Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

Day 2 of whitewater kayak school. Spent the first hour reviewing skills learned the previous day, and I made good and sure to review my T-rescue several times. My biggest fear going into the day was not flipping (as I was sure that was going to happen), but staying calm when I did flip and not pulling my skirt.

We then paddled a bit of flatwater before trying out our first rapids on the Rocher Fendu section of the Ottawa river. Before we ran our first rapid we got out and scouted it. The Esprit guides made it so safe for us - we had one guide on shore helping us to find the right line to enter, and one on either side at the bottom of the rapid to clean up the carnage (7 of 10 people flipped). I went first on this one as I was a bit nervous and wanted to get it over with. I managed to stay upright and had a nice clean run.

We spent the remainder of the day working our way through the different rapids on this section. We walked a couple that were too technical for beginners, and even swam one purposely ahead of time (without our boats) so that we could learn the difference between a "happy face hole" that will pop you up vs. one that would suck you in. This was a great strategy as when we all first looked at that rapid we didn't think we could possibly run it. In between rapids, we worked on crossing eddy lines and our flatwater technique.

I am pleased to report that I managed to stay upright on all of the rapids throughout the day. In retrospect, however, it probably would have been better if I had flipped at least once so that I could put my T-rescue skills to the test and slow down my panic reflex. Throughout the day, there were tons of flips but very people pulled their skirts.

At the end of the day, we had a little more time to practice our rolls. I didn't think I'd get it over the weekend and was right - I have a bit of a conceptual block on the process so knew it was going to take me longer than the two days. I established a good foundation though, and am going to look for a roll clinic in the area that I can do. After this weekend, I fully understand what an important skill this is.

When the clinic ended at 5:00, I took a quick shower then began the heinous 575 km journey home so that I could get back to work today. I was reunited with many of my Mexican friends this weekend (including my Weimeramer running partner who was so happy to see me that she didn't leave my side for five hours on Friday) and I was very sad to leave. If only Esprit weren't so far!

C • Crazy ride 5

First day of whitewater kayaking course. The course went all day but this is my estimate on time spent actually paddling. Focus today was on all the necessary skills that you need to know before having to put them into practice in moving water: making you sure you can pull your spray skirt and get out of the boat while upside down, T-rescues (and staying calm while waiting to get rescued), getting started with rolling, tilting the boat, ferrying, crossing eddys, bracing, etc. Having not spent much time in a whitewater boat before, I couldn't believe how different it felt than a regular kayak. Super responsive and tippy! Ran one small rapid at the end of the day and had a hard time grasping the fact that we'd be running the Ottawa the next day!

I was somewhat concerned about my panic reflex, but it only reared its ugly head once during the day during a T-rescue with a fellow participant that went a little awry when I pulled my skirt. Did some remedial work on this during the afternoon and got much better throughout the day.

Quick easy spin to stretch out my legs before spending all day in the car. I'm driving up to Esprit this weekend for a 2-day whitewater kayaking clinic. I'm not sure which I'm more excited about - doing some kayaking or catching up over some beers with my Mexico friends!

C • Fun! 3

In Columbia Forest to work on some hills, which is definitely a weakness of mine.

Guelph Lake with bike group.

C • Guelph Lake 2

TRX Class. Rotated 4 exercises (squats, rows, push-ups and leg lifts) in reps of 20, 15, 10, 15, 20.

Picked up my own TRX from Purolator this morning. Looking forward to setting it up today!

Iroquois Trail Test. Things were going well for me for about the first 2 and a bit hours, but took a turn for the worse (quite literally) when I was running on my own, missed a turn near Rattlesnake Point and kept following the Bruce Trail instead of the side trail I was supposed to be on. I ran a couple of km into the RP parking lot until I realized I had seen neither a) any other runners in quite some time or b) any flagging tape. I turned back and a serious Sally pity party ensued for about the next hour. I was relieved to hear that many others had taken wrong turns as well at various places on course. There are no km markers on course and the only way you know where to turn is to look at the stick (well, small logs I guess) placed on the ground to indicate DON'T GO HERE. I laugh now to think of where I hopped over the small stick where I made the wrong turn, thinking nothing of it at time.

Funny that I can navigate myself around an adventure race, but can't apparently follow a marked trail! A good training run nonetheless that also gave me to some indications of what to be working on before Haliburton Forest 50K in a few weeks.

C • Rats! 5

TRX class. Ordered my own this week - can't wait!

Chasing some boys around the Hydrocut.

TRX.

Last Saturday, Dee charged me with the distasteful task of doing 10km tempo runs one a week. I say distasteful because this means a) running on the road and b) pushing myself without competition. Blech, and double blech.

Managed to get my butt out of bed in time to run before work. Super humid already so glad I got this in early as I probably wouldn't have done it once it got hotter. This was supposed to be my "scouting" run to give me a base idea of how long it took to run. My heart rate was stupid high given that I wasn't pushing that hard. I think this may be because I was running before breakfast and/or because I took an L-Carnitine supplement that my naturopath recommended on an empty stomach beforehand.

Walked for two minutes at top the only sizeable hill on the loop because of said stupid high heart rate.

C • good on ya!! 1

Have had a hard time making it to hot yoga since the weather has been nicer, but the fact that I had purchased 40 classes back in the spring coupled with the sketchy weather made it a good choice for today!

It's not surprising that my AHR was 40 beats higher than Kirikou's! Great day out on Hockley loop with Harps, Kirikou, Bash, Trex, and Dee!

TRX class. I am starting to really love these classes!

On treadmill before class.

TRX Class - Month #2. Decided I wanted one more month of structured classes before going out on my own so that it became more firmly entrenched as a habit.

Was pleasantly surprised at being able to do a core-based move today that I really struggled with a few weeks ago (for you other TRXers, it was in a plank position, feet in straps, alternating between scissor kicks and knee tucks).

C • Nice! 2

Fun morning ride at Kelso.

Lovely paddle down one of my favorite sections of the Grand. Only annoying part was when I tried to run my favorite "rapid" which had dried up since my last run down this river. I refused to get out of my boat, which resulted in five minutes of grunting, pushing, and hip rocking to unlock myself from the rocks. No wonder this paddle took me 5 minutes more than usual!

Back to Palgrave Conservation Area with my bike, retracing some of my running route from the day prior and adding in some fun pine-y singletrack sections.