1 lap time trial (kind of)

After a debacle with lost car keys, and thinking that I was going to have to miss the session, they were eventually found and I headed to the river. I thought that everyone would be well on their way by now and I had resigned myself to paddling on my own again, but when I got there Anton and Mark were still there. Thanks guys.
This morning I woke up in the mood to do a hard paddle (much to Anton's horror - I think he might have wished that he hadn't waited for me after all). Anyway, I put it to the guys "Hey guys... I'm in the mood for a hard paddle today...I want to see how fast I can go in this thing", to which Anton looked in horror and Mark looked intrigued. The reply from Anton was "really?" and from Mark "Oh yeh". I think I surprised them.
Anyway, we headed to the bridge first and then back up towards the lake. I was going hard (maybe 25km pace) but Mark (in his Rocket) and Anton (in his TK1) were keeping up easily (though they may argue that point. Anyway, Mark was just toying with us - he could have dropped us easily if he had wanted to, but Anton was pushing it but keeping up without any dramas really. By the time we got the point it was 31min. I was pleasantly surprised as I thought I wasn't paddling that well. The last part towards the lake had been pretty nasty for me...the wind and chop had picked up and some nasty gusts had hit us. I was very happy that I stayed upright. But there was no way I was going to go out in the lake and around the markers so we pulled into the beach, turned around and headed back. Anton left before us and jumped on a boats wash. ]
Mark and I headed off together and I was all over the place. We had a tiny bit of wash from the boat (and rebound wash of the sides) but this was enough to make me unbalanced. Seriously - I was all over the shop. There were some very close calls, but I did make it back without falling in (just). Our time back was 12:30 min. So for the 7.5km (short lap) we did it in 43:30min. Adding another 3 minutes on (according to our average) if we had gone out to the second marker would have given us a 46:30 min 8km lap. I was pleasantly suprised again. The fastest I've ever done the full lap is 47:10 in the Van Dusen. Cooool.
When we got back we were just getting off the water and it bucketed down. Mark and I sheltered under our car boots whilst waiting for Anton to come back...he had decided to paddle a bit further. We got soaked putting out kayaks back on the car...but I didn't care. I had a great paddle and I'm glad I decided to go hard.

Finally losing weight again

After months of going between 77 - 78.5kg, I decided to make a few changes with my eating plan. I've basically been doing "The biggest loser club program" using meal replacements (and lots of healthy food). I love this program - it fits in well with my lifestyle and I'm rarely hungry. Since I just couldn't break through the plateau I decided to change my target calorie amount (down to 1500cal) and the weight has started coming off again. The plan is to stick with the program (2 drinks plus food) until I get to 68kg and then gradually cut back to 1 drink (breakfast) plus food. I think I'll always keep having the drinks for breakfast (or make my own liquid breakfast) because I love doing this and it works great for me in the morning.

Anyway, I've lost over 1kg this week and took the following measurements this morning...

Weight: 76.4kg
Fat: 29.4%
Water: 48.8%
Muscle: 30.4%

To compare with my progress since starting this blog...

Measurement, Before, 6, 7-9, 10, Today (wk21), Total
Weight kg, 82, 77.3, 77.8, 76.8, 76.4, -5.6kg
Fat %, 31.6, 30.0, 30.2, 29.7, 29.4, -2.2%
Water %, 47.2, 48.4, 48.4, 48.6, 48.8, +1.6%
Muscle %, 29.4, 30.2, 30.1, 30.3, 30.4, +1.0%

Time trial and trying my new skirt

Chris had to work this morning so unfortunately that meant that I couldn't paddle (maybe in 10 years time I will be able to leave the boys on their own.....then again make that never). Anyway he was meant to be home by early afternoon, but he ended up having to work back (grrrr, the poor thing ended up working pretty much a full day) and got home pretty late. I called Anton and said that I'd be at the river around 4pm, but due to other circumstances he couldn't paddle then so I was on my own.

I thought...ok then I'll do a warm-up to the bridge and then try and do a time trial from the bridge back to the boat ramp. Remember that I fell in last time I tried this. I figured it would probably be best doing this on my own anyway, and the river conditions were perfect for it. Calm water with a bit of outflow (going with me). I was mentally up for it, and very keen to see how I would go.

The warm up went well. I felt good and my balance felt ok. In the meantime Anton had ridden down and met me at the bridge. I said to him..."Do you reckon you could beat me back to the boat ramp" figuring that he could definately ride there in under 8 minutes. I had my watch on me anyway, and at 4:13:40 pm I headed off from a rolling start. I started off at a moderate pace and fell into a nice rhythm. As usual, every time I tried to go harder I started to lose my balance, but I was going pretty hard anyway. About half way through I heard Anton call out from the road, and I lost my concentration and balance a bit, but managed to get back on track. The last 400m were a bit 'all over the place', but I finished the 1.5km at 4:21:27. As soon as I worked out that my time was 7:47 I was stoked! The fastest I'd previously done was 8:07 in the club K1 and I think 7:57 in the Van Dusen K1. So it confirmed my thoughts...I can paddle the Sladecraft quicker than the Van Dusen. Now I'm not saying that the Sladecraft IS quicker than the Van Dusen...just that I can paddle it quicker, and therefor it's a quicker kayak for me. I can't wait to see what I can do in it with some decent training and with better balance.

By now it was dusk, and I decided to spend the rest of the session trying out my new sprayskirt. I'd stumbled across it on ebay and geartrade. For only $45 I figured that I wasn't going to find a K1 sprayskirt for anywhere near that price and so the remainder of my spendable "Ruddy Money" went on that. It arrived a couple of days ago, and looked awesome so I was keen to try it out. My only concern was if I fell in, that I would be stuck dangling around upside down under the water trying to remove myself (and skirt) from the kayak. But as soon as I had it on, I could see that it would pop off easily (probably before my body hit the water). So I went for a short paddle and it was great. My legs were dry and 'toasty', and the water just beaded off it. I actually delberately threw heaps of water on it, and it still just beaded off. Cooooool!!! And I didn't fall in.

It was getting dark by now, so I called it quits (after Anton had taken some photos with his mobile phone). He reckons that I should say that the blurry one is because I was going so fast...yep, I'll go with that!
So eventhough it was a short session, it was very effective and productive.

The dream - lyrics

The song that I've got first on my playlist at the moment is called "The dream" by Irene Cara. There's a bit of background to it...A friend once lent me a tape (yes old casette tape) that was produced for one of the Olympics, and another with other motivational songs on it. I can't remember which tape this song was on, but I've always liked it and think it's relevant to most athletes. Anyway, it's always had an effect on me. So here are the lyrics...

I’ve been chasing dreams for so long
Just one step behind and then they’re gone
Illusions of love would come and go
I guess you have to hurt before you grow
And everybody knows
Never let go of the, never let go of the dream

I always seem to lose what I thought was mine
And many times I tried to leave it behind
Deep inside, hope was still alive
Deep inside, dreams will never die
That is why we’re movin’ closer to the truth

It’s really great for me to be here
I’ve won over the pain and the fear
It’s been so very hard through the years
Been looking through a rainbow of tears
And still I never really let go of the dream

Sometimes I saw my life just falling apart
And all the rejection tearing at my heart
Deep inside, hope was still alive
Deep inside, dreams will never die
If you try there’ll be so much more for you

It’s really great for me to be here
I’ve won over the pain and the fear
It’s been so very hard through the years
Been looking through a rainbow of tears
And still I never really let go of the dream

We can all be free, we hold the key
If we can see what we wanna be
Life’s never easy, you get no guarantees
Why not give your all and see what you can find?

World Masters Games...Here I come.

I've done it. I completed and paid for my entry this morning. It feels great to finally have made that step. Hopefully I'll win one of those 'Skins' prizes for entering before the end of May. Yeh, right. Anyway, after a lot of grovelling to Mick, I've convinced him to do the sprints with me as well. I really wanted to do them, but wasn't really keen on doing them on my own. Now that I've convinced him to do the K2 sprints with me I'm so excited about that too. So my events are...
Womens 35+ Marathon K1
Mixed 35+ Marathon K2 (with Mick)
Mixed 35+ Sprint K2 200m
Mixed 35+ Sprint K2 500m
Mixed 35+ Sprint K2 1000m

Heavy schedule, but it should be sooooo much fun!

Finally, another jog

After several plans to do another jog this week, and several things happening to prevent me, I finally got out this morning to do one. I pushed both boys in the double pram and wow - are they getting heavy to push. It's so much harder running and pushing a pram with over 30kg in it. Not to mention the constant referreeing and negotiating (and occassional yelling) that I have to do as well. Anyway, I ran to the end of the path and back, and felt pretty good. I'll have to start running further with the double pram now that I can do this distance ok.

A monday aftenoon jog.

After much deliberation and discussion, Mum and I decided to go out for a jog this afternoon. I pushed Clayton in the pram and Connor rode his bike. My legs still felt fatigued after my longer run on the weekend, and the going was slow, but I felt generally ok. We jogged to the end of the path and half-way back, and then walked the rest. Mum can't run too much at the moment due to an injury. We then watched the boys playing in the park afterwards for a while. All in all...a pleasant run, and I'm glad we made ourselves go.

A great paddle

Chris's soccer was on, then it was off, then it was on but at a different time and place, then it was off, then it was on at the original time and venue, and then no-one seemed to know...
So I arranged to meet Anton at 7:30am for a quick paddle to get back in time for Chris's possible game of Soccer. It was windy, but not as bad as yesterday. I was very nervous in the K1 and was so confident about staying upright that I wore my wetsuit top! Anton was in his TK1.
We started by heading to the bridge and I was feeling pretty good, when on the return trip....who should we see.....but "Oh no, it's that f**king idiot again", as I called out to Anton. It was the guy in the boat who was responsible for me falling out last week. Goody, goody I thought...now he'll have a hat-trick". I immediately started to feel tippy and had to do some brace strokes, but maybe he heard me (whoops) or maybe he actually had a brain in his head today, but he stopped his boat and waited until we were past until he headed off again. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!!!
Anyway, we continued up to the lake, briefly saw Greg outside his house, and it was getting progressively windier and choppier up towards the top. However I still felt pretty good. I turned around at the beach at the point (no way I was tackling the markers in that weather) and we headed back. We came across a few other boats going in the opposite direction, but their minimal wash wasn't a problem. We got back to the boat ramp without any dramas and I was extremely pleased that I hadn't fallen out.
I went to the car to check my mobile phone and there was a message from Chris saying that Soccer was on in the afternoon and I didn't have to rush home now. Woo Hoo. So Anton convinced me to do a couple of sprints with him. We headed up just past the 200m mark and did a couple of moderate paced efforts. I found I couldn't pt too much effort because the kayak started to bob, and I felt too unstable. This got better as we did a few more. I decided to try a couple of sprints where I stayed behind Anton practiced dealing with wash. I managed better than I thought. On the final one I practiced wash-riding and again coped better than I though.
All in all a great paddle. It was a huge confidence booster and I can't wait to get out in the K1 again.

Running again

Since I missed my paddle this morning due to the weather (and my wussiness, hehehe), Chris kindly offered for me to go for a run this afternoon. I said we could all go together, but he said that he would look after the boys so I could have a break and enjoy a run on my own. What a man!!!
So I drove to the lake and with MP3 player in hand started doing my usual warm-up walk, when I suddenly had the desire to turn around and go the other direction for today. I normally don't go the other way because even though the path is excellent, it is windy (as in curves around too much) and it's a pain trying to run with the pram whilst turning corners all the time. However on my own it was lovely. The music was pumping, I felt great and decided at the turn around time..to just keep running a bit further. I had planned to run 10 minutes and turn around for a 20 minute total run. But I decided to turn around after 15 minutes and did a 30 minute run. I felt great the whole way and could have run further.
Now, I know this distance isn't anything special, but for me it was. I haven't run 30 minutes since before state when I got injured. So this was my longest run in a while. I now feel like I'm running properly again.

Windy weather

A group paddle was arranged for this morning, but I woke up this morning to 45+km/hr winds and pouring rain. I draw the line at 35km/hr winds in a K1. Of course after calling Anton, 15 minutes later the rain had eased, but the wind continued all day. I was so disappointed and kept thinking that I should have gone, but the decision had been made.
I hadn't yet done my blog for today, but Anton was just hanging out to comment, so he did it on the previous blog. However, I love it (and my reply) so I decided for today's blog to just copy it from there. I think it tells the story well...

anton said...
Saturday, 23rd may 2009
ITS RAINING AND WINDY HERE. NO WAY I'M GOING PADDLING IN THAT _ _ _ _!!!!
I checked its spelt "WUSS". Well the rest of us turned up for the saturday early morning paddle.
Geoff (mirage), Michael (mirage), Darren (flash), Jack n Jen (double) and myself (tk1).
Really nice relaxing 8km paddle with the two mirages setting the pace. A couple of spots of rain (nothing serious), and a really nice breeze to assist our trip back to the boat ramp. JnJ and Darren even went out around the third marker, I turned at the second, didn't feel like swimming (that water's really getting cold).
We also passed another bloke in a mirage 580 and Greg and a young wippersnapper in a k1 doing a bit of training. Really was a good paddle, shame you weren't there!!!!!!!!
On a serious side though I will admit that it probably would have been an extremely difficult paddle for anyone (except Mark) in a k1.
Just to top off this stirring comment I told Paul the runner that you didn't paddle this morning because of the weather and he said quote "tell her, real athletes get out there in any weather".
lol c ya

May 23, 2009 5:30 PM
Tigerkyra said...
Yes, fair comment. But in my defence, it's not actually the weather that's the problem..it's how the shoulder goes in the wind (and swimming) that's the problem. The rain doesn't bother me at all (and I probably would have been wet from swimming anyway), but to aggravate my shoulder in that wind...now I'm not that stupid. :) I did however go running in that weather...so I guess I'm still an athlete huh!

Howdy partner

On my way driving to school this morning I was excited to see Mick's car parked on the side of the road (where he waits with his children for the school bus). I pulled over, jumped out and got his medal out of my glovebox to give to him finally. It was his silver medal from the TK2 race we did together at State.
After a brief chat he asked me if I would like to paddle with him in a K2 at the World Masters Games. ABSOLUTELY!!! This was a great surprise as I thought he was going to paddle with another male. But this will be unreal. We paddle so well together, and I'm so excited at the prospect of paddling in a K2. This is looking fantastic!!!!
So at least 2 of my entries are sorted now. My 2 marathon races...My 35-39yr single K1, and now a 35-39yr mixed K2. Sweet. Now I just have to work out if I'm definately going to do sprints as well, in what, and if doubles with who (as a definate). Still plenty of time.

Tuesday's run

I felt a bit off last night and was still not quite right this afternoon, but decided to go for a short run anyway. Mum came along too and I pushed Clayton in the pram and Connor rode his bike. We ran up to the end of the path, and powerwalked back. The run ended up being about 12 min and that was enough for me today.

I love it

Well there's no doubt about my new K1. I love it. This morning a group of us went for a paddle along the river again. Me in the Sladecraft Stealth K1, Anton in his Mustang K1, Mark in his Rocket and Graham in his TK1.
I warned everyone..."He who gives me wash..their name will be mud in my blog" to which Mark just gave an evil laugh. I have to say though, the guys were wonderful today. They were very considerate and made it as easy as possible for me by staying clear of me. Thankyou!!!!

I headed off to the lake first with the others behind me. I was too petrified to turn around and look where they were and was just hoping that they were following me. I was almost up at the lake before I heard Mark's voice behind me and stopped at the turnaround spot to see that the others weren't far behind. I couldn't believe that Anton had kept up in his K1, as we were going a decent pace. He's paddling it so well now. We're all going to have no hope when he's got it down pat.
The paddle back was uneventful, and back at the boat ramp, Mark and Anton switched kayaks and we headed down towards the bridge.

I wanted to do an effort from the bridge back to the boat ramp, to see what kind of time I could do in the K1. I knew my times in the Club, Van Dusen, and Struer K1's and wanted to see how I compared in the new one at this early stage. I was all motivated to give it a good shot and off I went. The others let me go ahead of them (again being very considerate), and I was feeling good at the first bend in the river. Then who should I see....but the guy in the boat from yesterday (who saw me fall out). And guess what he did....took off and gave us a heap of wash. What a goose. He only had to wait 10 seconds and we would have been past him, but Nooooooo. Anway, I managed the wash from the boat, but the rebound wash from the edges got me first go. In I went. Damn that water is getting cold. It took me ages to get back in. The bank was really muddy and I fell back in at one stage trying to get my paddle. Finally I was back in and paddled back to the boat ramp with muddy feet slipping all over the foot plate. I was most annoyed that I had now run out of time to do the time trial. But also that this idiot didn't have enough sense to wait 10 seconds until we were past him. I know it's not his fault I fell in...it's my fault and part of the learning process. But still...considering he saw me fall in yesterday and knew that I was in a tippy kayak and likely to fall in...you think he would have had some consideration.
Anyway, I love the K1 and can't wait to paddle it again.

My own K1

Oh yeh! As soon as I hopped into the K1 today it felt 'right'. It was a tight fit, but no tighter than the club K1, and it felt very comfortable.

I met Carole down at the boat ramp at 7am and had managed to fit both the Mirage and the K1 on the roof racks. After some fiddling around moving the Mirage foot rest back into Carole's position, we were soon off heading up towards the lake. Damn that K1 is fast. I just had to put my paddle in the water and it was effortlessly gliding through the water. I was just doing some balance drills and poor Carole was doing 3 strokes to my 1 just to keep up. So we paddled up to the lake doing a fast speed for her, and a very slow speed for me. Great balance practice and it let me get a good feel for the K1.

I was nervous turning around at the point because it was quite windy and a bit choppy by then, but managed it unscathed. We paddled back and saw Greg outside his house to which I called out "I'll have her, she's beautiful". We headed down towards the bridge and I felt nice and relaxed paddling...then I heard a boat coming up behind us. Silly me started feeling nervous, turned around to look and "man that water's cold!" In I went, and after a quick swim to shore, empty out, we were on our way again.

We did the rest of the paddle without any dramas and I just LOVED the feel of the K1. At one point I said to Carole..."This looks much better than a ring sitting in a drawer" (because I have sold my 1st marriage's engagment ring to buy it). She agreed and said "Definately, but the ring wouldn't have made you wet!" Indeed.

Well, I am excited and relieved to now have my very own K1. I went over to Greg's house this afternoon and paid him the money, so the Sladecraft "Stealth" K1 is officially mine. Yipee!!!!!

Maybe not heartbroken...there's hope

I went to pick up the club K1 from Greg's house today (just getting a few repairs done before I give it back). On the phone last night he said he had 2 jobs he wanted me to look at. I was curious. Well, when I got there today he showed me the Sladecraft K1 I had tried (and not fit in). He has widened the cockpit by 40mm and said I could give it another try. WOO HOOOO!!!!

It's now a similar width to a cleaver X at the top of the cockpit, so I'm very hopeful that it will be good. He's put a new seat in, and a new seat plate. It's looking good! So I can't wait to try it out tomorrow. Here's hoping that this time tomorrow I'll be doing a blog entry saying that I loved it and I'm buying it. Not getting my hopes up or anything...yeh right.

Running summary

I've been slowly building my running up again. I've been slack though and haven't been putting in every run session in this blog (which I really should do). I've done a couple of runs down to the beach, which reminds me of how lucky I am to be living where I am. I've also done some down at the usual lake path pushing both boys in the pram (which is getting to be hard work now they are getting bigger). I've done a few 20min runs, and now a couple of 25 min runs. I've also got a new pair of my running shoes (Brooks Addiction 8) which feel lovely.

Today I ran down at the Soccer park again. I walked the boys down in the double pram, put them in the middle with 2 soccer balls, plastic golf clubs, and plastic golf balls, and I ran around the perimeter. I did one lap with my GPS so I could work out how far 1 lap is, and it's 480m. I ended up doing 7.5 laps in 25 minutes, and kicked the balls around with the boys afterwards. A very enjoyable way to do a run. Though I definately find it harder running on the grass than on my usual paved path.

Saturday at Davistown

What a beautiful morning for a paddle. The sun was shining and the prediction was for only 13km/hr winds. Sweet! I told Jack and Anton that I'd meet them at the put in place at 7am on the water(the usual). Well, my little alarm clocks woke up late. At 6:20am I rolled over and asked Chris what the time was and quickly got dressed, put the Mirage on the roof and drove off to Davistown. I made it there by 7am, but then had a mad panic trying to get myself ready so I didn't hold everyone up too much. I HATE being late!
Anyway, there was a surprisingly large group of us there. Me in my Mirage 580, Anton is his Mirage 580, Jack and Jen in their double, Craig Dodd in his TK1, another 2 guys from the club in a TK2, another guy in a K1, and his teenage daughter on a surf ski. So 9 paddlers in 7 craft. It was fantastic to be paddling with such a large group.
Soon into the paddle though I was struggling to keep up in my Mirage. Absolutely lovely kayak, but definately a cruise ship, not a speed machine. Jack kindly let me hop on the wash of their double and then it was much nicer paddling. I stayed on their wash almost the whole paddle. Thank goodness, because I know I couldn't have done the pace otherwise. So a huge thankyou to Jack and Jen for that one!

There was a strong ingoing tide and it was surprisingly choppy out in the middle of Brisbane Water. With such low winds predicted I was very surprised at the nasty short, sharp waves. I was glad I was in the Mirage and am amazed that the TK2 and K1 guys handled it ok.

All up it was a great 13km paddle. Everyone hung around afterwards for Jack and Jen's renowned hot drinks. But being Mother's Day weekend, I had to rush off for family arrangement

Wednesday Sprints

Jack came up with the idea of Wednesday afternoon sprints. Oh yeh, count me in...was my quick reply when I first heard of it. I've been looking to mix up my training a bit and this sounded ideal. So the go was to meet at 4:30 to start on the river.

Since I was now K-less (due to the club K1 getting repairs), Jack brought down his Flash for me to do it in. He really is so generous. He doesn't hesitate to offer to loan his equipment or help, and I really do appreciate it very much.

Anton was a wus/woose (is that how you spell it Anton?) and decided at the last minute that he wasn't going to join us. Sorry...couldn't resist!So it was me in the Fash, Jack in the Struer K1 and Michael Carpenter on a Surf Ski. Now who do you think was going to be the slowest huh?

We paddled to the bridge and back as a warm-up and then paddled up to the 200m start. Jack had previously done his research and with GPS accuracy had measured out different distances and knew the starting landmarks. Jen was all set up back at the boat ramp (finish) with the stop watch, and with a yell from Jack of "Ready, Go" we were off for our first sprint. I felt ok, but found it hard dealing with the wash of the other 2 kayaks most of the way. They were a fair bit quicker than me. Anyway, after we crossed the finish and found out our times (which were surprisingly pretty good), Jack worked out the handicap times and we slowly paddled back up to the start again. We repeated all this for another 200m, 200m, 250m, and 500m. Even with the handicap start, I still came last each time. This didn't bother me, as we were all just trying to paddle the best we could. But I did notice that I was fatiguing a lot quicker than I had hoped for. So I guess this means that this is exactly the type of training that I need to do (especially if I want to get into some sprint racing).

Thanks again Jack, for yet another well thought out, well planned, well organised and well-executed event. I look forward to doing it again.

A family jog

Since Chris didn't have any work on today he decided to join me for my usual Wednesday run. We dropped Connor off at Preschool and drove stright to the lake. I pushed Clayton in the single pram and we walked to the double bridge, ran to the end of the path and back, and walked from the double bridge back to the car again. I felt good but we were running faster than I normally do and by the end of it was pretty stuffed. It was nice to have Chris come along too and a lovely way to start the day.

Heartbroken

I picked up the Sladecraft K1 on Sunday night and was lucky enough that I could try it out this afternoon. It sure looked skinny, but beautiful with it's blue sparkly deck. I couldn't wait to paddle it again and was anticipating loving it and buying it this week.

Apprently Liz told Jack that she had cracked the sides just sitting in it (which struck me as odd because she is lean). I wasn't worried about it. Well, it took me and Anton about an hour to get the seating arrangement right (just fiddling around etc). I did fit in it, but whilst sitting there realised that the cracks Liz was talking about opened up every time pressure was put against the sides, even just by merely sitting in it. I was now worried. I didn't want to risk doing further damage to it (by cracking it further). Anton had a sit in it and unbelievably it was even worse for him. He wasn't game to paddle it for fear of doing more damage too.
I had another sit in it and eventhough my hips were touching the sides it wasn't too uncomfortable so I decided to go for a short paddle to try it out.

Anton had his K1 so we both nervously made our way up towards the lake. After a little while my hips started feeling better and I was feeling optimistic. But it didn't take long to be VERY uncomfortable again. I was almost at the lake when I decided to turn around and head back because I just HAD to get out of it. It was getting pretty painful. Well, with a maximum width of 37cm I guess my hips are always going to be too tight a fit in it. I reckon I could lose as much weight as I like and my bone structure is still going to be too big for it.

I was heartbroken. I really had my hopes up on this one. The feel of it through the water was just beautiful and it handled so well. I loved paddling it, but just knew I wouldn't be comfortable sitting it in. Such a shame.

Jack met us back at the boat ramp and had a sit in it. His hips didn't touch the sides at all - he fit in perfectly. I had a quick try of Anton's Mustang K1, and it's a tippy little bugger. I found it had an odd feel to it. It felt nice when up and running, but if my balance was off slightly I had the odd sensation that it would be very hard to recover from and I would be swimming before I knew it. Luckily that didn't happen though (as the water was chilly and the air temperature had certainly dropped by now).

Anyway, I dropped it straight back to Greg's house. For someone who can comfortable fit in it I think it would be a wonderful K1 to paddle. However I'm definatley heart broken and back to the drawing board...continuing my search to buy a K1.

Glad to see someone else doing what I do.

I was just checking out the Paddle NSW website and came across this picture from the last State 10 race at Berry. It's nice to see other experienced paddlers falling in....I mean, it's not nice for them, and it's not nice that they fell in, but it makes all of us who have fallen in (and still do) feel a little better about it. If you know what I mean.

A nice relaxing paddle

I saw that the forcast was good for this morning so I asked Carole if she would like to go for a paddle again. She was very keen and so we arranged to meet at 7am at the boat ramp. Anton, Jack and Jen, and Colin and Ann Rae were there too. Colin and Ann wanted to try a few different double craft so Jack brought them along. Most of the paddle was done with Jack and Jen in the Supersonic, Colin and Ann in the Macquarie double, Anton in his TK1, Carole in my Mirage 580 and me in Jack's Flash. "Jumpin Jack's Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas." Sorry...couldn't help myself.

We paddled up to the lake with a nice relaxed pace. The weather was beautiful. The 2 double craft went off ahead and it was me, Carole and Anton paddling together for most of it. Towards the end Anton headed off with the doubles and Carole and I paddled to the bridge and back together. It was so nice just to paddle easy and have a nice chat.

At the end Colin and Ann tried the Supersonic, and then Anton and I had a go in the Supersonic. We got it moving pretty quick. It felt very nice and something I would definately paddle again. I reckon it would be a great kayak to do the Hawkesbury Classic in. I was in the front and I enjoyed that too (as I am normally in the back when I paddle with Mick).

After all the kayaks were put back on our roofs we headed back to J&J's place for a lovely cup of hot milo with honey. Oh yeh, this is the life!!!!!

Running is starting to feel good again

After yesterdays failed attempt at a proper run, I headed out early with the boys this morning. The weather was beautiful, though it is getting decidedly crisp/chilly of a morning here now.

I did my usual warm up walk, and decided to run to the end of the path and back. It's been a while since I've done this, especially with both boys in the double pram, but I felt really good. I'm finally feeling good running again. It took me about 21:30 (min:sec) from the double bridge to the end and back, and I'm happy with that.