Hi all,
this is my first race report
since the Worlds back in November 2011 and I must say I am happy the racing
season is finally here.
After survivng my first canadian
winter and I must say I actually really enjoyed the x-country skiing and
working in the gym helped me keeping fit. We had a "mild winter"
which for me was already bloody cold but I guess I shouldn't complain since it
was a "mild" one.
So my running and cycling fitness
didn't get as much affected as I thought it would because of winter thanks to
the treadmil, skate skiing every week end and stationary bike. However I am
back almost to full regime training now and I do feel it...
My paddling however took a
massive slap not as much for my strength that i actually improved by working
out in the gym but by the endurance and time in the boat.
Two weeks ago I participated in
my first race of the season: a 12.6km paddle race called the richmond
paddle race. It was my first time paddling since december and getting in the
boat for the first time in so long and starting with a race was not the wisest
idea i ever had. In addition it was
fairly cold for me and i might have been a little overdressed. I started in the
last wave with my friends Ben and Alex, the three of us in prs spirit surfskis.
I usually can follow Ben but he took off almost right away. After 5 minutes I
started overheating and my new gloves were not good for me and I lost
circulation in my right hand but I had Alex right behind me and couldn't give
up. After 10 minutes my arms wanted to fall off and the gloves were really
painful. After about 45 min I actually ended up taking them off and it went all
better from there on. Despite Alex took that opportunity to pass me my pride
made me push to catch up and then pass him again. Luckily for me there were a
few rapids right before the end enabling me to go away from him finishing 2nd
in the sit on top category, 4th overall.
After what I would call a
disaster of a race, (even if it was a good result) because of how I felt during
the race, I started paddling again (the rivers had finally thawed) three times
a week for the next two weeks until the raisin river race last week end. That
race was originally a 35km paddle race but ended up to be shortened due to low
water (hard to believe since they had lots of snow not a long time ago but
true) to 27-28km. The temperature was a lovely 0 degree at the start line and
we waited for about an hour in our wetsuits, me freezing to death in the back
of a french canoe team's car. My friend Peter and I (number 35) started in the
same wave of 3 people, about 12 minutes behind the first grid. Both on our prs,
I knew that Peter is as fast or a little faster than me on the flat but I also
knew I am better in rapids and that it was his first time back paddling of the
year so I had some chances. There were a few rapids and a dam to go through and
I was pretty confident I would go through ok. From the start on I managed to
stay just in front of him and a few kilometers from the start I managed to put
a few boat length in between us so I knew he couldn't draft any more. I was
feeling a lot better than two weeks before, a lot stronger and I didn't want
him to pass me but i knew that eventuallly it would happen. Slowly but surely I
was putting more distance between us and we were passsing a lot of people in
canoes and kayaks.
When I got to the dam I don't
know why my legs started shaking and suddently I wasn't overly confident
anymore. For god sake I didn't want to swim, the water is freezing cold and I
knew there was still a fair amount of paddling to do till the end after it.
Thanks god I went through well without falling. Sorry to all the people who
where on the bridge waiting for me to fail ;). I passed a canoe (number 4) then
and the girl told me I was the first person to pass them (they started about
11min before me). I, I don't know why, assumed that there were only 3 people in
front of me then (1 pro canoe and two double canoes number 1 to 3) and started
"chasing them" thinking that maybe they were not that far ahead.
A few kilometers after (at what I
think would have been about 18km) my arms started to get tired and I asked a
gentleman on the side of the road how far we were. I didn't hear him clearly
and understood 8 to 10km (he told me after he said 7-8km) but anyway my mental
just took a slap and I fighted to stay "strong" as long as I could.
15min later some guys were on the side of the river and they told me I was at
about 10km from the finish...I almost gave up on the "strong
attitude" but luckily the same guy I had talked to before was on the side
of the river 15min later again and he told me I had only 3.5km to go max.
I was turning aroud regularly to
see if Peter was still there but I couldn't see him. However I didn't want to
slow down just in case he sprints off to the finish and kick my bum so I kept
paddling as strong as I could till the finish.
When I got there I asked how far
the canoes were ahead from me and they rectified saying "the canoe"
arrived a while ago (~17-18min). It was the pro canoe (he came first overall)
and because he started 12min ahead of me he actually won by 5-6min on me.
I ended up 1st kayak (all gender)
and 2nd overall (over 98 participant).
Peter arrived 5min after me.
I must thank Unleash compression
without who my body would be falling apart :) and NRS for the awesome paddling
gears they gave me which kept me warm and paddling :)
For a few weeks now I have been
training a lot.
I started a trail running group
with work which is giving me a good workout every week in the wood, I have been
mountain biking a couple of times in the last 2 weeks, riding my roady everyday
or so at least to commute and I am trying to keep my paddling training to 2-3
times a week. The adventure racing season starts as from next week end for me
with a race every week end for the next 3 weeks (about 8h each). I also have in
mind the 5 days expedition race in new england in june and the avon descent
paddle race in WA in august so let just say that the training has begin and
that I am more than determinated to get as strong as I have ever been for it :)
N.L.
