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I have just completed 7 weeks of intensive training in Australia. As I write this I am at 38,000 foot somewhere over the Indian Ocean, fatigued from training and a confused body clock, but still beaming from the great time and the quality training I have put away in the bank. I spent most of my time training with the rest of the Great Britain Kayak Team on the Sunshine Coast but also visited Sydney to race at Grand Prix 2. After a successful race, Ken Wallace the 2008 Olympic Champion invited me down to the Gold Coast to spa with him for a few days training. I was honoured to be given this opportunity and keen to measure myself against the best in the world.

Within a few hours my bags were packed and I headed down to the Gold Coast. I was a little apprehensive at first as I had just completed a heavy block of training and blood tests confirmed that I was run down. I knew that with Ken’s calibre if I was not firing on all cylinders he would quickly expose any weaknesses in my game. I decided to put this thought to the back of my mind and push on.

Over the few days I was down there I was able to do a variety of different sessions with him and get a true measure of my form. Throughout this winter I have been working on improving my base fitness and will be looking to increase my speed as I come into the competitive sprint season. This manifested itself in the training with Ken. Over the shorter sprint efforts Ken had the edge on me but when it came to repeat efforts and slightly longer endurance based efforts I managed to gain the upper hand. This just showed that my training is doing what it is meant to and that my fitness levels are now the best they have ever been, which is great for the Cross Channel Challenge, but if I want to achieve similar highs to Ken now is the time to start bolting on some short, sharp speed work on to that fitness.

On the evening of the first day I was having dinner with Ken and his girlfriend, Naomi, and telling them all about Cross Channel Challenge. They loved the idea of the challenge and I was asking his advice about transferring my flat water skills on to the sea. He replied “In order to get comfortable on the sea you need to do your “Test of Man”. He promised the next day I would undergo this test.

The next day I jumped on the back of a jet ski and headed out through the waves. This was an awesome experience in itself that I would wholly recommend to anyone. As we pushed out through the waves, they acted as launch pads sending us soaring through the air. Every now and again we would turn to play in the waves. As the big waves started to break we would run the jet ski down the length of the wave so that it was breaking over us. It was a surreal sensation and one which I will treasure. Eventually at about 500m offshore we reached the shark nets. At which point Ken too off his life vest, took a few deep breaths and dived in shouting “you only live once”. He swam down below the nets and back up the other side. As he climbed back on to the jet ski he said, “that’s a test of man. Your turn”.

My heart was beating as though it were about jump out my chest but my ego had kicked and there was no way I was about to back down. I kept thinking of the iconic jaws poster of the shark coming up from the murky depths on the unsuspecting swimmer. As I swam down I saw the bottom of the nets. What many people do not realise is that they only go down to about 3-4m below the surface. As I came up down other side and broke the surface I was overwhelmed by relief. In fairness, despite the eccentric methodology, it had worked. I felt totally comfortable in deep, choppy water and no longer daunted by the thought of falling out the kayak miles out at sea.

Follow me on Twitter: @Huntswoodpaul

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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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