I tried to pace myself better today, but it didn’t work. I ended up actually being 0.29 minutes (17.4 seconds) slower. I was attempting to go slower on the way out into the bay, but the wind was coming behind from behind, and there were swells coming from three different directions, and it threw me off. Especially since it meant that I had a wind in my face on the way back in, and also on the upstream paddle on the river. I was still tired at the split (and Ken still managed to not record it) in spite my attempt to go slower at first. I’ve got to figure out how to pace better!
There were a lot of people there tonight, both racers and not racers, and there was a lot of traffic on the river. There were a bunch of Huggers Club members, and suddenly I’m not the fastest one, which is mildly disappointing, but good to see the club embracing this activity. There were also some real racers – one guy who is nearly national team level, and he did the race twice in around 14.60. I’m going to see if I can convince him to tow me next time, strictly so he can get a better work out, you know.
There is a guy at the races who I think is a co owner of Bay Creek – the first time I met him was when he came to the Huggers club meeting where we discussed the Paddle Power group. He’s very outgoing – almost to the point of obnoxiousness, but it works for him. Anyway, he invited me for their Monday night training group – he says he’ll be able to teach me some better paddling techniques and some tips on training. Maybe I’ll learn how to paddle so my elbows don’t hurt so much.