It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged for a few reasons, which can broadly be summarised as having fun paddling, and worrying about cancer!
So firstly the good news - although I've been worrying a LOT over the past few months that the cancer has returned, my most recent oncology appointment reassured me that this is not, in fact, the case. Whatever is going on doesn't appear to be oncolocical, but I have a CT scan booked to confirm this, and to hopefully provide a clue as to what it might be that has killed my appetite and makes
me feel nauseous so much of the time. Hopefully it's either something as simple as vitamin D deficiency, or just a slight reaction to my medication in which case we can just reduce the dose slightly and see if that helps. So that's all very reassuring.
And now the GREAT news! A couple of weeks ago, the kayaking club I belong to held our local 'Hasler' (race). I'd signed up, so although the week before the race I felt pretty grim and suspected it might be the last time I could paddle for some while, I was utterly determined to manage it no matter how slow I might be. DH was concerned about my energy so cancelled his plans for that morning in order to come along and support me, and make sure I could get there and back easily without having to manage the buses.
The morning of the race dawned bright and sunny, and we got to the club in very good time. I got out my boat, registered with the coach, got my race number, and fixed it to my kayak. Oh, and crucially, got some glitter painted on my face in our club colours! I hadn't paddled the race route since last summer, so checked the route map to ensure I knew where we'd turn, and generally tried to keep distracted so I wouldn't panic too much about what on earth I was doing!
I'd thought through my race plan in advance - with no ambitions to be competitive, I wanted to make a good start, then just paddle steadily, not worrying about my position or whether there was anyone behind me. I would pause and rest any time I needed to - the only thing that mattered was finishing. Once warming up on the water, my nerves started to settle - the river was nice and calm, and it felt like a glorious morning for a nice paddle! As we were approaching the start line, I realised that there was a sweeper in place - one of our very friendly and supportive club coaches - so even if I was last by a long way, I wouldn't be all alone, and would have help if I fell in.
I managed to be in a good place at the start - towards the left side of the river, away from where the most competitive and speedy paddlers were likely to be. And once we set off, I found I was actually keeping up with the paddler in front of me and able to hang on her wash for a bit. After the first couple of hundred metres I decided to pass her as my comfortable pace was a notch faster, and I didn't want to have to work around her for too long.
One of the things I love about our race is how well marshalled it is; whereas the one I did in May had marshalls only at two places along the course (at least that I saw), we have marshalls every few hundred metres either on the banks or on the water - and they are very involved in cheering us on! The difference that provides in terms of confidence is HUGE - instead of worrying about what would happen if I (or indeed someone else) fell in, I could just concentrate on my rhythm and technique, knowing that I was just about never out of sight of a marshall!
One of our other coaches had been enthusiastically cheering at the start, then cycled along the river path up to the turning point to cheer us on again there - and to take some photos:
At the turn I confirmed that I had at least two paddlers behind me - that's what I'd thought as I'd heard them both being cheered on, so that gave me a real boost although I was very aware that we were only around a third of the way through the course and there was still about 4km to go. At least from there down to the second turn it was all downstream, so I made the most of such flow as there was, and paddled down the middle of the river.
Coming past the club house, about 2/3 of the way through, there was DH cheering me on - along with other friends who'd already finished - and I was still keeping going. I'd been starting to flag slightly, but wasn't about to stop paddling in front of this much support, so dug deep and found a fresh bout of determination. I had been gradually catching the double canoe which had started a few minutes ahead of the group I was in, and passed it right opposite our landing stage.
Down at the second turn, I was
so tempted to stop paddling, but knew that if I did, I'd struggle to get going again, so gritted my teeth, dug even deeper and found reserves of stubbornness that even I hadn't known I had! For the last few weeks, I'd deliberately pushed hard coming up this final stretch, so I had a song in my mind which I could paddle to, and which would see me all the way back to the club. Coming under the final bridge I went up a gear, and did the best sprint I could manage all the way up to the finish line. and then it was done! I'd not only managed to complete it, but had done so without stopping, and hadn't finished last!
Once I'd recovered and been helped out of my kayak, I managed to revive somewhat with the help of water and a piece of fruit - not to mention a cinnamon bun and cup of tea! When the results were published I was over the moon to discover that I'd finished 13th out of 19, and better even than that, I was over 3 minutes quicker than my time from the previous year! I absolutely could not have asked for anything more.
Since then, I've decided to make the most of the summer on the river. I tried a skinnier, wobblier boat after one evening session (the skinnier and wobblier, the lighter and therefore quicker, on the whole), and have used that for both full sessions that I've been to since that. And to my utter amazement I haven't fallen out of it so far, despite a few disconcertingly big wobbles!
So my next goals are to get used to the Tor as my regular boat, and build confidence in it, and if possible, to take part in one more race, which would then mean I qualify for Hasler finals as a solo paddler. Here's to a summer of fun!
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