fitness paddling

4 Days of Paddling and Sailing in Canyonlands

Marek — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:38:09 +0000

Here is a short summary of my paddling with Rob Bean using two Kruger canoes in Canyonlands from the town of Green River down the Green River to the confluence and upstream the Colorado River to Potash near Moab.

May 2-5, 2012. 4 days of paddling with some downwind sailing. 168 miles. These were 4 long paddling days up to 15 hours per day. 53:18 hours total on the water including short stops during day, but without camping time. Green River flow: 5000-6000cfs, Colorado River flow 4000-5000cfs.

We had a great weather, but with a lot of strong wind – more headwind in the downriver section, then downwind when going upstream. Nevertheless, the wind was very helpful when paddling up the Colorado River. Our downwind sails were a good idea. Calm mornings and nights. A great paddling at the full moon every night. No flash lights needed.

Typical paddling speed in the upstream section: ~2.5 mph. No problems with the Slide (a narrow spot just above the confluence), but, further upstream, there were two more difficult wider fast sections or “rapids” from our perspective. First, we managed to paddle through with the aid of our sails. We ended up walking the second after a good paddling fight with a jet boat audience. These two sections could be easier with higher and deeper water, but the Slide would be more challenging.

I will post more pictures soon, but I didn’t have too much time for shooting except around sunrise. I did some shooting around Moab before paddling and in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado (9 Mile Canyon, Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam at Brown Park). Rob produced some nice video clips for the MooCanoe.com: day 0, day 1, day 3, day 4.

Canyonlands Intense Paddling Therapy

Marek — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:40:04 +0000

Prescription:

4+ days, 120 miles downriver, 64 miles upstream.

Next week, I am going with Rob Bean for some paddling in Canyonlands in our Kruger canoes (Sea Wind and Sawyer Loon). We are going to launch at Green River, UT and paddle 120 miles downstream of Green River through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons to the confluence. Then, we are paddling 64 miles upstream the Colorado River to Moab. We have 4 days with a half day in a reserve. It looks to me as a good paddling prescription for any troubles and stress of a land life.

Spot Live Track

. The trace will be activated on Wednesday morning (May, 2) at Green River. You are welcome to check our progress online (before Wednesday you can see only some results of testing from my backyard).

We are planning to use downwind sails – a little bit of sail/paddling in a WaterTribe style. It must a downwind somewhere in those canyons! I am taking my Pacific Action sail which I used in WaterTribes challenges in Florida. Rob produced a sail of similar design at home. Above, we are testing these sails still in Fort Collins on a local pond.

A training run on the North Platte River (April 21) – 57 miles in 11.5 hours on a relatively shallow and slow river, most of the time against a strong headwind.

Did we make it? Here is a short summary of our trip: 4 Days of Paddling and Sailing in Canyonlands

Stand Up and Paddle – Trying Boardworks Raven in Colorado

Marek — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:37:09 +0000

Stand up paddling is getting popular in Colorado. Colorado River Race 2011 in Glenwood Canyon was dominated by SUPs. It looks like SUPs may soon provide more flatwater racing opportunities than kayak or canoes.

Last weekend (March 25, 2012) Rob Bean tried his new paddling board on Beaver Pond in Arapaho Natural Area near Fort Collins. He just bought a used board, 12.6′ Raven made by Boardworks.

I followed him in my Sea Wind canoe and shot a few pictures. Unfortunately, my Pentax Optio W30 has a terrible shutter delay and I missed the most interesting action at the end of our paddling. Rob got a nice sequence of frames from video shot with GoPro Hero camera mounted on a bow his board. You can see them on facebook. His comment: water was quite warm and refreshing.

Winter Paddling Season on the South Platte River

Marek — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:46:42 +0000

Paddling JKK Supernova kayak below Plumb Ditch Dam on the South Platte River near Greeley. The picture was shot with Canon 5D camera with a timer control on a tripod. A diversion dam always provides a nice dynamic background for flat water pictures. February 16, 2012.

Outfitting Thunderbolt-X Kayak with a Full Tiller Bar Footrest

Marek — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:28:58 +0000

This article was originally posted in my old blog on Januray 27, 2008.

Hugo da Silva sent me some pictures from outfitting his WSBS Thunderbolt-x kayak. He made a full footrest of 3/16 foam and carbon-fiber and a foam mount for a hand pump. You can compared his footrest with one installed by Dan Murn. Hugo is paddling Thunderbolt and EFT kayaks in California.

A year ago, I outfitted my Thunderbolt kayak with a half footrest and was going to install a full one as a next step. However, I have found it convenient and good for a boat trim to store a 3 liter Camelbak in the front of the footrest. So, my temporary half footrest which gives me access to the boat front stays.

Would you like to share tips, experience, pictures of outfitting your racing kayak? Please write some comments below or send me e-mail. I would be happy to post them here.

Thunderbolt Kayak on the South Platte River 5 Years Ago

Marek — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:11:09 +0000

Finishing winter paddling on the South Platte River and climbing a snowy shore with WSBS Thunderbolt kayak. Riverside Park at Evans. February 17, 2007.

Quickblade Paddle and JKK Supernova during Winter Paddling

Marek — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:46:29 +0000

Quickblade paddle (Proton) and JKK Supernova kayak during winter paddling on Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins, shot with GoPro Hero camera mounted on a kayak front deck. January 29, 2012.

My 2011 Paddling, Training and Racing

Marek — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:33:47 +0000

Here is a summary of my paddling, training, racing and lifestyle changing activities in 2011:

Paddling

I paddled and trained on the South Platte River in winter and then on my local lakes in northern Colorado: Horsetooth Reservoir, Boyd Lake, Lonetree, Boedecker and Beaver Pond.

Racing

No ultra marathon races in 2011. I couldn’t participate in the Missouri River 340 Race postponed till October. I paddled only in the 10 mile Colorado River Race in Glenwood Canyon dominated by stand-up paddlers. For me, it was a very intense workout in my Sea Wind canoe.

Packrafting

I started packrafting with Alpacka Yukon packraft. After initial testing on Riverbend Ponds I did a few trips on the South Platte. I use inline skates or bike for a road shuttle.

JKK Supernova

In October I started to paddle JKK Supernova, multisport sea kayak, which I bought from Jeremy Rodgers. Supernova is a strong candidate for my self supported 2012 MR340 Race if I manage to make a seat more comfortable.

Cross Training

Inline skating and biking. I have several loops mostly on biking trails in Fort Collins (10-15 miles for skates and 15-25 mile for my hybrid road bike). I also like the Poudre River Trail starting at a new trail head at River Bluffs between Timnath and Windsor. I started to ride a bike on the Centennial Road – just to look at conditions of the Horsetooth Reservoir.

Hiking

I am hiking mostly in winter with trekking poles and a backpack full of camera gear. The Horsetooth Rock is my favorite target. I just like to look at Fort Collins from above after sunset.

Kettlebell

I started weight training with kettlebells and I love it. My main goal is to develop more muscles to burn fat, but it should be beneficial for paddling as well. I used to work with kettlebells during my college years in 1970s, but I started with a book to refresh my memory: The Ultimate Kettlebells Workbook. There are many resources online. I like instructional videos by Steve Cotter. Currently, I have two Cap Bartell kettlebells: 35 and 50 lb. I need more iron!

GoPro Hero

New shooting angles including bird’s eye view with GoPro HD Hero camera using a telescoping mast mounted on a deck with suction cup from Sticky Pod. Time lapse still pictures, no video yet.

Diet

I am drastically changing my diet adapting a lot from Paleo Diet for Athletes and other sources. More protein, less carbs and timing carbs consumption with exercise. Much more vegetables. I replaced my morning cereal breakfast by a smoothie of almond milk with whey protein, raw eggs or egg whites, blueberries or other berries with addition of chia seeds, hemp seeds or some nuts. I lost 20lb in the second half of 2011. I still need to make my boats lighter for racing!

Trigger Point Therapy

The most important development in 2011. During recent years I suffered from chronic pains in my elbows (tennis elbow, golf elbow), probably, more related to my computer work than paddling. Finally, I found a solution: trigger point therapy – massaging trigger points in my forearms with a tennis ball against a wall. It worked for my elbows. It worked also for an Achilles tendon pain. There are many books on this subject. I am using The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief. I am also adding a foam roller to my workouts.

Now, what to do in 2012?

JKK Supernova Sea Kayak Added to My Paddling Fleet

Marek — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:40:35 +0000

Soldier Cove of the Horsetooth Reservoir (Pentax Optio W30 camera)

After a couple of weeks of test paddling on Beaver Pond and Horsetooth Reservoir including some windy winter condition JKK Supernova kayak was added to my paddling fleet.

First thing I had to do was to customize a cockpit. A narrow hanging seat was removed and seat hangers trimmed off from the cockpit coaming. Then, the Guerney’s bumfortable foam seat was permanently installed. The same operation I performed on my Thunderbolt kayak years ago. I still may need to work to wedge that seat to a better angle. And, I have some other customizations in my mind.

Supernova is a strong candidate for the next year Missouri River 340 race with a goal to finish self supported below 50 hours. Well, I am still not sure if I really want to paddle that long race in a kayak, but paddling Sea Wind canoe again will be just too easy. I have the entire winter and many trips on the South Platte River to figure that out.

JKK Supernova kayak with the Guerney’s bumfortable seat installed (Pentax Optio W30 camera)
Paddling the Horsetooth Reservoir (GoPro HD Hero camera)
Climbing from a boat ramp at the Satanka Cove to a parking lot (GoPro HD Hero camera)

Eat Less, Move More – A Healthy Lifestyle Mantra

Marek — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:04:18 +0000

Eat less, move more …

These words of wisdom are popular on web, but I’ve found them in a little book: Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives by Patti Digh, the author and several more books and 37days.com blog. A lovely Christmas gift!

It may be somewhat oversimplified recommendation from the perspective of training for ultramarathon paddle races. I would perhaps replace “less” and “more” by “smart”. Nevertheless, it’s an essence of a healthy lifestyle and a good mantra to repeat to yourself during the incoming holiday season.

Keep paddling as long as you can find a liquid water!

I added these words to my stock photography portfolio.

Words, phrases, slogans, questions, alphabet sets, abstracts … I have more than 1000 pictures in the portfolio created with vintage letterpress printing blocks, a variety of fonts, both wood and metal. Wood printing blocks have nice ink patina. These pictures are available for licensing as royalty free digital downloads starting with $2 or/and as prints. I am also happy to create custom images. Please contact me for more information.

Related posts for those interested in a more advanced training: