I seem to have entered a race in September with kayaking in it. I'm not sure how this happened, but there aren't any refunds so I'd better just HTFU.
The only thing I know about it technique-wise is that you can't have your kayak and heat it.
They do supply the kayaks, so at least I don't have to go shopping.
But do any of you forum lovelies have any tips for me...?
Apart from don't enter races until you've sobered up properly, obv.
I tried kayaking for D of E bronze and quit. Tip 1 be confident and dont panic if you capsize. One forumite maybe more are really good at it
I used to teach kayaking. Have I any tips? No.
The Alpine Guidebook gives this definition:
Kayak - Small boat shaped like a banana, with a hole in the bottom from which the occupant hangs. Can be propelled the wrong way up by experts.
Hope this helps.
I kayak 3 times a week about 25miles per week and race regular, its great fun.
Its not arms its trunk rotation, if your arms are killing after 10 minutes your doing it wrong. It should come from the back and torso in a twisting motion with your arms kind of locked.
I'd just find a local canoe club and get some practise in, I spent most of last winter falling in the river in the dark, but Im getting there now. I initially started to let me knee injury clear up but got the bug.
Get a life jacket by the way. If the kayak is provided I cant imagine it being that unstable.
Macc lad (john) is a sea kayaker a bit more experienced than me so he may be able to help.
Theres plenty of technique videos on you tube also.
I wanted to enter an event on Windermere where you raced 10 miles in a kayak and ran up three hills along the way. They would not let me do it solo only teams of two in a two man boat and I could not find anymore to paddle with. maybe next year eh mud
If your ever up north give me a bell and we'll go out on the river.
Cheers
jamie
Last edited by NotOnUrHelly; 16-07-2009 at 08:31 AM.
After many years of fell racing I've gone back to kayaking. After never winning anything running, in my last 4 sea kayak races I've won a bottle of wine, a teeshirt and a nice little wooden paddle trophy!
A lot will depend on the type of "kayak"... some of these adventure races use inflatables/sit on tops etc. that may not respond so well to normal race technique. In fact if you put too much effort in you'll be wasting energy as the top speed of the boat will be holding you back.
Try and get some practice to develop a smooth stroke, and as NotOnUrNelly says, rotate your shoulders at least and if possible your body. You'll be using your major muscle groups then rather than your arms. If you've never done this before, try paddling keeping your arms as straight as possible with no bend. This forces you to introduce trunk rotation.
If you are doing it right, you should also be feeling a "cycling" type motion with your feet on the footrest. As you pull through the stroke, the foot on that side should be extending against the footrest. Again either doing this, or feeling as though it is happening is an indication that you are using a lot more of your body than just your arms.
Also try and make sure the paddle enters the water as far forward as you can put it (again, body rotation assists how far forward you can put it in), and get it as deep as possible early in the stroke.
If you are really keen, there are plenty of instructional videos on youtube....
We got a sevylor sit on-top one-manner for going on the sea.
Its ace!
We loved it so much we have now bought a two man one and another single man so we can all be out on the sea together - both for company and for safety.
We are up in scotland one the south coast at the beginning of Aug and we are taking them. We actually chose the place we are staying at depending whether we can use our sit-on tops or not.
Jamie, if you never find a partner for that windermere row and run race give me a shout.
Now you tell me al,
Next year eh.
You'll have to wait for me on the climbs though, you whipper snapper.
ps Knee's playing up again after last nights race. Pains on every step.
Curse of Pre-entering Kentmere I think.
Snap jamie.Originally Posted by NotOnUrHelly
My knees started playing up again on tuesday at the club run around bowland.
I think they are stilll getting worse so i think kentmere is going to be a struggle.
Its an absolute match to when i did White Holme in January.....12 miles and my knees where really bad. Made the race sheer hell really.
Hey ho, with this amount of rain ill be able to canoe in my garden by tonight! ha
Take a bit of advice from someone f***d his knee up 12 years ago,
If they are bad DONT RACE take it easy, the Kentmere aint going anywhere it will be there next year!
you will end up with a running style like me ! see vid below
Last edited by monkeynut; 16-07-2009 at 08:43 PM.
This is all great, thanks, especially macc lad and Jamie about rotating etc
I'm thinking that stuff like sit-ups and anything that helps with core strength may be good?
I'm also going to try to get my back flexibilty sorted a bit, as that sort of sitting position is a bit lousy for me.
I'm going to hire a kayak for a play on the river, and take it from there.
They are sit-on boats in the race, on a tide that should be going in the direction of travel, so the point about maximum speed vs effort may be well made.
I had thought that swimming would be worth keeping up with for upper-body strength, but based on the advice I may replace my one-and-a-half swims a week with another bike session (there's a fair bit of biking in the race as well). As long as I can swim to the shore I'll be fine...
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