Hennesseys International and Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle Race Reports

So this is a combo "race" report. Notice i put the word race in quotes.

In my strive to stay active in the off season i have decided to take advantage of one of the main features that San Diego has to offer: THE OCEAN. I have quickly learned that if any activity has a racing element associated with it i HAVE to partake. Thus i have jumped in headfirst into the world of Stand Up Paddle Racing.

SUP has been a great way for me to stay fit while still enjoying my workouts. I will typically get in some sort of tri-specific workout in the morning then either go surf or SUP after work. I was having a blast with all the SUPing i was doing and decided to sign up for the Hennesseys International Paddle Race. This was a 6 mile out and back course in Mission Bay. When i got down to Mission Bay i quickly discovered that this was a pretty cool sport, with a nice mix of the race vibe with the surf culture. As i toed the waters edge with my competitors i quickly discovered that their boards looked much faster. And indeed they were, i ended up being the only participant on a surfing SUP rather than a racing SUP. This would be like doing a Time Trial on a beach cruiser rather than a tt bike. As the gun went off i was quickly left in everyone's wake and managed to limp home second to last.

WOW that was a humbling experience!!! But i still got in a great workout and had fun....So whats an athlete to do?

I sold my board and picked up a racing board that next week as i was determined to somewhat redeem myself at the Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle (one of the biggest races around).

Luckily the Battle of the Paddle went much better. This was an out and back 10 mile course along the coast line in Dana Point. I lined up with 180 other competitors out past the break and raced down to the pier and back. I was happy to see that i was just behind the middle of the pack as the race got under way which meant that i was doing better than last time haha! This being only my 10th or so time actually on a SUP board i was trying to pick up on the techniques of all the other watermen and noticed that stroke technique was VERY important to ones speed in the water. So this is something i will need to master before next season. As we made our way down the coastline i would pick paddlers up the way and try and catch them. This strategy worked really well as i was able to "come from behind" and pass a large number of racers. With about 3 miles to go i fell off my board and lost a few positions. Determined to regain my place i paddled all out to catch the group i was with and as i caught them i realized that i was not feeling signs of fatigue or any building lactic acid in my muscles. So i decided to keep going hard until i had to ease off. Well, much to my surprise i realized that i was able to hold this pace for the remaining 3 miles. Finally, as i approached the shore i attempted to time my approach so that i would ride a wave to the beach.....well that didn't go as planned. I caught a mini swell and glided a bit before getting tossed by the next wave in the set. Then it was a short run up the beach to the finish line with paddle in hand. I managed to finish top 10 in my age/craft class division.

Soooo i really love this new sport and cant wait for all the races next year. Im actually doing one final 6 mile race at the La Jolla Cove this Saturday, so that will be fun and hopefully i can further improve. I know i really need to work on stroke technique and am excited to start seeing improvement. Thats all for now, if any of you want to give SUP a try leme know and we can go out!

Happy Training/Racing.....and good luck to all racing Kona this weekend!