Training Log and Goings on

January 6, 2005

Today Tanya Shuman scoped out the Holiday Inn Panthers
for wireless internet connections and scored. It is $4 for 30 minutes,
but well worth it. I sent out and received my first messages in one week,
since New Years in Sydney. All is well in cyberland.

Meanwhile: on the water.

Today I did two workouts, a two hour and 1.5 hour session.

My first workout was my first “breakthrough workout
since I got here. I finally started getting longer rides, nailing some
really big loops and space godzillas, and getting my clean blunts vertical.
I am also nailing my entry move- likely worth .75 on the variety sheet.
I never once completed my 45 second ride, in fact my longest ride was
still only 30 seconds, however, I was getting better on each ride throughout
the workout. I am starting to think that I was just rusty with the old
system. I practiced for it at Rock Island, but only in theory, doing bits
and pieces, but not really doing many competition rides.

As of today, I started to get the feel for the moves,
one after the other, and what happens when I don’t nail it the first
time. However:

1. I am not throwing the stern vertical after my blunts
2. I am not getting my going for my clean as often as I would like
3. I am not going vertical enough on my bow on the splits
4. My Space Godzilla is still not always twisting enough, and I sometimes
initiate it in the shallow spots.
5. My Lunar Orbit needs to be more consistent.
6. Add back loop?
7. Phonix Monkey, backstabs, McNasty, etc. are all still problem moves
for me. My phonix is better than anybody’s here so far but I wouldn’t
recommend that anybody else do it either.

My body is getting used to training again after the
three weeks of paddling my creekboat, or vacation. My timing on the break
was perfect to have me rested for these three weeks. I am super hungry
to train and am paddling during most of the available time. The slalom
paddlers have until 10:30 am, then it is open training from 10:30-3:00
and I paddle the whole time except for a quick bite to eat. Right now
my ribs, arms, stomach, neck, and shoulders are all a little sore, but
my training at Rock Island has me as prepared for the volume of paddling
as I could be, so that I can train hard straight through to the event.
Many of the top paddlers here are already taking days off and complaining
about being sore and tired; good.

Workout #2- no video

In This workout I took bits and pieces of the routine
and worked on them. I was airing out my loops and going HUGE. I would
like to get some photos of them, it is really fun to go high like that.
My blunts got a little better too. My re-entry move is doing really well
80% of the time. I would like to be a little more consistent, like 100%
but well see.

Today Scott from Canada, who is by the way, paddling
incredibly well suggested poker night and, of course, I am in! John Dean,
who was our shipping manager, and now is our shipping and inventory manager
(helping Major Hal Tutor, our current inventory manager, retire a second
time, voluntarily) got me hooked on poker night at the factory.

So, at 7pm, Scott will bring over some innocent victims
and we will play poker at the Jackson’s.

January 7, 2005

Last night was poker night, cool. The entire U.S. Junior
Men’s Freestyle Team played! Dane, Todd Baker, and Justin Patt,
along with Billy Harris, Scott (from Canada- don’t know his last
name), and I were the players. I went to the mall to try to round up a
poker set with chips, but they don’t exist in Penrith, Australia.
(what’s with that, no Texas hold’em?) So I went to the liquor
store and asked for nickels and dimes, only to get funny looks, finally
realizing that I needed to ask for 5 cent and 10 cent pieces and then
I got some. I got enough coins to use for the 7 of us to buy in for at
least $5. Once the boys, and Carly got there, they wanted to play a game
for practice, so we used my coins for free and played. I won my own money
back. We played until there was only three players left, Billy was going
big, then lost it all betting big with a nothing hand. There are two well
known blunders in the world, first, never get involved in a land war in
China, and only slightly less known, never expect to get away with bluffing
a bunch of kayakers with a bad hand in poker, they never let you buy your
way out of it.

I got a couple of incriminating photos, that I was
going to keep to use for blackmailing Todd and Justin, and Billy (their
coach here). Dane is in the photo too, but I can’t really blackmail
him, since he lives with me. For the record, the beer is mine, and no
they didn’t have any. But you have to admit, it looks a little funny
to see the junior men’s team in the middle of a poker game, no?

Today’s workout-

I will go for max variety in 10 seconds, 20 seconds,
and 45 seconds. This means- do a 10 second ride going for as much as I
can get in that time, 5 rides each. Goal: To get the variety moves fast
and on the first try. On average you can do one move per 3 seconds, if
done right the first time. A little faster with the cartwheels.

10 seconds- Entry move- air loop, cartwheel left,
super clean left, both splits, clean right.
20 seconds, Add clean blunts, blunts
45 seconds, add Space Godzilla, Back Air Loop, Lunar Orbit, Phonix Monkey,
Tricky Woo

🙂 EJ