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 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!!!!!