The Cheshire Ring Race -It’s a monumentally stupid distance

I've been somewhat quiet on the blogging front recently as I have been training hard for the mammoth canoe race we're competing in at the end of this month. The Cheshire Ring Race for those of you who haven't been keeping up with the little news I've been posting recently is a 96 mile canoe race we're doing this year in aid of charity (if you've not already made your pledge, why not pop over to www.paddlathon.co.uk now and make a donation -we've got a fair way to go to our £2,000 target).

Last night I decided it was time I sat down and started planning the route for the drivers, which first meant plotting the route for the paddlers and oh my god is it a long way! Until now I've thought "100 miles, yeah that's not too bad, we'll do that in a few hours..." (ok the few was around 20 but still). Plotting it on the map however shows just how far this thing is!

Instead of feeling daunted by the distance, I'm now even more psyched than before -and have even more reason to hit the gym hard! If you're interested, I've uploaded the route plotted on Google Earth. Currently it only holds the point data but in time I'm going to expand it so it includes information about each route (for the paddlers and drivers) and perhaps once we've done the race, pictures of each point.

For those of you interested in how my canoe training routine is going -it's good. I'm holding a steady 12st 6lb at the moment -sometimes dropping to 122st 4lb and I've blown my previous routine out of the water. Sam and I -despite some misfortune with our kit- have been kicking ass on the past couple of races -taking around 10-15minutes off our times from last year. I'm hoping to complete The Cheshire Ring Race in less than 18 hours at this rate...

Paddlathon 2007 -whassat then?

Ok, I promise to post something technical and interesting shortly (yes I know, that’ll be a first yada yada…) but I want to get some information up here about Paddlathon 2007. I’ve written a very quick site which I will be adding more information to shortly but it already has a lot of information about our charity canoe race and more importantly a donation form so once you’re done reading this pop over to www.paddlathon.co.uk and have a look.

I wanted to compete in the Cheshire ring race 2007 for a few personal reasons but the initial motivation was that I missed out on taking part in the Transpennine race –this was stopped the first year I was old enough for my canoeing club to allow me to participate so ever since I’ve wanted to take part in a long race (preferably overnight etc) as I felt it would be fun so when I was handed a flyer for a 96 mile canoe race last season at Bristol I decided it was the perfect choice! There is another long race called Devizes to Westminster which is around 124miles at Easter –which didn’t leave enough time to train or find a partner.

The Cheshire ring race is a 96 mile canoe race but at the end of June which meant more time to train and as it was nearer to summer it would also be warmer. Until a couple of seasons ago, I paddled with my canoe coach –and long term friend Paul Rose but sadly he damaged his back (thanks to me) going over a weir. He’s getting back into canoeing, but having vowed to paddle together again I suggested the Cheshire ring race as a worthy race.

Paul was immediately up for it and once we had got chatting we thought it had enough of a “wow” factor to be worthy of sponsorship and so Paddlathon 2007 was conceived… a 96 mile canoe race is without a doubt a bloody long way and knowing he may still have issues with his back over that sort of distance we decided doing it as a relay race would be better so we decided to get my two brothers Sam and Pat on board as they’re both keen paddlers and are always up for a challenge.

Originally we were going to raise money for a single charity but decided as there were four of us, it would be better to pool our collection efforts and raise for four charities together. The charities we’ve chosen are:

• Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust

  

• Multiple Sclerosis Society

  

• CLIC Sargent

  

• Mac Millan Nurses

  

To my knowledge, I’ve never asked for anything for the information I openly share on my blog –and I probably never will (beyond the Google AdSense that appears in the design that is) but I would very much appreciate it if you were generous enough to donate a couple of quid as there are some great charities who dearly need your help.

I’ll post more information on the charities, the team and the boat over the forthcoming weeks but the race is June 30th – July 1st, if you fancy coming and seeing us off –or having a pint with us after the race that would be awesome.

Read more or donate online at: www.paddlathon.co.uk

Sweat is your friend -invite it into your life!

What with the forthcoming 2007 marathon canoe season and our sponsored 90 mile canoe race I’ve been hitting the gym much harder (I’ve never really stopped but I’m talking more than 5 times a week...) anyway's, Sam wanted to know what I did when I was there and rather than saying “as little as possible” we thought it would be a good idea to make a note so here it is guys.

This is mainly written for Sam and Pat (my brothers) but other people may be interested in it for some reason or another. A disclaimer first though: I’ve got no medical or sports science to this, it’s just what I’ve found works :) I’ve been doing pretty much the same workout since I was 14 without anyone/thing to compare it to so I’d be interested to know how others find this.

My original work out

This is what I used to do on a nightly basis while I lived in Calstock (except when I’d been out on the water training). I’ve not done this workout since I moved up to Birmingham so some aspects (i.e. the set split on sit ups) is a little hazy but the numbers are correct (I’ve got the records including my nightly peak flow...)

Duration: Around an hour

55 x Chin-ups with your palms facing you

Nothing clever here, just your bog standard chin-up.

100 x 30% sit ups over the edge of bed

Strap your feet down so you’re lying across the bed horizontally (opposite to how you normally sleep). Your bum should be at the edge of the bed allowing you to hang off the edge. Cross your arms so your hands are holding opposite shoulders (similar to how Tutankhamun is classical depicted), starting with your back parallel to the floor sit up to an angle of around 30% and then back down again. The advantage of hanging off the edge of the bed is you’re not allowed to rest until the end of the reps. The 100 may be split.

45 x Chin-ups with the back of your hands facing you

As above, just do it with the back of your hands facing you -so you exercise slightly different muscles.

100 x Crunches

Standard stomach crunches rather than the new alternative version where you bring your legs up rather than your torso.

45 x Wide arm press ups on finger tips

Rather than having your arms just beyond your shoulders, place them a little further out (around a foot) and rather than pushing from your palms, lift yourself onto your finger tips first. I like these because they work your forearms too :) I used to place my feet together to reduce my stability.

35 x Hand together press ups

These are great for your shoulders and triceps, it’s almost opposite to the standard press up –place your hands together and your legs apart for stability.

100 x 30% sit ups over the edge of bed

(As above)

50 x Bed dips

Standard dips off the edge of your bed.

150 x Wrist curls

Split into three sets of 50, seated, rest your forearms on your knees and curl your wrists upwards and then go back down again a simple but effective exercise. It’s not as impressive as it sounds, I only used to have a pair of 4Kg dumbbells haha.

Depending on what sort of mood I was in after that I would do a variety of other free-weight exercises including bicep curls, shoulder butterfly lift things etc.

Like I said, I’ve not done that since I came to Birmingham so I’ve got no idea if I could still do it (I doubt I could), but I’m aiming to do more than that now.

My current routine

This is what I’m doing at the moment, like I said earlier I’m doing this at least 5 times a week.

The training schedule is as follows:

Now --> April: Building up strength/Increasing weight

April --> September: Stamina training

Until April I’m aiming to increase the reps and/or weight by 5 reps and/or 5Kg at least every month, I’m not the sort of person that goes to the gym to take it easy, I’m always trying to do more than I did last time but I consider it “doing 5Kg more” when I can do it every time. The best way to do this is every time you’re able to get through the reps, don’t stop there –keep going until you can’t lift more.

5 is a fairly good number to work with, no justification behind that other than I tend to rep in sets of 10 (though some people prefer to rep in sets of 8). Make sure you drink at least a liter of water while training, if you’re sweating lots drink more.

I have started to rest for no more than 30 seconds between each set, this is only because I read somewhere that people that rested for no more than 30 seconds between each set gain an extra 6% muscle over those that wait for longer –then again 96.789% of all statistics are made up on the spot... that aside  I can see the logic in it and it’s giving me a getter work out so...

All weights are per arm as the Hammer Strength training machines I use have independent arm mechanisms.

Duration: 1 - 1½ hours

70 x Wide arm press ups on finger tips

I’m still doing these in a similar way as before but now I split it into two sets of 35 reps, I also cross my legs when doing it so only one foot is on the ground for each set (and then I switch them around for the next set).

100 x 30% sit ups

Pretty much as before but I do these on the floor rather than off the bed, to avoid the temptation to rest I only return to a 1% angle (so your back doesn’t touch the floor). I’m currently doing these in a 50-50 split –when resting I stop on the up of #51 and hold it for 30 seconds before continuing. Always stop on the top of a sit up rather than taking it easy ;)

Today when I went I did two sets of 60 but this is the first time I’ve done that so it doesn’t count yet ;)

30 x Hand together press ups

As before but rather than having my legs apart I’ve started putting them together to reduce the stability. There’s no rest between these.

Today I increased these to 40 but again, it’s not every time so doesn’t count

10 minute run at 12-14kmph

I used to use my boarding accident as an excuse not to run though part of this was just an excuse as I don’t particularly like running but I’ve started doing it again to ensure portages are faster!

Today I increased this to a 15 minute run which felt pretty good so I’m going to increase this regularly

Front Lateral Pull Down

A little like a seated chin up machine, I start at my maximum weight for a full set (currently 60Kg*) and do a full set, then I move down 10Kg and do another full set, then again and so on until I reach the lowest weight possible, whenever I feel I can do more than a full set I keep going to the next full set. Once on the bottom weight start going back up again to where you started –if you make it all the way back you need to start higher next time (remember no longer than 30seconds between the next level).

30 x 35Kg Lateral Shoulder Press

In three sets of 10 reps, it’s a standard shoulder press. I need to dramatically increase this which is something I’m working on.

30 x 35Kg Lateral Row

As with the shoulder press

*The machine is only marked with digit but I’ve compared it to free-weight and it feels the same –also other machines with similar sized weights have Kg so I’m making the assumption...

Then depending on whether Stacey’s finished or not I’ll continue with a combination of other shoulder and back exercises, I plan on working these into my routine more regularly.

All this is followed by at least 10 (usually 20) lengths of the 50m pool –non-stop for at least 8 lengths at a time.

I think the thing to remember is that you’re not going to the gym to take it easy, push yourself as far as you can go each time. I punish myself for resting by increasing the reps –i.e. for every second I rest over my 30 second pause time I have to do an additional repetition. If you think you can lift more weight, give it a go, if you can’t, step down a level until you can! Beat yourself up in the gym and you’ll go far :)

Remember: You’re not training for anyone else, it doesn’t matter if someone else can lift more than you, work harder and you’ll be able to do the same soon enough if that’s what you want. Personally I don’t care what others are doing, all I care about is winning (which last season I didn’t do as much of as I would have like).

Post work-out

After my work out I tend to have a cold shower –start off cold and then make it colder as you acclimatize, I’m not sure why I started doing this but I seem to recall someone saying that you needed to cool the muscles down as quickly as possible. Another plus point is it really gets your heart rate going which I believe gets the blood to your muscles faster (to repair them faster and allow you to recover faster etc).

I like to walk/jog to/from the gym and when I get back usually have one of my banana milkshakes as they’re not only refreshing, fills you up but also gets a load of protein into you when it’s most important.

I also rest after a work out, I feel really energized so tend to get on with a little work, the two hours I’m out of the office working out allows me to clear my head so I often find I’m really productive afterwards.

Goals

If you’ve read my article on business start-up advice you’ll already know I’m a firm believer of having goals and targets, they really help you focus so naturally I’ve got a set of goals for my training in the longer term:

1. Increase each of the weights by about 20Kg by April at which point I’ll start increasing the repetitions and include more rowing/running/on-water training
2. Get up to and hold 12 stone of muscle. I’m just below 12 stone at the moment but I need to get a little leaner. I’ve always felt that 12 stone is an idea weight for the type of boat I paddle –it’s not too heavy (slowing me down) and not too light (in which case I’ll more than likely not be so strong!). I don’t mind going over this as long as it’s muscle
3. Paddle my 4.28 mile training route consistently in at most 25 minutes
4. Paddle all 8 mile races sub hour –preferably sub 50 minutes

What to eat

In regards my diet, those of you who know me will tell you that I don’t really worry about what I eat but I do make sure I eat good healthy food, after the gym I like to have one of my banana milkshakes (see: The ultimate post-training milkshake). I’ll try and post up some more good dinners but I tend to like things like pastas, fish, baked potatoes (with tuna mayonnaise), rice dishes and lots of fruit.

The last time I was training heavily was when I first met Stacey and was sponsored by Cannons Plymouth, I would come home, eat a big meal but I still wouldn’t be full so would resort to eating lots of tins of tuna (usually two tins made into tuna mayonnaise –but without the bread!). That was the only way I could stop the craving for food. The more scientific reason for this is your body needs protein and lots of it to repair and grow the muscles you damaged/trained during your work out.

Things to try

• Alternating the training on different parts of the body, i.e. Mon/Weds/Fri do back, Tues/Thurs/Sat do shoulders and arms etc
• Protein powder, I’ve heard a few people rave about them, I’m not interested in bulking up, just not having to eat so much (usually tuna mayonnaise) post training

The ultimate post-training milkshake

I started making this a while ago, I think it was purely out of accident that I first made it, I had a few ingredients and thought “what the hell”.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of milk (I like whole milk –blue/silver)
• 2 Bananas
• 1 spoonful of chocolate powder
• A few scoops of vanilla ice-cream (optional -makes it cooler and frothier)

What to do

1. Throw it all in a blender and whiz it up.
2. Pour it into a pint glass.
3. Enjoy :)

As with all my cooking, the ingredients and quantities aren’t set in stone, it just depends on how I’m feeling at the time.