If you are new here, welcome! This is blog covers my progress as a SUP paddler working with
Booth Training, trying to become the fastest paddler I can be. And so far it is going pretty well. You can find all of my precious blog posts through the labels in the sidebar or with this link -
My Booth Training Blogs
As usual here is a quick look at my monthly metrics:
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | Sept | October |
KM paddled | 208.69 | 122.34 | 152.94 | 273.27 | 260.77 | 248.81 | 200.4 | 225.94 | 155.90 | 184.02 |
Weight | 98 kg | 96.1kg | 96.3 | 98.7 | 98 | 94.9 | 97.1 | 95.1 | 96.0 | 94.9 |
VO2 Max | 46 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 48 |
Resting HR | 54 bpm | 50 bpm | 50 | 55 | 52 | 50 | 49 | 49 | 52 | 51 |
HRV | N/A | 48 | 48 | 45 | 50 | 54 | 54 | 56 | 46 | 46 |
Training load | N/A | 851 | 161 | 723 | 963 | 928 | 913 | 1001 | 615 | 1173 |
5km | 38m 18s | N/A | 33m 21s | 33m 7s | 32m 45s | 30m 33s | N/A | 32m 25s | N/A | 31m 57s |
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 | 1h 4m 55s |
weight is down, VO2 max is up, and resting HR is about the same.
Winter has arrived in Sweden with the first frost and ice of the season but despite this the performance highlight for October was accidentally setting my second fastest 5km time trial, in the middle of a longer session with a 1 minute rest exactly in the middle of my 'Time Trial', that was a big surprise and put a huge smile on my face. Progress. My 10km time this month was OK, who would have thought that a sub-65 mintue time would ever register as 'OK' in my paddling world.
As well as sessions on the lake I have enjoyed some brilliant trips / training on the fjord, this time of year is fantastic for paddling, if you can cope with the cold.
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| Lunch stop on Kalvö in Kungsbackafjord |
This month I am going to try to take a deeper look into the wealth of stats from my Garmin, other watches will, I am sure, report the same stats but Garmin is what I have so here we go and the big three are VO2 Max, Stroke Rate and Distance Per Stroke. Lets break them down...
What is VO2 Max?
In my
first blog of 2023, I asked this question and answered it, albeit at a very high-level way. I have copied that text here
There are hundreds of articles about VO2 Max on the internet, the most concise definition I can find is that it is the volume of oxygen your body uses while exercising hard. The higher the number the better BUT it is not a number you can simply compare with someone else, there are all sorts of factors that influence it not least of which is age. But my number is pretty good for someone in my age range (I am now 55) and I think, hope it will increase through the season.
I’ve done a little research and the estimate produced by a Fenix 6X seems to be consistent with a proper test, generally, Garmin seems to estimate within 3 or 4% of a lab test. Which is good enough for me and using the same watch should give me a reliable trend through the season.
You can read about VO2 Max and how Garmin calculate it here
My VO2 Max changes over the year
At the start of 2023 my VO2 Max was 46, this was probably an increase from previous years but hard to know for sure because I have never done a proper, lab VO2 Max test. The Garmin Instinct I was using until the end of 2022 did not calculate VO2 Max but Gamin Connect did give me an estimate once in 2021, that number was 40. I might have accidentally recorded a run...
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| Zwift |
It is worth noting that Garmin only calculate VO2 Max for running and cycling and my initial cycling value rose to 47 very quickly because I was using my indoor cycling set-up a lot at the start of the year, I am a longtime Zwift user and my Zwift set-up includes a power meter, a necessity for performance measurement when that data is passed to Garmin. There was a brief spike in my VO2 Max to 48 in March but only for a day or two so I didn't record it in this blog.
As the weather improved I stopped indoor riding, I rode occasionally on my mountain bike (I have some great trails from my door) but almost all of my exercise was on the water or hiking. As a result, my Garmin estimate of VO2 Max dropped but in the real world, it probably stayed the same or increased slightly because of my Booth Training workouts.
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| Paddling in-between October Storms |
At times through October the weather here has been challenging for paddling and I re-started my Zwifting, in less than a week, over 4 rides that I'd struggle to describe as 'training' my VO2 Max went up 2 points to 48. This was not the intention when I started to ride indoors but it does demonstrate, quite clearly, that the numbers our devices give us are a guide and that we must not dwell on them for too long, if you have a bad set of numbers do not fixate on it, that data will change again soon.
Having said (typed!) that I am keen to see if more cycling will show an increase. Apparently, my value puts me in the top 10% for my age and gender, which is nice and gives me a rating of 'Excellent' by my Fenix and wonder if hitting 49 will move me up to their top level.
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| New fin = More speed? I will find out |
Before jumping into more stats I was very lucky this month to be given a new fin. It is my second VMG Blade and it is a beautiful thing, I think it will be Spring when I will find out if I go faster with it.
Stroke Rate and Distance Per Stroke
In October I shared a Booth Training video stroke analysis on SUP My Race, it was shared on YouTube by Ethan Huff and covered his stroke, here it is if you missed it
In the video, Michael briefly mentions Distance Per Stroke and gives some examples of how far paddlers travel on each stroke. If you've not watched it then, at 2 minutes 40 seconds Michael's suggested numbers are:
- Elite paddlers between 3.2 and 3.4 metres per stroke
- Intermediate paddlers between 2.4 and 2.6 metres per stroke
These figures are, of course, dependent on stroke rate, water conditions and the type of board. Two of those metrics,
Stroke Rate and
Distance Per Stroke are very easy to measure with a good watch.
Breaking down one of my sessions
This is a 12 x 3 minute session completed at Level 3 on the Booth scale, to find out what that is sign up with Michael, or read some of my older blogs. 😉
23 October 2023 - EO SUP Nebula
# | Time | Cumulative Time | Dist | Avg Pace | Avg Speed KM/h | Best Pace | Avg HR | Max HR | Avg Stroke Rate | Avg Distance per Stroke |
1 | 3:00 | 8:00 | 0.48 | 6:15 | 9.6 | 5:54 | 145 | 152 | 49 | 3.31 |
2 | 3:00 | 12:00 | 0.49 | 6:08 | 9.78 | 5:52 | 149 | 159 | 51 | 3.23 |
3 | 3:00 | 16:00 | 0.49 | 6:06 | 9.84 | 5:40 | 153 | 161 | 50 | 3.25 |
4 | 3:00 | 20:00 | 0.49 | 6:04 | 9.89 | 5:44 | 157 | 163 | 52 | 3.20 |
5 | 3:00 | 24:00 | 0.49 | 6:07 | 9.81 | 5:42 | 158 | 165 | 51 | 3.21 |
6 | 3:00 | 28:00 | 0.49 | 6:10 | 9.73 | 5:47 | 157 | 163 | 51 | 3.17 |
7 | 3:00 | 32:00 | 0.45 | 6:39 | 9.02 | 6:03 | 157 | 162 | 51 | 2.98 |
8 | 3:00 | 36:00 | 0.47 | 6:21 | 9.45 | 5:54 | 157 | 163 | 53 | 3.03 |
9 | 3:00 | 40:00 | 0.46 | 6:27 | 9.3 | 5:46 | 157 | 162 | 52 | 3.01 |
10 | 3:00 | 44:00 | 0.46 | 6:30 | 9.23 | 5:59 | 156 | 162 | 52 | 2.98 |
11 | 3:00 | 48:00 | 0.47 | 6:22 | 9.42 | 5:50 | 156 | 162 | 52 | 3.04 |
12 | 3:00 | 52:00 | 0.48 | 6:14 | 9.63 | 5:37 | 158 | 165 | 52 | 3.10 |
This session was completed on the morning of Monday 23 October at my training lake in Southern Sweden, it was a cold day, the air temp was +8 degrees, the water temp was around 11 degrees and a light wind from the south. The lake is mostly sheltered from a southerly wind and in my 12 interval set only intervals 6, 7, 8 and 9 had some wind exposure.
I was dressed in my Vanav360 long john, long-sleeved rash vest and 3mm boots. Just warm enough at the start, just right through the session and a little too warm near the end. That is as good as I can hope for at this time of year. Of course, the board was the fantastic
EO SUP Nebula FW and I was using the equally fantastic
EO SUP Fortis paddle.
In my feedback to Michael, I noted that I was not feeling on it at the start and my speed in the first interval surprised me, I then might have pushed a little harder than I should have aiming for a 10km/h interval without sprinting and paid for that at the end. Although looking at the data, HR in particular, this was a solid session.
From the stroke rate (SR) and distance per stroke (DPS) you can see that things were pretty consistent in the first 6 intervals. At the start I was relaxed and thinking about my stroke and enjoying being on the water, the data for that single interval is just about perfect for a level 3 effort from me. The increase in SR for the next 5 intervals, indicates a bit more effort, still within L3 but edging towards L4.
A 180-degree turn causes the DPS to drop in interval 7. More exposure to a slight headwind increases the SR slightly and decreases the DPS in the next 2 intervals. A mistake in interval 10 is noticeable in DPS only, thankfully I stayed upright! At the end, I had settled back into a good rhythm with only fatigue impacting my numbers.
Measuring Progress
This sort of data is very useful when trying to improve but the value of that data increases when you have older data to compare it with. Here is the same workout from the start of my Booth Training journey in February 2022
24 February 2022 - Starboard Allstar 2016
# | Time | Cumulative Time | Dist | Avg Pace | Avg Speed KM/H | Best Pace | Avg HR | Max HR | Avg Stroke Rate | Avg Distance per Stroke |
1 | 3:00 | 8:00 | 0.43 | 7:03 | 8.51 | 6:16 | 141 | 150 | 45 | 3.08 |
2 | 3:00 | 12:00 | 0.46 | 6:35 | 9.11 | 5:49 | 150 | 155 | 47 | 3.19 |
3 | 3:00 | 16:00 | 0.42 | 7:06 | 8.45 | 6:26 | 153 | 160 | 47 | 2.91 |
4 | 3:00 | 20:00 | 0.45 | 6:42 | 8.96 | 6:07 | 154 | 159 | 48 | 3.04 |
5 | 3:00 | 24:00 | 0.42 | 7:12 | 8.33 | 6:38 | 153 | 161 | 48 | 2.82 |
6 | 3:00 | 28:00 | 0.44 | 6:48 | 8.82 | 6:03 | 152 | 158 | 49 | 3.00 |
7 | 3:00 | 32:00 | 0.42 | 7:11 | 8.35 | 6:38 | 154 | 161 | 48 | 2.83 |
8 | 3:00 | 36:00 | 0.44 | 6:51 | 8.76 | 6:06 | 154 | 159 | 48 | 2.98 |
9 | 3:00 | 40:00 | 0.41 | 7:20 | 8.18 | 6:38 | 152 | 159 | 46 | 2.87 |
10 | 3:00 | 44:00 | 0.43 | 6:57 | 8.63 | 6:13 | 154 | 164 | 48 | 2.97 |
11 | 3:00 | 48:00 | 0.42 | 7:12 | 8.33 | 6:27 | 157 | 162 | 47 | 2.85 |
12 | 3:00 | 52:00 | 0.43 | 6:55 | 8.67 | 6:11 | 154 | 159 | 49 | 2.89 |
There are several important things to note before comparing the datasets.
- It was colder, air temp was 3 degrees, the water was near freezing and there was a little more wind.
- I was using a 2016 14x27" Allstar.
- I was using a smaller paddle blade, an Oti 90.
- I turned around at the end of each interval.
Sorting the data to put all the intervals going the same way together gives a better indication of what happened on the water, the even intervals had a little wind assistance that day so I have put them ahead of the odd intervals.
24 February 2022 - sorted
# | Time | Cumulative Time | Dist | Avg Pace | Avg Speed KM/H | Best Pace | Avg HR | Max HR | Avg Stroke Rate | Avg Distance per Stroke |
2 | 3:00 | 12:00 | 0.46 | 6:35 | 9.11 | 5:49 | 150 | 155 | 47 | 3.19 |
4 | 3:00 | 20:00 | 0.45 | 6:42 | 8.96 | 6:07 | 154 | 159 | 48 | 3.04 |
6 | 3:00 | 28:00 | 0.44 | 6:48 | 8.82 | 6:03 | 152 | 158 | 49 | 3.00 |
8 | 3:00 | 36:00 | 0.44 | 6:51 | 8.76 | 6:06 | 154 | 159 | 48 | 2.98 |
10 | 3:00 | 44:00 | 0.43 | 6:57 | 8.63 | 6:13 | 154 | 164 | 48 | 2.97 |
12 | 3:00 | 52:00 | 0.43 | 6:55 | 8.67 | 6:11 | 154 | 159 | 49 | 2.89 |
1 | 3:00 | 8:00 | 0.43 | 7:03 | 8.51 | 6:16 | 141 | 150 | 45 | 3.08 |
3 | 3:00 | 16:00 | 0.42 | 7:06 | 8.45 | 6:26 | 153 | 160 | 47 | 2.91 |
5 | 3:00 | 24:00 | 0.42 | 7:12 | 8.33 | 6:38 | 153 | 161 | 48 | 2.82 |
7 | 3:00 | 32:00 | 0.42 | 7:11 | 8.35 | 6:38 | 154 | 161 | 48 | 2.83 |
9 | 3:00 | 40:00 | 0.41 | 7:20 | 8.18 | 6:38 | 152 | 159 | 46 | 2.87 |
11 | 3:00 | 48:00 | 0.42 | 7:12 | 8.33 | 6:27 | 157 | 162 | 47 | 2.85 |
Sorting presents the data in a more useful way, and allows some comparison with the October workout, given the differences in the sessions only general observations can be made about speed, SR and DPS.
Stroke Rate
In 20 months there has been a gradual increase in my stroke rate. In the first session back in February 2022 my average stroke rate is 47.5 strokes per minute and that has increased to 51.3 in the most recent workout.
This higher stroke rate has come alongside an increase in blade size from, 90 to 95 square inches and a slight reduction in overall paddle length. These factors combining to give me more power and therefore more speed.
Heart Rate
My average heart rate through the session has also increased, from 152.3 to 155 and my maximum heart rate was up by 1. These are very close, so close that there is no real difference in HR from either session.
Distance Per Stroke
With the difference in boards this metric should be significantly different and, it is! There should be a big difference between a board optimised for flat-water and one designed to cope with rougher conditions. All this data does is confirm that.
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| October Garmin Charts |
Average Speed
This is the metric that is probably of most interest to anyone considering a new board, the 2016 Allstar is a good board, personally I feel it is better than the newer dugout designs for the conditions I paddled it in, but it simply cannot compare with a flatwater board for speed. In these sessions my average speed in the first session on the Allstar was 8.60 km/h, in the second session on the Nebula it was 9.56 km/h. A difference of very nearly 1 km/h is huge in a sport where average speeds are not high.
The Allstar is a very similar shape to my Infinity Blackfish and serves the same purpose, a flat (ish) deck, 27" wide with similar volume. And on my Blackfish my average speed over 5km in May 2023 was 9.16 km/h, there is a huge performance gap to my EO SUP Nebula which clocked an average speed of 9.83 km/h in June 2023 on the same course with the same paddle.
Conclusions?
The obvious conclusions are that a narrow flatwater board is faster than a wider allwater board. No prizes for working that one out.
The thing that should jump off the screen is the difference in consistency between the two sessions. Especially if we disregard interval #7 in the most recent session which is the only interval in the two training sessions where I did a 180 degree turn in an interval. The drop in average speed between the first and last interval in the October session is considerably less than the same session in 2022 while HR remains broadly the same, I am putting in the same effort (HR) but maintaining a higher level (Average speed, SR and DPS).
My conclusion, in 2022, I was a fairly fast, untrained paddler. In 2023 I am a much stronger paddler, I am able to put more power down for longer without going into the red. I paddle faster for longer and am heading towards the 2024 goal of 10km/h for the 5km SUP My Race Time Trial.
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.
