Catching up... while I was on vacation for a week, the WOD’s didn’t stop…
Friday November 18
WOD: "Popeye"
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Hanging cleans (30/45kg)
Toes to bar
KB swings (20/32kg)
100m farmers carry between rounds
Hanging cleans (30/45kg)
Toes to bar
KB swings (20/32kg)
100m farmers carry between rounds
25:10 (23kg, ground, 16kg, 16kg)
Was supposed to be well on my way to Rarotonga by this time but my plane from Perth to Auckland was delayed (by a day!) because of mechanical issues so I took the opportunity to join the 9:30am WOD at the box. It was a great time to workout – fairly relaxed small group and another good WOD. ‘Popeye’ had more KB swings which I definitely felt in my lower back (fourth WOD in a week with KB swings – ouch!). This was a steady workout though hard to make up much ground as the 100m famers carry was awkward. Had a chance also to catch up with Angie for a well-earned breakfast afterwards as well which was great fun! Need more post-WOD breakfasts.
Arrived in Rarotonga on Friday afternoon after departing Friday night (dateline!) so didn’t do another workout. Had a chance to grab a boat for the OC1 race on Saturday but opted to pass out of sheer exhaustion. I have no doubt physically that I could do it but I wasn’t in the correct state mentally to deal with the ama side conditions and with the reef being so close it was probably the best option.
Sunday November 20
Vacation WOD #1
10 minute run
2 minute rest
100 burpees - 11:06
2 minute rest
10 minute run
I was searching for a spot since my arrival to do this WOD (I promised Jack that I would) but there was a lack of grass on the island and while I could have done it on the beach during one of our group stops it would have just been messy to get back into the car so when we had an hour of down time before heading to a local’s for lunch I ran over to a field near our hostel and got it done. It was hard. So.hard. Especially on my own in what felt like 100% humidity at 1pm, the hottest part of the day – but it was my only option so I perservered. The run down wasn’t too bad, the wind was nice and cooling and it was under a bit of cloud cover. The burpees were hard, I tried to just be steady but struggled a lot while dripping with sweat. The run back was hot – the sun was back out in full force and radiating off of the road but at least I knew how long it was going to take so it wasn’t too bad. Recovering after this was quite hard in the heat, even a cold shower didn’t make much of a difference.
Monday November 21
Vacation WOD #2
18km womens outrigger race (seat 6) – 1:55:17
Approx. 20 minutes rest
8km mixed outrigger race (seat 6) – approx. 50 minutes
For those that aren’t outrigger paddlers, the races above were iron races in a six man canoe – meaning 6 paddlers for the entire distance (versus change races – see below). Typically seats 1,3,5 paddle on one side and 2,4 paddle together on the other. Approximately every 12-15 strokes everyone changes sides on a ‘hut’ call. Seat six paddles as much as possible while steering the canoe with ‘pokes’ that act as a rudder for the canoe to manoeuvre it. Because of the conditions seat 5 would sometimes stay on the left longer to help keep us from ‘huli-ing’ (flipping over).
Raced with the Jericho girls on their second crew for the 18km race – they had asked me to steer because JD wasn’t comfortable in the conditions (best thing when dealing with the ocean is knowing your limits!) It was awesome to jump in with them even though I haven’t actually paddled in 3 months. It was by far the hardest race I've steered - I've steered in bigger water but there was just something so unrelenting here - it seemed like there should come a point when it would settle down and get a little bit easier (as we were rounding part of the island) but it never did. Combine that with reef on one side and occasional lack of power in the canoe... I think I was a little scared once or twice... learning for sure. It didn't help that we had a super light ama but we dealt with it - JD spent a good portion of the upwind time on the left, but we were solid... We surfed nicely on the downwind... the bonus of Vancouver paddling and English Bay conditions - surfing all the little stuff – we didn’t have the power to catch the big waves so we let the big ones go by and we got the little bumps that came behind them that really moved us along...
I jumped in to steer a mixed crew after as well (8km) mostly Canadians and we were giving Nappy Napolean's crew a run for their money... he was steering and I followed him on the upwind and then took a slightly different line downwind and we almost caught them - we walked away from a crew that was right beside us the whole way because they were waiting for the big surf and we grabbed all the little bumps it was like a 4:1 ratio which really helped us.... take what works right? Was great to get back out there paddling (and steering again) – just like riding a bike and it was amazing to see how Crossfit allowed me to stay strong and paddle hard throughout.
I jumped in to steer a mixed crew after as well (8km) mostly Canadians and we were giving Nappy Napolean's crew a run for their money... he was steering and I followed him on the upwind and then took a slightly different line downwind and we almost caught them - we walked away from a crew that was right beside us the whole way because they were waiting for the big surf and we grabbed all the little bumps it was like a 4:1 ratio which really helped us.... take what works right? Was great to get back out there paddling (and steering again) – just like riding a bike and it was amazing to see how Crossfit allowed me to stay strong and paddle hard throughout.
Tuesday November 22 – rest day… really sore from Monday’s races, a little bruised on my left side from the gunnel too. Wanted to get a workout in but we were all over the place all day so it didn’t happen.
Wednesday November 23
Vacation WOD #3
Round Raro Relay – 38 km change race
3:37:05 (I paddle approx. 2:20)
For those that aren’t outrigger paddlers, a change races is the same as for the iron races above however the crew is composed of 9 paddlers. The distances are longer and therefore paddlers ‘rotate’ out of the canoe to get a rest/food/water in the escort boat (motorized). For changes – the escort boat drops the paddlers getting into the canoe in the water ahead of the canoe and the canoe comes to them – they get in on the ama side (left) of the canoe while the paddlers getting out for a rest drop out on the non-ama side (right). These paddlers are then picked up by the escort boat. The theory is to be really quick at getting in the canoe to avoid slowing it down (the paddlers remaining in the canoe are paddling while a change is happening).
This was a really fun race given that I woke up and prepared to race but didn’t actually have a crew to paddle with. An Australian crew (North Queensland) found me and asked me to paddle with them (thanks Lili!). I was deemed the ‘youngest looking masters (+35 years old) paddler ever’ which makes sense since I’d only been 35 for 20 days. Heh.
I really enjoyed this race because I had no expectations. It had been well over a year since I’d done a change into a canoe and the conditions were expected to be ‘challenging’ but still I was confident (as much as anyone should/could be going out into open water). I had a lot of fun, my changes were solid even while having to get into the canoe on top of someone at times and after the first piece where I had a chance to warm up/ work out the aches from Monday’s racing it felt good. The conditions made the kilometres pass quickly and it seemed liked we’d just started when we actually passed the half way mark. Having the Relay end on the same stretch as the Iron races also helped in gauging the distance left.
Some people on the escort boat managed to see some humpback whales and the front of our canoe saw a huge turtle – me, nothing but the pristine and stunningly blue waters of Rarotonga. It was a blast to get into a canoe and do this race. We came second in Masters as well which was just a bonus for a fun morning.
One of the highlights of this race (the race organizers ran an exceptional week all around!) was the local polynesian drummers that welcomed each canoe home (once a canoe rounded the last 100m or so home they started up) and the fresh fruit - watermelon, pineapples and coconuts that were served to us once on land - the baby coconuts were drilled open and came with a straw - nothing like recovery drink straight from the (neverending) source!
I really enjoyed this race because I had no expectations. It had been well over a year since I’d done a change into a canoe and the conditions were expected to be ‘challenging’ but still I was confident (as much as anyone should/could be going out into open water). I had a lot of fun, my changes were solid even while having to get into the canoe on top of someone at times and after the first piece where I had a chance to warm up/ work out the aches from Monday’s racing it felt good. The conditions made the kilometres pass quickly and it seemed liked we’d just started when we actually passed the half way mark. Having the Relay end on the same stretch as the Iron races also helped in gauging the distance left.
Some people on the escort boat managed to see some humpback whales and the front of our canoe saw a huge turtle – me, nothing but the pristine and stunningly blue waters of Rarotonga. It was a blast to get into a canoe and do this race. We came second in Masters as well which was just a bonus for a fun morning.
One of the highlights of this race (the race organizers ran an exceptional week all around!) was the local polynesian drummers that welcomed each canoe home (once a canoe rounded the last 100m or so home they started up) and the fresh fruit - watermelon, pineapples and coconuts that were served to us once on land - the baby coconuts were drilled open and came with a straw - nothing like recovery drink straight from the (neverending) source!
Thursday November 24 – this day technically didn’t exist for me – crossed the dateline on my way home. Jumping forward in time!
Friday November 25 – travel day – had a long layover in Brisbane and didn’t get home until almost 9pm so no workout
Saturday November 26 – Cooee 1st Birthday WOD (see next post)
I had bold ambitions to do a few more Crossfit WODS while I was away but with the delay in leaving and the lack of space to skip/do anything else (no grass) it was difficult though I think that I did get enough physical activity during the week with all the unplanned outrigger racing – it was a great change of pace.
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| Unexpected Entrant in the Round Raro Race - source |
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