O, Ley and I set off on the MTBs to go to parkrun at about 8am. Unfortunately Jules didn't make it as he was up quite a bit in the night (not alcohol related mind) so passed. Was good fun rolling down the hill into Horsham. I stuck with Ley for parkrun and a finish time of 32:18 was awarded for my 33rd parkrun. It's not great but I struggled and it was good to stick with Ley. O finished his 20th parkrun in a respectable 24:49 (even himself claiming he only sobered up at 3am this morning after 24 odd hours of fun and games) and Ley her 25th in 32:52 (she wanted a sub 33min so all good). Breakfast at the conservatory cafe and an easy ride home (well back to the pub to get the abandoned car) via a few geocaches. So about 14.5km on the bikes and 5km run. I am so out of shape but it's fun to be getting back into it.
Kayaking lesson #1
Then after a short breather O and Ley picked me up for my first kayak lesson early this afternoon at Southwater Country Park. Jules was going to meet us down there, not to have a go mind, he is not so keen on the whole water based activity.
So in my true fashion, in preparation I ordered and have read a book on kayaking for beginners this week, not that I am going to claim to be an expert but it just means that I might have a bit more of an idea what O is on about when he is coaching me, I will probably keep consulting it and YouTube for the foreseeable future. O is a 3* in various disciplines and Level 2 trained BCU coach and we have been talking about going kayaking for a while now (was postponed untill after the wedding) he has kindly offered to teach me all that he knows and we are aiming for me getting to 2* BCU award (which apparently won't take long).
First things first. get the kayaks out. At this point I am completely out of my depth (no pun intended) but I have no idea what to expect. I was on my best behavior today, sometimes difficult around these two but I really wanted to learn and quickly and not piss my best friend and coach for the afternoon off which would surly have me in the drink. I get frustrated if i can't pick things up though I am completely prepared to put the effort in to practice and as a coach myself in other sports I understand the concept of being taught and listening this way round.
Ley came out too which was really nice. I was trying to listen and action everything I was being told and relate it to the text and pictures in my book and the YouTube videos. O really is very good at kayaking and teaching. He is very patient and made me feel really relaxed and unpressured, just kept encouraging me and helping me out with a few pointers to improve technique here and there, he didn't bombard me but moved on to other lessons too. I didn't put myself under pressure today, I just wanted to enjoy it and get out on the water. This is the first time I have been in a boat on my own after all.
All started out well, got in the boat (a red dagger) and I didn't fall in. Went round in circles quite a bit at first, but did start to get better at going forward (I am not going to say straight). Need to remember to lean forward more to place the paddle and draw back from my core, not hold the paddle so tight and also need to keep my forward strokes closer and straighter along side the boat with a higher angle too. One thing O kept telling me was to lift it out earlier in the stroke than I was as that what was causing me to spin out. I was trying to use my legs, i.e. brace with the opposite but after reading about this again, I'm not gong to worry about that too much at this stage, or at least which one is bracing anyhow. So much to take in though as well as unlearning this balancing thing. We did back paddling, sideways and bracing. Oh and then an unplanned capsized. I had quite a bit of water in my boat again and so that seemed to make it more tippy. Anyhow I got out and actually other than drinking the lake water (must try and not do this), was quite nice to have a little swim as it was quite hot this afternoon. So as a result of this I covered emptying the boat of water and getting back in again too.
It was really nice paddling around the lake, I wasn't under any pressure to master anything and I felt like had made some good progress but towards the end of our 1.5hrs on the water I did falter a little and everything seemed to be harder. It was quite busy though at the country park today, the beach was heaving; they were opening the new dino land (kids play park) so there was live music and dragon races as well as other things going on but it was nice to escape the hubbub and observe from the water.
So seeing as I was wet, after some noted procrastination I did attempt another capsize and I didn't drown. Wasn't perfect but did some bits right and I didn't drown and O didn't have to rescue me. I did drink quite a bit of lake water though which is odd as I don't normally struggle being underwater. A bit more practice and I am sure that I will get used to the experience and what to do (and not to do).
I did come over ridiculously tired and a fuzzy/light headed about 5-10 minutes before we got out. Maybe it was because I knew we were heading in and my body was getting ready to stop. I think dehydration, tiredness and being out in the sun most of the day caused this. Was a pain as I couldn't even lift myself out of the water and then some how fell back in again. Felt a bit stupid.
Anyhow a great time had and can't wait to go again. Not sure how much of a rush O is to take me back out but he said I can go in a different boat next time and as soon as he doesn't think I will fall out at any moment we can go further afield than the lake which will be fun.
Headed home and spent a few hours with the hubby dozing out in the cooler evening sun which was nice. I never sleep during the day but resting enough has giving me this second wind of energy and I am still up at 11:30pm. Though still feel a bit lightheaded and my ears are still full of water which I hope a good nights sleep will resolve.
Today was good fun. Plan for tomorrow will depend on how I feel in the morning. Will attempt some kind of run/ride/swim/gym/tennis and also do my training plan for the next 5 weeks.
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