Playing it Safe

The Saturday paddle didn't work out in the end. I signed up for an extended paddle of eleven miles on the Basingstoke, but two days before it was due it got switched to an eight mile jaunt from the clubhouse, up the Thames and back. The trip was one that I would really have liked to have done, but as the day neared the weather forecast worsened. By Saturday the prospect was down to red warning boards along the length of the trip, but the clincher for me was the wind said to be likely to be gusting up to thirty mph. At that point I bailed from the list fully expecting the trip to be cancelled anyway.

As it turned out the weather wasn't as bad as all that and the other eight paddlers had a pleasant time pushing against the flow up to Walton bridge to enjoy a bacon butty from the cafe there. What rubbed salt into my wounded pride though was that a phalanx of beginners taking a one star course with the club paddled up to Sunbury lock and back without incident. I think that I may be being a bit too cautious here.

I put in another short session on the Ergo at the beginning of this week, doing only 5x4 minutes with two minutes rest. That was quite stiff going for me and I broke into quite a sweat, but I was able to sustain it for the full length. Next week I'll have to extend it a bit further.

I was only able to get one other paddle in on the last day of the month and added another nine miles to the total, putting me twenty odd miles ahead of the schedule. Twenty odd 'safe' miles that is, perhaps that's not enough. The extra work with the Ergo and Bungee does seem to be paying off a bit in a slightly raised overall speed.