Paddle Update

So.....

The first paddle practice was COLD. I came home with icy hands, freezing feet and blue lips.  Even after I'd emerged from a hot shower, my lips looked like they belonged to someone on a slab in the morgue.  It wasn't an especially good look for me.

The following morning, I was so sore, I could barely move.

The following evening, I paddled again.  It wasn't as cold but I do recall thinking somewhere during the 19 kms that were paddled, that I might vomit my spleen with the exertion.  My right arm, on the side, up high near the shoulder started to ache, deep inside the muscle.  It didn't take long for the bursitis to come back.

I missed Saturday's practice because it was a long weekend here and we went away with friends.

Last night, in the driving rain, with winds that kicked up to 16 knots, I attended practice, because, you know, I'm tough like that.  Actually, earlier in the day, I called our coach to see if the weather would cause us to cancel and she snorted.  Let me tell you something: these Island people are serious about their Waka Ama.  There are just no excuses.

I showed up, threw my paddle into the canoe and hoisted it down to the water with the rest of my team.  We paddled 15 kms last night.  I got soaked.  When we turned the canoe around a bridge pillar, in full race mode, it was my job in seat 5 to use my paddle to push water on the opposing side of the turn underneath the canoe.  In the pouring rain, against the wind and the current, with snot streaming from my nose (sorry for that but you get the picture), it was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do.  As we got around, wind at our backs and current in our favour, the canoe lifted and flew across the water at a speed that infused my exhausted muscles with energy.  It just doesn't get any better than that.  It just doesn't.

When practice was over, we gently paddled up to the dock, which in full tide, was now submerged in water.  I jumped out, waist high and together with my mates, we shouldered our canoe and took her up to the saddle.  As I was driving home, wrapped in a towel and blasting the heater, it occurred to me that not once during the entire evening, did I wonder what the fuck I was doing out there under those conditions.

I think my transition to Kiwi might be nearly complete.

Thursday, I will miss practice because I'll be in Australia for the day on business.  I'd rather be paddling.  The good news is this Saturday, I am competing in my first race.  I'll be on the mixed novice team for a short 5km sprint. The weather is predicted to be miserable, with pretty serious wind and rain, not unlike the conditions last night.

I could care less.

I can't wait to get in that canoe.