Blackburn Challenge, 7/10 (long)

[Dee Hall]

Preparing for this race involved a lot of time at the 'Y' doing cardiovascular workouts and weight training. I really didn't get the opportunity to start training on the water before the Mystic and Chebacco Lake sessions started. At Mystic, Adam would lead me through a bunch of training exercises that ran me ragged, and then I repeated these exercises at Chebacco.

This went on for a few weeks, and then about two and a half weeks before the race, I finally got out on the ocean. Liz and Rick Crangle and I launched from Back Beach one Wednesday evening, and paddled to the Greasy Pole. Rick kept dashing ahead, while I stayed back with Liz. It was a slow pace taking us 3 hours to go 10.5 miles.

The following Sunday, Rick and I did a partial circumnavigation of Cape Ann that Rick called the Blackburn the Hard Way. We paddled from Lane's Cove to Brace Cove and back. It took about 3 miles to feel warmed up, felt like I could go forever for the next 9 miles or so, and then I started to feel tired and had to work harder to maintain the same pace. The first 15 miles we did at a 4+ knot pace. The last couple of miles were into a 20 knot headwind and took me 55 minutes. It was only a few months ago that I would have been happy to achieve a 2 knot pace in a 20 knot headwind, but this day I was discouraged. The total trip of 17 miles took us 4 1/2 hours. Despite drinking 2 liters of water during the first 13 miles, I didn't have the need to pee until the very end (always a plus), I did stop paddling twice to eat some homemade hardtack and peanut butter which tasted much better than it looked as the water condensed inside the Ziploc baggy. I was really spent afterwards and had nasty raspberries 3 inches across on the back of each thigh from the front of my seat.

The next Saturday, I failed to find someone to paddle the entire route with me. I went anyway. I left at 2:30PM which should have put me at a similar tide as the day of the race. I wore a shorty wetsuit in case of an unplanned wet exit and to protect the abrasions on my legs. I decided not to put peanut butter on the hardtack to avoid the icky condensation. It took about 5 miles this time to warm up, and then the next 7 miles felt great. I started feeling fatigued after that and Gloucester Harbor felt like an endless slog. Again, I stopped twice for hardtack, finished my 2 liters of water at about the same distance, and didn't have to pee before landing at the Greasy Pole. The conditions were flat with a 10 knot westerly wind that required ferrying during both long crossings. My total time for 18.5 miles - 4 1/2 hours. There are no new abrasions on my legs, but I do have a rash on my chest.

The day of the race I had to get up at 4:30AM (ugh). I was on the road by 5:15, passed John Leonard and his surf ski at about 5:30, and reached the boat launch at 5:45. I put my boat next to Alex's which was next to Andrew's. Pretty soon we had nearly the whole NSPN "team" together on the grass next to the ramp (add John, Liz, Paul, and Ciro.) There was also a woman in a lace shirt with a Pintail from Connecticut whose name just didn't stick with me despite several introductions. After checking in, I dropped Liz's boat at the Pole and walked back with plenty of time for the skipper's meeting and a last trip to the bathroom. Then we launched and paddled to the starting line in time to see the dories start.

While the women kayakers gathered together waiting, introductions were made as nearly everyone knew someone who was there before them. Finally there were ten of us, three with wing paddles, which meant there were 6 other women in the touring class with me including Alex, Liz, Chick (who beat me in the ROTC), and the woman in the Pintail.

At the start, I realized that I definitely wasn't going to make ith through the race without peeing. Everybody else says they just pee in their boats, so I guessed it's no big deal. The countdown ends and Alex and the three racing boats charged ahead. The Pintail and another boat were behind them. Chick and Jill (a strong athlete in a beamy, plastic boat) were in front of Liz and I who brought up the rear. Much to my surprise, Liz was staying right beside me. I tried not to look surprised, and then I noticed that she wasn't using the Little Dipper. She had a serious looking wide-bladed, high angle paddle which she had borrowed from Alex. We paddled together through the Annisquam. Having company was definitely an improvement over my quite training paddle, but my left shoulder hurt which hadn't happened the week before. I tried varying my stroke a bit. We passed Jim Fessenden and his girfriend after the 128 bridge and Walter and company as we approaced Wingearsheek.

The men started passing us at Wingearsheek. I didn't recognize the first 10. Chick and Jill started slowing down a bit at that point and not longer stretched the gap between us. Andrew passed us at the mouth of the Annisquam. I started recognizing some of the other men after we passed the lighthouse. Ken, Paul, Jed, and Ciro. The sea was almost dead calm with the only significant waves coming from boat wakes. The westerly wind was behind us and about the same speed as us. I noticed that my shoulder didn't hurt anymore.

We started closing the gap a little on Chick and Jill, and passed a couple of dories (those guys really have heart!) Soon Chick took off leaving Jill the only other woman that wasn't lost in the sea of kayaks, dories, racing shells, and outrigger canoes. It was a somewhat breathtaking sight as there appeared to be nearly a hundred boats stretched off into the horizon in front of us.

We passed Lane's Cove and Folly Cove. I still didn't feel warmed up yet. The distance between us and Jill shrank a bit, and the rest of the boats were starting to get much more spread out in front of us. I didn't look back. We rounded Halibut Point and Andrews Point and I fixed my gaze on Thacher's as it lines up with Straitsmouth. I was surpised to see nearly all of the boats in front of us well to the left of my line of sight. We started ferrying, keeping the center of the two lighthouses in the gap. The boats nearest us continued moving to my left. There was a small amount of swell which I tried (and failed) to catch. Liz dropped back with Jill, and I started passing a few of the men who had passed us earlier - a purple/white Necky, yellow/white Romany, and a red/white Epic. Oh, and then there was the guy in the blue SOT with a large cooler strapped to the deck.

My path converged with the others' at Straitsmouth. Now that they weren't traveling a longer distance, the Epic pulled ahead a bit and the Necky and Romany paddled beside me for a while. I finally felt warmed up. I guess that early mornings aren't my highest performance time of day. I chatted a bit with the guy in the Romany. My stomach started to growl, so I stuffed a couple of pieces of hardtack in my mouth. Unfortunately, I didn't notice Rick, Janis, etc. on Straitsmouth Island. Liz told me about it later.

We passed Land's End and I pointed my bow at Brace Rock (god it looks so much farther than 4 miles.) The boats were again spread out to my starboard side. I started ferrying, but by watching the lobster pots I realized that not much was required. As the land dropped away to me right, the wind started to feel a bit cooler - a welcome relief. The other kayaks continued to drift off to the left and I started to pass some again. The same three as before plus someone way the heck out in a white boat. The boat was so far out I wondered if it was someone in the race or a random paddler. I passed red nun #4 off of Salt Ledge and ate some more hard tack. My first bag of water ran out soon after that. I slipped the tube of the second through my PFD.

At this point, my bladder was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable, so I decided it was time to do something about it. Unfortunately, my subconscious didn't agree. I kept paddling while my two minds had it out. My subconcious won. I decided that it merely one battle won and that eventually my bladder would be so full that my conscious (and rational) mind would win the war.

After another mile, the land moved back in to greet me. I cut in real close to minimize the distance. The purple and yellow boats passed me as I approached Brace Cove and the red boat pulled even with me. The white boat was well behind me now. As I cut through the rocks along shore, the red boat dropped directly behind me. As we crossed Brace Cove I looked for the boomer at the middle. I thought it would be funny to go right over it since the guy in the red boat was obviously feeling so secure behind me. Too late I spotted it about 20 feet to my left. Shoot. He continued to follow me through the rocks on the other side of the Cove. I decided to try to loose him and maybe catch up with the purple and yellow boats, however, when I tried to put more into my stroke my bladder felt very uncomfortable. Again, my subconcious won. I thought, four women far ahead of me and two comfortably behind. I could live with that placement.

We continued like this around Eastern Point, and as we started along Dog Bar I noticed that the white boat was finally catching back up with us. Near the end of the bar, I looked back and thought, boy, that boat is really low volume. Again, I looked back and sure enough it was a Pintail! Three women behind and ahead, but the Pintail was slowly catching up. I felt like I had enough in me to sprint to the finish, but as I tried to push harder and rotate more, my bladder shrieked in protest. My subconscious won the war, and the Pintail passed. Up ahead I saw the Romany pointed the wrong way and realized he was rescuing a capsized surfski. What a nice guy, ok, I really thought, nice guy, glad I didn't have to do the rescue because I can't imagine delaying my landing time any more than necessary. All I can think about is getting out of the boat and sitting in the water.

Liz is right, that Harbor has to be at least 6 miles long, maybe 8. The boat wakes make it the choppiest part of the trip. Yeah, I really needed to be jounced around like that. I also felt like I was sucking on the exhaust pipe of a motorboat. The Romany passed me again. I passed some dories not realizing in my discomfort until I am right on top of the first one that I have to go all the way around the long oars. Finally, I wasted valuable seconds trying to figure out whether to go between the racing bouy and the Pole or between the racing bouy and the officials' boat next to it. Some competitors go one way, some go the other. I go next to the boat. I check my watch. It is about 12:18. If we started on time (I forgot to check), my time is 4 hours and 15 minutes. 15 minutes faster than the previous week.

Finally, I am on the beach. Once I am in the water, my subconscious no longer has a complaint. The next day, my body is barely sore. Looks like I probably could have sprinted down the Harbor if the situtation had been slightly different. Maybe next year.

Update: It looks like we started late. My time was 4 hours and 6 minutes. Liz was only 6 mintues behind me. The first and second place finishers (Alex and Sharon) were only 30 seconds apart. The spread between 3rd and 7th was less than 14 minutes. An exciting race for the women in general.

[eneumeier]

>Preparing for this race involved a lot of time at the 'Y' doing >cardiovascular workouts and weight training. I really didn't get the >opportunity to start training on the water before the Mystic and >Chebacco Lake sessions started. At Mystic, Adam would lead me through >a bunch of training exercises that ran me ragged, and then I repeated >these exercises at Chebacco.

I got to the Y an average of once every other week in the two months before 7/10.

>This went on for a few weeks, and then about two and a half weeks >before the race, I finally got out on the ocean. Liz and Rick Crangle >and I launched from Back Beach one Wednesday evening, and paddled to >the Greasy Pole. Rick kept dashing ahead, while I stayed back with >Liz. It was a slow pace taking us 3 hours to go 10.5 miles.

Heh. Heh.

>The following Sunday, Rick and I did a partial circumnavigation of >Cape Ann that Rick called the Blackburn the Hard Way. We paddled from >Lane's Cove to Brace Cove and back.

The following Sunday I joined Jeff Casey for his lazy beach trip. Good food was served. (I had to build up my strength.)

> I was really spent afterwards and had nasty raspberries 3 inches >across on the back of each thigh from the front of my seat.

I probably spent more time perfecting my seat than training, but I had no nasty raspberries on my thighs. :-))

>The next Saturday, I failed to find someone to paddle the entire route >with me. I went anyway.

Way to go, Dee!

I went to Maine for the 4th with Bob and Geri and paddled out to watch the cute puffins. Actually, I'm discovering that hard training is not really my thing - having fun paddling is. But I am good at the determination thing once I get going.

>The day of the race I had to get up at 4:30AM (ugh). I was on the >road by 5:15,

I got up and had coffee at 5:15. I do love that home court advantage.

>There was also a woman in a lace shirt with a Pintail from Connecticut

Now I must track her down. Doing that time in a Pintail is impressive!

>After checking in, I dropped Liz's boat at the Pole and walked back >with plenty of time for the skipper's meeting and a last trip to the >bathroom.

Actually Dee drove my car over to the finish line area, which was really nice of her. She didn't try to hide my boat, which would have been really mean.

>Much to my surprise, Liz was staying right beside me. I tried not to >look surprised,

Heh. Heh. Ah Dee, you failed - to not look surprised. I wish I had a camera to capture your expression when you said, "you are paddling a lot faster than when we went out before" and, after looking at your GSP "you know, you are going well over 4 knots." I decided to stay with you as long as I could just for the fun of watching you wonder if you were going to be able to beat me - even though I knew pretty early on that I would not be able to sustain that pace. I was actually surprised I was able to keep it up to Sandy Bay.

>and then I noticed that she wasn't using the Little Dipper. She had a >serious looking wide-bladed, high angle paddle which she had borrowed >from Alex.

It was a Kauai. Thanks Alex!!!!

> We passed Jim Fessenden and his girfriend after the 128 bridge and

>Walter and company as we approaced Wingearsheek.

Great to see friends out there!

>The men started passing us at Wingearsheek. I didn't recognize the >first 10. Chick and Jill started slowing down a bit at that point and >not longer stretched the gap between us. Andrew passed us at the >mouth of the Annisquam.

Muttering something about his Gin in his Camelback being too warm, or was it too cold?

> I started recognizing some of the other men after we passed the >lighthouse. Ken, Paul, Jed, and Ciro.

I kept telling the guys to smile. Mark Jacobson asked "when?" I replied "the finish line." I trust he did: he was third when he passed us, and first across the finish line. Ciro and John Leonard were the only ones smiling. I think we need a smiling workshop.

>Liz dropped back with Jill,

Jill and I had a nice chat for a while. She lives in Annisquam, is a real athlete - VERY strong - although paddling is not her sport. As Dee started to pull away she asked if I was going to catch "that girl in the green kayak." I said no - I knew Dee was gone from my reach. She said she would. I said go for it. She didn't make it.

>Oh, and then there was the guy in the blue SOT with a large cooler

>strapped to the deck.

I asked him if he had brought his own beer, he said no, it was his lunch. Big appetite!

> Unfortunately, I didn't notice Rick, Janis, etc. on Straitsmouth >Island. Liz told me about it later.

Great turnout out there!!!!

>We passed Land's End and I pointed my bow at Brace Rock (god it looks >so much farther than 4 miles.) The boats were again spread out to my >starboard side. I started ferrying, but by watching the lobster pots >I realized that not much was required. As the land dropped away to me >right, the wind started to feel a bit cooler - a welcome relief.

That breeze really was welcome. A bit to cool us off, but not enough to interfere as last year's headwind did. I could not get over how much more quickly I paddled that stretch this year.

>As we crossed Brace Cove I looked for the boomer at the middle.

I was watching for Bemo too, and remembered it being closer to shore than it is. All of a sudden I heard this sound, looked left and thought oh s**t. If I had been 5 yards more to the left, I could have reinacted a certain end-o from last fall. As it was, I got a bit of a push along my way.

> Again, I looked back and sure enough it was a Pintail!

Susan Beachum paddled that Pintail WAY out the whole course. I'm not sure why. She must have covered an extra 2 miles. Without that, she would surely have placed. I kept watching her silouette in the distance.

> Three women behind and ahead, but the Pintail was slowly catching up. >I felt like I had enough in me to sprint to the finish, but as I tried >to push harder and rotate more, my bladder shrieked in protest.

Maybe we need a how to pee in your boat workshop. :-))

>Liz is right, that Harbor has to be at least 6 miles long, maybe 8. >The boat wakes make it the choppiest part of the trip.

The chop seemed to be slowing Jill down a bit so I decided to try to catch her. I had swallowed my last packet of "Carb Blast" at the Dogbar light so it was in full force: glucose and caffeine. Can there be a better combination? Unlike last year when I limped across the finish line, this time I sprinted the last mile. I would have caught Jill but she saw me coming and kicked it up too.

I caught my only good ride of the day from a fishing boat zooming in past Ten Pound Island, so I'm not complaining about the chop. (There were some folks fishing off a small boat right there, who looked horribly alarmed when they saw the wake heading at me. I think they were surprised when they saw what I did with it.)

>If we started on time (I forgot to check), my time is 4 hours and 15 >minutes. 15 minutes faster than the previous week.

I forgot my watch and had no idea of my time until the preliminary results were posted. Am I happy with my time? Yes.

>The next day, my body is barely sore.

Only my calves were a bit sore. And I was much less tired tha last year. Full strength Gatorade and Carb Blast mixed in water, both sipped frequently all along the course helped, I'm sure.

>Update: It looks like we started late. My time was 4 hours

>and 6 minutes. Liz was only 6 mintues behind me. The first

>and second place finishers (Alex and Sharon) were only 30

>seconds apart. The spread between 3rd and 7th was less than

>14 minutes. An exciting race for the women in general.

Definitely getting to be more competitive. Alex beat her last year's time by 30 minutes. So, if I attribute 30 minutes of the improvement in my time to conditions, I did meet my goal of taking 30 minutes off my 2003 time.

Hopefully more women will come out next year!

Liz N.

[Dee Hall]

>The following Sunday I joined Jeff Casey for his lazy beach

>trip. Good food was served. (I had to build up my strength.)

>

>> I was really spent afterwards and had nasty raspberries 3 inches >across on the back of each thigh from the front of my seat.

>

>I probably spent more time perfecting my seat than training,

>but I had no nasty raspberries on my thighs. :-))

>

Ironically, while I waited for you guys to return from the beach, I sat on the roof of the Subaru and modified the seat of the Solstice. I untied some rope holding the seat back and stuffed the back under the coaming to keep it out of the way. Huge improvement. Later, I added a gel YakPad to top of the stack of foam you gave me and eliminated the rubbing on the back of my thighs.

>>After checking in, I dropped Liz's boat at the Pole and walked back >with plenty of time for the skipper's meeting and a last trip to the >bathroom.

>

>Actually Dee drove my car over to the finish line area,

>which was really nice of her. She didn't try to hide my

>boat, which would have been really mean.

>

Yeah, but it would have been funny.

>>Much to my surprise, Liz was staying right beside me. I tried not to >look surprised,

>

>Heh. Heh. Ah Dee, you failed - to not look surprised. I wish

>I had a camera to capture your expression when you said,

>"you are paddling a lot faster than when we went out before"

>and, after looking at your GSP "you know, you are going well

>over 4 knots." I decided to stay with you as long as I could

>just for the fun of watching you wonder if you were going to

>be able to beat me - even though I knew pretty early on that

>I would not be able to sustain that pace. I was actually

>surprised I was able to keep it up to Sandy Bay.

>

Actually, I don't own a GPS. I had the split times between each landmark on the route. Since I didn't check the time at the start, I didn't know that we were really more than 4.5 knots.

>>and then I noticed that she wasn't using the Little Dipper. She had a >serious looking wide-bladed, high angle paddle which she had borrowed >from Alex.

>

>It was a Kauai. Thanks Alex!!!!

>

I have a lot to thank Alex for. The advice that Alex, Liz, Andrew, and Adam gave me in the weeks preceding was invaluable. So was the Burts Beeswax and paddle wax that Alex shared with me. Oh, and I can't forget the duck tape that Paul let us all have. I thought my usual stash would be enough. Not even close. Finally, many thanks to Shane for the use of the boat.

>Jill and I had a nice chat for a while. She lives in

>Annisquam, is a real athlete - VERY strong - although

>paddling is not her sport. As Dee started to pull away she

>asked if I was going to catch "that girl in the green

>kayak." I said no - I knew Dee was gone from my reach. She

>said she would. I said go for it. She didn't make it.

>

Liz kept up with me for 7 miles. I was definitely disappointed when she dropped back.

>Susan Beachum paddled that Pintail WAY out the whole course.

>I'm not sure why. She must have covered an extra 2 miles.

>Without that, she would surely have placed. I kept watching

>her silouette in the distance.

>

With a 17+' waterline, she might have won.

>>The next day, my body is barely sore.

>

>Only my calves were a bit sore. And I was much less tired

>tha last year. Full strength Gatorade and Carb Blast mixed

>in water, both sipped frequently all along the course

>helped, I'm sure.

>

My second 2 liters was half Gatorade. Although I should avoid sugar, I felt it would be good to have in an emergency. I drank a small amount of it. My only other source of energy was the four small pieces of hardtack. My body's ability to convert stored energy has improved dramatically with this training. I am still not in Rick Crangle's league though.

>Definitely getting to be more competitive. Alex beat her

>last year's time by 30 minutes. So, if I attribute 30

>minutes of the improvement in my time to conditions, I did

>meet my goal of taking 30 minutes off my 2003 time.

>

Having 10 women at the starting line was very cool. Having us all finish so close together was even more cool.