Well what a day today has been. A beautiful afternoon for a swim and my first kayak lesson with Simon. We started off nice and simple, just me in the kayak and him tipping it over. After a few goes I was able to resist the urge just to pop straight out and could hold myself under, count to 10 and then come out. This is a big improvement on my last effort and 4th form camp where I came straight out of the canoe instead of tapping the tune on the bottom before surfacing.
Next step was putting the skirt on and tipping in that. Getting the skirt on is a mission in itself and Sue and I bonded as we had to do a team effort to get the thing positioned right. The first couple of goes were great. I could feel the little tag at the front of the skirt and once ready to get out, gave it a tug and out I came.
On the third go, Si flipped me backwards rather than the usual sideways. That was all good. What wasn't so good was when I realised that when putting the skirt on the kayak I had accidentally put the tag under the skirt so was unable to grab it to release myself.
This is where panic set in. If I had been able to remain calm I could have got out by other means; but all that was going through my head was....how do I let them know I'm in trouble so they can come and get me, and I can't miss the divisional welcome tonight I'll get in trouble.
So I thrashed around under the water trying to stick my arm out of the water to signal for help, or get my head out of the water enough to yell help or hope that someone surely would realise I was in trouble and come and get me.
I was able to grab a quick breath and eventually caught a glimpse that I was near the edge of the pool and started yelling for help each time my mouth came near the surface.
I can laugh about it now, but at the time I seriously wasn't sure if I was going to ever get right side up. It was a hideous feeling being trapped under water knowing that your friends are just above you.
I've learned a couple of valuable lessons from today - always check your skirt to make sure nothing is tucked where it shouldn't be (a valuable lesson for any girl I think)
Panicking does nothing to help the situation, staying calm does
I can hold my breath for a reasonable length of time
My challenge now is to get back in the boat - for a few minutes afterwards I seriously thought that my dream of the C2C individual race was over as I couldn't face getting back in the water....
But with the perspective of time I will not be beaten just yet.....and I'll make sure that Simon is paying closer attention to my hand gestures :)
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2 comments:
Hi Shar,
What a great training partner you have. I know Aussie will love you getting him out on the road with you. He'll be waking you up every morning keeping you on your toes.
Training in the Kayak learning to right yourself after going under can be one of the most difficult things to master. Esther Hickin found this exercise the most difficult and terrifying of the whole learnig to Kayak experience. Unfortunately she failed her outdoor adventure Certificate because of not being able to right herself after she had tipped over. So, keep up the good work and training
Will read your progress now that I know your blog
Mum
Hi Shar,
Well I know kiri would love to be doing what you are doing but hasn't thought that far ahead in any sort of competition workout as such. I will have to pass this on to her. I haven't been able to catch up with anything you've been up to cos you don't (I see) have my correct e-mail address. ann_teamo@yahoo.com
Have come over to your mum's where she has let me have a look at her computer. Great to hear you are doing some great things. Let's keep in touch
Arohanui, Ann
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