Good suggestion
I was able to download the book for free, which was a surprise. Forgot to bring my flash drive home, so I haven’t had a chance to read it. What I did see looked pretty interesting. Thanks.
the top 3 ?
live on the Gulf Coast ?
one thing the new training can forget
50% of paddling long distances, is being able to sit in the seat for that long. If you want to be good at paddling for 5 hours, you better paddle for 5 hours at some point.
Absolutely correct
– Last Updated: May-06-15 2:33 PM EST –
you must have comfortable proper seat padding that will let you paddle for many hours without stopping. Something that is not so soft and squishy that you don't get good firm contact for transfer of power, yet confortable enough to be kind to the sit bones all day long. When your butt and legs get numb from a poorly padded or shaped seat, you can't paddle efficiently. Some paddlers carve out two cavities in dense foam where the bones lie.
One of my team in the medical business obtained 3/4 inch thick firm gel pads for us, cut to fit the canoe seat. Other than being really heavy, they are perfect to prevent any kind of seat discomfort and we can paddle more than 21 hours without a break in the Yukon race. More recently I found something called Wondergel Roll and Go (Amazon). It is a perforated honeycomb gel and works just about as well as the medical pad, plus it is much lighter and less expensive than the medical pad.
precisely
– Last Updated: May-06-15 4:41 PM EST –
I'd add some advice about mastering getting into and out of your boat when it's in deep water. Nature calls or sometimes you just want to stretch your legs and cool off.
Is it slippery?
Not sure if I need the Wondergel since I’ve had no seat issues yet - but haven’t had a chance to spend more than just a couple hours paddling at a time after work. Ice just came off the lake around April 23. Maybe on Saturday, weather permitting. The backband did cause a minor pressure issue, which I think I’ve solved.
Feet are another story. Still stuck with a wetsuit and neoprene socks because of water temperature; looking forward to getting a stiff sole between my feet and the braces.
Anyway, is that Wondergel slippery enough not to hinder hip rotation?
for most people
Four hours is really the tell point.
There is a basic amount of discomfort frkm sitting forever while paddling. What is bad is if that discomfort doesn’t reset when you get out for a spell. The big things are your nerves in your neck and back and then your legs. Contact points along your legs can help a lot. Often seats don’t support low enough on the thighs and numb legs ensue. This is especially true if you are taller than the average human.
More than seat comfort…
I agree, but it involves more, of course, that just “seat comfort”. If at any time over a long paddle you lose your posture or technique, then you stop paddling well, and start the chain of suffering and risk injury. Some coaches call this “dragging the boat”.
If you plan on doing very long endurance events, which for some events require 24 hours or more of butt-time, then you can’t skip LSD training. High-intensity training certainly has its place but I disagree with the notions that LSD sessions are obsolete.
This is summed up pretty well in the words of well-known sprint coach Imre Kemecsey in his excellent piece, the Inner Structure of the Kayak Technique:
“An excellent coach made an interesting and at the same time very helpful observation in Florida a few months ago. Among other things he told me about a 40 km long practice kayaking and said that by the end of the practice all the kayakers “were dead”, lost their technique and were doing everything but kayaking. There was one athlete Knut Holmann, however, who managed to “hold onto” his technique until the very last meters. It is not a secret that this kind of “marathon preparation” of kayakers is only popular in Europe.
Obviously, not everyone follows this principle. It is food for thought, however, that the best kayakers who have won world competitions for years or decades actually opt for this method. Presumably (and obviously) it improves AEROBIC capacity and has a very [good] effect on technique”.
Greg Stamer
i like this "dragging the boat"
For me as a weekend warrior type who still loves the 50 mile plus race. I long since developed the survival paddle stroke.
It is interesting to talk to different people about how they approach it. I usually just throw all the training miles I have time for. It difficult to train for more than 30 miles at a time, so I usually just work at doing that distance as fast as possible.
Survival Stroke…
I like that term! I think that most kayakers in the ultra-long distance events have a “survival” stroke of sorts. Fundamentals and posture still need to be preserved, or, per my last post, you start to suffer. Nothing is worse than having miles to go, and you are in pain. It’s times like that when you just wish you could “fast-forward” past the agony to hours ahead…
For the gruesomely long races my stroke is more relaxed, I drop the height of my arms, use a much smaller blade, and may use a backrest. Leg work is still strong but there is less butt rotation in the seat (which can cause pain, chafing, bruising, and other skin issues after many miles). Emphasis becomes “keep the boat moving and just don’t stop” rather than all-out-speed.
This is quite “de-tuned” as compared to say, a stroke for say a fast 10 miler, a high racing stroke with maximum rotation all the way down to the seat-pan and no backrest at all.
most comfortable race i had
Was the Colorado 100 in a tandem rec kayak with my dad. We outfitted it with seats from an old twin otter. We were both in really good shape and beat some guys in really fast boats. They weren’t happy. Every now and then I consider cutting down that seat and shoving in in my kayak.
We Should Be Called "Butters"
Instead of paddlers, according to an old old wing paddle article, Kim Fadiman wrote in CANOE MAGAZINE after 1988 Olympics. I agree, for once my butt goes, I can’t paddle.
Anyway, here you go: http://www.appalachiakayak.com/#!
Another question
– Last Updated: May-08-15 9:46 PM EST –
This is a really wonderful thread; thanks so very much for all the good information.
HR monitor: I've been looking at some and realize you have to wear the chest band - but what about the display unit? Must one wear it on the wrist for accuracy?
If so, is it easily readable while paddling (don't see how unless you slow the cadence)? Can it be attached to the deck, or even hanging over the front coaming so it's still close to you?
thats a good term
I don’t do endurance races but like to put in good distances on trips so I can see more. But you’re right. I don’t have much chance to put in regular long paddles so I have to either pace myself or work some in beforehand, or it’s hard to maintain technique over a long day of paddling. On a long enough trip the routine really starts paying off.
No need to keep on wrist
I use a Garmin Forerunner 310XT, which is one of the most popular heart rate monitors for kayaking. There are others though. The best are waterproof, with screens large enough to view a number of data fields (and allow for multiple screens of scrolling data). You don’t need to keep the display on your wrist. I put the “watch” on the foredeck on my kayaks and on the footstrap of my surfski. I also use it on my bicycles, and for running.
For measuring paddling cadence, I use a Vaaka sensor that fits on the paddle shaft, http://www.vaakacadence.com/kayak-cadence . This allows paddling cadence to show directly on the garmin display.
Greg Stamer
why did you post that link
Next year come a little south in April
The Hugh Heward is usually the last Saturday in April with distances on 50, 26, and 12 miles on the Grand River. Dimondale - Lansing - Grand Ledge - Portland. Campus to Coast a couple of weeks earlier is a bit much to contemplate for most of us, especially that early in the season.
310XT looks great
I appreciate the recommendation, Greg. I’ve read the specs on the 310XT and it’s so much better than what I had been looking at. I especially like the start, pause, and stop buttons . A start button is the one function I wish my Garmin GPS had, as it starts tracking time and movement as soon as it’s turned on and picks up the satellites, even though I’m still fumbling with the trip computer menu, going nowhere.
The Heed/Mansfield book is terrific. Great writing style and advice. It paid for itself when I came across the section on intermediate water. There’s a small section on my lake which seems to put the brakes on my kayak. The boat feels dead and I’ve wondered why and what I was doing wrong. Don’t know if it’s “cement” water, but I sure will pay more attention to that area because maybe it’s not me.
My only experimentation with cadence is using Robert Finlay’s forward stroke cadence technique and I’ve only used it for short intervals. Am guessing the 310XT speed readout will be easier to see during that 2-3 second pause than my GPS has been.
Thank you so much for the great advice.
I ordered one
I had been looking for a HRM a couple of months ago and did not find anything suitable and reasonably priced and waterproof.
Thanks for starting this thread, and thanks to Greg for the suggestion. Not going to race either for speed or distance myself, but since moving to sea level I have not gotten the cardio workout I used to naturally get from just hiking steep hills at high altitude. So I will increase the pace instead. HRM will help me figure out an appropriate walking speed to sustain for a few hours AND get heart rate brisker. Might even use it while kayaking.