Getting there now

By Jim on Monday, May 3, 2010 - Related Tags:- dream, westley

I have made significant progress since my last entry, having gone from almost last to the top 20 in my age group in the last event of the Ocean Series.  This is how it happened.

After watching that 'Catching Runners' episode and having the lesson with Jim, I got the concept.  I still didn't have the fitness but knew what to do.  Many paddlers tell you it is a case of spending time on the water, so that is what I did.

I went up to my hometown at Terrigal, and paddled my heart out catching runners as often as I could.  I soon figured that long runs were the best way to learn quickly.  Even so I mixed it up a bit taking many shorter runs out from the beach and back in again.  

I met the locals who gave me their bit of advice which was to hit the 'bump' they suggested that it would toughen up my core, develop my balance and take away some fear factor.

It did seem to do all of that but there was still a bit of fear left.

I asked Jim to do a podcast on mental toughness and we end up with the advice from Andrea Furst of Mental Notes consulting.  I started treating my training more like a race practice, concentrating and applying myself rather than plodding along, just doing time.  I also zoned into technique and paddling rather than letting my mind wander to sharks and other nasties.

The next big step was going on holidays to South West Rocks where I met a fellow paddler Greg Smith - champion of the Hawkesbury River Classic.  He introduced me to the long runs off the jail at South West Rocks and we spent hours going out and back riding waves for hundreds of metres.  Another friend Len jumped in and we had a fantastic holiday.

On getting home again I re watch the Podcast on Cross Training and particularly noted the idea that Kayaking was not in the top few sports for developing cardio vascular fitness, yet cardio vascular fitness is what you need to succeed. That is when I realised that simply time on the water was not going to cut it.  Basically your body adapts and you get to the point where no physical improvement is happening.

I joined a gym, Fitness first and started doing cross training on the bike, treadmill, weights and boxing.  Immediately I noticed big improvements and started to catch people in my time trials.  Both bike riding and running will build that cardio fitness better than kayaking.

I entered the 20 beaches and it was the perfect day for me.  First up, a very valuable lesson.  I was busy warming up and didn't pay attention to the start.  They started the race and I was facing the other way and was 500 metres away from the start - doh.  My tip for you all here - find a champion and stick like glue to them until the start of the race, they always seem to know when it will happen.

I turned my boat and headed out.  The runners were just the right size for me.  I caught them straight on then steered to the steepest parts of the run looking all the time for valleys to skip through to the next wave.  I felt soooo professional darting along linking runners one, two, three it was great.

Then I hit the headland chop, I felt like I was stuck in sand and couldn't move, oh no, I thought, back to being a beginner again.  I had no idea how to negotiate the chop and will work with Jim on some ideas there.  After each headland, off I went again.

The race seemed to take forever but eventually I turned for home, put in the last big burst and hit the beach.  This time no comments that I must have had a big night out, but rather 'well done mate' from one of my main rivals who I had  beaten home.  Top 20 in the over 50's!  I was actually on the scoreboard, still not significant but I was at least in sight.  Now I am motivated, onwards and upwards - remember my goal is to be competitive, top ten in a significant event.