It has been a month of highs and lows, starting with the stats
Jan 23 | Feb 23 | March 2023 | April 2023 | May 2023 | June 2023 | July 2023 | |
KM paddled | 208.69 | 122.34 | 152.94 | 273.27 | 260.77 | 248.81 | |
Weight | 98 kg | 96.1kg | 96.3 | 98.7 | 98 | 94.9 | 97.1 |
VO2 Max | 46 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 |
Resting HR | 54 bpm | 50 bpm | 50 | 55 | 52 | 50 | 49 |
HRV | N/A | 48 | 48 | 45 | 50 | 54 | 54 |
Training load | N/A | 851 | 161 | 723 | 963 | 928 | 913 |
5km | 38m 18s | N/A | 33m 21s | 33m 7s | 32m 45s | 30m 33s | |
10km | 1h 9m 47s | 1h 8m 44s | 1h 15m 55s | 1h 10m 13s | 1h 11m 7s | 1h 3m 10s |
Weight is up, more on that at the end but it is partly down to my shot at the start of the month, my waistline has decreased, my shoulders and chest are bigger which good for strength and speed but bad for my wardrobe! Monthly KM total was OK after a few days with no paddling for various reasons and there were some pretty good time trial times ...
Setting, and breaking goals
Michael encourages paddlers on his programme to set goals and mine were under 32 minutes for a 5km time trial and under 64 minutes for the 10km. These are on an out and back course within the rules on SUP My Race, the SUP My Race TT rules can be found here.
I also had a minor, less specific goal set by Michael to ‘go racing’. I now need to re-set those goals!
The EO SUP Nebula FW - Goal smasher.
Two great Time Trials (TT) bookended the month. At the start of June, I noticed the forecast was promising early one morning, drove up to the lake and went for it. At the end, I thought it had gone ‘OK’, I sat down on a bench and checked Strava, I was stunned to find I had destroyed my previous best by 91 seconds. Not just a little improvement but a massive leap forwards! And I am sure there is more to come from this board, paddle and paddler combo.
After what is a pretty significant shot of testosterone one of the problems I have is keeping things under control, although I feel I have more power putting that power down is a problem and, after my TT my stats reveal how difficult that is. My stroke rate was significantly higher than usual and my distance per stroke was reduced but the result was pretty good.
Nearer the end of June Michael set a TT in my schedule, it went OK and even with some quite windy conditions I set my second fastest time, 20 seconds off my best on my old board.
The next morning Boothy had scheduled a hard 12km paddle but when I got to the lake the near-perfect conditions, (nothing like the forecast!) meant I had to have another go at the 10km. Tired from the day before I started at a steady pace for a few KM to see how I felt, speed seemed OK so I kept going.
When I had finished I wasn’t sure what I had done, I hadn’t set up my watch for a TT and didn’t note the time when I finished my short warm-up. It is no understatement to say I was over the moon to find that I had a new lifetime best of 63 minutes and 10 seconds. This was 89 seconds faster than I have paddled that distance before and confirms that paddling fast is much easier than racing!
You can read my thoughts on the EO SUP Nebula FW here
New Goals
- 5km under 30 minutes
- 10km under 61 minutes 30 seconds.
Racing
In between these two fast paddles, I went to a race. A real race, not a virtual time trial and it went quite well. A just over 10km course on a lake not too far from home, two 5km laps with an extra bit at the end.
I have used a lot of words describing my race experience and what I learned. Here’s the short version, I fell in early, it took me 5km to catch the leaders, I lead briefly then I fell in again and again and I finished third. Not bad considering!
Luckily for me the first two paddlers came from Stockholm and Malmö which meant that I took a gold medal in the regional competition, I am 2023 SUP Champion for Västra Sverige. I may retire now…
Here is the breakdown of the race with data, all graphs over time, not distance. It is easy to see where I could have saved a lot of time...
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| The entire race |
The start and first leg into the wind
Nerves and a lack of experience meant I completely fluffed my start! I am not sure how many times I missed my paddle handle as I kept swapping sides to try to go in a straight line while it seemed that everyone else had nailed their start. I then fell in, not sure why but my enthusiasm to get back on resulted in another fall. That put me in around 10th place and maybe 150m behind the leaders. With hindsight, this was probably a good thing. Being so far off the lead meant I calmed down and got on with what I do best, I paddled.
I settled into a good rhythm off to the left of the rest of the field and started to pick off paddlers as we paddled into the breeze. At about the 2km point I had moved back up to third and successfully, slowly completed the turn at the bridge, maybe 100m behind the leaders.
The second leg
With a little wind assistance, the second leg was uneventful, I stayed upright!
The third leg
Another cautious left turn back at the start buoy and the first half of the race was done. I was approximately 25m behind the leaders as we headed back into a light headwind. I think I caught the leaders at 6km which left me with a problem, what to do next.
I thought about this for a little while as I came up with a plan, get to the front before the turn, get around the buoy then accelerate hard and see how it played out. Be positive and take control.
By the time we had reached the final turn, I was leading a national series race in Sweden! And that felt great.
The last leg
My turns are a weakness and with two far more experienced racers right on my tail, I realised a little too late that my plan had a huge flaw, the paddler. I really messed up my turn, indecision and a lack of confidence led to me making a terrible choice and in I went.
Luckily the paddlers right behind me were far too polite to laugh out loud at my attempt to get around the buoy. To make things worse as Paddy avoided me he fell in too. Mick, on the other hand, had held back and showed me exactly what I should have done with a neat step back then cleanly accelerating away from the turn.
I got back on board and set off after them and all was well for a few moments until I went for a swim, again. I got caught between the wakes of the two boards ahead of me and as I speeded up to accelerate into the gap between them I overbalanced and went headfirst into the water flipping the board as I went.
That was pretty much game over, my last 2.5 km was completed at an average of 9.9 km/h which, even with a little wind assistance wasn’t bad at the end of a 10km race and at the finish, I was not too far behind Paddy who finished in second place behind Mick who took the win.
Learning
My first race in 2 years was fun and a great learning experience. Even on the drive to the start I seriously considered turning around and going for a paddle, I was that nervous. Not of paddling but of people. But everyone there was friendly and welcoming, and I was glad I went. The race was well organised and the course was simple but challenging because of the speed and distance.
I also re-learned that racers need more than power and speed to do well. Racers need to use their brains too and although I probably had the fastest board and engine combination on the day I was beaten by two better, smarter paddlers who showed me how to race.
Things I did well:
Fuelling and hydration. I decided not to take anything with me for the race, eating and hydrating before the event, which worked really well. On a longer event I would need to take something but for only 10km I had enough.
Pacing. When I was standing up my pace was great! A reflection of the work done with Boothy and to the board and paddle from EO SUP.
Things that I need to work on if I race again
The start. A great start is important but not at the cost of a decent start, I needed to relax and concentrate on what I was doing not worry about anyone else.
Concentration. I am fairly sure that my early swims were due to not noticing a boat wake or similar which unsettled the board enough to put me in. Again I think I was more concerned with what the others were doing.
Skillz. I need to work on my turns and to use my brain more if and when I race again.
Mental Health
Off the board, things have not been great. Despite those three performances June was a very difficult month for me. Spending time with complete strangers for the SUP My Race gathering was rewarding and I enjoyed it but it left me mentally exhausted. And in the 2 weeks since the only person I have seen is my wife when she has been at home.
As I type this is it 2 years since I was taken to the local doctor’s surgery to get help for my very significant problems with depression and the summer months, when it seems that the world is having fun and I am alone are very difficult for me. Sweden is a very lonely place to live and I am struggling again.
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.