Paddling is going great

Well, I've been following the program and my paddling is improving noticably. I've been doing all sorts of interesting stuff like using sandbags, doing hard intervals with short recovery, lactate tolerance sessions, long easy sessions, recovery sessions, sprints, starts, etc. All of it is heart-rate based, which is fantastic because I don't have to think about whether I'm training hard enough or not. I just program the session into the Forerunner and away I go.

I'm loving following a program because I'm not undermining myself all the time..."Have I gone far enough", "Have I gone hard enough" etc. I don't have to think about it, I just get out there and do it...no cheating.

There was one particularly great session. I won't go into detail, but it involved doing short intervals at a very high heart rate, with short recoveries in between. I was really nervous beforehand because I knew it was going to hurt...bigtime. After chatting to a few paddling buddies I convinced a few to come along and paddle with me for motivation. It ended up being Anton (in his Flyer), Mark (in his Van Dusan, with an resistance tube on the front), and Jack and Jen in their double. Of course I was the only one doing the specific program (because it was based on my individual heart rate), but they all paddled along with me (or in the near vicinity).

I felt good right from the first interval. I was "in the zone" and loving pushing myself. It went great. It was also really nice having the others there too. It actually ended up being much more enjoyable a session than I thought. Now, don't get me wrong, it was hard and it definately hurt. But I was feeling so good, that it hurt in a good way...if that makes sense.

Anway, my balance is improving, my sprinting is improving, my fitness is improving and I'm loving my paddling and my program. It's all good!