This has been one of the best winters I can remember and I think I have the 100/100 Paddle Challenge to thank for that.
In all of the 41 years I’ve paddled, I have never done as much paddling through December, January and
February as I’ve done this year. Not even close. While I’ve paddled in every month of the year numerous times, the January and February paddles have usually been one off, isolated paddles made possible only by the river being swept clear of ice after a short, but unusually warm spell. However it generally freezes again quickly and I’m stuck doing dry-land training again. This year, thanks to the motivation of the Challenge and a winter affected by a particularly strong El Nino, I’ve been able to paddle almost every day on Lake Ontario, and I’ve loved it.As I’ve described in a previous post, if you’re geared up right winter paddling can be not only safe and enjoyable but also extremely productive. I’ve discovered there is absolutely no reason you can’t get as much out of a workout in temperatures at or just below freezing as you can in summer conditions. The hardest part of winter paddling is just stepping outside, putting your board of the roof of the car and committing to it. After that it’s no more difficult than paddling at any other time of the year.
At this point I’m just shy of 700 km since January 1st. That means I only need just over 100 km over the next 4 weeks to reach my objective of 805 km or 500 miles.
Because I did a lot of mileage in October and November and paddled all December I was able to begin the Challenge with a strong base. Knowing that, I made a real effort to push the mileage early in the Challenge, partly because the uncertainty of the weather in a Canadian winter means you never know what to expect so you should get your miles in while you can, and partly because as April approaches I don’t want to be doing a lot of long paddles chasing mileage. One of the biggest races of the season and largest events in the World is on April 23rd this year, only 13 days after the Challenge ends. I want at least 5 weeks of clear, focused preparation for the Carolina Cup. And that means I’ll want to have at least three weeks of increased intensity in my training and lots of time to rest that doesn’t necessarily fit with the focus on paddling volume that is part of the 100/100 Challenge.
Let’s be clear. There is a distinct relationship between volume and intensity. As intensity increases, the volume that you can expect to do in your training decreases. You may be able to do high volume at high intensity for a short period of time if you’re a really highly trained athlete with a sound base and good technique and are riding a good board that moves through the water comparatively easily. But eventually it’s going to catch up to you. Either your intensity will begin to lag and you won’t be able to train at the desired level, or you’ll break down and won’t be able to maintain the volume. Or both. You run the risk of getting sick or injured, and by pulling hard too much for too long without proper rest you run the risk of fatiguing your central nervous system. Once that happens, you’ll feel weak, fatigue quickly and you’ll feel like you’ve totally forgotten how to paddle. Your ability to feel the water and control your technique will be dramatically affected and your performance will completely bottom out. I’ve been there. It usually takes weeks to recover. Trust me, it’s not the way you want to head into an important competition.
So if you’re chasing miles as part of the1%er version of the 100/100 Challenge (and it seems like a lot of people are) AND are planning on racing at the Carolina Cup, I strongly suggest you take a few minutes now and look at the calendar.
As I write this we’ve got 4 weeks left in the Challenge and 6 ½ weeks till the Carolina Cup. Take at look at the mileage you’ve accumulated to this point and how much you have left, and if you haven’t already start figuring out a plan or schedule for logging the miles you have left. Make sure you’ve got at least 4 weeks leading into Carolina where you can focus on intense, quality paddling and rest. You know that the Challenge ends April 10th so you’ve got two weeks before Carolina where you won’t be chasing miles, but I strongly suggest you focus on intensity for at least the last two weeks of the Challenge as well, meaning you really want to have most of the Challenge complete by Easter weekend (March 27th).
If you were pacing your mileage out through to April 10th and were planning on doing Carolina, you may want to up your mileage a bit over the next two weeks so you’ve got less to do than you originally planned at the end. This will buy you more time to focus on quality and rest in the last two weeks of the Challenge and the last four weeks heading into Carolina.
What should the training look like? Well, there are many different approaches you can take to designing workouts but in the end, if it’s a well thought out, solidly planned program they’ll all be accomplishing the same thing.
You’ll want to do some higher level training heading into Carolina, and if you haven’t been doing some work once a week at threshold already, you’ll definitely want to include that type of work. You’ll also want to do some work above threshold. You’ll want to do some speed, speed endurance and lactate tolerance work, all of which are going to make you better prepared to go hard off the beach (or start, if you’re not doing The Graveyard) at Carolina and be able to do things like sprint to catch draft trains, catch bumps and beat people into the beach on the finish.
While I’ve been doing some threshold work over the last month or so, I really haven’t done any structured speed, speed endurance or lactate tolerance work yet. That training is intense and demands a reduction in volume and an increase in rest. And since I’ve been chasing kilometers since January 1st, I really haven’t had time to fit it in. For sure I’ve played with speed in some training sessions but that has been more from a technical perspective, trying to hone the efficiency of my stroke at higher tempos. I need at least a good three-week block of this type of work before Carolina and at least one easier week at the end to taper if I want to be ideally prepared.
So right now, with 6 ½ weeks to go and with the Paddle Challenge well under control, I’m starting to transition from volume to more intense work. I’ve done some hard accelerations this week with a bungee to work on some explosive power; I’ve done some threshold work and will start to build in some speed endurance early next week. I’ve cut back the volume a little and am making sure these more intense sessions are well spread out and that I have some good quality rest between them. Pushing the mileage does not usually correlate to good quality rest.
We’re all a little different, and our training background, fitness base and experience all are factors that need to be considered when we try to manage the balance between volume and intensity. I would suggest that, as intensity becomes a greater focus in the last 5 to 6 weeks before Carolina, volume start to decrease accordingly to the point where in weeks of maximum intensity it’s at about 50% of what it was during the Challenge.
So what should you do if you’re racing at Carolina but are behind in the Challenge and really need every day up till April 10th to pile up the miles? Well, you can try to reach your mileage goal and hope for the best when it comes to your Carolina preparation. You may well end up doing better at Carolina than you ever have before just by virtue of the fact you’ve paddled more this winter than you ever have in the past. In this case you’re already ahead of the game compared to previous years. You don’t need to worry about higher intensity training and whether or not you’re properly peaked. All those miles you’ve put in are going to make you better than you’ve ever been in the past.
However if you’re experienced, have raced the Graveyard before and really want to lay down your best effort on April 23rd then you really ought to do more in your training than just rely on your mileage. You’ll need a full block of more intense work and have at minimum one week of super low volume that serves as a peaking week. If you’ve got too many miles left in the last few weeks of the Challenge, you may have to make a choice – finish the Challenge or prepare optimally for Carolina. I know the choice I would make.
Congratulations to all of those who have taken on the 100/100 Paddle Challenge. Thank you for inspiring me this winter and keeping me company while I’ve been on a mission to pile up kilometers no matter the weather. Here’s wishing you good luck in the last few weeks of the Challenge and in your Carolina Cup preparation. I’m looking forward to seeing you on April 23rd in Wrightsville Beach!
