.. You go out and have a really good, hard session! After the Weekend slow training session I did not really hold much hope – it seriously gave me the thought of pulling back and only doing the 100.  But Tonight’s training session (Friday 17/05) has me back on track with a nice hard 12km paddle in excellent conditions (10-15km/h headwind for most of the first lap, then nothing) at an avg speed of 8.5km/h, which is well over my target speed.

What has been a great advantage on my week-night paddles is having someone to paddle with who is at a similar pace to me – we push each other just that bit. A good hard paddle today, and the West Lakes Classic on Sunday will leave only a few more sessions before the RPM….

The Final Prep Begins

The Next week, is a critical week in my preparation – and it is not Training.  Preparing for an event like the RPM means being organized, and the challenge this week is to plan my Support during the Event.  Experience over the last couple of years has shown me that having everything organized down to the last thing can make the difference between a 2 minute stop and a 10 minute stop!

Yep, I will be making my lists and checking them twice.  Now the lists – I go about everything in a methodical order and put together what I need and when I need it – from Clothing for each day, food, water – everything!  Now It is not just exactly what I need, but there is also a built-in contingency for variables beyond my control – such as the weather.  I already know it is going to be cold (duh – it’s the middle of winter), but it might be wet as well.

All of these daily lists go into my Race Plan – which contains everything from where I need to be at what times, what I need to have prepared the day before, my check-point “bundles”.  Sometimes, I think this step is harder than paddling, but without it, there is certainly no way that I could even contemplate finishing the Event.