Coaching future Olympians

This weekend, I spent some time 'coaching' a possible future Olympic paddler in Shadow. 

 

I now know that, Shadow can be paddled, sitting in the bottom of the boat, on your knees and by sitting backwards in the boat and paddling it backwards! And he is stable enough for you to stand up in. 

I'm glad the stability of the boat has been proven to me, now what excuse can I use the next time I throw myself out the boat?!

Adding weight?!

So Shadow has been loaned a spraydeck and a wooden kayak seat. I've been going with the theory that by changing anything on the boat will add weight and adding weight is never a good thing. But, I may be proven wrong, the seat ensures that I am sitting in the center of the boat, but is slippy. The spreaydeck is a beast to put on, but keeps my feet dry. Time will tell, how these new additions fair.

Times

10 mile time trial times so far:

Worcester: 1hr 55 (I still don't think that this is the correct time)
Reading: 2 hr 03
Wokingham: 1hr 57
Richmond: 2hr 01

There is a sense of achievement upon meeting up with kayakers who have struggled with 7km hasler races after we have just completed 10 miles.