What are the chances of a Novice paddler, training for only 4 weeks, completing a 25km Surf Ski race?

Well, you are about to find out! MultiCoach has taken on the task (and experiment!) of taking one times beginner paddler, Erik Klootwyk, and in only 4 weeks, teaching him how to paddle and get fit enough to race and complete a 25km Surf Ski race. Follow the story here on the blog, as we will report back on how his training is going, with photo’s and videos of his progress.

We will be starting officially tomorrow, the 28th March 2011. So come back and have a look at the full plan of action then. For today, we are going down to the beach to test out our ski of choice, The Genius CLK, which is the more stable version of the G20. Erik is also going to be doing a few fitness tests, so that we have a benchmark level to compare with over the next few weeks.

I am super excited about this project! It’s a pretty big ask but we will see how it goes.

WARNING:

Please do not try this at home!

Erik is competitive cyclist, with a good aerobic base level of fitness. He is under my care and instructions, and I will be making sure the load level is adjusted to suit his level of fitness. We will be doing a lot of injury prevention work, as well as strengthening. I will be perfecting his technique as well, to make sure he has no problems out on the water.

After The Doctor Ski Race, we went South of Perth, to Margaret River. Better known for its big wave surfing, we were there to do a ski race. Marg’s is a pretty cool place, reminded me of The Garden Route here where I live.

The Race was fun, pretty low-key, with fun wind. We started in Gnarabup, and paddled North towards Grace Town. The SUP’s went off first, followed by the women, and then 5 minutes later the men. After about an hour of downwind, we turned around a rock and headed in to the Beach. I won from Ruth Highman and Lara Taylor. Jasper Mocke won the Men’s, followed by Tom Schilperoot, and Bruce Taylor (who took a short course:) )

Ruth Highman (2nd place) and Head Coach

The final race I was meant to do was in Mandurah, however with the predicted cyclone (for Sunday) Saturday’s race was cancelled! The Aussies sure are cautious…

Anyway, I am now back in SA, after a great time in Perth. I had a week off, and am now back into training. I have changed my whole approach, and will spend the next few blocks working on the neglected aspects of my paddling. So far I am loving the variety and change. Hope I can keep it up!

I had the most amazing paddle this morning. My usual suspect, Alexis Lyon, is away in the Kruger Park, so I had to drag my own sorry butt around the Plett Bay. The water was freezing, very unlike Plett, so I made sure I didn’t get wet going out through the shorebreak!

Although it was raining, there was a warm breeze blowing, and with all the swell in the Bay, there were awesome runs coming off the Robberg Penninsular. When I say “runs” I mean rebounding swell coming off the rock cliff. Some were as big as 3 foot, and broke like waves. Great fun, even the seals were catching them.

I always love seeing the seals there, because then, in my mind, their main predator is not around, otherwise they would be sitting n the rocks out of harm’s way

I am off to Spain on Tuesday, but first I have to do loads of admin (amazing how it piles up when you need to leave the country), fetch a rental car from George (My Renault’s windscreen wipers have broken, leaving the car useless in this weather we are experiencing, and I am currently waiting for the part to arrive from France!), pack, and fit in another training session… Crazy times. I have come to accept that I am a procrastinator, and I obviously need the pressure of last minute chores to achieve travelling success…

The EuroChallenge is going to be awesome. Looks like there is going to be great down wind, and I have never been to Spain, so a first time for anything is always going to be fun. Stopping in London on the way back, on my birthday, which should be great.

That’s it for now. Will be in touch. SurfSki.Info will be in Spain to cover the event, so stay tuned.

Robberg in the Summer time

Wow, wow, wow. Keep July 4th open because this event is going to become one of the Classics!

Back on the 16th if you need to get hold of me. I will return all emails then.

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