"Just keep swimming"

A friend of mine told me this recently because my training with Kenmore-Cascade Canoe and Kayak club has been challenging to say the least.  The Nelo ML has not been an easy transition for me. I've been in the water more times than I care to admit to. Plus, tipping over and swimming is not productive or good for confidence, but it is part of the learning curve. Rather than tell you what to do to stay upright, I can tell you what not to do: 1) Don’t get back in the boat after getting dragged out of the water and try to hurry too much, take your time and get in the boat properly 2) Whatever you do, don’t stop paddling!! The paddle is your best friend to keeping upright.   

Each day I have been going out with the goal of getting more comfortable in the boat. The positive is that I have improved in how far I’ve made it before swimming. The 47 degree water is mighty chilly, and a strong motivator to stay relaxed and do everything to avoid going in the drink. The past 3 workouts I thankfully haven’t swam at all! The negative is that my swimming fun times wore my body down and I got very sick and had to take several days off. It’s hard to sit around and try to feel better when my brain is constantly thinking about paddling, and the nice days on the water I was missing.  

Thankfully I was able to return to training today and I made it over 10km, without swimming! Hopefully confidence breeds confidence as I move on to interval workouts this week. If not, I’ll “just keep swimming” until I get it.