Re: [Paddlewise] Race Training.

In a message dated 2/17/00 9:20:55 PM, dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com writes:

<< When I was in my best kayaking condition I
could move over that 20 miles at the following speeds.  5.2 mph for the
first mile, 5.1 for the second, then 5.0 mph and usually 4.8 at the last
hour.  >>

|OK, I'm impressed.  Dan, what boat did you do this training in?
|Thanks in advance

|Jed

Dont be!  8-)  If I can do it so can anyone because it is NOT muscle
strength that does it. And this is on a generally flat water, with maybe 6
inch waves.

I have a Kevlar Necky Looksha IV. I think I can go faster if I had a
shorter paddle with a larger blades to provide more grip in the water.  My
paddles are Aqua Bound, I think that is right, and are fairly light.  I
moved from a 240cm to a 210 or there abouts and got the .5 mph increase.
My paddling store did not have a 210 shaft with wider blades which I think
would have been faster still.

I pretty sure the mph is correct because I did it numerous times over the
same course measure with the GPS.  The GPS can be wildly inaccurate speed
wise when measured over a few minutes but over an hour time period the
errors gets averaged out.

Hopefully this year I'll be able to paddle more than last.  Because I'm not
in the kayaking shape to do a 20 mile trip at anywhere close to the rate I
did the year before.  It really is based on conditioning in the kayak and
technique.  Running/biking/stairs cardio work will help but I don't find my
self slowed down by the old lungs and ticker.  The muscles used to paddle
will tire our first.  These seem to be forarms and upper torso muscles.  My
lower back usually aches a bit from sitting but after a few trips they
sturdy up and don't bother me anymore.  Lifting weights in the gym helps
getting the kayak in and out of the water but I don't think it really helps
paddling fast or far.

I only started the 20 mile loop just to see how far I could go in four
hours.  One of my dream paddles is to do the North Carolina Outer banks.
So how far can I go in a day?  Thats how I got started down this road.
Then it just snowballed into can I do it faster?  8-)  What if I did this?
Or this?

And I want a heart rate monitor!  8-)

Hope this helps...
Dan




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