The scheduled Cheshunt race had been cancelled due to the river and lake being frozen over, also due to the extreme weather and Christmas I had done virtually no training at all, I may look stupid but ice on the water just didnt appeal for a possible dunking in the water lol.
9th January Cambridge race
Desperately tried to get some training in at the last moment just before this race, didnt think it was going to do much good though lol,
day of the race and it couldnt have felt any colder, mmmmm not good, cant say I felt totally fit and well after getting over the usual Xmas colds.
The race seemed a straightforward one, 2 portages out and 2 back, the first being only 500 yds from the start line and a final turn point out in the distance, with a warning that there are other boat users on the water including the rowing boats and the public punts.
Actually managed to get myself on the front of the start line and some room either side of me before the off was called, had a reasonable run up to the first portage, the faster boats had gone past me fairly quick but I was feeling kaput already, I was struggling with the boat as I had the one where the footplate wont move forward on the pegs to give me the legroom, the stability feeling dosent bother me now but every time I pushed hard with my legs my back was being pushed against the back of the cockpit and was very uncomfortable, the further I got into the race the more uncomfortable it got and was starting to rub skin away.
The first portage didnt go that well, felt like I was carrying a ton of spuds with the boat, back on the water and I could see club member Paul in his really wobbly boat not to far ahead of me after steaming past me at the start, I could see him struggling with stability going through the channel area with the wave re-bound, time to get the teeth between my bit, my target was Paul, for once I had an advantage over him as I wasnt suffering stability problems in my boat like he was, started to meet the first of the public punts to navigate around, I was starting to gain ground on Paul now I'd started to concentrate, got to the second portage with Paul about 50 ft ahead, thought id play tactics and portage at the same time as him, all be it further back and hope that I could make up quicker ground with a longer portage run, mmmmmmm may have worked but he managed to get in line on the steps before the K2 guys got there, I didnt make it and got stuck in the queue of K2's, had no choice but to wait as there was only a small narrow staircase down to the portage, the grass either side was way to slippery to even think of trying, perhaps in the summer it may have been worth a try, before I even got in the water I could see Paul disappearing of in the distance, not a hope of catching him now, next target was the K2's in front of me, it did feel odd as I was going past quite a few K2's, the slog out to the turn point just seemed to go on forever, by now the punts had been put behind but now there was the racing rowing boats ahead so a bit more tactful navigation was needed, I knew Paul would be pulling way ahead of me now as the water had become more open and less choppy, which was more suited to his boat.
My back rubbing was really starting to hurt and a reluctance to push hard with the legs, went past one of the shorter distance class's marker, kept thinking that was a long slog to get to that marker, got a little worried it was my marker and being and I was the only twit heading off somewhere to the coast on my own, but then I hadn't seen any of the other class,s come back from their turn point, mmm must be ahead for our turn, the run was starting to get a bit solitary and every corner thinking the turn point must be just ahead, no!!!! nor the next or the next, eventually I got site of Keith coming back on his return leg, cant mistake seeing him ain the distance as he's always got the correct posture and so smooth, he never looks knackered lol,
a few more turns and Stuart and John came into sight, John without his hat looked knackered, they had their own battle placed in second and chasing for the lead, still a few more corners and Paul came into sight on his return leg, but it wasnt to far for the turn point, thank god!!!! I wasnt as far behind Paul as I thought, but I didnt feel I had any reserves to try and claw some time of him, especially when I hit one of the long straights and couldnt see him in the distance,Bu***r, most of the long run back was solitary with some of the rowing boats for company, tried to keep pace with an 8 man crew boat and tried to be sneaky and get a toe in their wash, but they just dont seem to generate a usable wash like the canoes, again it seemed one hell of a slog back to the second portage, all energy had drained and couldnt muster the effort to run with the boat on the portage, by now my back was really tender and I could see a blister on my left hand had opened and gone red raw, dug in as much as possible to the finish line, I was paying the price for the lack of training and not prep-ping myself properly with the boat and letting the mental side of things wander all over the place, but it was sweet to cross the line and stop paddling, first time Ive felt really cold whilst racing, roll on the summer :)
After checking the results board I'd managed 5th in the end on my class, the gap between the faster guys and me were still roughly on par with other races and no one ahead of me in the so called slower boats like mine.
Managed to get a look at a short video of me passing the club house after the start, looked more like I was off on a Sunday play paddle.....mmmmmmmmmmm got some work ahead yet
Saturday, 22 January 2011
ENTRY 10 2nd race
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 :)
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 :)
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
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
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 :)
Thursday, 4 November 2010
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................
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................
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 .................
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)