I had thought that it was only going to be myself, Anton and Mark paddling this morning, especially in such miserable weather. What a lovely surprise is was to turn up at the put in spot to find Jack and Jen already there, with Mark, Ernie, and Anton arriving shortly afterwards. I always love paddling with a group. I paddled the club K1, Mark paddled his Van Dusen K1, Ernie and Anton paddled their respective Mirage 580's, and Jack and Jen paddled a double.
Most of us decided that we didn't need spray skirts but wore our wet weather gear 'just in case'. It was only sprinkling as we started, but not even 500m into it, it bucked down. Oh well - wrong decision. We headed to the bridge first and then up to the lake. It was pouring and windy at the point and I was not game enough to head out to the markers on the lake. Unbelievably Mark, Jack and Jen did and came back unscathed. Anyone who can paddle a K1 (and not fall in) in those conditions is amazing in my books.
We headed back and did a bit extra to make it 8km. I felt a bit wheezy the whole paddle (I'm battling a mild cold) and didn't feel flash, but we did the 8km in just over 50min. That's the fastest I've done yet.
The paddle was full of learning experiences. It was such a lovely group of people, and everyone was sharing their knowledge and experience with me on everything from wash riding to race tactics. Mark and Jack especially gave me so much information. I learnt so much - what a wealth of knowledge they have! We did some sprints and practiced wash riding and paddling through wash. It was a great paddle, with great company.
At the end I had a very short go in Mark's Van Dusen K1. This is my third attempt at it and first without falling in. Sooooooo tippy. Mark has generously offered to lend it to me to race in (for the State Marathon Championships) and to train in for the next month. What a legend. Though I don't think there's any way I will be ready to race in it in a months time. But if I can train in it, then racing in a more stable K1 will be easy. So the plan is to have a go in it this Wednesday and if I can paddle it well enough to do some decent training, then I'll persist for the month. But if I can't stay in it for the intervals and decent efforts, then there's no point in training in it for the moment. I need to be able to paddle it well enough to improve my fitness (not just to learn to balance).
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Its hard to do something that requires an effort. It's so easy not to put in the effort.
ReplyDeleteBut in the end the achievement of what you set out to do is worth it. I'd rather be the the person the couch potato is watching than be the couch potato.
It was a pleasure to paddle with this diverse group. Jen enjoyed herself and is starting to get into the paddling bug. We had paddled on brisbane water on the saturday morning. Encountered quite a lot of chop. We are in the middle of moving into the house that backs onto the creek we paddle on. Because of these reasons we decided on Sat night not to paddle on the Sunday.
Well about 4.30am I here in my dazed state of dreamland: Jack are you awake.
I answer blearily 'I am now".
Jen says "I'm feeling a lot better I think we should paddle this morning".
Okay I say and set the alarm and go back to sleep.