I am a late forties kayak racer. My goal is to compete at the World Masters Games in Turin, Italy in 2013. I will be racing in ICF sprint kayaks. This blog will be my training diary for the next 4 yrs. I use a variety of running, weights, and cross training to hopefully become a better kayaker.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

K1 + Ski Boats = Swimming

Today was a short (one hour) paddle at the slough. When I got there, a water ski boat was attempting to get his kids to water ski. Good to start them young. As I was doing my stretches, I noticed that he was getting a large inner tube setup to pull behind the boat. I though, humm this is going to be good. I need some practise in some larger waves, and it was hot out, it might serve two proposes. You can see where I am going with this.

Just as I was getting in my K1, the boat took off with two kids in the tube, and heading off for the far end of the slough. I waiting a second or two to let the water settle down before going. Once I was moving I saw that the boat was hanging around the middle of the slough. One of the kids had gone airborne, and was regrouping. Just as I was getting even with them, they took off, but this time spinning donuts, making some rather large and confused waves in all directions.

Since I knew this was coming, I thought I was ready for it, boy was I wrong. The first set came complete beam side and they were big rollers, which I managed to stay up in.But I forgot being so close to shore, the reflective waves nailed me on the other side. In I went. I did not mind in the least. I needed cooling down from the heat, and it made for a nice short swim.

After emptying my boat, it was off for a couple of laps, with the odd power up, and some steady state paddling. Then about 10 to 15 minutes of balance training. It was a good short paddle / swim.

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