SUP Training with Michael Booth - This Booth Training Sounds Hard

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Mareld in the Gothenburg Archipelago 

Where did summer go? I took a break from writing in September but back with a double update, double stats and double the rain! 

SUP Training with Michael Booth - Getting Faster 


August was supposed to be the peak of the Swedish summer but at times I wish I had unboxed my drysuit! We had so much rain here that there was localised flooding and it was so windy we had trees down and roads closed. September had to go one better and a section of the main motorway between Gothenburg and Oslo was destroyed by a landslide, thankfully no one was killed and only 3 people were injured. 


“Oh summer where art thou!” was my cry on the lake more than once! 


Despite the challenges thrown up by mother nature training went well with some solid training sessions and in August I set a new lifetime best for the 10km SUP My Race Time Trial!!! It was almost a relief to get under 63 minutes, even if only by one second and that was on a training day, not a full-on TT. There is more to come but maybe not this year. 


No filters, just magic! 



One of the more visual highlights was a short paddle in the archipelago after sunset, out by myself I was treated to the most spectacular sight I have seen from my SUP, Mareld or sea fire or bioluminescence caused by millions of dinoflagellates. The images do not do the sight justice, seeing the nose of my Blackfish explode into blue like an effect from Avatar was amazing. Images taken while drifting after a series of sprints, there was no way I was risking my phone to get more dynamic shots... 


The updated stats for the year so far are




Jan 23

Feb 23

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

KM paddled

208.69

122.34

152.94

273.27

260.77

248.81

200.4

225.94

155.90

Weight

98 kg

96.1kg

96.3

98.7

98

94.9

97.1

95.1

96.0

VO2 Max

46

47

47

46

46

47

47

47

46

Resting HR

54 bpm

50 bpm

50

55

52

50

49

49

52

HRV 

N/A

48

48

45

50

54

54

56

46

Training load

N/A

851

161

723

963

928

913

1001

615

5km 

38m 18s

N/A

33m 21s

33m 7s

32m 45s

30m 33s

N/A

32m 25s

N/A

10km

1h 9m 47s

1h 8m 44s

1h 15m 55s

1h 10m 13s

1h 11m 7s

1h 3m 10s

N/A

1h 2m 59s

1h 4m 8s


A slight increase in weight from a break from paddling in September, 10 days off the water hiking, eating well and then catching up with important tasks off the water at home, getting ready for winter. This break seems to have impacted on HRV, I'll look into that in more detail away from this blog. 

Training Load has dropped simply because I have forgotten to wear a HR strap for a few sessions, the wrist HR from my Fenix is just not good enough for paddle sports and as a result, the algorithm used to calculate load gives a lower number.  

With Magnus in the middle of Sweden



The drop in VO2 max is, I think because Garmin only calculate VO2 Max from cycling and running activities and I didn’t cycle much in August. And of course, I only run if I am in mortal danger from a predator that is larger than me! 


Time Trial Success


Time Trial Success


A scheduling mistake on my part was rectified by my phone and Apple Calendar reminding me that I needed my 12-weekly testosterone shot so on 23 August I got my recharge. A 12-weekly ritual involving a big needle and a steady hand. This takes a few days to kick in so I was quite surprised to set a lifetime best soon after when Michael scheduled a 12km out and back, my aim was to maintain a steady pace for each km and even with less than optimal conditions I nailed it.


First km warming up then super-consistent training session with the last 2 km into a solid headwind

“This Booth Training Sounds Hard”


One of the regular paddlers on SUP My Race commented on a workout that I had done saying "This Booth Training Sounds Hard", and he's right. But it is supposed to be! 


Michael has been mixing things up for me in the last 2 months and adding a new dimension to my sessions, mental agility. The comment was after a session that I could not completely program into my Garmin so I had to keep track of each interval in my head, counting strokes while sprinting. It went better than expected with only one interval pyramid going wrong and at the end, I was pretty pleased I had managed to multi-task, paddle, count and stay upright! 




Paddling Forward


Realistically I am at the end of the season, one that despite the recent weather has lasted longer than usual with warm, wet weather until this weekend. Michael has again shifted my training focus the aim now is to speed things up a little. I am not a sprinter but sometimes having more of a kick is useful so sessions are now working on that weakness, which is not easy! Recently I have completed some of the most demanding training sessions yet and, when they have not gone well it is demoralising but, when they go well... it feels pretty good! 


Off the water - Highlights


EO SUP paddles at rest

One of the best things to happen on SUP My Race was the EO SUP paddle lottery that I ran in August, two lucky paddlers will soon be paddling with their own works of art, a unique paddle created by Maris and the team in Latvia just for them. I cannot wait to see the results on show in the group. 



Sweden - just beautiful

One of the best things to happen this year, off the water was a trip north of here, even driving 800 km north only puts us in the middle of Sweden, this is a huge and very beautiful country. A week long break from paddling to hike in the mountains was a very good reset, even if some of the water I saw on the trip was very tempting! 


SUP My Race Participants



And the third 'best thing' has been the growth on SUP My Race over the last 12 months with more than 400 paddlers taking part in a monthly challenge for the first time and with group membership approaching 10,000 - 8,200 members and 1,400 visitors. 


What next


Setting goals for next year with Michael will happen later in the year, before then I think that can get close to 30 minutes for the 5km if I get a calm day. For the 10km then breaking 62 minutes has to be a target, harder to do but I think achievable. So does Michael which means I have to give it my best shot.


Invest in yourself


Investing in yourself is the BEST upgrade you can make, with no exceptions. And that is what this series of blog posts are all about, investing in this paddler with the help of World Champion Michael Booth. 


You can find out more about Michael's training on his website  Booth Training, from his Booth Training Instagram account and on his YouTube channel BoothTV.  


You can find me running the Facebook group SUP My Race, writing about all sorts of paddling for TotalSUP and now, occasionally, on Instagram.


See you on the water!


You can read the previous training logs here Training Logs and you can get to individual blog posts using the labels in the sidebar.