Race Ready

Ive been doing Kayak Racing for several years after switching from Whitewater to touring.

And would be interested in two things.

  1. Racers how do you get ready for the season is there anything in particular you do. I’m not going to ask you to give away all your secrets. I’m just looking to improve the boat’s engine more than anything else.

  2. Non-Racers what do you do to get ready for the paddling season. Again things that improve the boats engine.

Unlike when I was younger and could just jump into things now that I’m an AARP senior, I find I have to start getting ready pre-season and then throughout the season until race day comes If I have any chance of winning Class and Division.

Non-racer. I’m lucky to have a Concept2 rower, so I use that as well as shoulder exercises. I walk at least 30 minutes a day as well.

The shoulder exercises are easier than the rower.

what type of shoulder exercises do you do?

It really boils down to 2 basic things. Learn how to get as much efficiency out of a wing paddle as you possibly can, and lay down as many base miles before the racing season as you can. That will give you efficiency and a good cardio base.

My off season cross training is running, snowshoeing and Nordic skiing. I do a bit with weights, kettlebells, etc and stationary bike plus a Concept 2 with single blade adapter setup. My big race this year is early, so I’m ramping up the routine but imho there is nothing that exceeds seat time so am anxious for open water here in the north east

The PT exercises I was told to do after fracturing my shoulder years ago.

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What is lost, is all of the benefits of a good fitness routine that you enjoy doing, even if paddling is not involved. Just for its own sake of just doing it.

Not lost on me, I enjoy all of those activities “just for the sake of doing them”… non racers think we miss out on something, nothing could be farther from the truth.

That says it all. It is not just the result, which is very satisfying in and of itself, but the fun getting there.

Edit: I should have added, “To many people…”

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Thank you!

I do pretty much the same ones, save for the last two (They were not on my sheet for my shoulder injury) I will ad them into my routine.

Very helpful thanks again.

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You’re welcome, Craig.

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Again thank you Ive added in your routines that I wasn’t already doing and I’ve been hitting 8 mph consistently (actually 8+ highpoint was 8.4) in the simulator at full resistance. As I joke: it’s like paddling uphill both ways.

My shoulder is holding, so with luck I should be able to race my Tempest 180 at it’s full 6.5 Mph Hull speed over the 3 mile course.

again I can’t thank you enough.

If anyone is interested in my routine I’ll post it.

Currently I’m doing 4-5 miles in the sim just so I have gas in the tank for a sprint at race end.

Wow! That’s quite admirable, Craig. Well done!

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He’s paddling is fairly smooth for a busted up old guy.

Mobility, mobility, mobility.
As a life long elite athlete (Cycling), I always thought the table only needed 3 legs to hold it up: cardio fitness, strength and diet. Lack of mobility creeps up on you slowly but surely. 5 years ago I never thought that I would be doing so much yoga and mobility work!

A tip to non-racers like me. Part of the reason I kayak is fitness, so my routine in both bicycling and kayaking focuses on progress. I hope to gain about .5 mph improvement in average speed on every trip. Although that isn’t much, it is significant over the course of a season. Our body has great potential for improvement as well as a propensity for laziness through energy conservation. Gains require breaking through the laziness barrier.

An article about aerobic and anerobic effort explained that activating and remaining in the aerobic zone uses energy more efficiently over longer periods, but anerobic effort helps improve the red blood cells ability to exchange oxygen more efficiently. When paddling, I focus on efficiency and energy management throughout the trip, but during the last two mile or around 30 minutes, I push to use up remaining stored energy, which serves two purpose. It coaxes lazy muscle groups into activity and stimulate oxygen uptake. It also shows how well you managed your energy, which is revealed by how much you peek over the average speep and by how long you were able to sustain the effort. Over time, you gain a sense of your power potential. One thing I gained since joining the forum is greater consistency. Past logs show sporatic results based on fitness and conditions. However, the recent trip log don’t show both consistency and progress, with efficiency compensating for age.

At some point, our body takes a set where it not only stops progressing, but it can actually regress. While biking the North Central Railroad (extends 40 miles from northern Baltimore, Md, to south of York, PA). I typically covered at least the 40 mile round trip of the Maryland segment and often crossed paths with a guy named Norman. Back in the 90s, he was 65 yrs old and he biked the trail daily. We talked at a rest stop, and he mentioned that his average speed took a set at average speed of 15.9 mph. I experienced the same phenomenon with hitting a 16.3 mph avg speed. The first trip of the season, I would climbing certain inclines at around 4 mph, but as the season progressed, I easily sustained speeds of 16.4 mph. I broke through the barrier by developing my ability to spin, from 70 rpm to maintaining 90 rpm. I also replaced my crank arm length by 5 mm and riding more aggresively. With that strategy, average speeds improved bynup to .5 mph each trip. I eventually improve the trip average to 18.3 mph on a mountain bike. When I started introducing other people to riding, that disrupted my momentum. Kayak took a similar twist, which is why I paddle solo.

You can’t paddle another person’s pace, so to improve, you have to focus on your pace. It doesn’t have to be every trip, but it has to be at least a significant portion of the trips. Depending on your level, you should be able to improve average speeds by 1 to 2 mph by the end of the season and resume the level quickly the next season through systematic conditioning and improved efficiency. The way I look at it, if you’re going to paddle, why not make the most of it.

Live and learn.

Thanks for all the Workout suggestions.

Today I got out and ran 5.33 miles, at an average speed of 7.99 mph. I found that 7.9 to 8 MPH is sustainable for as long as I want to, but push that to 8.4 mph this I can only sustain for 30 minutes and then I need a day (Well rally about 30 minutes.) to recover before I can do anything.

thanks to my friend Robert who let me borrow his 9+ Mph racing hull. (Ive seen him do 10 in it on mile sprints.) to test what I am physically capable of doing at present.

This gives me encouragement that I can push my 6.5 mph Touring hull at 6.5 all day and twice on Sunday. I had hit 6.2 last year in ideal conditions, and on race day I was around 5.8/5.9 mph, I have to dig up my notes for accurate data, in less than stellar conditions.

My goal this year was to get it to 6 mph in nominal race conditions. and so far It looks like I’m nearly race ready 5 months ahead of schedule.

Here’s hoping they do the 15 in Phily again.

I’m also thinking of doing the 112 mile fun run but I’ll have to square that with the “boss” if I can take vacation days to do solo.

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112 is too far and too long to sit in any boat.

If you can sustain 6.5mph on flat water for long periods of time, you will win many, many races. Either that is a typo or you have a very special hull design.