I finished a 100km kayak event!

Happy and smiling at the beginning of the 2012 Hawkesbury Canoe Classic

I am very proud to say that I finished the 2012 Hawkesbury Canoe Classic this weekend. Read about it in my blog entry last week. There were many times during the race when I considered the option of pulling out, or wondered how I could summon the energy to finish, but my stubborness got me to the finish line.

I started paddling at Windsor at 4.15pm. I made good progress in the first 30 km stage to Sackville. I maintained an average speed of 7.9 km/hr and arrived at Sackville 15 minutes before my predicted time. I was starting to feel tired, but still felt well and truly good enough to continue. 30 km is the longest distance I had ever paddled before entering this race.

The sun set while I was at Sackville on my 15 minute break. I changed into a thermal top, put on dry pants, changed my sunglasses to clear glasses (for the bugs and splash), had a bite to eat, stocked up on bananas and then jumped back in my kayak.

I set off from Sackville in the dark. Despite there being a full moon, there was complete cloud cover. While it wasn't too dark at this point, later in the night it was pitch black, and I had to rely completely on my GPS (as did a few other paddlers who had only taken maps). Once again I made good time on the 30 km from Sackville to Wiseman's Ferry. This is generally regarded as the hardest part of the race, because you're paddling at the time when your body normally goes to sleep. I struggled with cramps in my upper arms, and my bum had started to ache. When you use the correct technique, you swivel your bum on your seat, so that you can use body rotation to help pull the paddle back in the water. I had padding on my seat, but either I haven't got it exactly right yet, or it just takes some getting used to.

The thing that saved me on this stretch was wash riding. This is where you sit with the nose of your boat right on the tail of someone else's boat and benefit from their wash. You save up to 30% of your energy and can also pick up speed with less effort. As an example, I picked up my top speed of 11.7 km/hr while wash riding. I was following a karaoke boat (they had music playing), which made it even more pleasant. I don't think I could have finished this section as easily without this help. Once again I arrived at my next rest spot about half an hour ahead of program.

Still happy and smiling at 1am during a
clothing and food stop at Wisemans Ferry

I was in great spirits at Wiseman's Ferry. I stopped for 45 minutes and mainly rested and took advantage of the toilets. Some people pee in their boats, but I just can't bring myself to do that. I hadn't eaten much on the last stretch because I was feeling nauseus, and only managed to eat one sausage during my break (not enough).

I had a great start out of Wiseman's, paddling at 8 km/hr for an hour. Then I crashed. I was tired, my arms, wrist and bum were aching, my neck was tight, and my heels had blistered. After another hour of reasonable speed but a regular sensation of wanting to nod off to sleep, I couldn't resist the call of the sirens at the Low Tide Pit Stop. This stop is a low island that gets completely covered at high tide, so is a mud pit at low tide. The service at this stop is excellent though. They pull you and your boat up over the deep mud, so you can stay relatively clean, then serve you with tea/coffee, scones and other sweet treats and provide a fantastic fire to warm you up. It's a great pick-me-up and people sometimes find it hard to leave. Unfortunately as I left, the action of my kayak sliding slowly back on the mud, then rapidly gaining speed as it hit the water (backwards), resulted in me half falling in the water. Not good at 3 am, when it was around 10 degrees and there was a cool breeze.

Fortunately I dried off pretty quickly. I handled the first 5 km at a good speed; partly to stay warm. That burst of speed died off and I found myself facing my final 15 km with zero energy, severe body aches and insufficient mental energy to push me through. I had to keep going though, and that painful 15 km took me three hours, paddling against the tide and wind.

As I approached the finish line, paddling at about 3 km/hr, I began crying. I think it was from relief, but I got some funny looks from spectators. I needed help to get out of my boat, as I had no strength left in my arms or my legs but I survived the race with very little damage. No major blisters, abrasions from things rubbing against your skin for hours while you are wet, and my tennis elbow hasn't flared up. I am just exhausted and sore, and I'm sure I'll forget all about that in a week or two.

I arrived at Mooney Mooney at 8.05am, giving me a total time of 15 hours and 50 minutes, which apparantly is respectable for a first-timer. That time includes my stops that totalled about 1 hour 20 minutes, leaving a paddling time of 14 hours 30 minutes (6.9 km/hr).

Hopefully this blog will remind me how hard the Classic is, when someone tries to convince me to enter it in 2013.

A big thankyou to everyone that sponsored me in this event. The Classic raised over $200,000 for the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation. A special thanks also goes to my landcrew (she knows who she is). I couldn't have done the race without her.