Aiming for La Plagne

I have started my student teaching.  Mariner High seems like it will be a great place to learn and work through this coming year.  I’ll be there ’til March 18th, about six months.

My workouts will have to change a bit- to paddle before school I have to be on the water by 5 am, which isn’t the most fun thing I’ve ever done.  I can paddle after school on some days, though, which is nice.  It brings back memories of a few years ago, before I started training twice a day, and usually only worked out in the afternoons.  I’ll keep this schedule through mid March, then have a good 3+ months to focus in on the “test event” at La Plagne in July- the world cups events just won’t work with my schedule this year (though I’d like to go back to Sort at Easter…).

Nationals

Nationals was near home for the first time in over ten years.  It’s been 11 years since I traveled less than 1,500 miles to team trials or nationals.  The only trouble was that to have the race near me, we had to organize it (me, Jennie Goldberg, Mike Baker, Rich Roehner, and Doug Ritchie).  Organizing and racing at the same event is a very different experience from simply racing.

With the exception of one major shuttle problem, the race went very well.  Timing worked out well, our volunteers were great, and the North Cascades provided a beautiful setting.

My racing was a little different.  I varied from my normal pre-race routine, though I tried not to.  I cooked my normal pancakes/french toast on Saturday and Sunday morning.  I did my stretching, and got in good warm up paddles.  But I didn’t do a detailed mental run of the sprint course, I didn’t do a practice run, and I didn’t look at the course before the race.  The first run went well, and I was in first by six seconds ahead of Jack Ditty.  I thought I could be a touch faster in my second run, changed my line slightly, and eddied out on the right in a spot I’ve never had trouble before.  I ended up in second place, one second behind Jack Ditty.  He’s the third to beat me since 2001, and had a great race.  I was angry.

The classic was much better, and I had a perfect rabbit in front of me.  I almost caught John Pinyerd- I crossed the finish line three seconds after he did, and won by 52 seconds.  Andy Bridge came out for the classic and took second, just ahead of John.  So, that means nationals number 8 for me.  And gives me some motivation for the next big race when I might sprint against Jack Ditty again.

Now, I’m in the middle of a month off, and am preparing for my next year.  I don’t know how training will look while I am doing student teaching, but it is likely to involve a lot of early mornings and paddling in the dark…

Worlds Wrap Up

Three weeks in Sort ended last Sunday with the individual sprint, and I headed to southern Spain with Wendy for five days.

This year, being on the US Team was a bit chaotic.  With most of the team arriving two days before racing began, a difficult classic course, and the high water caused by the unexpected rains, the team had a difficult time.  The team was lodged in four different locations, making communication difficult.  The confusion affected me on the day of the team sprint and team classic, but I had prepared to be self-sufficient if need be, and with Jennie Goldberg’s help, managed to follow my race plan for the individual events well.

The classic race, for me, was on the day before the water rose, and the river was actually at the lowest level I had even paddled it.  I made a strategic mistake, and decided to run the high water lines I knew well rather than read the river during the race.  Several lines that were good at high water looked obviously slower at the lower flows, but I stuck with the race plan and my result was decent.  7.77% is the best classic percent I’ve ever had a worlds, and 16^th is my highest placing overall.

The sprint race was moved to an easy course with waves and chop all the way, and a short section with a few bigger waves.  The course was not flat, like the emergency sprint course we raced in an irrigation ditch a few years back, but it was much easier than the planned course just upstream.  It provided for good competition, though the race tested a slightly different ability than the first course would have.  I raced well on it, as the easier water made it possible for me to paddle hard all the way, with no corrections.  My stroke rate, at least in the first 2/3rds, was good, though I did fade a bit at the end.  First run started decently, though I lost a bit of time at the end when I was slightly off line.  My second run started very well, but in the same spot at the end I was again off line (worse than the first time), and lost more time than I gained.  Still, I finished 21^st, just over 7% back.  That’s my best sprint percent ever, and the first time my sprint percent has been better than classic. Normally, I’m a much better classic racer.

I’m pleased with the results I got, given the last year and the training that I did.  I don’t think I could have gone much faster, especially in the sprint, given my current level of fitness.  I recognized several things that I could improve while watching the faster boats.  I’ll now continue to train through nationals, then take a bit of time off and evaluate my training and goals for the coming year.

Thunderstorms

“Mother Nature she is stronger than us.” -Maurizio Tagnocci

“It’s like TV!  Look- A juice box!” -Jennie Goldberg

Flooded rivers make for hours of amusement.  We sit on our porch and watch things float down the river.  Logs are most common, but occasionally we see something more exciting, like a juice box.  Mostly, we’d like the water to go down so that we can race.

The current plan is to wait another day, as the river seems to be dropping.  The organizers have suggested that we do the team classic, team sprint, and master’s world championship all in one day.  For most of the US team, that might be an OK schedule, but it would make for a full day for a few (like Mike Harris, our lone master in C-1, who would also race both team races). 

There’s a meeting this afternoon to discuss our options, and perhaps for team leaders to vote on possible alternatives to the main course if the water does not drop enough.  And, as I write, the sky has opened up again, and we have more rain.  Whatever happens, it looks like there will be a lot of racing in one day, and it could be a fun test of endurance and water reading ability.

And The River Comes Up Again

We are re-living 2008.  I arrive at a course and paddle it.  The course is fun.  The water level changes a little bit, but the course is good at all levels.  Then, as the race approaches, the rain begins.  The Dora Baltea flooded in 2008, forcing a change in the classic course and postponment of the masters world championships.

This week, it started raining at around midnight Tuesday night.  It rained all Wednesday, and  ’til 6:00 am on Thursday.  The river trippled in volume, and this morning we awoke to a flood.  Huge trees were washing downriver.  There were no eddies, and the water was up in the trees.  The organizers postponed the team classic race that was supposed to be this afternoon, and the river was officially closed.  We paddled on the lake in the rain, did laundry, ate croissants, and went shopping.  Now, we wait.

If the river drops enough, the team classic and master’s world championship will be held tomorrow afternoon.  The river has to come down a long way, and it might not be low enough to race…It could be a very full day, or a day filled with more waiting.

Classic Results

The Croatian Emil Milihram just won his third C-1 Classic World Championship.

1.  Emil Milihram 20:31.585

2. Tomislav Lepan

3. Jost Zakrajsek

16. Tom Wier 22:07.686, 7.77%

23. Tyler Hinton 23:43

About 50% of the left seam on Tyler’s boat popped in the first third of the course from the impact of the waves; he finished the race but was so full of water at the finish line that his boat was too heavy to pick up.

Only one paddler raced the classic for the US Team- Maurizio Tognocci.  He was 56th, with a time of 22:00.  The winner was Loic V of France, with a time of 19:02.

Final results will be published shortly on www.sort2010.org.

One More Day

The rest of the US Team arrived over the last two days, and a few of them have managed to get on the river.  Some are still out trying to find wood to make racks for the cars, some still trying to set up boats.  They don’t have enough time to learn the river for the classic.  One day is not enough to be able to learn and race a 7 km course with hard whitewater.

I trained specifically for the classic this year- preparataion for the 20 minute race is much different than for the 2 minute sprint next Sunday.  For me, tomorrow is the day.  Just over 24 hours ’til I start.  Around 2:00 p.m. I’ll be on the water for the 20 minute run.  My stroke rate must be high, and I need to avoid corrections.  The course is perfectly suited to pacing well- hard whitewater at the begining, easier water at the end where you can hammer.

I’ll post results as soon as I can.

The Water Comes Up…The Water Comes Down

Wednesday night, June 2^nd, six days ‘til the World Championship classic.  It’s time to back off the hard training, and begin to rest.  I still have several lines on the river to figure out, so I’ll have to be smart about how I space my training runs to ensure that I learn what I need to without exhausting myself doing runs.  The river level continues to change; on Monday it went up near flood level and trees were washing downriver.  We paddled the classic course Monday afternoon, in case the river didn’t drop for the race, but one run was enough on a course that was beginning to have that flooded river feeling. 

Other teams have begun to arrive.  The British came in over the weekend, and today we shared the river with the Germans, Dutch, Swiss, and Australians.  It was a day of drama.  We saw six swims, two badly damaged boats (one didn’t get pulled out of the river for almost 2 kilometers), and one lost paddle.  Yet no one was hurt, and everyone seems willing to jump back into the boat and go for it again.  After my paddle broke and I swam last week, I knew I had to jump back on the water.  It’s not really bravery or bravado, but that you know the sooner you get back in the boat the better off you’ll be.  When you know you have to race a course and you have just had trouble, one of the best things you can do is paddle it again.  Wildwater demands that you learn flexibility and resilience. 

 Tonight marks the end of hard training, and a chance to relax and sleep in more than usual tomorrow.  I’ll run by the post office (only open in the morning), look in at the bakery, and maybe drive shuttle for a few people.  Sort is a beautiful little town.

One week in Sort

One week in…It took me four days to feel like I could paddle well on this river, and now it’s getting really fun.  Jennie has arrived, and we’ve moved into the team housing.  We’ve got a lovely little cabin by the river.  The breaker trips if we try to cook while the water heater is on, so we unplug it each morning at breakfast and at dinner.

Sort is a great little town, with several little cafes by the river, but the best one seems to be up the hill.  We’ve begun to frequent it for coffee or ice cream, and would be fitting in well if we spoke Catalan…My Spanish is functional, and I’ve never had such an easy time getting around in Europe because I can communicate easily with everyone.  But, Catalonia is not Spain, as we have been told several times, and locals prefer the mix of Spanish and France that is Catalan. 

The river appears to be dropping after four days of slow rising, so the waves won’t be quite as surging soon.  The top section of the course should get a little easier, but it’ll still be continuous, and paddlers who have been hear for a while say that the waves get a bit steeper at lower flows.  Chris N. has requested some pictures, and I’ll try to oblige, but since he probably doesn’t want pics of my cabin and the boat on the car, it’ll be a few days ‘til I can get pictures of people paddling.  Other teams are just arriving, so it’ll be a little easier to get photos this week. 

I’m looking forward to three hard days of training, followed by a step taper in the five days before worlds so that I’m well rested and ready to race on June 8^th.

The last two World Championship classics have been easy, and both had a lot of flat.  The Noguera Parallesa will break that trend.  Big, deep class III runs all the way down the course.  The first eight minutes are continuous, and the river only really lets up after 15 minutes or so.  Even then, it´s not flat, and only the last two minutes are really easy.

This morning, after four days out of the boat, I put in at the top of the classic and followed Matt Dalziel and Dan Hall (both of Austrailia) down the course.  The first run went well- the water is big and fast, but not too technical, and the long rapids are fun.  However, I had a bit more excitment in the second run.  At the start, I was already feeling like things were slowing down for me, and that I could find a few flat spots to reaccelerate the boat.  Then, at the top of the longest rapid on the course, Cuatro Largo, my paddle snapped when it hit a rock, and I flipped.  The ensuing swim had the potential to be very long, but I managed to get intot he bottom of an eddy just in time.  A lovely track at the side of the river eased my walk out.  And now, I have to finish putting together one of my other paddles that I didn´t quite finish before I left.

The sprint course is tricky, as it gets pushy in the middle and waves slap your boat around.  It´s hard to avoid eddies along the left side.  We did five runs this afternoon, and I think I know the line, but have yet to do all of the pieces well in one run.