Starting and stopping
When I’m paddling a longer trip, my speed on the water is not a constant. The first half-hour is slow, like a voyage through molasses. After thirty minutes or so, it feels like I change gears and the motion gets a lot better. It’s almost like I need to get the joints and muscles in tune with each other before they can really start working up to capacity.
Likewise, at the end of a long paddling day, fatigue often starts to set in about a half-hour before I stop. My arms get heavy and my interest fades. If there’s any weather to contend with, this is the time of day when its effects impact me the most. And, when I do come ashore after that thirty minutes is up, I often drag my way through setting up camp, dinner prep, etc.
If there was a way to take the best hour – whenever that is – and perform that way at the beginning of the day and at the end, I wonder what difference that would make in miles covered, in physical and mental acuity, and in the overall level of enjoyment.
About Ken Campbell
New Release
A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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