Rowing is so last year darling! Our first kayak race!

Antonia and I had our first marathon experience this Sunday. It was the first of the waterside series Great Bedwyn to Newbury 13 1⁄2 miles including 21 portages. We weren’t sure what to expect apart from a lot of pain but as soon as my coach Andy said we ought to do it I was very up for it actually more up for it than I thought I ever would be, it was the thought of finally competing again thrilled me. Apart from the trials in Notts and the friendly Endeavour race both our last proper races with lots of other crews was Henley Royal Regatta in a much loved rowing boat!

We got to the start on time, the atmosphere was so much more relaxed than a rowing head race, which was nice in a way as it took the pressure off what we were about to do. It didn’t help that we boated the wrong way around and the marshal said it would be a long race if we were to do it back wards! We just made out we were going for a long warm up paddle in the other direction!!! Which he didn’t buy!

We started with 3 other crews and went off hard then settled into a good rhythm but 2 mins into the race we had the first portage. This is a skill in it’s self as you can loose a lot of time hauling your self out and in of the boat. To get the fastest portage you have to do everything in sink, from grabbing hold of the side, getting out the same way and running as fast as your partner to the other side of the lock gates and putting the same foot in the boat before your bums hit the seat and then pushing off the side. We were very bad at this having no experience but got better even though in the last hour I questioned whether my arms would lift my body weight out of the boat any more.

It was such a good experience and to race with all those people around was a huge buzz plus we over took loads of crews. This sport is mainly dominated my men so a lot of the crews we overtook were men and judging by the subtle remarks they made to one another found it demoralizing.

We finished the course in 2hrs22mins coming 9th out of 28 other women’s K2’s and also beat 29 other senior K2 men which we were very pleased with as we have only been paddling now for 7 months.

We also were spotted by Worcester Canoe club coach who has asked us to train with them at the weekends to make a k4 to race in the Summer which will be fantastic!

The canoe community is pretty small so it was good to finally meet a few of them. I can’t wait until the Summer now bring on the racing!

New coach, new gym, new fantastic year!

I was in a Glastonbury café last week and on the back of the menu were my stars for the year, (not that I believe in any of that stuff) but it said Gemini’s are about to have an incredible year and so far they have proved right!

Antonia and I have a new weights and conditioning coach who has been such an inspiration to us. Pip the former England woman’s rugby player as taken us under her wing and has set us a pure power and sprints focused programme. We have already undergone 2 bleep tests and cleans are becoming second nature.

We also have to say a MASSIVE thank you to the TRAIN STATION GYM in Glastonbury who have kindly given us free access to their superb free weights and cardio equipment. The staff are extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable and I would recommend it to anyone. We haven’t been to any of the classes yet but they sound very motivational!

Although we had set up a good gym in the cider cellar it was starting to get slightly monotonous. We have to do a lot of our training with just each other so to have a gym and train with other people has given a massive boost to our moral.

Slalom Paddling!

Two weekends ago my sister and I were invited to Nottingham to stay with a very good friend known to many as Aggressor and to also train with the Fast Track girls we left at the end of August.

I my self was very apprehensive about it although I knew it was an opportunity we couldn't miss as it would show where we are compared to the girls still on the programme.

After seeing the word time trial on the duel carriage way on the drive up and automatically finding myself driving as fast as I could to win of course, I realised that I was in a good, focused mind frame and if I got a speeding ticket I would never be able to borrow my mums car ever again! (don't panic mum nothing has come through yet!)

Saturday morning we got up early and walked to Holm Pierrepont and met the girls, they were so pleased to see us both it was quite overwhelming. It felt very strange, like a day in the life of the Summer but so much has happened since then. We met Mark our old coach, got out our previous boats we initially learnt in and pushed off the landing stage. Our racing boats we now own are far more unstable than the boats we started in so it felt good to know our stability has improved.

We were doing 500 metre sprints and just the feeling to be back training with a bunch of people who are so focused and driven was exhilarating (like being in a committed rowing crew) and to get that intense coaching made me really miss what we had in the Summer. Antonia and I weren't last out of the four who still remain which in my mind is a big achievement. However we have a lot of work to do by the sprint season which starts in April but now knowing where we stand and have a good set up at home our only limitations are our selves.

It is a lot harder doing it with out the kind of structure and input they have, but we have to remind ourselves that we also have a lot of support and must focus on what we do have not what we don't. If you can get through the hardship and stick at it, you will come out on the other side a far stronger person with far more motive to keep going especially after you have invested so much in it.

After some kayak erg work with one to one coaching we then hit the water again for the last session. We boated on one of the smaller lakes beside the main racing lake and paddled onto the river Trent to do a steady state piece. On our way back onto the lake I was in a slight trance, feeling quite tired. The next thing I know the water is actually pulling me into the lake and thought for a split second 'oh my gosh they have turned the rapids on' Nope I was heading for the Slalom lake and even with frantic back paddling it was too late and was swallowed into the first rapid. I capsized and had to get myself out of my spray deck under water which I have never done in flat water let alone in a waterfall type situation. My boat and my paddle went flying out the other end and I came up spluttering and choking to find a group of worried kids paddling towards me. I manged to grab hold of the side when the instructor taking the Children's slalom lesson pulled me out. I thought straight away how will I live this down! The slalom kids paddled over with my boat (in one piece thank god!) and my paddle. Antonia came running over the bridge after seeing the whole thing from a safe distance to see thankfully, I was OK. Mark my coach had disappeared which he later told me was so embarrassed at what I had done pretended to disown me!

Antonia asked how I missed the big sign above the bridge saying SLALOM CANOE COURSE, HELMETS AND LIFE JACKETS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES! Yes I still don't know how I didn't see that either, again so focused I was oblivious to anything around me!!

That night we went to the classy stores of Asda to get things for dinner and one of the Canoe guys who I didn't know happened to be working in the Pharmacy and said "are you the girl who took a sprint kayak down the slalom course?" word gets around fast.

A lot learnt and much banter had, I just hope we get invited back after making such a lasting impression??

Choose Your Attitude!

I’m sorry Petumbukan Frangipani (what a lovely unusual name you have!) that I haven’t written for a while but I didn’t want to write again until I had something positive to talk about and today I feel like I have climbed a foot hill of a mountain which feels like an amazing accomplishment.

Last week Antonia and I decided to go for an especially long paddle on the Huntspil, it was a lovely fresh Autumn day with the sun high and the sky was blue as ever. We set off to kayak the whole stretch of the Huntspil and back. On the way we greeted by a friendly fisherman who told us to ‘get off the river’ so we kind of just ignored him and paddled on. The Huntspil is very straight and as it was such a clear day we could see the end from miles away. After 2 days had gone past we finally got there . . . ok 1.5 hours. We turned our boats around reasonably easily in the 2pmh winds so we were now in a head wind which is easier to paddle in. I felt quite confident and said to Ant ‘we will fly back now it feels so stable’ then a few well spirited strokes later and I fell in. It was FREEZING, another friendly fisherman packed up his stuff and moved a few metres down as I clearly must had disturbed the fish (sorry Mr fisherman, don’t you mind me, I only could die of hypothermia!)

I quickly climbed on my boat and paddled to the side but the banks were so high I couldn’t get out so ended up paddling (lying on the boat) for quite away then spent a good 20 mins getting back into the boat. By this time the sun was going down, we quickly paddled on but I was getting cold and colder so we stopped and Antonia gave me her dry top (see mum we do love each other!). We paddled further but with the sun down I didn’t last long until I felt so stiff with coldness I couldn’t paddle any further. That sounds very weak of me but I’m not one for giving up and I just thought if I fall in now, we are still so far away from the car I might just die on the river bank (a bit dramatic but that’s how I felt at the time) so we both got out our boats in a random field.

It was now very dimpsy dark and as soon as a got out I felt dizzy (I think I had a major sugar low) so Ant said we had to run and leave our boats. So we did, through fields, over hedges, dodging an evil looking bull then crossing the M5 in our lycra in the dark. We eventually got back to the car got changed and drove to the nearest garage to get vital food supplies - food always comes first something we both feel strongly about so no arguments there! Then of course we had to find the boats which meant taking Granny’s car for a little off road adventure (sorry Granny). We couldn’t find the boats – I had visions of a cow fancying a quick paddle (still delirious from the cold) Antonia thought they had rolled in the water! No we were just looking in the wrong place but as it was pitch black and we only had the light from my glowing heart rate monitor so it was very hard to see. They were still in one piece so we loaded them up and went home.

My next outing in the K1 I actually felt slightly more stable which is the first signs of a considerable improvement I have had ever since we got them. Then this morning we had a usual early morning session in the gym and my weights went up. So finally all the ground work we have been putting in since we left Nottingham is finally paying off.

I just read the most inspirational book by Debra Searle which has really helped me: The Journey, How to achieve against the odds. One thing that especially stood out was when you wake up in the morning you have to make a decision. What attitude am I going to choose. You can either choose to battle through the day and feel sorry for your self or you can choose to be positive and optimistic, what ever the day has in store for you, this makes you far more in control of the situation/training session, choosing to fight it instead of it fighting you if you know what I mean. So quote of the day ‘choose your attitude’.

p.s. Sorry Uncle David I didn’t get to the hedges in time and Mum got the hedge trimmer out and cut through the lead! No more hedge trimmer, I better get the old secateurs out!

Huntspil River

The best river I have paddled on and it's only 30 mins from home. This has meant Ant and I have been able to go paddling every day to make sure we are staying upright well and truly before winter sets in. I think this river is also a rowers dream. Maybe City of Bristol should have a training day here! No ferries, no barges, no speed boats, only 1 or 2 swans, the odd leaf, the odd fisherman. All that is there is flat wide river - fantastic!

These are photos taken yesterday where we had our longest session in our K1's yet.

A swans nest saved my life! (kind of)

Training as everyone knows has it’s up’s and downs. A couple of weeks ago was a particular low point for me, with the trees shedding leaves like they are in a hurry for winter to come and constantly getting caught on the stern of my boat and an obvious drop in temperature, falling out of our K1’s has become even more unpleasant than it was before.

We were doing a sprint session and for the first four efforts my boat had been picking up leaves like it was designed for it, producing a sluggish pace rather than a flat out one minute sprint, and to top it off Antonia’s boat didn’t appear to be collecting half as much debris. By the fifth effort this was more than testing my patience and a few too many aggressive strokes in my unforgiving Nelo, landed me in the cold water, gasping.

We were on a more flat scenic part of the river rather than the busy docs and there wasn’t anywhere obvious to get out. Luckily I spotted a swans nest and swam over to it. The angry swan to whom we had the delight of meeting earlier was no where to be seen but even so Antonia was on vicious Swan watch while I hauled myself onto the bed of grass. As you might be able to imagine it’s quite hard to boat from a nest and it took 2 attempts to finely leave the unusual landing stage. That was the end of that session even though we had quite a while to paddle home I couldn’t get warm which infuriated me even more as I hate cutting any training session short but made up for it in a weights session later. At the time I was not amused, Antonia was trying to have her concerned voice on but actually thought it was hilarious.

Swans will always be a pain to paddlers because of their territorial nature but for just that session I was extremely grateful.

Endeavour's Canoe Challenge

This weekend Antonia and I competed in our first k2 race in the Endeavour's Canoe Challenge. It’s a grueling 50 mile relay-style competition from Market Drayton to Great Haywood in Shropshire. Twelve teams of consisting of 6-10 people entered the event.

The Canoe Challenge is a fund-raising event, aiming to raise valuable funds for Endeavour's youth development projects throughout the
country.

Teams of all levels of experience take part in this unique team-building event. Each section of the canal is taken in turns by team members to paddle as hard as they can, usually until a portage is reached then have to jump out, run with the boat and hand over to the next canoeists in the team. A vital support crew follow in a mini bus driving as fast as the speed limits allows to ensure they meet the paddlers racing at the decided point and swap team members as quickly as possible.

Not only did Bristol come away with first prize but all the teams together also raised over £13,000 to support Endeavour's work with young people.