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Three weeks in and despite some of the worst floods in Queensland’s history, the GB men’s kayak team are training hard in preparation for the World Championships and our first shot at Olympic qualification later on in the year.

I have joined the team paddling out of the Sunshine Coast Kayak Club, a location that we are not only sharing with the locals but also the Italian kayak team. We reside in the seaside family resort on the Sunshine coast, Maroochydore, which has been mainly unaffected by the devastating floods that tore through Brisbane and surrounding areas earlier this week.

Head coach Brendan Purcell, reported: “I understand that there has been some concern about the safety of our paddlers. We have largely been unaffected by the floods reported elsewhere and wish to assure everyone back home that we are all safe and well. The team is simply concentrating on training hard.”

It has been devastating to witness first hand the terrible floods that have affected the rest of Queensland. I had hoped last Tuesday to get down to Brisbane, roll up my sleeves, and do whatever small part I could for the flood relief but due to incorrect clothing and time constraints the local authority and my coach deemed it inappropriate. This Sunday I hope to do my bit when I will join in a fundraising event at the Maroochydore lawn bowls club to raise money for the flood appeal.

As a result of the floods the river has obviously been higher than normal and flowing faster for a couple of days but all is now back to normal and we are concentrating on getting some good quality training done.

I hope to use this time in Australia to lay down some key base fitness work and to achieve some important endurance and strength gains by the end of the 7-week training camp. Typically I am paddling 140km a week, with 3 gym sessions, 10km of running and 10km of swimming and 2 sessions of surf lifesaving. This involves swimming out to sea around a fixed point and back, running on soft sand and in water at waist height.

Today during one of these surf lifesaving sessions I found myself in a spot of bother. After having run 8km down the beach I had to complete the course with a 300m swim across the river mouth. I am not the fastest runner in the team and some of the guys were in front of me. I could not see any of them. As I approached the swim I hoped to make up some ground and dived straight in. What I had not realised is that they had been advised not to swim due to treacherous conditions and were waiting for a lift around the corner. Head down I ploughed on. I felt the swell getting quite large and I looked up expecting to be about halfway and greeted by an approaching shoreline. I wasn’t. Instead I was now bobbing up and down in some large swell out at sea and beyond the shore break. I was actually steadily getting further away from my destination. Fear shot through me and I’m not too proud to admit I thrashed about in panic. At this point every negative thought I could think entered my head; at the river mouth there are no shark nets to allow the fish to swim in and out, two bull sharks were spotted here yesterday, I’m outside the lifeguard patrolled zone, etc. After about 30 seconds I had a word with myself in order to regain my thoughts. I decided to just to keep swimming sideways and hope the current relents. Eventually it did and I managed to catch some waves back in to the shore. Needless to say I was somewhat relieved. I have never felt such insignificance against a greater force and so helpless in all my life.

With large volumes of work to complete keeping on top of recovery is paramount. I am enjoying the benefit of regular physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment and massage. In order to monitor fatigue we take blood twice a week and measure levels of Urea and Creatine Kinase, both markers of fatigue and muscle damage. Fortunately these results are showing that I am coping with the volume well. My philosophy has always been that there is not such a thing as over-training but improper recovery.

I will have a chance to assess my early season form next week when I fly into Sydney for a local regatta.

Check out some of the footage we took of the storms from our balcony. The lightning was pretty close: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyalEnIcNBE

This week’s album on my iPod for training to is Show Your Bones by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Follow me on Twitter: @huntswoodpaul

To pledge your support for Paul in his quest to raise money for both Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Prince’s Charities, as well as follow his progress leading up to the Channel crossing in October 2011, please visit www.crosschannelchallenge.com

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Simon Moss
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