1st Training Race of 2010

Today was the Running Room Resolution 5K race in Burnaby.

It was a training race for me, and Amber. The start time was later than normal, to let those people you had late nights to get some sleep.

When we arrived, the rain had slowed down from a complete downpour to just raining. It was going to be a cold and wet race. Burrr.

We waited in the store until just before the start. Since this was going to be a training race for me, I decided to start closer to the back of the pack. It was a mass start with no chips. As we headed towards the road from the parking lot, I start getting into an easy pace, but this required weaving around some slower runners in front.

Since I did not warm up at all before the race, I was gong to take it real easy until I felt comfortable. I have been dealing with some strained muscles the past three months, and I did not want to aggravate them.

After about 750 meters, I started to practise some techniques. First was forcing my shoulders down. I seem to run with scrunched shoulders which after awhile makes for a uncomfortable run.

Next up was drafting. So I moved up to the guy in front of me, and used him as a wind break. By doing this I was able to ease up on my strides, and just cruise behind him. Then it was time to "bridge the gap" up to the girl about 30 meters in front of us. So I upped the pace and caught her fairly quickly. I drafted her for about a minute, and set my sights on the group of three about 50-60 meters ahead.

I kept my cadence the same but increased my stride length. It did not take long before a caught the guy in the back of the group. From there I picked them off one by one, and decided to go for the kid 100 meters ahead.

This was a long slog to catch up to him, but I managed ok. Since this was suppose to be a training race, I decided to back off, and cruise for the rest of the race. By this time I had reached the turn around point and was heading back to the store.

Things were going good, so I just kept my pace the same. I had noticed that I was catching the woman in front of me, so I just used that as my next goal. Once I caught her, I decided to catch just one more before the end of the race. So off to catch the next woman who was about 75 meters in front of me.

During this time there was a guy about my age catching me. Just after I past the woman in front, the guy passed me. He wasn't going too much quicker than I was, so I just matched his pace and stayed about 10 meters behind him.

As we turned the last corner before the parking lot, I decided to mess with the guy. I watched to see where he would go after the last corner before the finish straight. I closed the gap to about 5 meters before the corner, and watched him go wide. This gave me a perfect line to the finish. So I cranked it up, and when he was able to see me on his right hand side it was too late. I crossed the line about 2 to 3 seconds a head of him.

Just goes to show you it is not over until you are over the finish line. Be aware of where people are around you, and be prepared to hammer at the end. Amber who was sick, didn't get much sleep, still raced a good race. At the end she tried passing the guy she had been following for quite a while, but her acceleration was not quick enough, and he saw what she was doing, and held her off at the end.

After the race there was plenty of food, and coffee. (thank God) There was a lot of draw prizes, and the volunteers and staff of the Running Room did a great job. They managed to double the number of runners from last year.

Burnaby Lake Still Frozen

Here are some pictures my coach sent me yesterday of Burnaby Lake.

I have a good idea that there won't be a K1 practise this Saturday.



This is a shot of the ramp down from the club house to the dock.

Master Technique Class

Today's practice was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was really sore from Friday's workout. So not being able to move very well, is not good for technique. So I tried to just go back to the basics for todays paddle on the suggestion of my coach. She really knows her stuff, and could tell today's session was not going to be too productive.

So I just concentrated on keeping my top hand going at eye level and straight across and not dropping. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny and warm, with no wind. It made for a nice paddle of over 10 kms. I kind of lost count of how many laps I completed. I was doing an ok pace and was catching the paddlers in front of me. I caught one paddler, she was going at a good pace, so I stayed with her for a while.

Then I decided to practice so wash riding. So I rode the wash on the right side, and then drop back a few meters and power up on the opposite side, and ride the wash on the left side. I practices this for a couple of minutes. Then I dropped back to chat with Gary and another paddler. Now it was getting a little chilly, so I decided to head in to the dock. As I was going in, I started to do some balance work. It was four stroke with my eyes open and four strokes with my eyes closed. Towards the end near the dock I had to watch out because there is a cable that goes underwater. I have been caught by it before, and got hung up on it. It was a little freaky, but I managed to stay up, and back up off the cable. So I made sure I went wide of it this time.

Another issue I had today was that I was using my Epic large blade for this practice. It wasn't the fact that the large blades are hard to pull, it is that I have shorten the length by quite a bit, and had not changed my tape positions. So I was continuously moving my hands around, trying to find the right spot. Other than the “issues”I was having, it was a nice paddle. Since I don't get on the water as much as I want to these days, all the paddles I get are good ones.

Masters Technique Session

Today was a Masters Technique class at Burnaby Lake. I have missed the last three or four sessions.Since that time the ranks have swollen to over 12 paddlers. There was around 13 or 14 K1s out on the lake today. It was a prefect day for paddling, no rain, no wind, and it was actually warm out. I had to strip down to one long sleeve shirt after one lap of the lake.

I got to the lake early so I could set up my Thunder and get a good warm up and stretch. I did a short dryland warm-up of running in place, with high knees and wide stance, much the same as in P90X. Then I did all my stretches, especially working on the my legs, or so I thought.

There were so many boats that there was a line up to get out on the water. Once on my way down the lake, I realized that I did not in fact stretch my Hamstrings enough, because boy could I feel them, they were really tight. I even considered turning around to go back to the dock to stretch them, but I kept going.

My balance was pretty good today, I had no emergency braces at all. My stroke rate was medium, some where around 80, and I was just concentrating on technique. After about two laps of the lake, the call came from my coach, to turn around and see her. She said she was going to video me and observe my stroke. I told her to give me a few meters for the steam on my glasses to clear up. She said I didn't need to see.

So off we went down the lake. It never fails, the video camera always makes me nervous, and it sure showed. Then we stopped and discussed my areas of improvement. As usual, I am leaning too far back, and losing it at the catch. (Hamstrings too tight) I was going to slow with my rotation at the hips (Hamstrings too tight) and not enough slide. I was cycling too fast and not pausing for the setup. I need to slow down at the setup with a horizontal shaft, "before" putting the blade in for the catch.

This is why you have a coach. They are able to see where you cannot, the errors in your technique, and give you ways of correcting the problems.

After the video section I did two more laps and then headed in. It is good to see so many new faces to the club. Most of them are from the Tuesday night races in Deep Cove. Good job Chris and Gary for promoting the club. Next weekend I will back at the slough to train in K1.

Raining Buckets K1 Masters Practise

This weeks Masters Practise was very, very wet. As I was driving to Burnaby Lake to pick up a Super Lancer to use, the skies opened up and started to just dump. I got soaked just going from my car to the water, which was only about 10 meters away.

I managed to get in two laps before the rest of the crew got to the lake. The first lap was ok, but the steering in the boat was off. I had to crank over the tiller bar to the right to go straight. So after the first lap, I pulled over at the beach and tried to fix it. It did not seem to work, no matter what I did. So for the rest of the night, I would fiddle with it, and still have the bar cranked over.

I managed to over come this by just leaving it where it was and placing my feet below the tiller bar on the foot board. It was the most comfortable solution, but it worked. I will have to check the steering this weekend to make sure there isn't a problem at the rudder end of the system.

The next lap I caught up with Katja and paddle beside her. My goal was to stay with her, but with a slower stroke rate. That way I had to use power to keep the boat at the same speed. Then it was off to the beach to talk to Lynn my coach. I was getting good rotation, but I was still not pausing long enough at the catch before rotating. As well my hands were too low, so I wasn't getting the blade in vertical.

My next lap was to concentrate on those aspects of the stroke. Some times I would get it, other time I would lose it. When you get the proper stroke you can really feel the boat rocket forward. This is why my practises usually end up longer than scheduled. Once I get in the groove, I don't want to stop because I will lose it. So an hour usually ends up being an hour and a half or two hours.

It was overall a good practise because I was really trying to use power with technique. I was really tired after this one.

Masters' Technique Session – Deer Lake

Today was a Burnaby Lake masters technique class at Deer Lake. I was looking forward to it, because a had missed the past four sessions. I got there early so I could stretch and do a bit of a warm up paddle in the Thunder.

There were not very many people at today's session. So it was pretty much one on one for coaching. Lynn (my coach) was saying that I was dropping my hands too much and bending my on side arm as I was coming through the back of the stroke. As well as, pausing at the catch. So that was my focus for today's session. Slow my stroke down and pause, then rotate keeping my hand up, and pulling the blade straight out of the water at the exit.

Easier said than done, especially in the Thunder. I did a short loop so Lynn could watch what I was doing, and correct my mistakes. At some point close to shore I went for a unintentional dip. It sure felt good because of the heat. After about ½ hour of that, I decided to do some balance exercises just off the beach. So I would sit in the boat in about three feet of water, and close my eyes and sit there. At first I was just sitting without moving the boat, but after a while I started doing side draws and paddling forward and backwards with my eyes closed.

I even got real brave and tried a start with my eyes closed. I got exactly four strokes before face planting into the lake. Then Lynn said to paddle around with no paddle just my hands. So off I went along the shore with just my hands. I could paddle forwards and backwards, but side draws with my hands just wasn't working and in I went. It was pretty funny. Good thing it was a warm summer day, and not a cold winter day.

I stayed an extra 30 minutes after everyone had left, just to keep practising. It is my goal now to stay in the thunder until the end of September.

K2 Practice at Deer Lake

Today we decided to do a K2 practise at Deer Lake, since Burnaby is full of weeds and lily pads this time of year. We arrived at the club house at around 11:30 and packed up the K2 on top of my car. Since we were only going to drive about 4 kilometers, it would be ok on top of the Focus wagon. It sure is a lot longer than my surf ski when you get it up there.

The parking at Deer Lake was nuts, even with the added stalls which basically doubled the parking. Parked in a no parking zone to unload the boat, and gear. Just as we were finishing unloading, a car pulled out, and we quickly scooped up the spot.

We adjusted the boat to our liking, and pushed off the beach. There were quite a few people curious about the K2, having probably never seeing one before. Today's workout was just getting used to paddling together and working on a couple of things.

The first lap was good, with no shakes or wobbles. We just had to pull over top do a little seat adjustments. The timing is getting better with each outing, so we were trying to work on rotation. Once around the lake, we went to the beach to go over some of the basics.

Then it was out for another couple of laps in the blazing hot sun. Once back to the beach for the last time, we tried some balance drills. Basics like side draws in both direction at the same time, as well as one person at a time. Holding the paddles up in the air, and bouncing the boat. We managed not to go swimming, which is a good thing.

Master's Technique Class - K1'

Tonight was our bi-monthly Master's technique class at Burnaby Lake. Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month we have the class. The club offers this class for $200 for the whole year. Since our coach Lynn is away right now, Sara the coach from Fort Langley came to coach us. It was a good turn out. There was seven of us, six in K1s and one on a surf ski.

Our workout was going to be 1000 meters:

The first 1000 was at 70%.
The second was 250 meters at 70%, 500 meters at 80%, 250 meters at 90%.
The third was 450 meters at 70%, 100 meters at 90%, 350 meters at 70%, and 100 meters at 90%.
The forth was 250 meters at 70%, 250 meters at 100%, 250 meters at 70%, 250 meters at 100%

With each set we were given certain aspects of our stroke to concentrate on. Mine was to pause at the setup, before rotating, and then to pull the blade out of the water quicker.

These got tougher with each new 1000, but I managed to get through it, with only having to stop twice. Then we practiced starts at the dock. we did about five starts before we finished. My starts were a lot better than the ones I did at the regatta on the weekend.

K2 Practice, Skipped Deep Cove Race

Today we decided to do a K2 practice instead of going to race in Deep Cove. I was tired from racing on the weekend and it turned out that tonight was a good night to go to Burnaby Lake. Amber and I went out to practice timing and technique.

At first we were a little rocky in the Sagitta, but after about 5 minutes we seemed to settle down. I was in front setting the pace and steering, or should I say trying to steer. It was not easy keeping the boat going straight, and required quite a bit of corrections. We did the first 4 kilometer loop, and then stopped at the dock to stretch and discuss what we needed to concentrate on. I was having trouble rotating, and my right leg was going numb. Before we started the next loop, we did some turn practice, turning hard left and hard right, keeping the same stroke rate and technique.

Then it was off for the second loop. As we were approaching the 1000 meter platform, my right leg was going numb again, so I decided to cut the loop short. We turned around and headed back to the dock. We were looking straight into the sun, or I was being in front. I was not wearing sunglasses, so it was hard to see. So I decided to do a blind drill. I would do 4 strokes with my eyes open and 4 strokes with my eyes closed. I did not tell Amber what I was doing counting 4 stroke sets. I did not want her to freak that the driver had his eyes closed.

It was a good drill, you really get the feel of the boat on the water. We finished off our workout with a couple of starts. This we will need to work on. On the start I was three strokes ahead of Amber. The main thing is that we are in sync. If it means pulling the blade up sooner, than that is what has to be done. It is not very efficient for us to be out of time at any time during the race.