10 Seconds

Hi folks, good session this morning. And some good work done in both canoes.

Like last session I wanted to give you a debrief and some takeaways. As it’s too dark to make any observations on individual technique I will leave that for another time.

However, with two canoes on the water and GPS data from both, its easy to make some observations and comparisons. Both canoes had similar average water speeds with a pace of around 6 mins per km. that’s pretty close. Where the difference was only small, the actual numbers tell a bigger story. With the crew in my canoe having an average pace of 6.12/km against the other canoe with a 6.22/km you can see where the gains were made. 10 seconds a km faster may not seem like a lot – it’s not really and this morning was a huge effort from both crews –  its when we do some maths, that 10 seconds soon adds up. We paddled between 7 and 8 km this morning. With that 10 second advantage over that distance, the faster boat would finish 70-80 seconds earlier. And over a short course distance of around the 12km mark, that’s a full 2 minutes.

Now you can see where those 10 seconds become game changers.  

So how do we close the gap?

You might look at the two canoes this morning and put it down to a gender thing. We had three men. That’s true. We also had one less paddler which gives the other crew the advantage. Our crew weight was arguably greater (sorry folks) and there is a point where the power to weight ratio negates the gender aspect. The canoes and the water were similar so also not really a factor. So where was the difference? Where do we look for that elusive 10 seconds ? There are some things we cannot change. We cannot sit on a start line or in a training session and change who is sitting in the other canoes. We have 6 paddlers that we can work with. 6 paddlers to make up that 10 seconds.

What happened this morning was interesting to me. I thought we would be playing catch up for the whole session. You smoked us on the first leg into the first turn. You would have been running faster than us and even after the turn you still had a sub 6 minute pace. What happened during that second leg out to the pump house I don’t really know. Maybe you dropped, maybe we lifted. Maybe a bit of both.  But to my surprise, we caught and passed you. And from that point on we were consistent in our pace AND consistently a few seconds faster.

So is that the secret sauce? Consistency. Maybe. Technique and power. Definitely. Size and gender. Also maybe – but only to a point. Commitment. Absolutely.

So when we lifted this morning and chased the other canoe down, I asked of my crew “ hunt them down, pass them and don’t let them catch you” They answered and I wouldn’t let them give in until we hit the beach. Maybe this was all that was needed.

When you are looking for the small improvements – and at your level of experience they are only small – don’t look to the other canoes for answers or excuses. You have no control over that. Look to your crew for sure. If you can paddle better as a unit that’s a win for everyone. Look to the person in front of you – it matters to them to know that you have their back and that you are leaving nothing in the tank. Mostly, look instead to the person in your seat. The person holding your paddle. Can you improve your technique? Can you put down more power for longer? Do you have the mental ability to answer the call when asked? Absolutely you do. I’ve seen it in all of you. This is where you make your gains now. This is where we find that 10 seconds. We can help, but now It’s up to you.

!0 seconds folks, that’s all I ask for.

Great session and hope the feedback is useful.