A wet paddle

Not becuase of the rain, but because I was paddling with Anton - Heheheheheh. Just joking Anton. I always have a dig at him because he throws so much water off his paddle (no you can't blame it on the type of paddle you have Anton). Anyway, it was raining and I still wanted to train so he came along as well. By the time we met there it was raining pretty heavily so we put on our wet weather kit. For me it was cossie, tights, spray jacket, and Anton kindly lent me a spray skirt (which matched my kayak nicely). I think anyone who saw us thought we were nuts, but I was loving the paddle. We did the bridge lap and it was nice and calm with moderate rain, but then as we headed up towards the lake it started to bucket down. And for the last 1km before the lake the wind and chop picked up and it was pretty horrible. It's probably the worst weather I've ever paddled in. The K1's nose was going under the waves at each dip, but at least it was head on. I found a sheltered spot to turn around and we headed back, this time with the wind and waves behind us. We would have been flying, it was pretty cool. We took some photos when we were done and we look like drowned rats. The photos are a bit blurry because I couldn't stop the rain from getting on the lens. So sorry Anton, these were the best I got. I still have to look at the GPS data to see what our distance and speed was but I'm guessing around 7km with an average speed of 9.8km/hr.

A wet jog and a bit of philosophy

I knew the weather was going to be miserable today by the forcast of heavy rain and 40km/hr winds. Early this morning it was pouring and gusty, but I still told the boys we were going for a run and that Connor would have to sit in the pram today as it was too wet to ride his bike. I got us all dressed and ready (boys in warm trackies and me in sports tights and Chris's wet weather golf vest) and waited for a break in the weather. As soon as it was only a drizzle I drove us all to the lake. I set the boys up in the Mountain Buggy Double Pram with the rain cover on and I headed off along the lake. It was drizzling the whole way to the end of the path, but on the way back it was barely spitting. It was actually an enjoyable run. The boys were dry and toasty in the pram, and I was dry and toasty in Chris's golf top. The heart rate monitor didn't pick up my heart rate properly today, so no measurements there, but I completed the path run in 21:31 (min:sec) which is great for pushing the double pram. It's really quite a good workout pushing 30kg in the pram with the rain cover acting as a nice wind break.

It got me thinking though, at what point does it become unreasonable/stupid to keep training. For some people just the look of rain is enough to call a session off. Others train in absolutely horrendous weather. I try to find middle ground. I think that you could pretty much come up with an excuse to miss any session (too hot, cold, wet, windy, sunny, tired, hungry, thirsty, etc). I also think it's silly to jeapordise your health by taking it too far and training in weather that will likely make you end up sick. For some people it seems to be a measure of how tough/serious/dedicated/focused a person is. Sometimes it's something to brag about and almost becomes a competition. I'm interested to hear others thoughts on this, and at what point they decide to call a session off.

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A flat and disappointing paddle

After switching my paddle session from yesterday to today I was disappointed this morning when the weather was so crap. It was raining all morning. Don't get me wrong - I was going unless there was a thunderstorm, but it's always nicer paddling when it's not raining.
Anway, by the afternoon the rain stopped and the wind picked up and I arranged to meet Anton there at 4:45pm. I got there a bit early and Jack and Mick had just come back from a bridge lap. They convinced me to paddle up towards the lake with them (with much protesting by me...that Anton was going to kill me), and after about 1km I turned around and headed back to meet up with Anton. This part of the paddle felt good, but when Anton and I started heading up towards the lake together I felt a bit flat.
We met up with Jack and Mick, and paddled up to the lake and back with them. When we got back our time and my heart rate was good, but I just felt 'off the mark' today. I convinced Anton to let me practice wash riding him, and this was great. I've never wash ridden in a K1 before and I did better than expected. All up I paddled about 8km.
I'm just disappointed with how I felt today. Maybe it was knowing I had such a short time to paddle as I had to get back home in time for Chris to go to Soccer training. Maybe it was the lack of sleep last night due to Connor's all night long night terrors. Excuses, excuses! I was certainly looking forward to the sessions, but it just didn't click tonight. Oh well, I guess I can't expect every session to be great. I think maybe I was a bit disheartened after reading about the State Marathon Championships. I found out that the Open Womens K1 is 25km and has 4 portages. Now there's no way I'll be up to that standard in the K1 in 5 weeks. I also discovered that I won't be able to race in the Vet 35 category because it is the age you were on 1st January 2009. Usually in vet categories you can race in the category for the year you turn that age, which means I could race in V35, but appartently not for this event. This is a bummer because I was hoping to race in V35. So I think I'll race in the Open TK1 event now because there is no way that in 5 weeks I'd be able to stay upright in a K1 for 25km with 4 portages. Give me another month and maybe I could. So probably it's just that my heart wasn't in it today. I guess I'm just a bit disheartened at the moment. So disappointing after paddling so well on the weekend.

Wednesday's run with music

I was meant to be doing a paddle with Anton this afternoon, but I got a casual day's work at the last minute. Since it looks like I might be picking up the casual work on Wednesdays, I'll have to come up with a contingency plan for my training schedule. Anyway, I decided to go for a run instead. It was too late to paddle, and a run only takes an hour all up so I could be back in time to help put the boys to bed. So as soon as Mum headed home, I drove to the lake and did the longer (path and road) run and back. I felt great - the fittest I've felt in a long time. I'm really enjoying my running again. I also had the MP3 player on and the music always gives me an extra lift. My music of choice is dance/techno (anything with good bass). I think this comes from my teenage and early 20's Aerobic Instructing days, and working in a gym until I was 28yrs. Anyway, I love it when the bass is pumping and it can really improve my mood. Total time was 25:17 (min:sec), with an average heart rate of 168bpm. Lovin it!

Shuffle, jog, run?

It was the same story this Monday as last. I didn't feel like going out for a run, but somehow when Chris got home I got the motivation and Mum and I headed out to the lake. The cooler change in weather was lovely. I felt good straight away. It just felt much easier. We went to the end of the path and end of the road, and back, so an extra distance of about 1km. It was the first time since early December that I've done that whole distance without walking. I felt really great. So now I think I can call it running instead of shuffling or jogging. Nothing fast mind you, but it feels good enough to call it a run. Total time was 25:30 (min:sec) and average heart rate of 165bpm.

Saturday and Sunday's quiet paddle

This weekend most paddlers I know went down to Canberra to race in the State Marathon Series race 1. This included Anton, my usual chatty paddling partner. I have to say I really do find paddling with someone else much more enjoyable and Anton's friendly chat does make the time go much quicker. But I decided to use the opportunity of paddling on my own to try a few things out.
On Saturday, the first was the MP3 player. I thought I would like listening to music whilst I paddle, as I really enjoy it for my runs. But, I didn't and I couldn't wait until the first lap was over so I could put it back into the car. I also decided to do a solid pace and see what time I could do for the 8km lap. The pace I did was probably the same as about 20km race pace, and I did the 8km in 51:40 (min:sec). Average heart rate was 170bpm. Average speed was 9.29km/hr. I then did another 8km lap comfortably (fairly easy) without the MP3 player and did it in 52:18 with an average heart rate of 162bpm and average speed of 9.18km/hr. Not much difference really. I was pretty happy with these times but know I need to improve a lot more. This is also the furthest I have ever gone in a K1 in one session.
On Sunday, I decided to do a 1.5km time trial. As soon as I started paddling I realised how neurally fatigued I was from yesterday. I was all over the place. I warmed up to the bridge (1.5km) and then turned around and went hard back to the boat ramp (1.5km). By hard I mean about 5km race pace. I did it in 8:07 (min:sec) and was stoked! Average heart rate was 179bpm and average speed was 11.09km/hr. Now we're getting somewhere. I decided to do the rest of the paddle easy and worked on technique. I was very neurally tired and my balance was off, but I was still pleased with the session.
After 2 weeks I have finally got my heart rate monitor back from it's service. And since I haven't used it in 5 years (when the battery died), it was soooo good to be able to use it again. It was certainly great to have such detailed feedback about my sessions and will be really useful in helping me keep track of my progress.