fitness paddling

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:

3 Kayaks: JKK Supernova, WSBS Thunderbolt-X and Sisson Nucleus 100

Marek — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:23:19 +0000

I am still testing Jeremy’s JKK Supernova, a racing sea kayak from New Zealand. I did a couple of 5-7 mile runs on the Horsetooth Reservoir in a winter scenery including pretty windy conditions. Paddling was much drier than it would in my Thunderbolt kayak. The Supernova feels much more comfortable with my bumfortable foam seat. However, for a better comfort, I would have to trim the seat hangers as I did in my Thunderbolt.

I shot a few pictures of the Supernova together with Thundebolt-X kayak designed by Doug Bushnell from West Side Boat Shop. Supernova appears to be a few inches shorter than Thunderbolt, but much wider, and has much higher volume. Thunderbolt cockpit is placed more forward than in Supernova. I am going to measure these kayaks by myself. Data listed by manufactures are not very accurate.

Next, I added Sisson Nucleus 100, a multisport kayak from New Zealand, to the picture for a reference. I like that Grahame Sisson is specifying the sizes of cockpit opening for his kayaks.

These three kayaks have very different cockpits:
- Sisson Nucleus: a very roomy cockpit with a small opening (shorter than Supernova), but quite wide, tiller bar steering
- Thunderbolt: a long open cockpit, tiller bar steering,
- JKK Supernova: a roomy cockpit, but a very narrow opening, sea kayak fit, pedal steering

First Snow Paddling with JKK Multisport Supernova Kayak

Marek — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:26:03 +0000

I had a chance to do some test paddling with Jeremy Rodger’s JKK Supernova kayak. It happen just after first snow storm in Fort Collins, so I had a pretty scenic paddling on Beaver Pond in the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I am trying to compare this kayak to my Thunderbolt-X from West Side Boat Shop from a perspective of a long distance self supported paddling and racing.

JKK Supernova is a multisport kayak from New Zealand – the same length as my WSBS Thunderbolt (21′), 1″ wider beam (19″), but a much bigger volume and a lot of cargo space with bulkheads and hatches. It is a racing sea kayak. Jeremy wrote a review of the Supernova for my blog a few years ago.

Access to the lake was blocked by broken trees and bushes leaning under heavy snow. A lot of invasive Russian olives.

And, those Russian olive trees had pretty nasty thorns – my first paddling injury since perhaps my last Texas Water Safari in 2005. It didn’t stop me from paddling, but it doesn’t feel so well a day after.

First impressions of the Supernova: fast, stable, quite responsive, much more maneuverable than Thunderbolt.

GoPro HD Hero camera set to shoot time lapse still pictures and Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS both mounted on a deck with the Sticky Pod suction cups.

Pictures in this post are coming from the GoPro HD Hero and Pentax Optio W30.

The Supernova cockpit is pretty small and tight. It is really narrow!. The cockpit opening is only about 14.75″ wide while I have 16″ in my Thunderbolt kayak, and a generous 17″ in Sisson Nucleus 100 which has the same beam as the Supernova. So, the owners of wide hips beware.

I had to remove a hanging seat from the Supernova and sit on a piece of foam pad which was not really comfortable. I am going to see if I can fit my bumfortable seat and try paddling Supernova again. To make the Thunderbolt comfortable I had to trim off the seat hangers and install a foam seat.

6th Annual Missouri River Race – MR340 2011

Marek — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:40:09 +0000

160 paddlers in 118 boats started yesterday the 6th Annual Missouri River Race 340. The race was postponed this due to flooding from the original date in July to October.

The MR340 is an endurance paddling race across the state of Missouri – 340 miles nonstop from Kansas City to St Charles with 88 hours time limit. I paddled in the first five races using 4 different boats, but always solo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel to Missouri this year in October. Last year, the race was also delayed because of flooding, but only by 1 month.

Well, I am paddling my local lakes in northern Colorado and I already started my countdown to the 2012 MR340.

Cross Training – Mowing My Backyard

Marek — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:47:23 +0000

Yesterday, I used my GPS with heart monitor (Garmin Forerunner 305) when mowing my backyard. The grass was pretty tall. It was probably a month since last mowing. Of course, I had to scoop after my two dogs first. So, it was a lot of walking and carrying stuff around.

My GPS results. Time: 1:40h, distance: 1.8 mile, calories: 789. So, it was a pretty good exercise. It looked equivalent to a 1 hour workout in my Thunderbolt kayak a day before. Perhaps, it was not so good cross training for paddling, but still necessary and it was more fun with GPS.

I am not really a fun of mowing or taking care of the lawn. I prefer to work in my garden. Hopefully, it was the last or almost the last mowing this year. But, I will keep paddling. My other cross training activities these days include inline skating and biking (mostly on bike trail in Fort Collins and between Timnath and Greeley) and kettlebell workouts.

Related books:
The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession

Colorado River 2011 Race Dominated by SUPs (Stand-Up Paddlers)

Marek — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:31:35 +0000

Yesterday, I paddled the Colorado River Race in the Glenwood Canyon – 10 miles on the Colorado River from Dotsero to Hanging Lake Area. The race is organized by Jerry Nyre from Canoe Colorado. At the same time it was also Regional Open Canoe Downriver Championships and Wildwater Race setup by Nate Lord.

I missed a couple of previous races. Last year at that time I was paddling in postponed Missouri River 340 race. This year the MR340 was canceled due to flooding. So, I took my Sea Wind canoe to the Colorado River instead.

The weather was beautiful and water level pretty high at 2400 cfs. The race was dominated by stand-up paddlers (SUP). There were about dozen of them. Certainly SUP is getting popular in Colorado. There were also two tandem canoes, two solo canoes (including my Sea Wind), a wild water racing kayak (Jeremy Rodgers), Huki surfski and one recreational kayak. I could miss somebody.

I took some pictures with Pentax Optio W30 at the start and a few at the finish. It was the staggered start. SUPs went first.

I finished the race in 1:21h more than 1 minute behind Nate. It was a great workout for me. I managed to keep a pretty even heart rate (142-146) over the entire race. See the race results below pictures.

Do I need to switch to SUP if I want to do some paddle racing in Colorado?

2011 Colorado River Race Results

	SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board)
1	Brent Redden	1:22:00
2	Ken Hoeve	1:25:18
3	Steve Hamilton	1:20:34
4	John Bridenbaugh	1:30:21
5	Andy Lanes	1:33:21
6	Carl Selles	1:35:12
7	Jeff Lanes	1:37:44
8	Heather Prentice	1:44:10
9	John Cowper Thwaite	1:51:32
10	Tyler Thompson	2:12:38
11	Eric Samdall	2:12:41

	Unlimited Kayak
1	Jeremy Rodgers	1:05:18
2	Mark Levesque	1:09:21

	Recreation Kayak
1	Kathy Selles	1:31:45

	Recreation Canoe
1	Paul Wetsel & Travis Baumgart	1:37:17
2	John Putnam & Ethan Putnam	1:47:10

	Solo Canoe
1	Nate Lord	1:20:04
2	Marek Uliasz	1:21:04

Sea Wind Canoe on the Loveland Pass

Dillon Lake Challenge and Colorado River Race

Marek — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:58:02 +0000

There are two flatwater kayak and canoe races in Colorado during the summer.

Lake Dillion Challenge

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Highest and Most Scenic Regatta in North America. Celebrating “green”, healthy recreational uses of the lake and environment

Open to all human-powered rowing and paddled boats, including shells (sweep/ scull, racing/ recreational), canoes, and kayaks

Choice of 2 courses: 2.5 mile and 6 mile
Head race for rowing shells
Kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, SUP will mass start according to categories

Kayaks, canoes, and paddle boats can be rented from Frisco Bay Marina. Reserve ahead of time (970- 668-4334).

Lake Dillon Challenge medals awarded to first place finishers in competitive categories (four or more entries)

more information, contacts, pictures, results

Colorado River Race

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dotsero to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon
10 miles class I – Canoes, Sea Kayaks and SUPs

contact Canoe Colorado for more information