Aloha

Tana and I leave early Friday morning to visit family in Hawaii for the Holidays.

You Go Girl!

Another weekend off the water, but this one was for a wonderful reason. Our daughter graduated from Appalachian State University on Sunday, up in the western mountains of North Carolina.   Congratulations Love!  

Like most of the  country we woke up to a bit of weather,  fresh snow on the ground and with more snow days predicted.   Here back at home it's just really really cold.

So Much You Can Do

When it rains it pours, when I'm training, I have a hard time not getting excited about all the possibilities, that I should eventually be in great shape for :)

There are so many opportunities this coming year regards small boat adventure racing. There’s WaterTribe’s annual Everglades Challenge (EC) in March, the return of the WaterTribe Cross Florida Challenge (CFC) likely in early May, and the new event named Tip of the Mitt sponsored by Verlen Kruger Memorial Paddling Events in June. All are week long adventures about 300 miles in distance. Of course there is also the Missouri River 340 (MR340), Texas Water Safari, and Yukon River Quest races which run every year, and the shorter 100 mile Watertribe North Carolina Challenge in September.  Certainly lots to consider.

I’m in for the EC, it's one of my favorite events, and I'll likely do it as long as I can still paddle.  I’ve already done the CFC as one of the legs in the longer Ultimate Florida Challenge (UFC) in 2006 and will do it again in 2012. I’ve also done an MR340. So I’m really thinking about this new Michigan event. I spent a week on Lake Michigan in 2005, even wrote up a little trip report about it.  One night while camped, we even saw the Northern Lights, wow.  I’d love to go back.
 

Picture above of MarkP (owner of Kruger Canoes) and me at Peninsula Point Lighthouse, Stonington Peninsula on the North shore of Lake Michigan, part of Hiawatha National Forest (2005).

 I’ll need to check vacation time, and Paul’s and my sailing plans.  I'd really like to do another week long summer sail with Paul on our sailboat 'Dawn Patrol' too.  And I’ve got that great bike ride RAGBRAI planned in July... 

Better keep up the workouts.  Thank goodness there's only two more years till retirement.

How's the Training Going

That's a question I got asked a few times last Saturday night at the Carolina Kayak Clubs Holiday Party.  That's me standing next to the "saggy" paddle tree.

My training plan is always a bit more optimistic than I can usually accomplish, life gets in the way, the winter is cold, its hard work… lots of excuses.  A little deviation is okay and nothing to beat yourself up about, but I’d like to be a bit more serious about it all this year. 

I've not paddled much in the past few weeks, and honestly don't think I'll get out on the water till the New Year.  We have one graduating college, holiday parties, and family time planned over the next few weeks.  But I'm swimming, biking, weight training, and doing yoga, all the things I need to be doing.

I've decided a little accountability would be a good thing, and so I'll start a training log, keep it updated and post it on the right side bar, once I can figure out how.

I’m also pretty excited to find out that many of the NC triathlons have now added  an aqua bike division (swim-bike), including a favorite the White Lake ½ Ironman. My running days are long over which pretty much ended triathlon for me about 8 years ago, but, maybe not so anymore. I’m planning a good bit of biking and swimming this year anyway.  Hmmm.