So for quite some time I have been in the gym because Emajõgi is frozen. Almost. there is still some hope that the weather warms up and I can go for a spin. Probably with slalom boat though, because it would be tough to get out of the water should I fall in, because of the icy shores. I did manage to take my Nelo out to dust it off for few times before I changed to slalom boat that is more suitable for manouvering the slushi water.

New kayaking ergometer

Few weeks ago we got a new kayaking ergometer in our SAK Tartu kayaking base. That’s a good thing because the old one was… well, old. And as I am 10 years late and 10 years older than all the other people I am competeng with, I thought I will put in some extra hours comparing to regular amateur kayakers out there. To kick start a winter kayaking training and my 2017 goals, I took every morning this week 12th – 16th of December, 1 hour and “kayaked” on that ergometer. Tried different strength levels, different speeds, worked on getting the length of the paddle draw I have with left and right hand equal (that was actually first of the biggest problems).

One morning one of the top kayakers in Estonia told me that I should really improve my technique, which made me panic a bit, but that’s a good thing. I hope I will get some good advice from him and others during dry-training.

In total, I “kayaked” approximately five hours and approximately 34 km. And my hands are full of blisters.

As a result I got the paddle stroke length better and know that I am bad at the technique – I always say that it is good to know you are not good in something – then you can take steps to improve.
I also know that I can manage 30 minutes straight there even with the highest level. Not going very fast yet, but that’s why I have extra trainings in the evenings for power and muscles and will work on it throughout holidays.

I am pretty happy about doing it, now it is full on and trying to have as many hours on the ergometer as I can so that when I am on the water, the only thing I need to worry about is balance (not funny, stop laughing :)).

So, though main water season is over, I get to have some fun inside. I finish this post with happy Christmas Greetings to ya’ll! Come kayaking. And sorry that I switch from Estonian and English, I can’t really make up my mind in which language I should do my posts here…