start I haven't a scooby yet or what other training away from Kayaking will help, another whole ball game to look at and plan.
The K1 Kayaks have a stability rating of 1 to 10, 1 being the least stable, the less stable they are the faster they go, that is if youre staying in the boat that is.
I'm comfortable on a 5, but the difference between the 5 and 4 seem a big step, the width (beam) is even narrower, if you can imagine trying to keep upright on a uni cycle for the first time then you're getting near how difficult it can be, once you're moving it's a little more stable, well that is until your co-ordination goes haywire then it seems to remind you you're on a tight rope and the ejection seat is getting ready to dump you overboard,
I keep being told its like learning to ride a bike all over again, mmmmm seems a lot harder than I remembered, so looks like practice and more practice will be the order of the day,
the club have told me as soon as I'm comfortable with the current boat ill be put on the next faster boat, heck the one I'm on is like balancing on an ice skate, the next one was like balancing on a knife blade aaaagghhhh
Im going to use this blog as a diary entry to show how I get on and some useful information about the K1 & K2 kayak marathon and sprint racing as I go, and my preparation for the Devizes to Westminster race, it should be a laugh and hopefully some may find it useful starting the sport themselves, or perhaps what not to do!!.
Feel free to add comments and any advise on any of the subjects I may be failing on, that'll be ALL to start with !!! lol
Tip's and hints will continually be added to entry 18
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