Steves Blog on stuff

Watched the latest in the “This is the sea” series last nite.( from http://www.cackletv.com )  Its great value with 2 DVD’s.  A lot of it is expedition coverage, which shows amazing scenery, but doesn’t have the intense action I enjoy most with lots of paddling thru monster waves, ferocious tidal races, and the like. Hopefully there will be more of that in the next one (if there is another one)

Its still a great watch, and well worth adding to the video library :)

In the meantime, I just ordered the Pacific Horizons, and Eastern Horizons DVDs from www.reelwaterproductions.com.

Yesterday was the Eric Hughes regatta at Green lake which has 5K, and 10K race distances. Both on the same 1K lap.

I opted for the 10K.

The start was scheduled for 10, so everyone started getting on the water around 9:40, and because it was such a short lap, I opted to go paddle round it for a warm up.

I already posted pictures (on FB) and Video ( on YouTube ).

I had my usual awful start, and then settled into finding my pace, and place within the pack. With a short lap, many turns , and lots of paddlers, some legs were relatively rough ( from the wash of boats heading the other way, while others were much smoother.

I didnt do well on most of the turns, but with so many to practice on, towards the end, I was getting better at judging my approach angle, and wasnt wasting so much distance on each turn.

Overall a good race as I didnt fall out, and finished towards the back of the middle of the pack, only getting lapped by a handful of the fastest paddlers.  Twice by the leading group of men ( Greg, Jakob, Jeff, and Eric) and once by the top women, and next group of fast guys.

HR stats for the race are

total distance 10.7Km, total time 1:10:56, avg HR 150, avg speed 9 Km/h, max speed 11.9 Km/h, total calories 861.

As a recovery from the 5 days of hard paddling, today’s workout was a nice easy paddle, working on the technique tips I have been given over the past few days. My focus was on keeping my hands up at the finish, driving my legs down, holding them down at the finish, and then the weight transfer as the stroke switches sides

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a paddle, with the river being mirror flat, and very few leaves or weed to slow me down, but there was a reasonable stream flowing that made steering a little interesting at a few points.

As I was getting back, I bumped into Greg who was just getting ready to head out in his Huki S1-R which he is paddling more than a K1 in prep for the Deception Pass dash in a few weeks time.

Stats for this workout are

Total Distance = 8.8 Km, Avg HR 124, Max HR 152, Max speed 13.1 Km/h, calories 537.

Morning workout – 8.58 Km, total time 1:21, avg HR 115, max HR 158, max speed 14.3 Km/h, calories 522.

Afternoon workout – 7.21 Km, total time 1:14, avg HR 107, max HR 146, max speed 16.5 Km/h :) calories 406.

More technique in team boats, this time in a K4 which was amazing :)

Today’s technique drills have all been about finding the timing in team boats.

After the usual 2K warm up, we started with a comfortable 1K, then turned for the first drill, which was what I will call a stroke and brace drill. The emphasis was on driving the leg down hard and fast, then holding it there, along with keeping the paddle in the finish position to act as a brace, with the top hand kept high, and the off hand elbow kept tucked into the body, so you were holding the paddle close to your body using the tricep, and not having an extended lower arm in a wider brace.

Then we did 1K of no legs, left leg, right leg, both legs 10 strokes each, building in from the front of the boat.  That was followed by 1K of pause drill, with 10 strokes with a 2 sec pause, 10 with a 1 sec pause, 10 with a half second pause, then 10 with just a hint of a pause, and then 10 hard ( maybe this was 100m of each ?)

By the end of the session, the timing in the boat was dramatically improved, and we were flying along, plus I had a much better feel for my leg drive, and felt like I was able to contribute much better to driving the boat forward, rather than just trying to stay in time, and not rock the boat.

About 7-8K of technique drills in team boats, with an emphasis on timing.

After a 2K warm up, and 1K down the race course, we starting with an air stroke drill ( 5 regular strokes, 2 air strokes) repeat for 1K.  Then 10 strokes no legs, 10 strokes left leg, 10 strokes right leg, and 10 strokes both legs, repeat for 1K. then 10 regular strokes, followed by a pause with an emphasis on swinging weight left for 500m, then swing weight right for 500m. Finished of with 10 easy strokes, 1 firm drive, 9+1, 8+1, etc down to 1+1 then 5 strokes firm. Repeat for 1K.

Just uploaded from Garmin 310 XT which is working superbly so far :)

This morning – 6.6 Km, avg Hr 111, max HR 138, Avg Speed 6.12 km/h, max speed 12.7 km/h, 397 calories.

This afternoon – 9.9 Km, avg HR 126, max HR 163, Avg Speed 6.5 km/h, max speed 11.8 km/h, 712 calories.

Everyone was on time ( 2:30) for this one :)

Of for the usual 1.5K warmup, then regroup and wait for details of the workout.

This afternoon its going to be 3 x 2K time trials, first of individual, then in groups of 4-6, and finally a mass start.

The starts were seeded fastest to slowest, with a start every 30 seconds, so I was near the back. The good thing is that 30 seconds is plenty of time for any wash to have died down, and left a flatter surface, which is good for me. So my turn came, I lined up, and of I went. Unfortunately there was a strong wind out of the south, and after about 100 meters, I started to get the full force of this from behind, which I really dislike, and it really unsettles my balance. all the way to the the turn I was struggling with balance, but looking forward to the hard slog back :)

I almost didn’t make it as the water at the turn was pretty choppy, but after a very slow turn with lots of bracing, and single stroking on the outside, I was round, and of again. I dont know what my final time was, but it wasnt a keeper :(

Next we got put into groups, I was with 3 others, and as explained by the coaches, it sounded like we were supposed to work as a group, and stick together, so we set of, and we started wash riding, changing leads every 250 meters, so everyone got a turn on the way out, and again on the way back.

The final 2K was the massed start, and I hate these at the best of times. Today was easily one of my all time worst starts. The first 2-3 strokes were actually pretty good, but then I got sandwiched between two boats, and had to stop paddling, then I ended up back in the massively confused wake that everyone had left, and easily dropped back 20-30 meters :( The remainder of the 2K was spent trying to catch up this lost ground, which I nearly did, finishing within a boat length of the two other paddlers who have been consistently around my speed all weekend :)

By the end of this one, I was pretty beat up from all the bracing on the downwind leg, even more so on the turn, and a couple of monster saves on the ay back as I was trying to put maximum effort in, and all my core muscles started complaining, and not working to keep the boat up.

Just one more day to go, then the camp is over, and so far, I am quite surprised I have been able to keep up. After Sunday, I was expecting to have to take at least one session of to recover.

After some confusion over start times, we finally got on the water around 7:30, and after the usual warm up, we got the details of the workout from the coaches.

The workout was going to consist of everyone paddling around the lake in a line abreast formation, starting the the fastest paddlers on the outside of the lake ( closest to short) with the slower paddlers on the inside. The idea being that we keep everyone lined up. Then at a command from the coaches we would sprint forward for 5-10 seconds, and based on the results of the sprint, reposition everyone with faster paddlers moving inshore, slower paddlers moving further into the lake.

Well this sound simple enough ;) but it proved pretty challenging to get everyone into a line, especially as we started of along a curved lake shore. After a few sprints, folks generally grasped the idea, and only a few changes were made between each sprint. Then a few folks in the middle got squeezed out, and ended up[ way behind, so there was a bulk move to the slow end, and on the next sprint they caught up again, so moved back.

We did this for maybe 4-5 K, and that was the end of the workout.

Lots of fun, not a lot of effort, and probably my least favorite workout as I suck at starts, so ended up on the slow end of the line ( swapping between 3-5 in from the end) But it was a good recovery workout, and hopefully I will have more energy for this afternoons paddle.

After this afternoons workout, I got a chance to see the results of this mornings video, and it was pretty ugly.  I had a picture of what I looked like paddling, and it wasn’t what I saw on the.  The big thing I need to address is my hand height, and position. The right side is reasonable, but the left side is awful, with my elbow to high, and my hand to low.

On top of that I am not rotating enough, and my elbows are coming back way to far to compensate for the other problems I have.

Now I have plenty of stuff to work on thru the rest of the winter :(

Supposed to be a long paddle in team boats (mostly K2’s and C2’s, and one K4) , but it turned into a 2 K sprint for positions, followed by 5K of wash riding, rotating formations, and other fun close quarters boat control drills.

During the 2K sprint, I was absolutely dying trying to keep up with the stroke rate, and was thinking this wasn’t such a good idea. Fortunately the remainder of the workout we slowed down to a pace where I could barely hang on, and I made it thru without dying :)

It was very entertaining to watch what happened after the coach explained exactly what he wanted, then we set of and tried to achieve that.  It was hilarious watching everyone try to perform their interpretation of the maneuvers he had intended us to execute :)

Stats for this workout.

Total distance = 7.95 Km, Max Hr 165, Avg hr 128, calories 581, max speed 14.7Km/h :)

The forecast was for wet, windy, and cold, so I dressed appropriately, and then it was mild with no wind or rain, so I was overheating.

Fortunately the workout was an easy technique session with video capture going on.

I opted for my new Immersion Research Thick Skin top, over an NRS Hydroskin vest, and this was just way to hot. Even when the wind picked up, and it started pouring down, I was still to hot.

Stats from this workout

Total distance = 7.87 Km, Max Hr 143, avg Hr 123, calories 530, max speed 10.7 Km/h

Here are the stats on today’s workouts from my Garmin 310 XT.

This mornings workout was a mix of splitting the paddlers into speed based groups, which was a warmup, then one lap of the lake. After that we did 5 x 10 min on, 2 mins off, in our groups, working on wake riding, with the leader supposedly rotating every minute.

The afternoon workout was technique, were I learnt a bunch of new drills which I will remember better for their names, Silver Tray, duck elbows, and butt lifting, followed by one finger up, look at my diamond ring, and elbow behind shoulder before finish.

This mornings workout was a total of 14.3 Km, in 1:51, avg HR was 134, total calories was 1001

This afternoons workout was a total of 10.4 Km, in 1:51, avg HR was 106, total calories was 576.

Tomorrow starts at 06:00 with a weights workout, which I will probably miss, then the paddling starts at 7, and should be a shorter workout than today as its a school day.

Not sure how I managed to drag myself out of bed at 06:00 this mng, and make it to Green lake for the 07:00 start of the NW long distance paddle camp, but now the first session is over, I am real glad I did.

The morning started of with a 1.5 K warm up paddle, followed by a lap of Green lake to seed everyone for the main workout which was 5 x 10 minutes on 2 minutes of at Zone 2, paddling in groups of 5, and wash riding.  Supposedly switching leaders every minute.

It looked like this was working well for all the groups, except mine which had about 8-9 paddlers in it, and was the slow group. We never really got it together, although I did ride wash whenever possible, but the speeds were to inconsistent for me to comfortably paddle there for long.

After 3 reps, I just carried on at my own speed, nearly catching up to the group in front on a couple of occasions ( when they were on a rest, and I was still going )

Total distance on the GPS at the end of the sessions was only 15 K.

Now for some food, and I will be heading back at 14:00 for the 14:30 start of the afternoon session.

Raced in the Cascade distance race yesterday.  It was wet, windy, and COLD !!! Fortunately Dan had laid on a third course option, which was a 10 lap sprint boat course just of the boathouse, and that kept everyone in pretty sheltered water.

The wind still funnels down between the Boeing hangars though, and creates some nasty patches. One of which caught me out on my 7th lap, and I ended up swimming ( again :( ) Fortunately Dave Halpern was there in an OC-2 to come to my rescue, which he did thru the whole race on a pretty regular basis as there were plenty of other swimmers as well.

Afterwards Dan laid on a great spread, with barbeque ( wings, burgers, dogs) and plenty of other high energy food which was needed to get everyone warmed up after freezing.

Stats from my Garmin 310 XT were as follows.

Total distance ( includes warm up, sitting around for ages, then the race ) 15 Km, Avg HR 147 ( the race laps were an avg of 155-160 ), Total calories 1267

Having some fun trying to get data of my backup drives which are a pair of 150 GB SATA drives I had installed on a WS03 machine connected thru a PCI SATA RAID RAID controller ( Mirrored disks) . I should just have been able to take either one of the pair, and mount it on WIn 7, and just read the data.  But that doesnt work, or at least it hasnt worked so far.  it didnt work on Vista either.

After some digging it turns out the problem is with Dynamic disks on USB SATA adapters, which is what I have now ( I brought a SATA Toaster that lets me drop in a USB drive. This connects over USB to the PC.

The problem appears to be with Vista and Win 7, neither of which want to deal with Dynamic Disks on USB.

It looks like I need to open up the case, and drop one of the drives into an internal slot and onto an internal SATA interface, or buy a PCI-e SATA adapter card :(

Trying to find more details on why this is. Only post found so far that mentions this “feature” is this one.

Dynamic Disks, Use with Care

Yesterday was the Gig Harbor 10K race.

Unlike the past 2 years when this has been held later in teh year, yesterday we had relatively warm weather, although not the sunshine promised by the weather forecast.

But it was relatively calm before the race, but as always once the race started, the surface got churned up badly.

Somehow I managed to get a reasonable start, and was in clear water all the way to the first turn, and then found myself in the middle of the pack after the first turn. That was a minor miracle as that has never happened to me before, so I am really happy with the start :)

Unfortunately things went downhill from there.  I had set a custom workout ( 10k at Zone 3) in my Garmin 310XT so I knew what lap I was on, and wouldnt do an extra 1K like I did two years ago. Anyway, by the second lap when I should have been settling down, it was still telling my my HR was in Zone 5, and at the top end of zone 5 at that.  This wasnt good, and I just wasnt settling down for some reason?  Anyway, all the frenzy sorted itself out when at the start of the 3rd lap I fell in, and had a 50 yd swim to get to a dock where i was able to empty out and get going again.

The next 2 laps I spent trying to warm up after my swim, which was hard to do, but by the 5th or 6th lap, I had finally managed to settle down a bit, and was now feeling much better. One victim of the swim was my HR, which didnt read anything for the rest of the race :(

I finished the race with 1:05 on the clock ( on my Garmin, which I started a little before the actual start ) thats not a good time for 10K, but with the swim, and not finding my zone till half the race was  done, its not surprising.

Fortunately the field of masters was thin, so my time was still good enough for 2nd, and there was a third masters paddler bringing up the rear, so I wasnt last :)

Afterwards, I struggled to warm up for ages, my hands were really sore from cramping because they were so cold, and my right wrist / forearm was really sore ( tendinitis ?)

Clearly I need to be spending more time, and be a lot more consistent in getting out paddling if I want to improve on this next year.

Next race is going to be the Cascade distance race which is coming up on 7th November.  Last time I raced there ( 2 years back) it was way to rough for my Liangjin Thunder, and I fell in, and DNF’d along with at least one other K1 paddler.

After getting back from Nationals, I made some adjustments to my boat, by raising the seat up to the highest setting.  The reasoning behind this is that while it makes the boat more tippy, it gives me better leverage, and hopefully lets me get more power onto the paddle.

There was a 4-5 week break between Nationals and the final regatta of the season, which was the Pacific Cup held at Maple Ridge in BC.

This is always a great end of season trip, even more so this year as it was open to all age groups ( except senior) where as in the past its been Masters and Bantams only and has been the BC Bantam and Masters championships.

It was even better as there was a good bunch of masters from SCKC, 4 guys and 2 girls so we had 2 mens K2’s and a mens K4, and 1 womens K2. 

We all did well in our races, and cleaned up in most of the races :)

I was very happy with my 2 K1 races, doing so much better than I did last year, with much better starts, and more consistent performance down the course.  I think I was 4th in the 500m, and 5th in the 200m, plus was in contention with the boats just in front of me, unlike last year ( just after I got the Epic legacy) when I was struggling with my starts, and not paddling anywhere near as well)

Back in August I flew over to Atlanta to compete at the US Canoe Kayak Sprint National Championships.

I think I was on for the first race every day, and then had a few races spread thru the rest of each day.  This didn’t do much for my nerves, leaving me little time to get warmed up before each race, but then it was kind of good as I didnt have a lot of time to worry about stuff.

Having spent most of the winter working on shoulder issues, my fitness wasn’t anywhere near where I would like it to have been, so my goals for the week were to try and match my times from last year, and over the week, I mostly did this, or was within a few seconds.

Last year at nationals I ended up with 6 medals with 2 senior medals, and 4 masters medals.  This year I think the medal count was just one or 2 medals from masters races.

Its been quite a while since I posted to the blog.  Facebook is to blame for this. It just makes it to easy to post little snippets of info, rather than write anything meaningful :(

So now I need to post a bunch of entries on what has been going on since I last posted back in July.

This is a bit of an experiment as I am using Windows Live writer to create this blog entry, rather than just entering it directly on the blog.

Im not sure what extra features this is going to give me, or what problems its going to cause along the way.

Lets see how easy it is to do some cool stuff like adding a picture?

This is a panorama shot I stitched together in Windows Live photo gallery.