Club Race...finally

Due to a late change to Chris's soccer game time I managed to finally do a club race on 26th July. Here's a brief rundown of what went down...

I've never raced in my K1 before and have never had to deal with a lot of other kayaks wash. So my main aim was to go hard and stay in. I had hoped to beat 1:10 (hr:min). But they gave me a handicap 2 minutes quicker than that. On the trip out, I was paddling really well. Heart rate around 190 and speed around 10 - 10.4km/h (which is good for me). I had to deal with a bit of wash, but coped well. About a third of the way back the pack caught me and threw off an absolute heap of wash. Anyway, I basically had horrible wash the whole way back and just couldn't get my rhythm or put much effort in. My speed dropped to around 9.5km/hr (which is dissapointing), but I did manage to stay in (which I am VERY happy about). My time was 1:09, which I'm disappointed in. I did beat the 1:10, but I have previously done 1:07 in the Van Dusan, and 1:05 in the Struer (with a lot of wash riding). However, my time for the lap out was great. If I could have kept my speed up the whole way back (which fitnesswise I could have), I would have done around 1:06. So, it was great for my confidence in my balance, but highlights the fact I've got a long way to go.