Saturday and Sunday's quiet paddle

This weekend most paddlers I know went down to Canberra to race in the State Marathon Series race 1. This included Anton, my usual chatty paddling partner. I have to say I really do find paddling with someone else much more enjoyable and Anton's friendly chat does make the time go much quicker. But I decided to use the opportunity of paddling on my own to try a few things out.
On Saturday, the first was the MP3 player. I thought I would like listening to music whilst I paddle, as I really enjoy it for my runs. But, I didn't and I couldn't wait until the first lap was over so I could put it back into the car. I also decided to do a solid pace and see what time I could do for the 8km lap. The pace I did was probably the same as about 20km race pace, and I did the 8km in 51:40 (min:sec). Average heart rate was 170bpm. Average speed was 9.29km/hr. I then did another 8km lap comfortably (fairly easy) without the MP3 player and did it in 52:18 with an average heart rate of 162bpm and average speed of 9.18km/hr. Not much difference really. I was pretty happy with these times but know I need to improve a lot more. This is also the furthest I have ever gone in a K1 in one session.
On Sunday, I decided to do a 1.5km time trial. As soon as I started paddling I realised how neurally fatigued I was from yesterday. I was all over the place. I warmed up to the bridge (1.5km) and then turned around and went hard back to the boat ramp (1.5km). By hard I mean about 5km race pace. I did it in 8:07 (min:sec) and was stoked! Average heart rate was 179bpm and average speed was 11.09km/hr. Now we're getting somewhere. I decided to do the rest of the paddle easy and worked on technique. I was very neurally tired and my balance was off, but I was still pleased with the session.
After 2 weeks I have finally got my heart rate monitor back from it's service. And since I haven't used it in 5 years (when the battery died), it was soooo good to be able to use it again. It was certainly great to have such detailed feedback about my sessions and will be really useful in helping me keep track of my progress.