Mixing it up a little

I didn't ride the 25 last week. The day before I had run Bushy parkrun and clocked 19:08. A very pleasing time considering I wasn't really going for it, but I think that was fairly conclusive proof that the new course with more tarmac underfoot, is a good 15-20 seconds faster than the old one. Unfortunately there was a downside in that my left calf and achilles took a hell of a beating as a result. Allied to that a load of work that had to be done and my head not in the right place meant I just didn't fancy it. So no running this week and my usual commute cycling, with a little bit of foam rolling, stretching and core work has been the order of the week.

On Monday evening I got out in a Llance again. It was very late and dark by the time I was able to actually get on the water, and again, I was just focussing on trying to get some good techniques going, attempting to remember everything that Bob taught me and Adam a few years ago with the main points trying to spear the water at my feet and getting a good rotation going. Thankfully the weather is very mild at the moment so no need for lots of warm clothing and the  40 minute paddle went by pretty quickly. I forgot how much nature you encounter on these night paddles. I think I must have seen a dozen bats, or maybe it was the same one orbiting my boat? They really are noisy, flappy things.

Last night Jamie and I met up for a paddle in a Condor which was good fun and our longest paddle so far at 47 minutes with our usual loop around Desborough Island. There was quite a bit of flow and the steering was a bit tricky with a sticky cable causing us to have to stop a few times, but even in spite of this we had the boat bouncing along nicely and our numbers are looking pretty good. Jamie is a bit of a machine and his technique is much better than mine. It's good for me to be able to be sat behind him as it really makes me focus on getting my catch and rotation correct. So lots more steady, short paddling for a few months while we build up our cores and ensure that we don't continue to fall to bits. Sounds like a plan.