Wednesday, June 29, 2011

back at it

After a few days off to let my bruised ribs heal a bit I was back to training yesterday.  We had an epic day weather-wise... 80 degrees, sunny, low humidity and a little breeze.  Perfect.
Of course, as soon as I cleared the point that little breeze picked up to 15 knots, so I spent the better part of two hours hammering into a headwind and 1-2 foot waves, which was fine.  It increased the intensity of the workout and I scored a few cool shots like this breaking through the wind swell.
And don't forget, if you paddle upwind for two hours you get rewarded on the trip home.  I was able to catch a few rides on the return trip, surfing the small waves the wind had kicked up.  Here I am digging deep to catch a little swell. 
After my ten-mile training session, I still had enough energy to take the kids out for a bit (must be the superfoods from Moveable Feast).  My daughter Tizzy jumped on board first.
Then Al, Windy City Waterman Webmaster Extraordinaire, joined us...
... but Tizzy wasn't about to let Al out-style her, so she decided to stand up and get her surf on.
Then her cousin Penny took it a step further and insisted on doing the paddling too.  The kids have such a blast out there.
Finally I spent an hour or so working on agility, doing drop tail turns that I need to have in the bag for racing and surfing.  Here you can see I've moved to the back of the board to sink the tail and create a shorter waterline so the board can turn on a dime.
Once you complete the turn, you scurry back to your normal paddling position and dig in to get the board moving again... remember, momentum equals stability! 
 
Then, whether racing or surfing, you want to get the board up to speed fast, so put your head down and PADDLE.
And I'll leave you today with one for Charlie, my man at Naish.  How many Naish logos can you count in this shot, Charlie?  I'm workin' for you baby, workin' hard!  No, seriously, Big Thanks to Naish for helping make all this possible.  Every great day on the water is an amazing gift, so get out there and experience it!

And don't forget to come down to Windward Boardshop next Thursday, July 7th, for our Party with the Pros event featuring Karen Wrenn and Chuck Patterson, Naish Pro Stand Up Paddle Athletes.  It's going to be a blast!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

party with the pros

Make sure you save the date for the Windy City Waterman Paddle with the Pros Party at Windward Boardshop in Chicago.  We are hosting professional stand up paddle athletes Karen Wrenn and Chuck Patterson, and whether you're an experienced paddler, a beginner, or just want to learn about the sport, this is an amazing opportunity.  These two top pros from the Naish team will be answering questions, giving tips and telling stories of their own adventures on the water, which are many.
When she's not winning or placing in races all over the world, Karen challenges herself with adventure paddles like her consecutive crossings between all 8 of the Channel Islands in California this past February. 
As for Chuck, he's a big wave surfer and all-around extreme waterman, but his claims-to-fame in SUP include winning the 2008 Battle of the Paddle, being the first person to SUP surf the Cortes Bank off of California and a unique experience SUPing with great white sharks off San Onofre (you tube it... it's pretty cool).

In addition to the chance to chat up two of SUP's greatest athletes, there will be a raffle with amazing prizes from Naish, Kaenon Sunglasses, O'neill and more.  All the proceeds are going to our two amazing charities, Common Threads and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

And if all that wasn't enough, killer snacks by Moveable Feast will be served along with some tasty adult beverages, so come out for a great night of fun, food, music and surf!

When: Thursday July 7th from 6-9pm
Where: Windward Boardshop, 3317 N Clark, Chicago

Friday, June 24, 2011

good, bad & ugly

I've been quite busy with work the last few weeks, but I'm happy to report that my training has proceeded right on schedule.  I'll have more time in July to post and will fill you in on specifics of what I'm doing and learning, but let's just say it's been mostly good, a little bad and a tiny bit ugly. 

Good sums up the progress I feel I'm making.  Bad is the bruised rib I suffered when I fell onto my board the other day doing a drop-tail turn in 20 knot wind.  Ugly are the scratches on the Javelin from when I dropped it on the concrete while favoring said bruised rib.  Man, I hate that first scratch on a new board, but I have to say I thought the damage was going to be worse when it happened... these Naish boards are the shizzle

Dad's in town so I had him shoot some video of me paddling so I could analyze my stroke.  Looks like I could move a bit forward in my foot positioning to level out the board.  Learning every day... Gotta love it!  Hope you're getting out on the water.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

training and nutrition (alternate title: holy s#%t now I have to paddle across lake michigan!)

Well, now it's really sinking in that I'm actually going to SUP across Lake Michigan and that is no easy feat.  I trained all winter for the fun I knew I'd be having on the water this summer, but gym training is never quite the same.  Now that I'm paddling longer distances consistently, the first thing I noticed was how my nutritional needs have changed.  I've bonked a couple of times on training paddles over the last few weeks, simply running out of fuel to keep my body going.  I also noticed that I started losing weight, when I really need to be building muscle.  I needed some nutritional advice specific to SUP, so I went right to the source, Laird Hamilton .
Laird, along with Dave Kalama, is pretty much credited with starting this whole stand up paddle thing, and these guys were doing distance paddles way longer than what I'm doing back before any of us even knew SUP existed.  So, I didn't hesitate to order Laird's ultimate smoothie pack to boost my caloric intake.
I've added two to three smoothies of whey protein, fresh fruit, Catie's Organic Greens & Vitamin C Plus, along with a dose of Glutamine to aid in muscle recovery, to what I normally eat.  Those of you who know me know that I'm super into food and nutrition, so my normal diet is pretty rockin' already - lots of green leafy vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, so I'm just trying to eat more of all that good stuff to keep up.  According to my heart monitor, I burn about 500 calories an hour paddling at a moderate-to-fast tempo.  That's 6000 calories to make it across Lake Michigan!  Eat, man, Eat!
As for training, I'm paddling every other day then doing flexibility and strength workouts on the non-paddle days.  The paddles are 6-mile sprints with one longer paddle per week.  The longer paddles build each week so that by the week before the crossing I'm doing a training paddle of around 35 miles.  It's a pretty intensive program, and in the early weeks I have been learning a lot about how my body reacts to this increased activity.  This is the biggest thing I've ever done, athletically speaking, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous.  I will continue to post on my training progress over the coming weeks.  If anyone wants to do some training paddles with me, let me know.  I'd always welcome a little company.

One more thing, MAKE SURE YOU SAVE THE DATE OF JULY 7TH for the Windy City Waterman Paddle with the Pros Party at Windward Boardshop.  We'll be hosting Karen Wrenn and Chuck Patterson, my (dare I say?) teammates from the Naish SUP team for an evening of great Moveable Feast food, drinks and SUP discussion, tips and advice.  There will be a raffle with some killer prizes from Naish, Windward, O'neill, Kaenon sunglasses and more.  Proceeds go to our great charitable causes, the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Common Threads.  See you there!

PS I am adding to this post with a quick follow up on my first training session after starting my new nutrition regimen.  The consensus: it works!  Of course I'll be doing more testing and refining, but today I felt pretty good during my 6-mile sprint.  I had my shake in the morning, then a mid-morning snack of an apple and a little pasta salad, then a good lunch, then a smaller 8oz. shake about a half hour before I went to paddle.  I felt pretty energized throughout the paddle, actually warming up and improving my pace in the second half (probably could have that pre-workout shake a little earlier).  My routine for sprints is to maintain around 85% of my peak heart rate (I wear a monitor) with intervals up to and beyond my peak rate.  I did that today and finished with the first signs of fatigue just setting in (clumsy paddle switches, sketchy balance, etc) as I hammered back to the launch (I always like to finish strong).  So, after a very good session today I feel like I'm on the right track.  Now it's full speed ahead with training for my first race on July 9th in Madison, and of course for the big crossing.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

new boards from NAISH arrive


If you've been following on Facebook or you've been to my website, you know that the Windy City Waterman Stand Up for Charity Lake Michigan Crossing is going off this August 14th.  I had this (crazy?) idea back in early April and things came together really fast.  My first goal was to increase awareness of SUP in Chicago and challenge myself to paddle more, longer & faster.  The Lake Michigan crossing seemed like a big, audacious goal that would give me something to really train for, and since it seemed like something that would attract a bit of attention, I decided to use the platform to promote a couple great local charities that can always use our help.

I have to admit, I was pretty blown away when Naish stepped up to sponsor my project with a full quiver of boards and paddles.  Everybody I spoke with both at Naish in Maui and Pacific Boardsports on the mainland was super enthusiastic about this project and happy to help us grow SUP in Chicago and paddle for a couple of amazing charities.  It's been a few weeks now since the boards arrived, but we captured the excitement of unpacking them on film...


So now that we've got our gear, we're in full promotion mode.  I'm sending out press releases and sharing this with everyone I know, but here's my big CALL FOR HELP!  Please help us spread the word about the great sport of SUP and these important local charities by sharing my website with your own friends, through your social media or websites and anywhere else you can think of.  Thanks for your support and I'll see you on the water!