SUP My Race Training Log #5
After the success in the last update (which is here) there have been some setbacks since I last sat down at my keyboard.
I have no intention of covering the problems I have had with depression in this blog, there are far more informed bloggers who can cover that and those few words are enough for here. The bigger problem recently has been with my left leg, a laziness when it has come to stretching post paddle and a silly slip when dog walking 2 weekends ago left me limping and struggling to get to the water with my board. Now I’m getting back to normality but it is taking a while not helped by my Labrador and his boundless love for a young Vizsla who lives near us.
So I have been feeling a bit down and missing training, missing it much more than I thought I would, maybe I am starting to turn into an athlete.
But, this training journey isn’t just about fitness and speed, balance and technique. I have found that structured training with a good coach has increased my confidence and that has been a huge bonus when dealing with things off the water. The frequent, encouraging communications from Michael have been great when having a bad day, it has never been his intention to cheer me up but it is remarkable how a message from a world champ can lift the mood.
Progress
Despite the mental challenges and the low beat start to this update my training data for this period has generally been great but the weather hasn’t been good enough to set any new PBs for the 5km or 10 km Time Trials that are my goals.
My average speeds through L2 and L3 intervals have been improving to the point where my I feel my steady ‘race’ pace is now 9.4 km/h, in the right conditions. This is up from 9.0 at the start of the year and I must stress, that’s steady pace. Of course pace in a real race would be different, it is much harder to race and maintain speed against others then it is against the clock but Time Trials are the means I prefer to test myself and they provide a consistent way to report performance gains, or otherwise here.
My one serious attempt at a 5km gave me a not quite good enough time just over 32 minutes, no improvement over my PB despite hitting one of my own unpublished targets, 15 minutes at over 10 km/h. Sadly the return leg proved the importance of pacing and luck in getting perfect conditions, boat wake from the side on a narrow board is a sure way to lose speed. That morning the gamble for less wind with a later start was undone by more people on the water, always learning.
New kit and balance training
The big kit news this update was the arrival of my new bad weather / winter training board, An Infinity Blackfish. I have the Flatdeck, 14’ x 27” in carbon and a deep crimson and red colour scheme. We’ve already covered over 100km together in varied conditions and it’s almost exactly what I was looking for, reasonably quick on flatwater and very capable in all the conditions I’ve tried it in so far. Having not had an all water board for just over a month it was great fun to be able to paddle and not think too much balance, just fitness.
That wasn’t the only new for me board under my feet this update, a trip to Copenhagen to paddle with some of the SUP My Race family saw me paddle over 60 km in three days, a lot of that on a far too narrow for me 20.75” Starboard Sprint! I think I did OK on it, there was more swimming that I would have liked but on a board that is much narrower than my shoulders that was to be expected in anything less than perfect conditions. On calm water the board and paddler were going pretty well and keeping up with much more able paddlers when this paddler was upright!
There were also two other boards from Infinity under my feet this month, quite a lot of time spent on a borrowed Blackfish Dugout 24.5” in Copenhagen giving me a break from swimming, a great bard to deal with tourist boat traffic in the Danish capital followed by a few KMs back in Sweden on a borrowed Whiplash 22.5”.
Time on that narrow race machine was informative and another indication that confidence when paddling is so important. At the start of the year I doubt I would have paddled either of those narrow boards.
Moving forward
My forced rest period has given me an opportunity to do something I have wanted to do since I moved to Sweden. A recently purchased lightweight, free standing tent combined with all the dry bags I own and a good weather window saw me load up my McConks inflatable race board and head to an island for the night. Only 2.5km each way but one of the most beautiful nights I have spent under the stars.
A week into September and I am wondering what my fitness level is after 2 weeks of little exercise. I am due a testosterone shot in the middle of the month which is like a turbo boost that I hope I can use to my advantage if the weather permits. My new 10 km goal for the SUP My Race TT is 63 minutes, that will put me up at the sharp end of the leaderboard with the really fast guys. It is a big ask but I think it is achievable.
There is also the small matter of finding a handful of seconds on my 5km effort so that I can tick off the 2022 goal of under 32 minutes, although secretly I am wondering if I could ever get back to back 2.5km legs at 10 km/h now that I have done it one way. Stay tuned …