Training Log Archive: Bash

On the final day of the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering, we all paddled from Snug Haven to the Snake Islands in several groups. The idea was to go someplace where paddlers could play in the wind and surf. If the weather looked too tame, some of the more experienced kayakers planned to head home early - but it didn't disappoint. As the day went on, we had winds of 20+ knots (small craft wind warning) and big waves that hid surrounding kayakers in their troughs.

If you squint, you might be able to see the Snakes in the distance on the horizon. The open crossing was several kilometers and the wind made for a slow trip. (We haven't hit the waves yet in this pic.)



Great clouds! Using what we learned in our weather lecture on Friday night, we could expect the paddling fun to increase as the day went on.



After some bouncing and sloshing, we made it to the Snakes. Great place for a lunch break.







After lunch, some people headed back, some stayed around the islands and some of us headed out to play in the surf.





In this pic, 'Bent models what the fashionable kayaker wears on the way to the surf, including drysuit and helmet. 'Bent was worried about what might happen to his knee if he got knocked out of his kayak, so he and another guy hovered behind some rocks to wait for us.



For obvious reasons, I didn't take any photos of our surf play session. It was just within the limits of my paddling ability and comfort zone. Just! Someone said the waves were 3 meters at the highest point and they were disorganized - crashing in from different directions because of the shallow shoals. I was fine going upwind but it was nervewracking when the time came to turn broadside to the waves before surfing back downwind. It was eye opening to see how hard it was to turn my boat in 20-knot winds.






One of the paddlers dumped in the big surf and had to be rescued. I'd like to have seen it - I can't imagine how hard it would be to rescue someone in crashing surf.

On the return crossing, the guy in front of me was knocked over by a wave, so I got to see Tim Dyer of White Squall execute a speedy rescue in good-sized waves. I think 'Bent and I should plan some practice next season since we've only ever tried kayak rescues in calm water.

Amazing day - lots of fun, good company and some character-building white knuckle moments!

We couldn't leave Nobel without visiting the stunning new home of Wil and Katta Smith - and of course we had to trespass on Hammer's new property on the same road.

"Working with Wind and Waves" workshop with Scott Ewart and Rick Wise. Started on land then headed out to practise some of the concepts on the water. The level 4 effort in the session was when I was towing other kayakers.

'Bent and I headed up and down the channel on the east side of Franklin Island at a good clip. Perfect autumn weather.

Mark Scriver set me up to try a couple of different stand-up paddleboards. No unscheduled swimming and I managed to make it past the kayak polo game a few times without getting tackled. Fun!

We're up in Snug Harbour on Georgian Bay - near Hammer's property on Big Sound Rd. - for the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering organized by White Squall. So cool - about half the people here are kayak guides/instructors from across eastern Canada and it's a fun end-of-season weekend for them too. We'll be doing sessions on surf paddling, rescues, rocks, etc. as well as some day paddling and hopefully SUPing in a beautiful area. In the evenings, we're all staying in warm cabins and meeting with the 40-50 other paddlers for dinner and slide presentations. For once, we actually need all that gear from our basement - drysuits, neoprene hoods, heavy paddling gloves, etc. It's going to be a frosty morning! Looks like we'll be needing paddling helmets too - thanks for the loan, Goose.





After 'Bent's knee surgery, he's looking for a more manageable canoe to portage. This 4-footer seems about right.

BulletDog and I met Sherpa, Harps, Ciara, Arleau, Kona and Trek for a beautiful autumn hike north of Hilton Falls. Great to catch up with friends!



Sherpa demonstrated compass technique using her Blackberry. It even understands declination! (Doesn't she look great for 8 months pregnant? She even went mountain biking earlier this week.)

Since we'll be paddling all weekend, I moved Saturday's "2-hour hills run" back to today - but apparently I need to find a longer route next time! Ran the Bruce Trail side trail up K2 to Glen Haffy, then up and down some big hills in the park, then back home. Running feels great right now and after a 50K race, every training run seems mercifully short.

A little culture for a Wednesday morning - the story of "Hamlet" told via Facebook statuses.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story...

Rode to Albion Hills for a sunset tour of the single track surrounded by spectacular autumn leaves. Couldn't wipe the smile off my face. This is why I ride a bike! :-)

This is the week I'm starting to semi-follow the Coast to Coast training program. It's the beginning of the 8-week "Phase 2 - Speed and Endurance" segment. I missed "Phase 1 - Strength and Endurance" but hope that my regular training and racing was enough.

Steve Gurney's companion notes are very practical. He gives advice about moving training sessions around in the week (OK if you don't do two hard running sessions on back to back days), moving workouts from different days onto the same day, cutting back training hours if you don't have enough time (reduce the cycling), and tapering if you have a race that the training program doesn't include. With all that flexibility, I should be able to let the program guide me.

The kayaking is going to be the hard part in Canada. We have a kayak erg in our basement but it's booooring so I'll be looking for water to paddle on. 'Bent and I are attending the Georgian Bay Storm Gathering in Nobel this weekend so we'll be doing lots of cold water kayaking with some amazing people. Should be fun!

It's a big day for us... 'Bent and BulletDog are hiking home from work - a little over 4 km cross-country. This is 'Bent's first major expedition on foot since his knee surgery 18 days ago. He plans to ride his bike in tomorrow. I've got his ice pack waiting!

Update: 'Bent and BulletDog are home. No knee pain and he even jogged for a minute - yay!

Joined 'Bent for an easy kneehab ride. I took Princess to test her toughness on gravel and uneven ground. She did fine on her skinny tires, even when I had to bounce through the grass to avoid hitting people. 'Bent was riding well!