Maybe tomorrow..

Well, we had Nanna's funeral yesterday. It was lovely...well as lovely as funerals can be. Chris worked today, as we needed the extra money after him having yesterday off. Unfortunately it has turned out to be a full day and he will be getting home around 4:30pm. I wouldn't be able to get on the river before dark. Oh well....maybe tomorrow.

The best excuse ever!

I knew Chris was going to be home early today, so earlier in the week I had planned that I would paddle sprints with the guys this afternoon....but.....something happened....

The SMS message I sent to Anton later in the day read... "Was going to go today but arm is very sore after tetanus inection I had to have this morning. I stabbed my thumb cleaning dog poo off Connor's shoe with a wooden skewer. Ouch". Instantly he called me, laughing his head off saying "That has to be the best excuse ever".

What had happened was that last night Connor had somehow gotten dog poo on his shoe. So I had the bright idea of using a wooden skewer (like you use to make kebabs), to clean it out of the deep groves. It worked great...until it slipped and kebabbed by thumb. Pretty deep too. Damn it hurt. A couple of hours later it was very sore, swollen, red and hot. Not looking good. I googled tetanus and discovered that it was at high risk for it...and of course couldn't remember my last injection. So off I went to the Doctors this morning and got jabbed in the arm. It felt fine for a couple of hours, but started getting progressively sorer, and now I can't lift my hand above my shoulder. And looking at my thumb, I probably couldn't grip a paddle anyway.
So there you have it. Turning out to be a crap week.

A sad, tiring couple of days

I didn't feel like going to work on Monday, but I did....had a crap, hard day, wished I hadn't gone.....felt exhausted....cleaned the house, got dinner for everyone, bathed the boys, Chris came home, we watched a bit of TV, and went to bed.

Today was a bit better. But way too physically and emotionally tired to do any training. I missed it...felt like going...but it just didn't happen.

Paddling, chatting, swimming, paddling

I was still feeling pretty down this morning. Still didn't really feel like paddling, but was hoping for a repeat of yesterday afternoon - that I would feel better for doing it.

It was a pleasant surprise to be joined by Mark and Graham as well as Anton (who I had arranged the paddle with). It was nice to paddle as a group. We headed off to the bridge, and I felt really good in the K1. Then up to the lake, around the second marker and back again, and I was feeling great in the K1. I was relaxed and felt the most balanced in it that I have ever felt. We were doing a decent pace, chatting and I was really enjoying myself. I was mostly paddling with Mark, with Anton and Graham just behind us. We got back to the boat ramp and Mark convinced us to go to the bridge again.


Because I had stopped for a drink (with Anton kindly retrieving it from the car so I didn't have to stuff around getting my skirt off and on again), Mark and Graham were a few minutes ahead of us (just within view), and I was paddling with Anton. We were just going around the last bend before the bridge, I was still feeling really good in the K1 and before I knew it...there was a wobble....a few attempted braces....and the point of no return...with a shout from me to Anton of "I'm in"...then splash.

Damn that water is cold. Unfortunately I was a little way from shore and it took a couple of minutes to swim there. I was commenting on the coldness of it, and how it was hard to swim with the skirt on, to which Anton replied "You might want to get a move on...You've got about 6 minutes before you get hypothermia". I found this funny and had a bit of a laugh.

Well, a quick empty out, re-entry, and paddle back to the boat ramp again. I have no idea why I fell in. The others came up with several explanations ranging from the odd current around the bend, wind gusts etc. But I would take none of these. My explanation was that I'm still crap at it. I was tired, and that's probably why I fell in.

I had a quick rest whilst Anton and Mark did a 50 metre sprint. I was keen to do another sprint with them...as I had already fallen in, what was it going to matter if I fell in again. So I headed up the river to the start. I honestly couldn't have cared less if I fell in again. I was 10 metres from shore, and already wet....so maybe that's why I didn't! I called the start, had a great start, Mark got ahead pretty quickly, but I paddled great and just held off Anton. When I was paddling, I didn't feel anything like falling in. I felt so good. This was great for my confidence.

So after washing down the kayaks, getting dry and dressed, my summary of the morning was that it was a great paddle. I thoroughly enjoyed it...swim and all. Funny how that can be.

Rest in Peace Nanna

Just over 10 months ago, (24th August o8), I went for a jog at the lake on a Saturday morning and took the children to the park afterwards. It was there that I got THE phone call. My father had passed away - tragically, suddenly and very unexpectedly.

This morning, on a much sunnier Saturday morning I had gone for a jog at the lake, let the children play in the park and was driving home when I got THE phone call. The message was to call my sister when I got home...which I did a couple of minutes later....my Nanna had passed away. I am so sad for the loss of such a dear grandmother who we were all so close to. Rest in Peace Nanna - so many wonderful memories.

I had planned to go for a paddle this afternoon with Anton. I just didn't feel like doing anything anymore. Chris said I should go as it would make me feel better. I was doubtful. However, I reluctantly put the K1 on the roof and drove to the river. I still didn't want to be there. I just didn't feel like paddling.

However, once on the river and chatting to Anton I started to feel a little better. It was a nice, cruisy paddle and on the way back to the boat ramp I was feeling much better. It was getting dark, but we did the extra half lap to make it 11km. And Chris was right. It was the right decision and I'm glad I went.

Food Poisoning (aka: where's the bucket?)

Well, after a great paddle on Sunday morning, I have only just fully resurfaced now. The severe stomach cramps started Sunday morning at 11:30 am and by 12:30pm Chris was having to pull the car over whilst the boys called out "What's mummy doing? Why did she get out of the car? Oooooohhhh she's doing Ickies" etc. A quick trip home and it just went downhill from there. I lay in the same position in the bed for almost 6 hours (other than getting up to chuck) because I was too scared to move, and the pain was too bad if I did. And after that 6 hours of intense pain and regular chucking, it finally started to ease off slightly. I went to sleep and woke up the next morning around 9am. I think I got out of bed by around 4pm (other than loo trips), briefly had a drink and went back to bed for the rest of the night again. Tuesday was better and I got up a bit more and by Tuesday night I started eating again. Wendesday, back to work (bad decision - felt yuk), but now on Thursday I'm feeling pretty normal again. Even went for a 10 minute slow shuffle this morning.

Now, I've had so many bouts of gastro and food poisoning...that I know it was definately food poisoning. Without risking defaming certain companies (and acompanying law suits) I'll just say that we put it down to a spinich and fetta muffin. It tasted funny at the time, but then they usually do don't they? Anyway, in retrospect (which is always a wonderful thing) I think the fetta was off.

Ok, well hopefully I can finally get back on track now. Fast way to lose weight though. LOL!

I can fall in all on my own!

Nooooo, I don't need powerboats, wind, chop, or even Anton's wash to fall in....I can do it all on my own.

Everyone one else was doing something else this morning and I just felt like doing a nice easy paddle on my own anyway. After a week of feeling like crap, I just wanted a cruisy, no pressure, no timing, just enjoy paddling along session today.

The weather was magic. It was cold, but not terrible, mildly sunny, no wind, and not a ripple on the water in sight. It looked like glass. I wanted to do 1.5 laps today. I haven't done more than 1 lap (8km) in any 1 stretch in the new K1, so I thought I'd just try it today (since I was going easy).

I started off heading to the bridge, just cruising, feeling good. No worries. No sign of "my mate" (the guy in the yellow boat who seems magnetically to make me fall in). I continued up towards the lake, all good, feeling relaxed and trying a few technique things out. When I reached the lake it was flawless. Not a ripple in sight, it was glass. I've only ever seen it like that a couple of times. I headed out around the second marker and headed back towards the boat ramp. Still feeling good and playing around with steering and technique. Came across a couple of other paddlers, simply a nod of the head. All good still.

Only 1 km to go until the boat ramp...hmmm..I wonder what time I'll do it in, since it feels so easy....lets look down and check my watch, 45:30...split second later...$hit that water's cold, wow my skirt came off without a problem, damn it's hard swimming with it still on.

No-one to blame but me and my beginners balance, (and stupidity for looking down and twisting my arm to see my watch). Well a quick empty out, and relaunch and I was on my way. It was a useful lesson though...
1. My spray skirt comes off easily, without any dramas. This was something I was curious about and had hoped would happen (to avoid unpleasant upside-down time trying to get one off)
2. My thermals were really quite warm when wet - once paddling again, my legs actually felt warmer than when they were dry, and my upper body was fine until the wind picked up.
3. Don't try anything fancy like looking at my watch until my balance it better.

I continued past the ramp, down to the bridge and back without any further dramas, and was very happy to have done the extra distance. I wasn't upset with falling in, and overall it was a great paddle.

It also occured to me that since no-one saw me fall in, then I didn't have to tell anyone. But I'm not like that. I figure that the more people that hear about this stuff, the better they will feel about themselves and their learning curve. I hope there is a paddler out there somewhere who reads this and thinks..."Cool, I'm doing alright afterall". The more people I hear about that fall in , the less worried it makes me.