Limping Marathon Runner

Something that I have always wanted to do and yet I kept shelving the idea from time to time. A Kayaking course. We have talked about this a few times, getting all the runners to join the course. Finally, that idea materialised today with me joining Roentgen, Kop21 and KJ for the 1 Star Kayaking Course. The three of them arrived early at the carpark and I joined them walking towards the SeaSport Centre. We signed in and changed into our gears. No surprise, we are senior folks compared to the participants there. The instructors did a short introduction of themselves and the terminology used. Some familiar terms like Bow, Stern, Port and StarBoard came back to me. Proper procedures were covered on what to do and why before we proceeded to do bring out our "Bandit" Kayaks (at least they had a cool name). There was a walk through of all the types of rafts and kayaks used. Following that was a "land" paddle before we got into the the entrance and exit drill for the cockpit. We had a short try out of forward / reverse paddle, E-Stop drills, 180 / 360 deg turn and E-stop. One of the kids asked us if we are teachers. LOL! We saw demonstration on how to empty water from our kayaks as well using one or two men method. I tried the single man method and did not get it right (which I felt I needed more practise). Lunch! We were already feeling hungry and Beach Rd market was the only wise choice around for its variety. The 1 hour lunch break somewhat feels like a normal working day's lunch hour rush. The second part of the day covered side move drills, a swim test and capsize drill. Okay, the swim test was more like formalities and KJ gave Roentgen a kick just to ensure that he was still awake after the heavy lunch. Capsize drill was a test of water confidence and everyone did well. We were taught paddle rudder next and left to practise. Around 4 pm or so, we brought everything on land and washed them up before we showered. All of us examined ourselves for sun burn marks. I find myself a little darker and I really need to get use to slapping sun block on my skin before the Feb '08 event. The four of us left for Geylang in search of good food. Frog legs porridge, beef kway teow, thai style fried bean curd, vegetable were just starters. We walked as a form of exercise (10m down the road) before we had some soya bean curd and carrot cake. How's that for a day? Boy.. I'm seeing stars already... 1 star? More than just that.

Looking at my schedule, I am suppose to do a long ride tonight. But, I don't think that I can squeeze in 4hrs. I did a short run instead and several sets of weights. That ought to leave my legs for tomorrow's MF race and evening's ride.