Missed workout

I was travelling on Sunday, so I missed my long distance (LD) paddle. Shoot!

Today, I planned to do my LD workout: 2 HR on Lake Bonaparte (no GPS and no HRM) at comfortable pace. The first hour went well. The wind started to blow in and give me some great practice surfing waves.

As I started to make my way around the lake for a second time and I heard loud noises, which I I originally thought was a nearby army base (fort drum). The US army practices their maneuvers nearby and at certain times of the day a person can listen to the sounds of various artillery. When I saw flashes of lightning, I knew the difference and cut my 2 hr paddle back to 1 hr 10 min. Dang!

So much for my LD paddle ...

Friday Kayak Session

This morning when I woke, it was HOT AND HUMID, so I planned an afternoon kayak session. I was hoping to get a session in before my wife came home at 3:30. In this way I wouldn't have to choose between two of my favorite things: paddling and hanging out with Dot.

As soon as I finished working around 2 o'clock, I grabbed a pair of paddling shorts and was ready to try the Kajner 2- XL in my dominator II (an ICF kayak).

Much to my surprise a rain storm had quickly rolled in

Then it started to thunder and lightning, accompanied by hail.

I debated waiting it out and leaving a bit later. However, a quick check of weather underground

ensured that I *wasn't* going to be paddling on the water any time soon. [See the yellow blob on the St. Lawrence!]

So ... I decided to spend some quality time on my torture machine (AKA my speedstroke).

So ... my session:

• 15 min warmup at 12 kph,
• Several 4 minute intervals (VO2 intervals) with 2 to 3 minutes rest.
• cool down for about 5-10 minutes
• called it a day.

In all, I logged about 45 to 50 minutes on the torture device.

Sadly, I am not going to be able to make it to Dan Murn's race in Rochester again this year...

First outing with new paddle

I train (or at least try to) three times per week: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday . I reserve Sunday as a long slow distance day (or a race day), and the other two days are for long and short intervals, respectively.

Today I decided to skip the long intervals and do a tempo-esque one hour paddle to test my new Kajner 2 -XL. I've learned over the last couple of years that the best testing grounds are ones that remain consistent. I've found that Lake Bonaparte in Harrisville, NY (in the early morning hours) is a great place to test equipment.

For two weeks in a row, I've been greated with nearly perfect conditions. In fact, it has been like a mill-pond at 7:30 AM.

It is almost exactly 7 miles in circumference following the main (read deepish) shoreline, making it ideal for a 1 hr paddle.

I've averaged 7.22 mph on two seperate outings at comfortably hard (i.e. not race) pace. I repeated the same effort with my new paddle.

So, how was my first trip with the new paddle? The first thing I noticed, and was pleasantly surprised by, was the 'catch'. My k6 gurgles a bit on the catch and the new paddle has a Hollywood-esque sound of a ninja sword slicing rapidly through the air. In other words, the gurgle is gone and replaced with a slicing sound. I wasn't surprised by the release - there is no hesitation in the release (and least not at my ability level).

Here is a google earth image of my GPS tracks on Lake Bonaparte.

And the GPS results (6.58 miles in 53'42")

This is a speed of just over 7.3 mph with the new paddle. Compare that to my previous best of 7.2 mph with the old K6. Fantastic!

I am aware that I should repeat this process over (n>20) to have statistically reliable results. However, based on the feel at the catch, the lighter weight and the new locking mechanism - I think the new K2 is an improvement over the old (but still very nice) K6.

New Paddle

Woohoo!

I just received my new paddle from Mike Fekete (AKA "Coach"). It is sweet!

I had been debating getting a new paddle for two reasons. First, long paddles are usually the preference of sprint kayakers and very strong paddlers. I watched a video of Hank McGregor in an endurance event (surfski). Hank is very tall, powerful, and is an ex-sprinter. He apparently uses a paddle with a length of about 215 cm. I am shorter, less powerful, and am using a paddle that is much longer. In short, I owed it to myself to try something shorter. I was also concerned about breaking my old paddle and not having a spare.

So, I originally ordered an exact replacement. My old paddle was a Kajner 6, but Kajner no longer makes this paddle. Instead, I learned that it has been updated! Fantastic!! In its updated form the paddle is referred to as the Kajner 2. It just came in the mail. It is the XL version with plenty of surface area at the tip for a strong catch.

It also has a very high rate of twist, which should allow the paddle to track easily away from the side of the boat and exit cleanly. I expect it will exit more cleanly than my Kajner 6.

Another nice addition to my new "spare paddle" is the locking mechanism. It is far better than the plastic lock on the Epics. Like my K6, it remains rugged, but is very quick to change feather and length on the fly. My Kajner 6 had a small tool that I could use to lock the feather angle, but could never *really* adjust it on the fly.

I can't wait to try it! Stay tuned ...

Macs 9-Miler

I raced my first kayak race of the season on saturday. It was a horrible race, but a great training paddle. The course is officially known as the Tupper Lake 9-miler, but is really a 7.3 mile course on a narrow, but deep river. I'd estimate the current to be about 0.3-0.5 mph. Prior to the race, the race director told us to be mindful of some giant rocks and ledges just under the surface. His advice was to stay b/w the green and red buoys.

After a 10 minute warmup, I was ready to race. It was too difficult to get a 'front position' on the starting line so I had to line up behind a mass of boaters. Nevertheless, I moved from the second line to first position within 3 minutes. I was now on clean, "fast" water and was putting time b/w myself and second position (perhaps b/w 30 seconds and a minute per mile). As I neared the 3 mile mark, I was moving into the first of three boulder strewn channels, marked with about 15 sets of red/green buoys. Recalling what the race director had said, I positioned myself b/w the first set of red/green buoys hoping to stay away from the boulders. Nearing the 3rd set of buoys, I felt my kayak heave hard to one side - I HAD HIT A BOULDER. [the buoys had apparently moved due to high water]. I tried valiantly, using whitewater technique, to keep the boat upright, but in the end I failed. I was upside down. I now had to swim to shore, empty the boat and get underway.

As I was swimming to shore, I saw the lead pack pass me. I also felt devastated as I saw the second and third packs pass me - I was now 'dead -last' and still swimming. As I was making my way to shore I noticed a touring class paddler getting into his boat - I learned after the race that he had hit the same rock.

Once I got to shore, I met perhaps the nicest 'little old lady' - she was watching the race from her dock. She offered to let me use her dock and also offered to help. I appreciated the offer of help, but didn't really want it nor need it. I knew I could empty my boat of water much faster than 'we' could. She insisted on helping (she even offered me a 'cold drink - lemonade, water, & cookies, etc' .. lol ) and after what seemed like an eternity, I had returned to racing.

I paddled hard, telling myself that I could catch the leaders b/f the finish. After about 2 miles, I had passed the third pack. Another mile and I'd chased down the 2nd pack. It wasn't until I turned the final corner and was pointed towards the finish that I came within sight of the leaders AND the finish line. I 'sucked it up' and sprinted the final 0.5 mile. The lead pack had broken up as people sprinted for the finish ... in sum, I passed all but three kayakers from the lead pack. Two paddlers belonged to the 'masters' class, so I came away with second place hardware and a chance to set the course record another day. I also came away with a very good training day as I had a very fast second half; I worked much harder trying to catch up than I would have if I'd paddled out front. Results are posted here.