The WMG have been my training focus for the last couple of years, and I’ve put in plenty of time and effort to prepare. It was a treat to be on the start line with world class paddlers like Peter Micheler, Vincent Fondeviole and Donald Johnstone. Off-water, the camaraderie of the Masters Games made it [...]
World Masters Games, Auckland 2017; Dropping the weight of expectations.
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Effort vs Age
I’ve become increasingly aware of two countervailing forces in my paddling life. On one side is the training effort that leads to improvement, on the other is the decline brought about by increasing age. This season it feels like a pretty even match between the two! I raced in 10 slaloms over my first full [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Is it worth doing dry land training for kayaking?
I’ve just spent two and a half weeks on holiday with my family, relaxing in the sun in Sardinia. This was the longest time I’ve spent off the water for well over a year, and a stark contrast to the previous few months when I was able to put in a solid training block that [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
“You don’t stop paddling because you get old, you get old because you stop paddling”
The 2013 slalom season 2013 has been an amazing slalom season. I’ve achieved much of what I set out to do and really enjoyed myself along the way. My first slalom career lasted from 1978 to 1990, so I feel immensely appreciative that I’m able to have a second crack at this brilliant sport. Watching [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Ivrea World Masters Games
I’ve written a descriptive report of the Masters Games for Sportscene (http://www.sportscene.tv/whitewater/canoe-slalom/news/canoe-slalom-at-the-torino-world-masters-games) so now I’m taking a much more personal perspective, in keeping with the ethos of Diary of a Middle Aged Kayaker. “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” ― Salvador Dali I came across this quote at a Dali art [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
What does a coach do?
Over the last few months I’ve been training pretty regularly, paddling three or four times a week on top of daily circuit and cardio training. My core training has been twice weekly coached sessions at Lee Valley. I’ve found it really useful to have the feedback and focus that comes from working with a coach. [...]
The slalom season begins
Most of my recent paddling has been in a slalom boat, training at Lee Valley. GB Canoeing has started twice weekly training sessions as part of its Olympic Legacy programme, and although this is targeted at young paddlers I’ve been able to join in. As Paul Ratcliffe said, it’s about creating a healthy slalom ecosystem [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Re-building your confidence
I was prompted to write this after reading this blog post from Louise Jull, describing her experience of an injury on the Green River. http://playak.com/news.php?idd=2129836684817 I wanted to write something that would be helpful for anyone in her situation – so I hope this is useful! Everyone knows that whitewater kayaking depends on your ability to [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Parenting Athletes
My last post about paddling parents provoked a great response. In particular from Tim Ward, who emailed me about his experience as the parent of a competitive paddler – Alan Ward, who was junior World Champion in freestyle. I thought it was worth putting Tim’s note up here because it contains some real nuggets based [...]
Categorized in kayaking, motivation
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Learning to be a paddling parent
One of the themes of the London 2012 Games was ‘inspire a generation’. In my case it certainly worked. Seeing the Olympic slalom competition first hand was a real buzz and for the first time my girls are asking ‘when can we go kayaking again?’ I’m really pleased about this, because for the last [...]
- Comments Off
- Email to friend
- Blog it
- Stay updated
Bad Behavior has blocked 77 access attempts in the last 7 days.