Day 2

I slept really well last night - I was tired. I'd only paddled twice this season before arriving in Arizona so my body was feeling it!

Back at the marina by 7:30 for our first morning paddling session. We went out with Jackie again and continued working on the technique Jackie helped us with yesterday. We were also videotaped (gasp) for a frame-by-frame critique that we would watch on Day 3. Just before they turned the video camera on, Jackie moved me to stroke seat. Yikes! Talk about pressure. My 2 biggest weaknesses are side collapse and not hinging forward enough. The side collapse is a new concept for me and I am working on it, but Rick always gets on my case about not hinging forward enough so I know that's a perpetual weakness. Having to wear a lifejacket while paddling doesn't help - but that's really an excuse.

At this point, let me just say that there is one advantage to paddling when you're fat. Your butt doesn't hurt as much because there is more padding! I wish I could show you the huge bruises and chafe marks I had on my bum on Day 2 ... only to get worse throughout the camp!

After the morning session, we all went back to the gym where Lynda gave a talk on Core Strength & Stability, relative to paddling. It was very interesting. Certainly made me realize that I have a lot of work to do with my core! No wonder I'm a side collapser and not "tight tight tight," as Jackie would say! Lynda showed us a test to evaluate our own core strength & stability:

Start in the plank (bridge) position - butt should be level with rest of body. Hold for 1 minute.
Lift right arm up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left arm up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift right leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Lift right leg up. Hold for 15 seconds.
Keep right leg up, lift left arm, hold for 15 seconds.
Lift left leg up, lift right arm, hold for 15 seconds.
Return to normal plank and hold for 30 seconds.
(The entire test is 3 minutes long and runs continuously.)

Let's just say I failed miserably. Barely made it one minute and my abs hurt like crazy for 2 days. How sad is that?

No rest for the wicked. We headed straight back to the marina for an OC orientation with John. I've paddled OC-1, OC-2 and OC-6 before but I'm not very good at OC-1 so figured I could use a brush-up lesson. Extra people showed up, though, so I listened to his talk and then let the others paddle. Most went out in the OC-6, a few got to try the OC-1. I think I only watched 2 people (and John!) huli. Had I been out there, I would have hulied at least twice. Pretty sure I can now relate it back to my lack of core stability.

After lunch, we were back on the water with Lynda as our guest coach. She was working on catch with us - so getting the blade in the water and catching the heavy water. It seems like such an easy thing but it's not! Your blade is supposed to enter the water at a 45 degree angle, then should be at 90 degrees by the time it's fully buried. That is where you should feel the heavy water - as if you'd put your paddle into cement. Then the idea is to pull yourself to the paddle, as if you were going to pole vault over the blade. Finding that heavy water and then controling the blade through the pull is difficult but makes all the difference in terms of boat movement. I learned a few drills that I will be taking back to my STM teams, particularly Red as they need to work on their catch & their power. This session was good, but I don't think I fully understood how to incorporate everything until Andrea helped Valerie & I figure out our race rate - controling the catch and pausing at the front of the stroke to set up properly for that catch is key for us to keeping the rate steady & in control.

What a great day. Temperatures were in the mid-80's, so not as hot as Sunday but still hot and wonderful. As mentioned before, I have chafe marks everywhere and a ton of random bruises, plus the sorest muscles I've felt in a long while. My feet are incredibly dirty and no matter how hard I scrub, I can't get them clean. It's awesome!

I went for a 5K run in the evening. I didn't want to go too far in the heat, plus I was tired from the paddling earlier. It was good to get out there, though.