Finding solace in excel



Jamie prepping for a snowy paddle.



About a week ago I looked on the DW website, just to see if there was anything worth looking at. Helpfully, there is a little ticker across the top telling you, to the minute, how many days there are until the start. My mouth dropped when I saw the number '99' skidding across the screen. 99 days seems far too close and with the problems that Ad and I had been having paddling in a K2 together, impossibly close would probably be more accurate.

After getting over the shock, it was time to fire up an excel spreadsheet and begin the process of trying to plan out a schedule that could possibly get us to the start line of the DW in some form of shape. Last year, most of the paddling that Jamie and I did was done at DW pace and we just tried to ensure that every time we went out, we were on the water for at least 90 minutes, usually more. We put in the odd interval and fartlek effort, but the vast majority of it was 'DW pace', i.e. slow. Also, we actually only averaged a paddle a week, mainly due to the fact that last winter was extremely wet so we lost approximately 7 weeks due to the river being on red boards and flowing too fast for novices like us. It was not until the last month of our training that we discovered the Wey Navigation Canal where we could train when the river was inaccessible. Despite all this, we got through and finished the race. We went into it very undercooked as far as our training was concerned, but we also went into it having trained in every type of weather imaginable, prepared to endure and with faith in each other's ability. And we finished; just.

This time, I want to approach it with a bit more forethought, particularly as I have the benefit of last year's experience to draw on, hence turning to excel. I won't bore you with the details but it seemed wise to bring some basic periodisation into play.

I guess you would call the last three months as 'The preparation phase'. I.e. trying to stay upright. :-/

So, the next three months have been split into four distinct periods with period goals to achieve. Our weekly aim is to paddle three times per week, preferably four, with one long paddle, one interval paddle, one tempo paddle and an ergo/fartlek / core session. The faster work is aimed primarily at getting us paddling technically better rather than trying to go faster (although going faster is a nice by-product). Rotating, getting  high hands and recovery elbow and cycling our legs on the footbar is relatively easy in a 15 minute tempo effort, but then transferring that to our 2 hour long paddle takes a very high level of concentration which is much more difficult to achieve. ("Ooh, look, a heron. Ooh, look, a boat. Ooh, look..." You get the idea)

Anyway, we have a plan, in Adam's case it's even laminated and on the fridge door. Saddo. And, so far, it's working.

The plan for the Forestman is a little more organic. :-/  Today I did my first ride outside this year. And my second when I cycled back home from work. The only thing I have set myself is to get on my bike everyday for the next four weeks in an effort to get some semblance of bike fitness back. Swimming will have to wait.