Ka Nai'a Outrigger Videos!

Over the 3 day weekend, I finally got my butt into gear and made some paddling videos that have been waiting for me a long time.

First, a little montage from Ka Nai'a Outrigger's training paddle out to Santa Cruz Island.  We left in the wee hours of the morning Friday, paddled 30 miles, then stayed on the island 2 nights before paddling back home.  The ocean was rough on the way over, but placid and beautiful on the return.  The fog totally surrounded us, so you couldn't even tell which way we were heading.  Surreal, and on top of it a massive pod of dolphins came out to play with us!

The second video is from a race I wrote about here, the Dana Point change race.  You can see (towards the very end of the video) exactly how close the race was in the final miles, before the other team pulled away, finishing one minute ahead of us.  (Aaahh... epic!!)

CATALINA CROSSING is this weekend.  I can't believe how this summer has flown.

Outrigger Iron Season

Normally I'm so good about updating after a race, but life has just been nutty.  So instead of a race post, I'm going to do a "season thus far" recap.  First, I went into this season thinking it was just going to be fun, and not so competitive.  I was excited to meet new people, train hard, and play on the beach.  I was so wrong... turns out we had more folks return than I had ever imagined, and we were all ready to work hard, so we got pushed, and pushed, and pushed.  The competition among teams has been fierce, especially against one behemoth club down South.  (Maybe the only huge club in SoCal this year... but they are monsters.)

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was delighted when our ladies boat won 1st in short course in the first race in San Diego.  (Complete with 2 newbies.)  I doubled a couple races after (paddling both short course followed immediately by long) and got a 4th place mug for short course in the 3rd race.  At our home race, the Rig Run (of which I had the honor of being chairman) the ladies short course boat took 3rd, open co-ed took 2nd.  That was kind of mind blowing ... double races and double places!  I was grateful when that event was over - it was a ton of work and I was tired of getting called by the city of Santa Barbara. :P

Then the REAL work started.  Coaches decided to beat the living snot out of us for the month of June, gearing up for the Iron Championships.  We won the co-ed open race last year, but we knew it was going to be much much harder to even place this year.  In the past big clubs have gone gender, but "the enemy" was openly, unabashedly placing crews in every division with the intention of taking 1st and 2nd in everything.  It's a little nuts... but whatever.  We were getting up for 5 AM practiced on M, W, F and in the evenings on T, TH.  Then distance on Saturdays.  Correct.... six days a week of paddling.  I was not allowed to cross train (my road bike whimpered at me daily) and I slept like some kind of rotting dead log every night.  It was stressful and exhausting.  Tensions among the team were a little high, and the great unknowns of the future were looming - the pressure was really on.

I didn't know how the championship race went, even when it was over.  It was hard; very hard.  The start was a little wonky and a bunch of boats jumped out early on us when the line was not straight.  The swells were enormous.  We caught the women's pack so fast it was hard to keep track of what boat was what.  It was hot.  We had a great glide at the finish, but I knew we didn't take 1st.  I was so grateful to hit the water when it was all over that didn't even bother me.  I didn't think we had 2nd.  I was convinced at the end at best we had 4th or 5th place.  (Still nothing to sneeze at.)  I had to catch a plane that night for Seattle, so my mind was wandering a bit and I was just happy it was all over.  Then I got a text message from a teammate who stayed behind at the race site.

2nd place.  Wow!!  So great when hard work is rewarded... :)

I also just have to add that it has been fun having Eric on the crew this year.  He has such a great epic face in all his race pictures!!!

Rawr! The face of a champion!

Overall the team has been great.  Wonderful new energy, and I can't wait to hit the island with everyone and dive into change season.  Huzzah!

The Art of the Blend – Thoughts on Conformity

No, this isn’t going to be a post about my ongoing infatuation with smoothies. It’s actually going to reference something that struck me during outrigger practice on Tuesday.

“I’ve just had an apostrophe!” “I think you mean an epiphany …” (Name that movie?)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with outrigger canoeing, it’s one of those “simple yet so complicated” type things. The basic building blocks of a successful team are stroke form, power, and timing. Paddlers need these when entering and exiting their blade from the water; pulling hard and together.

It’s that third element that struck me the other day – what is sometimes called “the blend.” When a team is pulling water at the exact same time and way, the canoe actually lifts out of the water and skims the surface; giving it a natural glide that propels it magically forward. You can feel it happen, and it’s an exhilarating sensation.

That elusive glide, however, is also easy to lose.

The moment your focus on the seat ahead of you shifts, or if your mind wanders to check out a baby seal lounging adorably on a nearby dock, the entire house of cards is in jeopardy. It’s kind of mind boggling exactly how much intentional concentration you need to maintain in order to achieve “the blend.”

I have been guilty of being early in my stroke since day one. That is, my paddle tends to enter the water before the paddler in front of me, throwing off the timing. (What can I say? I’ve always been a little bit of a eager beaver - I like to go fast!) I actually nicknamed one steersperson the “Timing Nazi” because she never failed to call me out about it – sometimes by name. I would usually grit my teeth and mumble something like “yeah, yeah” in my mind, but her constant reminders proved invaluable since they forced me to learn to pay attention and conform.

I finally realized that in order to go faster, I had to slow down. (Doesn’t that sound a little profound in a Sphinx kind of way?) Not only did I need to pay attention to what was happening in front of me, I had to respond accordingly and be ready when things changed - regardless of how fast I want to go.

I don’t know about all of you, but this kind of submission does not come naturally to me; it fights against my innate subliminal instinct to not be “just another face in the crowd.” That pull to be special, intriguing, and independent - to go above and beyond the call of duty. This pressure isn’t from any outside source; it simply springs from an inner cry for attention, spurred by a desire for that precious sensation of believing I have something unique to offer the world.

In a canoe, there is simply no place for the overachiever.  Your speed lives and dies together, and the ability to work and blend as one will determine your success.  I haven't played on an organized team sport since high school basketball, and had almost forgotten that indescribable bond you develope as a team when you know you just couldn't have done it alone.

I suppose I was reflecting on this because of a few situations I have been in recently at work and on other projects where we started with a cohesive vision: something achievable, neat and tidy.  Then someone (everyone probably has a "someone" like this in their lives) comes along and decides they can make it bigger, better, awesomer!  And what ends up happening?

A befuddled mess.

It was just a good and humbling reminder that life isn’t a one man show, and it's wise to never deny the power of folks working toward common goals.  (Even if it means you don't get to be the hero.)