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.