22.01.18 – Shropshire Paddlesports Course for Divs 7,8 & 9.

Still no Phil.

Warmed up for about 800 metres with bouts of speed.

Then it was start the watch and tracker and head off.

The results on a clear and cold day with a head wind for half the time are:

Distance – 3 miles

Av Speed – 5.2 mph

Max speed – 6.6 mph – hit that three times

Time taken – 31:34

Not much clue about figures but in reality:

1. Had no capacity to speak to dog walkers or fishermen.
2. I hugged the centre of the canal.
3. At times in all seemed to click technique wise – once I remembered to keep the pause.
4. It hurt at times and mentally I knew I had to keep going and maintain pace.
5. My shoulders, left wrist and buttocks know they have been paddling today!
6. Ensured maximum recovery by eating and drinking as soon as I had got changed.

See the DW website is stuffed full of new rules – had a quick look and see that I only have 9.5 hours to get down to Newbury on day one!  Oh the pressure.