Negative numbers and triple-digit numbers

I paddled for about a half-hour in the harbor with my friend Meghan today.  The water has continued to drop since the Outdoors Race; we're now more than four feet below zero on the Memphis gauge.  The record low is -10.7 feet, set in July of 1988.  I remember that summer, when the evening news showed parts of the river where barges could not pass.

My left hamstring/rear end area is still not completely healed, and it hurt in the boat today.  I guess there are proactive things I could be doing, like stretching and heating and icing and stuff like that, but I've been so swamped with other work lately that I haven't had much time to think about it.

Meanwhile, it's a Memphis summer for real now.  Yesterday's high was 101 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's supposed to get at least that high again today and for the next few days.  I mentioned the other day that even though it's been hot the days haven't been too uncomfortable because of low humidity, but I believe that's over now.  The telltale sign is the overnight low: where earlier this week it had gotten as cool as 71 or 72 degrees at night, it's now staying above 80.  When I went out to get the paper this morning it was noticeably warmer and muggier than previous mornings had been.

Out of the boat and back into the real world

I've been out of the boat since Sunday, trying to catch up on some shop work that I neglected during the run-up to the big races of this past month.

My race season is more or less over, but I do plan to paddle several times a week for exercise and fun.  I'll try to keep you posted on what's going on.

Meanwhile, a bunch of much better paddlers than I are preparing for the Olympic Games in London.  Competition starts about a month from now.  I'll try to keep my readers updated on that as well.

Monday Photo Feature

I mentioned yesterday that I paddled a section of the St. Francis River in the Arkansas Delta.  This section was completely flat and slow-moving.  But way upriver, in the Missouri Ozarks, the "Saint" has a different complexion.  Here's a shot of me paddling my whitewater C1 on the Saint near Fredericktown, Missouri, at the end of 2007.  My attire suggests that it must have been cold that day.

I learned to paddle as a summer camper on Class II-III streams in western North Carolina.  I spent most of my 20s trying to paddle all the whitewater I could get myself on.

These days I love paddling whitewater as much as I ever did, but I do it less, mostly because I'm happy at home and need my arm twisted more than I used to to get in the car and drive many hours to whatever river is running.  I think it's been about a year and a half since my last time on a mountain stream.  But with the heavy summer heat descending upon Memphis and the Mid South, I may be getting back in my whitewater boat sooner rather than later.

Photo by Maria Crusius.

Results from this weekend on the White River, Arkansas

Saturday morning race (Aluminum Nationals): Calico Rock to Sylamore, about 18 miles

C2 Men Open Aluminum

1^st Don Walls/Dale Burris AR/AR 2:18:27 (1^st master)

2^nd Rocky Caldwell/Jody Runyon MO/IL 2:20:31 (2^nd master)

3^rd Jim Short/Doug Pennington MO/MO 2:20:38 (3^rd master)

4^th Bryan King/Kevin Williams AR/AR 2:20:44 (1^st under 25)

5^th Jared King/Chris Williams AR/AR 2:21:02 (2^nd under 25)

6^th Gareth Stevens/Tave Lamperez WI/IL 2:23:52 (1^st senior)

7^th Dave Dahl/Frank Gray MN/TX 2:24:49 (1^st veteran)

8^th Earl Brimeyer/Jim Braig IA/IA 2:25:59 (2^nd veteran)

9^th Casey Rickey/Clifton Rickey AR/AR 2:29:38

10^th Nathan White/Greg Schwartz AR/AR 2:31:28

11^th Cody Rickey/David White AR/AR 2:32:31

C2 Women Open Aluminum

1^st Teddy Gray/Joy Emshoff TX/TX 2:33:54 (1^st master/1^st senior)

2^nd Becky Burris/Nadalyn Riggins AR/AR 2:37:22 (2^nd master)

3^rd Pat Bayers/Jeanine Shaffer FL/FL 2:53:23 (3^rd master)

C2 Junior Men Aluminum

1^st Grant Schwartz/Jonathan Williams AR/AR 2:27:20

Saturday afternoon race: Red's Landing to Calico Rock, about 10 miles

K1 Men Open

1^st Elmore Holmes 1:04:32

K2 Mixed Open

1^st Joe Royer/Carol Lee Royer 1:08:12

2^nd Phil Capel/Robbie Capel 1:08:38

3^rd Bill Cains/Julie Cains 1:09:03

C1 Men Open

1^st Rocky Caldwell 1:10:57

2^nd Bob Spain 1:12:04

3^rd Gareth Stevens 1:14:01

4^th Doug Pennington 1:17:39

Sunday morning race: Calico Rock to Sylamore, about 18 miles

C2 Men

1^st Don Walls/Dale Burris 2:04:36

2^nd Jared King/Christopher Williams 2:07:15

3^rd Rocky Caldwell/Jody Runyon 2:07:16

4^th Brian King/Bill Cains 2:09:05

5^th Earl Brimeyer/Jim Braig 2:09:25

6^th Gareth Stevens/Tave Lamperez 2:10:24

C2 Mixed

1^st Becky Burris/Nathan White 2:11:21

2^nd Bob Spain/Joy Emshoff 2:15:42

3^rd Jim Short/Donna Short 2:19:22

C2 Junior Men

1^st Grant Schwartz/Jonathan Williams 2:28:35

If it's summer, there must be racing on the White

I spent a nice weekend at the River View Hotel in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on a bluff overlooking the White River.  The weather was quite hot but not too humid, and on the clear, cold White even the hottest day is not so bad.

The Aluminum Canoe Nationals were Saturday morning, starting at Calico Rock and finishing at Sylamore, a distance of about 18 miles.  I have competed in the Aluminums a couple of times in the past, but this year I was happy to be a shuttle driver and photographer for the race.  Congratulations to the 2012 national champions of aluminum canoe racing: Joy Emshoff and Teddy Gray (women), and Dale Burris and Don Walls (men).

After this race was over I made my way up to Red's Landing for the afternoon race for kayaks and single canoes.  The race would start at Red's and go downriver nearly 10 miles to finish at the Arkansas 5 bridge at Calico Rock.  It turned out I was the only single kayaker, so I tried to beat all the other boats and managed to do that, passing under the bridge one hour, four minutes, and 32 seconds after I started.

The highest drama occurred in the mixed tandem kayak class, with three boats fighting for the lead for the entire race.  In the end Joe and Carol Lee Royer emerged victorious, with Phil and Robbie Capel finishing just 26 seconds behind them.  Bill Cains and his daughter Julie took third, only 25 seconds slower than the Capels.

In single canoe, Rocky Caldwell took first, just over a minute ahead of Bob Spain.

The race weekend concluded this morning with the Arkansas "Big Dog" race for C2 pro boats, contested on the same section of river as the Aluminum Nationals.  Many of the same pairs from Saturday morning were together again in their lighter, faster composite boats.  The team of Walls/Burris was the fastest once again.  Today the all-female tandems were replaced by several mixed teams, and of these the fastest was Becky Burris and Nathan White.

After cheering every last boat across the finish line at Sylamore, I got in my car for the trip home.  I still had yet to paddle myself today, and I decided to take care of that business on the St. Francis River, just east of Crowley's Ridge and some 50 miles from Memphis.  I had driven over this part of the "Saint" many times and was curious about its potential for paddling.  Today I got a better idea.  It is small and meandering and quite shallow on the insides of bends, but otherwise very nice.  The Arkansas Delta needs more paddles in its waters, and I was happy to make a small advancement toward that objective today.

Another race this weekend

Today I did an easy paddle in the harbor.  My rear end is still sore and hurts in the boat.

But on I go anyway... up to Calico Rock, Arkansas, for the big race weekend on the White River there.  I'll be doing the "Big Dog" canoe and kayak race at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon, but the "main event" is tomorrow morning: The National Championships of Aluminum Canoeing.  And on Sunday morning, paddlers of USCA C2 pro boats will fight for the bragging rights of the Ozarks in the annual "Big Dog" race for those craft.

Better but not pain-free

I took some time off Monday and yesterday to let my hamstring heal a little.  It's doing somewhat better but there's still a painful spot right up under my left butt cheek.  I went down and paddled for 60 minutes today and would have felt great if not for that discomfort.  I hope it will be better by this Saturday, when I enter the Arkansas "Big Dog" Race on the White River up at Calico Rock.

Here's a neat little video from last Saturday's race in which Greg Barton recounts how it went for him.  My favorite part is the footage of the start, when the race boats and all the other 200 or so boats are pouring out of the Wolf onto the Mississippi.  It looks very different from any previous OICKR start because of the low water.  And I think it looks beautiful.  In my opinion there just aren't many better sights than a river full of canoes and kayaks.

Monday Photo Feature

Rocky Caldwell (bow) and Dale Burris plow their way up the Black River during the 2010 Aluminum Canoe Nationals at Pocahontas, Arkansas.  The Aluminums return to Arkansas this Saturday morning on the White River at Calico Rock.  Registration information is here.

The Aluminum Nationals is just one part of a big race weekend on the beautiful White.  The Arkansas "Big Dog" kayak and single canoe race will be Saturday afternoon, and the "Big Dog" tandem pro boat canoe race will be Sunday morning.

Photo by Don Walls.

Photos from the OICKR

Here are a few photos from yesterday's race.  I purchased them from the website of Roger Cotton Photography, the official race photographer.

Mike Herbert lugs his boat to the putin.

Pete Greene, Eric Mims, and Chris Hipgrave approach the mouth of Wolf River Harbor.

Linda Weghorst endures the heat during the interminable finishing stretch.

Don Walls (bow) and Dale Burris lead all canoes into the harbor.

My body language says it all moments after I have crossed the finish line.









In other news, today I went out to the big Outdoors, Inc., boat demo at Shelby Farms.  I tried out Epic's new V-10 double surf ski.  My partner: one Greg Barton, Olympic champion.  I think we took down the Patriot Lake record.

A little drama but in the end, a good race

Friday afternoon I carried my boat up from the marina to put it on the truck.  Sliding the boat up onto the roof racks from the rear end of the vehicle, I pushed the boat a little too far forward, and the bow began to fall down onto the hood.  I took off at a dead sprint to try to catch the boat before it crashed onto the pavement.  In the process, I pulled my left hamstring badly.  What was I just saying in my last post about silly fluke injuries in my 40s...?

I spent Friday evening in a state of anguish, wondering how I could meet with such bad luck the day before a race for which I had worked so hard to be perfectly prepared.  When I woke up Saturday morning, the muscle was tight and in great pain.  My wife massaged it for me and I gingerly tried to stretch it out, and then I headed down to the river, anxious to see how bad it would feel in the boat.

The on-water test was not encouraging.  A bullet of pain shot through the muscle each time I took a stroke on my left.  I briefly considered withdrawing from the race, but never seriously.  I continued doing the best warmup I could, and took my position at the start of the 31st Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race.

Then the gun went off, and just like that my painful hamstring was forgotten.  Chalk one up for adrenaline.  And for the fact that the competition commanded my full attention.

Mike Herbert, a three-time Olympian and three-time medalist at the world championships and a Pan-Am Games gold medalist, exploded into the early lead.  Olympic champion Greg Barton strained to stay on Herbert's wake until this burst of world-class starting speed was exhausted.  Herbert and Barton, the two most successful athletes ever to represent the U.S. in international competition, clearly would be the first two to cross the finish line; the only question was in what order.

The second pack included tough-as-nails South Carolinian Pete Greene; Eric Mims, an employee of Barton's as a rep for Epic Kayaks; and many-time U.S. wildwater team member Chris Hipgrave.

I had tried as hard as I could to stay in contact with this second pack during the frenzied start, but couldn't quite keep pace.  I found myself several boatlengths back alongside another formidable competitor, Roberto Ferie.

Even though Ferie was racing in his third OICKR, he remained a somewhat unknown quantity.  He had represented his native Cuba in flatwater kayaking years ago, so there was no doubt of his ability.  The question was his degree of preparation.  Now living in Memphis, Ferie owns Los Compadres restaurant, a business that makes incredible demands on his time.  He also has a small child, so the man could be forgiven for not paddling a stroke in training this season.

But he had acquired a better boat for this race (a surf ski) after paddling his flatwater K1 the first two times, and he seemed to be conceding nothing on Saturday, pushing the pace as we proceeded down the mighty Mississippi.  For my part, I was determined to "leave it all out there" after coming away from Little Rock with misgivings two weeks ago, and I paddled as hard as I dared to stay alongside Roberto and push the pace myself from time to time.

After we passed beneath the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, I dropped back on Ferie's stern wake to gather myself for the final brutal charge to the finish line on the flatwater of Wolf River Harbor.  As we picked our way through the shallow water around the tip of Mud Island, I cut loose and gained a quick boatlength on the restauranteur.

In front of me, Hipgrave had fallen off the pace of Greene and Mims and looked almost beatable.  The trouble was that I was already putting out near-maximum effort and, with the wind now at our backs in the harbor, we were all withering under the mid-June sun.  It was tempting to back off a little and play cat-and-mouse with Roberto for the last 800 meters, but I thought to myself that if I didn't at least try to go after Chris, it would weigh on me in the months to come.  So I kept the hammer down.

In the end, Chris's margin was a little too big to overcome, but I crossed the finish line knowing I had given the race every last ounce of effort that I had.  I gasped for breath and my heart felt like it would explode inside my chest.  As I regained my wind and began my cooldown paddle toward Harbortown Marina, the pain returned to my hamstring.  I didn't care.

I later learned how the race up front had played out: Greg Barton had taken the win in 18 minutes, 3 seconds.  Mike Herbert had kept the pressure on until the turn into the harbor, and ended up second in 18:17.  Not surprisingly, a little time passed after Mike's finish.  Then Pete Greene came in at 19:30, followed six seconds later by Eric Mims.  Chris Hipgrave clocked 19:55 to my 20:03; Roberto Ferie's time was 20:12.  Phil Capel was eighth overall and first among those not paddling race boats (he was in a fast touring boat), finishing in a very admirable 21:27.

All these racers were about two minutes slower than they had been in past OICKRs.  The low water (1.7 feet below zero on the Memphis gauge) flows more slowly than high water, as one might expect; but an even bigger reason for the slow times is simply that the course was longer.  Not only was the start about a hundred meters farther up the Wolf than usual, but also there was more dry land exposed at the southern tip of Mud Island, forcing the racers to paddle perhaps a quarter-mile more than they do at higher river levels.  Happily, the start of the race went remarkably smoothly given the conditions; race director Joe Royer and official starter Lawrence Migliara deserve praise for that feat.

The racers I have mentioned so far were only a small percentage of the overall field.  There were about 200 more boats entered in the race, propelled by women, men, girls, boys, best friends, siblings, parents and children.  The incredible turnout from the community is really what makes this event special year in and year out.  A record of everybody's finish is available here.

The day was becoming hot but it was otherwise beautiful.  I found my spouse and we soaked up the sun and the music of the Bluff City Backsliders.  It was a good day to be alive in Memphis, Tennessee.

Let's hear it for 44-year-olds

Yesterday I paddled for 40 minutes and did five 12-stroke sprints.  The river was at 1.7 feet below zero on the Memphis gauge.  The latest forecast has it rising to -1.4 feet for the race tomorrow morning.

I've been catching up on the video footage of the whitewater slalom World Cup event at Cardiff, Wales, two weeks ago.  I don't follow the sport as closely as I did when I was racing slalom myself in the late 90s and early 00s, but I enjoy acquainting myself with the latest cast of characters now and then, especially when an Olympic Games is coming up.

While there are many new faces on the international slalom circuit, there are also a few racers from "my" era still hanging in there.  One of the finalists in the women's kayak class at Cardiff got my attention: Štěpánka Hilgertová of the Czech Republic.  Hilgertová has won two Olympic gold medals (1996 and 2000) and two world championships (1999 and 2003), and now, at age 44 (my age!), she has made her sixth Olympic Team.

The Czech Republic is one of the strongest slalom nations in the world, and one would expect younger paddlers to have supplanted Hilgertová by now.  I have come into the last couple of Olympic cycles thinking that surely Štěpánka has retired from the sport, only to tune into the Games and find her right there on the water.

I have commented now and then on the challenges of getting older.  It seems that in my 40s I am more vulnerable to fluke muscle strains and stuff like that, and recovery from exercise takes a little longer than it used to.  I'm responding by training less intensely than I might have 20 years ago while focusing more on the technical aspects of paddling.  And all things considered, I still feel pretty good most of the time and I'm not willing to concede anything to another racer simply because he's younger.

I expect Štěpánka has a similar attitude as she prepares for her sixth Olympics.  Knowing that she's still near the top of her sport gives me a little inspiration as I get ready to race tomorrow.

Sunshine

Today I paddled for 40 minutes and did another six of my 12-stroke sprints.

The rain has moved out and it's beautiful and sunny.  Much as I wish we'd get some rain higher up in the Mississippi watershed (the river has now dropped below -1 foot on the Memphis gauge), I'd just as soon have things dry around here.  Heavy rain in this area would send a torrent down the Wolf River, making things hairy for the start of the race this Saturday.

Wet weather

Today I paddled for 40 minutes and did six 12-stroke sprints with full recovery.

A light rain was falling the whole time, making the Mississippi River exceptionally beautiful.

Sadly, even a heavy rain here in Memphis won't bring the river up.  Rains higher up in the watershed, in the upper Mississippi and Ohio basins, are what impact river levels at Memphis.  Today's level is about -0.7 foot.

Monday Photo Feature

The first few times I raced in the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race, I entered the "kayak cruising" class, intended for whitewater boats and other kayaks that weren't designed for forward speed.  Several times I used a friend's Microslipper, and several times, as in the photo above, I used another friend's John Jaycox-designed Colorado River Machine.  Back then the canoe classes started first, followed a couple of minutes later by the kayak classes; the result was that by the time I was approaching the finish line, I was in the middle of the pack of canoeists like the hombre beneath the sombrero (note the "No Passing" sign on the side of his boat--apparently, he meant it).

I competed in kayak cruising for five years, and won the class each time.  For my sixth OICKR in 1999, I decided it was time to move up to the "racing kayaks" class.  Greg Barton made his first appearance in the race that year and, not coincidentally, I did not win the class.  And I have not won the class any year since then, either.  My best finish has been third place, which I managed twice, with Greg Barton and Mike Herbert taking first and second each time.

These days the kayaks start first to magnify the star power of Barton and other elite paddlers.  Because of that, and because I'm paddling a faster boat and have improved my racing skills, I haven't had my path to the finish line blocked by paddlers in costumes in recent years.  But they will be out there when the 31st Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race commences this Saturday.  People of all ages and abilities are welcome to enter the race.  Even if you don't enter, it's worth coming down to witness the spectacle, to enjoy the post-race party in Jefferson Davis Park, and to hear the Bluff City Backsliders play some good music.

Photos from Dauphin Island

Here are some photos my mother took out back of our house on the Mississippi Sound side of Dauphin Island.

Adjusting the stern seat's footpegs for Ben.

Returning to the dock with Rachel.

Heading out with Joel.

Doing one of my workouts.

Peaking

The Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race is six days away.  Any hard workouts I do now would not improve my fitness until after the race.  So instead I am spending this week paddling easy and doing some short sprints to tune up my ATP-CP energy system.  My hope is that when I line up to race this Saturday I will be in "peak" form--that is, still very fit from the training I have done up until now, but also rested with a polished edge on my speed.

Today I did eight of my 12-stroke sprints at maximum intensity, with full recovery in between.  Then I paddled up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wolf River, where the race will start on Saturday.

Last year the OICKR was canceled because of near-record flooding on the lower Mississippi River.  The river crested at just over 48 feet on the Memphis gauge during that period, and the parking lot that serves as a staging area for the race start was deep underwater.  What a difference a year makes: after an unusually dry spring in the watershed, the river is about 0.6 foot below zero at Memphis today, and is forecast to drop another half-foot or so between now and Saturday.

Even at low water, the Mississippi is a very big river, and so these low levels will not adversely affect the race except at one key place: the start.  Right now the Wolf is very narrow at its confluence with the Mississippi, and the prospect of a smooth, fair start for over 200 boats is a tricky one.  Race director Joe Royer tells me he's considering starting the race several hundred yards up the Wolf, where it is wider; I expect he also will break the field into two or more groups for a staggered start as well.

The biggest potential problem would occur if heavy rains fell in the Wolf watershed Thursday or Friday.  With the Mississippi at its low stage, fast water would rush down the Wolf all the way to the confluence.  We're hoping that does not happen.  In any case, I'll pass along any developments I know of between now and Saturday.

Queen, Hurd/Larimer round out U.S. Olympic Canoe and Kayak Team

Caroline Queen claimed the U.S. Olympic spot in women's kayak late Saturday, while Eric Hurd and Jeff Larimer made the final of an exciting men's double canoe competition this morning to become Olympians in that class, at the World Cup event at Cardiff, Wales.

Queen entered the competition tied in U.S. Olympic selection points with friend and fellow Maryland native Ashley Nee.  A racer must finish in the top 20 to earn more selection points and neither Queen nor Nee did that, Queen finishing 35th in the preliminary round and Nee 37th.  But the tiebreaker went to Queen by virtue of her earning the U.S. Olympic spot for K1W at the world championships last fall at Bratislava, Slovakia.  The third U.S. female kayaker, Emily Jackson, finished  43rd.

Men's double canoe, meanwhile, was full of drama for fans of slalom in the U.S.  Scott McCleskey and David Hepp, one of this country's top C2s in the late 90s and early 00s, had called it quits after narrowly missing the Olympic Team for the second time in 2004.  But they got back together last fall for one more shot at the Games this year, and made a serious run at the berth this weekend as they led Hurd/Larimer and Casey Eichfeld/Devin McEwan into the semifinal round.  But Hurd/Larimer, already leading by two points in the selection process, assured themselves of the Olympic berth with a 10th-place semifinal finish to advance to the final, leaving behind Eichfeld/McEwan in 13th place and McCleskey/Hepp in 18th.  The newest U.S. Olympians improved to ninth place in the final.

The complete results of the Cardiff World Cup event are available here.

And so, the U.S. Olympic Canoe and Kayak Team is complete.

The whitewater slalom competition for the London Olympics will take place from July 29 to August 2 at the Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire.  The U.S. slalom team roster is as follows:

Casey Eichfeld (Drums, PA), men's single canoe
Eric Hurd (Marietta, GA), men's double canoe
Jeff Larimer (Kennesaw, GA), men's double canoe
Scott Parsons (Bethesda, MD), men's kayak
Caroline Queen (Darnestown, MD), women's kayak


The Olympic flatwater sprint regatta will be August 6-11 at Eton Dorney, Buckinghamshire.  The U.S. flatwater team roster is as follows:

Tim Hornsby (Atlanta, GA), men's kayak 200 meters
Carrie Johnson (San Diego, CA), women's kayak 500 meters

U.S. Olympic Team update: Parsons and Eichfeld take slalom spots

Two more canoe-kayak athletes made the U.S. Olympic Team today.  Competing in the whitewater slalom World Cup event at Cardiff, Wales, Scott Parsons placed 11th overall to earn the U.S. Olympic berth in men's kayak, while Casey Eichfeld finished sixth to claim the berth in men's single canoe.

Parsons held off the challenge of Jim Wade, who had entered this competition just two points back in the U.S. Olympic selection process.  Wade, who ended up 17th, had a raw time that was faster than Parsons's, but a two-second gate-touch penalty cost him a spot on the Olympic Team.  Parsons is now an Olympian for the third time, joining Davey Hearn and Scott Shipley as the only U.S. whitewater paddlers to accomplish that feat.  The other U.S. male kayaker in Cardiff, 2004 Olympian Brett Heyl, finished 29th.

Eichfeld turned in a fast and clean performance in the semifinal round to advance to the C1 final.  2008 Olympian Benn Fraker, who had led Eichfeld by two points in the selection process, had a superb raw time in the semifinal, but two gate-touch penalties (four seconds) knocked him back to 11th place.  Since only the top ten semifinalists move on to the final, Eichfeld was assured the better finish.  The third U.S. canoeist in the field was Zach Lokken, who finished 28th.

Results of today's racing in Cardiff are available here.

U.S. Olympic Team update: slalom team to be finalized this weekend

The U.S. national team for whitewater slalom competes in World Cup #1 at Cardiff, Wales, this weekend.  In the process, they will determine who will represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games this summer.  Jamie McEwan has written a nice summary of the selection process here.

Settling in back home

This morning I did seven laps of the May strength circuit--my last strength workout before the OICKR.

This afternoon I went downtown and paddled for 40 minutes.  It felt good to be back on my home water.

For the next seven days it'll be rest and some short sprints.

Get-away workout

This morning I wanted to get in one last good workout before the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race.  The general consensus among physiologists is that it takes your body around ten days to repair the damage from a hard workout and overcompensate fully.  I'm now nine days out from the OICKR, so I hope to be realizing most of the benefit from today's workout on race day.

I paddled a couple of miles from our dock to the causeway that connects Dauphin Island with the mainland.  Not having any specific workout already planned, I made one up that made use of a row of utility poles running parallel to the causeway.  I sprinted from one pole to the next, paddled easy until the top of the next minute, and repeated.  I did eight sprints.  Each one took me 35-40 seconds, so the workout amounted to eight pieces of 35-40 seconds on, 80-85 seconds off.

After that I paddled back to the dock to see if any of the kids wanted to paddle.  Joel was the only taker, so we paddled the tandem for a half hour or so.  Then I took a shower, loaded the boats on the car, and headed north.

And now I'm back in good old Memphis, Tennessee.  I enjoy going places, but returning home always feels good.  I think my trip was as good as anything I could have done in the week between Little Rock and the OICKR: I got in a couple of good workouts and otherwise just relaxed and had fun.

Rudderless but happy

My mother has taken a few pictures of the kids and me paddling, but at the moment I don't have a good way to download them.  I'll try to put some up by the end of the week.

This morning Joel and Ben manned the tandem kayak while I paddled along in my race boat.  For me the intensity level was low, but the enjoyment of my nephews' company was high.  We paddled about a mile from the house to a spit of land that serves as an airstrip for small planes, and back.

On the way back the tandem boat's rudder cable came loose from the left foot pedal, and Joel and Ben had to complete the trip rudderless.  I coached them through it a little, but mostly tried to let them figure it out for themselves.  They did fine until it was time to close the deal (i.e., land alongside the dock), but I'm happy to report that nobody was lost at sea.

Rachel still wanted a turn in the boat, so I quickly repaired the rudder cable and took her out in the tandem.  We paddled out to the airstrip and back again.

I try my best not to get too maudlin or sentimental on this blog, but I have to say that I could not have asked for a better pair of nieces or a better pair of nephews.  They may or may not ever develop my passion for paddling, but I don't care.  They are smart and thoughtful and just plain delightful.

There are several offshore platforms visible from Dauphin Island on the Gulf side, and yesterday while Joel and I were swimming I wondered aloud whether they were oil derricks.

"Natural gas," Joel replied.  "There aren't any oil deposits around here, but there are natural gas deposits."

How many fourteen-year-olds do you know who would actually know something like that?  And the other three kids are just as interesting in their own ways.  Yep... proud uncle.  Gotta tell you.

Proud uncle

Today I did the same workout I did last Tuesday--45 seconds on, 30 seconds off--but I did eight pieces rather than twelve.  The workout didn't feel nearly as punishing today as it did last week.

After that, I returned to our dock in a little cove off Mississippi Sound, swapped out the surf ski for the tandem boat, and took three of my four nieces and nephews out paddling.  Ben, just shy of ten years old, went first, followed by Rachel, 8, and Joel, 14.  All three did great.  Joel, being the most mature and having joined me for several paddling adventures in the past, seemed like a veteran in the seat behind me.  I told both Ben and Rachel to concentrate on paddling in sync with me, and they did.  These kids live near Charlotte, North Carolina, and I'm sorry I don't get to paddle and spend time with them more often than I do.

In the afternoon we walked over to the Gulf side and swam at the beach.  It was warm and humid, but the Gulf breeze made things quite pleasant.

Bama beach

This morning I did seven laps of the May strength circuit.  Yes, I know it's June now, but with the OICKR just twelve days away, there's no point starting up something new right now.

Then I kissed Martha, got in the car, and started driving south.  On and on I went: Batesville, Grenada, Jackson, Hattiesburg, Mobile... and when I reached Dauphin Island, I stopped.

And here I am!  Dauphin Island is on the Alabama Gulf Coast at the mouth of Mobile Bay.  My mother has rented a house on the island and she and my sister's family and I are enjoying a little beach time.  Martha couldn't come, sadly--she has a meeting this week that she couldn't get out of.

I plan to do my last couple of hard workouts before the OICKR here, and I brought the tandem kayak so I can take my nieces and nephews out paddling.  Stay tuned for all the fun!

Monday Photo Feature

The 2005 edition of the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race brought three generations of flatwater kayaking excellence to town: Greg Barton, member of four Olympic teams from 1980 to 1992 and winner of four Olympic medals (two of them gold), was joined by 2004 Olympian Jeff Smoke and his mother, three-time Olympian and 1964 Olympic bronze medalist Marcia Smoke.

The 31st Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race is coming up a week from this Saturday.

Racing in the Arkansas state capital

I'm home from my whirlwind trip to Little Rock, site of a big morning of racing.  Three of the paddlers I mentioned Thursday--Carlos Garcia, Cedric Bond, and Austin Schwinn--did not make it yesterday, but there was still plenty of competition.  When it was all over, Mike Herbert, 51 years old and still going strong, was the fastest overall male paddler, while Kaitlyn McElroy, fresh off the World Cup series in Europe where she won two medals, was the fastest female.

From my perspective, the race unfolded like this: Mike Herbert, Dylan Puckett, and Andy Guirardina (another flatwater racer with the Oklahoma City group) sprinted out to a commanding lead almost immediately.  Kaitlyn McElroy also got a good start and was quickly a few boatlengths ahead of me.  That left me paddling alongside two other boats: Bill Cains and Phil Capel were in a tandem to my left; Anatoli Yarshon, paddling a high-kneel ICF canoe, was also to my left; and Katy Hill, who I predicted Thursday might be good competition for me, was over to the right.

I elected to sidle over toward Katy for the purpose of trading wash-rides with her.  We settled in for the long haul, dropping Anatoli after a mile or so.  Meanwhile, Bill and Phil had their sights set on Kaitlyn, and as she steadily pulled away from us, so did they.

I felt quite good the entire way and was confident that I would be able to surge away from Katy with 800 meters or so to go.  What I failed to consider was that this girl trains full-time for 200-, 500-, and 1000-meter races.  With 300 meters to go we were still dead even, and slowly she inched into the lead.  My final flurry of furious desperation strokes couldn't prevent Katy from edging me out by about a third of a boatlength.

The finish times were quite a bit slower than last year's due to low water and practically no downstream current.  Mike's time was 37 minutes, 46 seconds--more than seven minutes slower than his 2011 time.  Puckett and Guirardina took second and third, respectively, in 38:06 and 39:40.  Kaitlyn McElroy led all ladies in 40:08, followed five seconds later by Cains/Capel.  Katy Hill was credited with a one-second margin over me, 42:22-42:23.  I was exactly ten minutes slower than I was last year, and that's probably because I settled for a tactical race with Katy rather than push the pace from start to finish.

And I guess that's why I feel a little less than satisfied with my performance.  After all the training I did in anticipation of a really intense race, I feel like I might have held back a little.  If I had gone after Bill and Phil and ridden their wash for the first couple of miles, I probably would have ended up in sixth place overall and a good bit faster.  Then again, seeing as how I had never previously lost to Bill and Phil when they had raced tandem (they were outstanding yesterday), going after Katy seemed like the most aggressive possible thing to do at the time.  I guess I should stop second-guessing myself and move on to the OICKR, coming up on June 16.

In any case, I always enjoy seeing the other folks who turn out, some of whom I saw yesterday for the first time this year.  I'm looking forward to having the canoe and kayak racing world descend upon Memphis in two weeks.

Yesterday's race results are posted here.

Final preparation for Little Rock

Today I paddled with Meghan in the harbor, and after she left I did five 12-stroke sprints and loaded up the boat for the trip to Little Rock.  I plan to leave between 5:00 and 5:30 tomorrow morning; Little Rock is about a two-hour drive, so I want to get there between 7:30 and 8:00 ahead of the 9:00 AM start.