'Bent and I headed over to Island Lake to paddle on a very pleasant evening. This was the first time that I'd taken my Garmin Forerunner along, and it was fun to check our pace from time to time. What was interesting was watching the law of diminishing returns. For this particular canoe with our paddling configuration in tonight's weather, we could usually paddle along at more than 7.5 kph with the feeling that we could maintain that pace all night. During the intervals, we usually hit 9 kph, and we reached a max of 9.6 kph at one point. But unlike our "cruising", the intervals were exhausting work that I couldn't maintain for long. The paddle started giving me hot spots on my hands, too. In a long distance race, I'd rather stick with the cruising, for all the difference it makes.
We had Coach Bill Trayling's words ringing in our ears tonight, as we always do when we work on technique. "Your arms should be wet noodles!" "Barb, sit up straight. Open that belly button RIGHT up!" "Richard, you're supposed to be conducting an orchestra - NOT wrestling a moose!!"
Wildlife Watch: Great Blue Heron, Kingfishers
As we approached the dock, there was an Orangeville fire truck and a group of fit-looking young fire fighters standing by the water learning how to use a throw rope. As we were leaving, they were learning how to get water from the lake into their fire hose.
Speaking of Orangeville fire fighters, don't forget to
check on the progress of our fellow adventure racer, Glenn Edwards, as he rows across the Indian Ocean. If you're inspired, you can make a donation to the Children's Wish Foundation while you're at his site.