Lost in Mui Wo -- In the dark

rested yesterday, for some reasons my quads were quite sore.  And the blisters on my palms were killing me.

Met Carol to discuss trailwalker training on Lantau.  After our chat, I finally dragged myself down to the water and launched Martlet.  I was only going to do my 23km routine, but then I haven't had an accident for over a month now, and we all know that's just too good to last...

DB Tai Pak   5:48pm

Kau Yi           6:29

Sunny Is.       6:51

Hei Ling C    ???

Mui Wo        ???

Marina          ???

DB Tai Pak   9:02 

That makes 25km in 3hrs 14 mins = 7.7km/hr  Plus fumbling with compass and map and fishes and cell phone, so I think, the speed isn't too bad.  

Right, the accident.  I was just going to go through with my normal 23k island hopping routine, the late evening sky was amazingly beautiful, so beautiful it was, that I forgot to look where I was going before it gets really really dark.

So it got dark, I was rounding the dam of HLC, somehow I thought Disco Bay is the only civilization on Lantau, so I saw city light, and I got drawn into it like a moth drawn into a flame.  By the time I noticed there was a welcome store, McD, and China Bear, I knew I was in trouble. 

Pulled out my map, since it was too dark to use my regular compass, I tried to use my CASIO watch compass, but somehow it wouldn't give me a reading.  And my fingers got tired trying to hold down the backlit button. (it wouldn't stay lit anyway.)   I ended up needing to use my strobe light to help me see the black compass that I always wear around my neck.  Note to self: next time, get a glow-in-the-dark compass.

Paddling in the dark was unnerving.  I wasn't able to judge the distances of the landscape, and a fairly large boat sailed pass me without any light on at all -- no red, no green, no white light, I only saw its silhouette when it moved between me and Disney.  It's scary, I wasn't sure if it could see me either (I did had my C-strobe on) and the engine sounded really close to my kayak.

When I finally got out of Mui Wo, I thought my phone rang, because something was vibrating between my legs... strange, I know, because I DID NOT KEEP MY PHONE BETWEEN MY LEGS.  Turns out not one but three little fish jumped into my boat.  I loosen up my waist band before launching so to alleviate the salt-sore on my ab, and the fishes just slide right into my pants... ;__;  When I finally realized what was happening, I freaked out and screamed my head off.  I think the ninja-boat next to me heard me, because they sped away from me towards Disney.  Anyway, I couldn't take the suspense anymore.  I called Dennis for some moral support, mostly to hear myself say that I still have everything under control ... more or less.

The nastiest part of it was that I didn't bring a bottle of water.  I thought it was going to be a quick repetition of a well-practiced routine route, but shit happens.  Next time, bring water no matter what.

I was so thirsty when I finally landed, I tried to muscle my water-filled martlet up to shore, and in the process, probably did something to my collar bone where I had a fracture a few years ago.  I bailed the water and carried the boat with my other shoulder afterwards.  I guess I won't know if it's hurt until a day or two later.

After shower, I did a bit of weight training up in the gym.  Worked on shoulder/chest muscle, back, triceps, and quad.  

Ready for bed now.

Another DB sea-kayaker

Gym:

1 hr cycling (L4, "34km")

one set of everything except for the reverse squat -- a gweilo was using it and I got cold waiting for him to finish his set.  I mean, he kept loading it up with more and more weight, I'll probably break my back trying to unload it.

Paddling: Used my old 22k route.

1600 DB

1641 Rounded the corner of Kau Yi Chau (drifted too far North due to wind and current and wasted a lot of time paddling back south ... I need to learn to work with the element more.)

1704 - Sunny Is. NE

1738 - Hei Ling Chau S

1813 - Hei Ling W. (Pier)

1845 - Marina 

* * * Met Mark, chatted for a while, silly me, totally forgot the fact that I had my cellphone with me...

1905 - DB

I've been moaning and whining in my head for some times, "why do I have to do push ups to train for kayaking??  I don't use my chest muscles!"

Well, I got a bit sore from the gym workout today, then went straight down to the water.  Ha!  Funny how I thought you don't use your chest muscles for paddling.  I was quite sore when I started paddling, but the lactic acid faded away after a short while.

Finally finished JLPT

4th of July -- no celebration for me, just last minute cramming and studying.  My only excuse is: you can cram information into your head; you can't cram training and daylight.

Dad asked me, "why aren't you paddling today?  It's nice and cloudy."  Seriously, I never thought I would live to see the day when daddy told me off for not playing outside due to an immanent exam.  

5th of July -- Wrote JLPT, then went to Stanley SMB to attend the KPG lecture/ trip briefing with Siu Ming.

Exam went okay; as expected, I find vocab, listening and reading comprehension quite easy.  But I might as well just bring a dice or two for the grammar section.  

I sort of stayed up late to study (I had the audiobooks on while I tried to sleep anyway, and I stayed up till 0300) so I was tired when I got home.  Decided not to train.

Today (as in the 6th) ... well, there was no excuse.  Except my back/ neck really really hurts, probably because I haven't sat still in front of a desk for so long to study.  

So I finally dragged myself down to the gym with a book in hand.  

Cycled for 2 hrs at Level 4 (random hills) -- according to the machine, that's 68km.  Whatever, I stayed where I was the whole time, in front of the picture window, so stupid.

Then I decided to just go through each equipment available in the gym.  Turns out there is a proper inclining bench for situps afterall.  And there is a set for working the back muscle that simulates pull ups -- so I no longer have to dangle myself precariously off the bars.

Siu Ming said I should still show up in Shatin now and then to work with the program.  Ho hum.  I wish Fan goh would let me paddle there, it's so criminally stupid to have to bus for 5 hrs just for 3 hrs of paddling.

My bum hurts from the cycling, better get some sleep now.  Don't want to miss paddling tomorrow. (It's gonna be a HOT day!)

Pre-exam crams: no paddling today

Didn't paddle today, JLPT coming up this Sunday and I have to study.

So took my ipod with some JLPT1 past paper to work in the gym. Spend 40mins+ on the strider (6km), did one round of the weight routine (only did 10 pull ups though), went to get dinner, and I'm ready to go home.

I might as well rest while I can. Expecting 75km of hell next Sunday (12th July), got a KPG trip with Siu Ming launching from SMB, trouble is, I need to bring my boat over from DB, which means I have to paddle over 60km just for a 15km trip. Somehow the math doesn't add up...

shek Mun training Day 4 (21k)

Didn't windsurf, wind too mild, would end up pumping on the sail all day.

So I went to Shek Mun to train instead, and I'm glad I did.  Had curry for lunch in the Thai place near Sai Kung Pier first, then bused to Shek Mun (ho hum...)  

As soon as I got there, I spend 30+ minutes on the stepping machine, got my heart rate up to 172, then drank a lot of water.  Maybe I drank too much?  Or I ate too much at lunch?  I ended up feeling really sick and puked.

tried to get back onto the stepping machine, but was feeling too sick to go on.  Studied for a while (JLPT), puked some more, then did what I could on the weight sets.  After stretching, I felt much better, but decided not to push my luck (or stomach, for that matter), and went down to the water where I always feel more at home. 

I think I performed well today.  At least, I did much better than my previous attempt at Shek Mun:

Launch (pontoon) 1420 

--> mucked around for a bit, needed to rearrange the styrofoam, cos I could hardly stuff my legs into the cockpit.

-500 mark   1434

3ooo mark  1504

-500 mark   1529

3ooo mark  1559

-500 mark   1624

3ooo mark  1657

-500 mark   1721

pontoon       1733 (had to dodge a few row-boats)

heart rate at 116bpm

21km/167mins = 7.5km/hr

For some reasons I felt very uncomfortable while moving downstream.  When I paddled against headwind up the river, every paddle stroke felt solid; I could tell whether I was rotating my torso by gaging how much power I had to exert with my arms.  But when I moved down stream with the wind, (I felt as though I was being sun-dried alive, and) I felt as though I was just going through the motion.  When I planted my blade and rotated my torso, it felt as though the water gave me nothing back to grab.  In terms of speed I was moving faster than upstream, but I just felt as though I wasn't moving efficiently, like my body was rotating and moving in vain.

was tired after I rounded the 3000 mark for the 3rd time, and my speed also dropped significantly, so obviously I need to work on endurance.  I know I still haven't fully recovered from the 60k (SMB) trip, and I also lifted weight today, but I think it's encouraging that my body can recover while I continue to paddle 20+k on a daily basis.

Shek Mun training Day 2

I thought Fan-Goh's June training menu was easy enough to follow.  Ha!  I would laugh, except my ab hurts too much.

It's nearly mid night and I'm still up, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to paddle 20k in the morning before I go sailing.  And I thought, 20-30km a day was supposed to be an insult to my endurance! 

Bused to Shatin today.  Got there late, so neither jog nor stretch cos want to save time for paddling.  Changed the gym routine to see if I do better on the first few items ... well, yes and no.  I managed 20 dips on the first set, but couldn't finish the 2nd set.  The most pathetic part was the sit-ups -- my ab hurts so badly I couldn't even lie down comfortably.  I nearly teared up when I tried to sit up on the inclined board.  Did all of the TWO sit ups, and I was ready to give up.

Paddling went okay.  Found a tiger with a big styrofoam block inside so was able to push the kayak forward with my toes as I paddled.  I think I did a little better than yesterday, but have to pull out a calculator to work out the average speed and am too tired to do that.  First round was ridiculous, was going to try the baby gremini paddles but gave up after I made it to the -500 mark.  It gave me no power, no leverage at all.  So I went back to get the winged blades.

First few rounds were feeble, forgot to synchronize my paddling with my breathing all together on the first run.  After a few runs, I think my body finally got the coordinations down, and my performance improved.  I thought I wasn't too tired while I was still sitting in the boat, but once I climbed onto the pontoon, I was surprised at how stiff I was.

Took a short break (all of ONE minute) between round 3 and round 4 to have a drink -- ended up drinking up the entire bottle of poccari sweat, and I swear it jump-started my performance.  So for longer trips, maybe it is a good idea to stop for sugar and water.

Will write down the details tomorrow.  I'm so sleepy I'm getting dizzy.

Oh, and I finally contacted feifei-cat, the coastal search-and-rescue coordinator.  Really looking forward to training and planning with his team.  

[edited to add]

pull ups 20/20/20

dips 20/15/20

push ups 20/20/20

sit ups 1/1/- (DNF)

1455 launch 1

1511 got to the -500 mark and back to the pontoon (swapped the gremini for winged paddle)

1518 launch (pontoon)

1525 -500 mark

1602 3000 mark

1627 -500 mark

1707 3000 mark

1725 - 1726 -500 mark * * * 1 minutes water break (!) gulped down 1L of poccari sweat * * *

1755 3000 mark

1822 -500 mark

1851 3000 mark

1919 -500 mark

1929 landing (pontoon) * * * pulse rate 104 bpm * * *

Shek Mun training Day 1

Slept well last night, was tired but not over-the-top-exhausted.  Woke up at the crack of dawn but wasted all morning mucking around in my apartment in DB.  Tried to excavate my MP3 player for the gym workout but to no avail.  Finally got my ass out of the house at 1145 and didn't make it to Shek Mun till 1330.

Had all sorts of crap for breakfast: chocolate cream cookies, potato chips, juice, cream soup... the fact that I've been told to stay away from fatty food drives me to crave them even more.  And don't even talk about the alcohol ban.

One thing I found out about my performance / energy level is that it's all tied to my perception of how I'm doing -- paddled three rounds between the -500m to 3000m marks, and tried to calculate my average speed per section as I cruised.  For some reasons my brain farted and miscalculated my last section -- I thought I was 10 minutes behind schedule and suddenly decided I was hungry and tired and cannot go on.  So I slowed down to a crawl and felt fairly defeated ... until I was nearly at the -500 mark and checked my watch again, turns out I was actually 4 minutes ahead of schedule.  My heart did a summersault and I felt sure I could push for another round or two.  But I told the lifeguard I was going to land before 7 and there wasn't enough time for me to push for another set, plus I had to catch the last bus back to Tai Tan, so I landed.

With an unloaded tiger on flat water, my cruising speed (as of today) is appr 7kph.  I felt sure there is room for improvement though - I wasn't rotating my torso at the first round and a half, I'm also not familiar with the winged paddle, which I used today for the first time.  Which reminds me... my neck hurts.  I'm sure it's the new paddle's fault.  I couldn't have paddled much more than 20km today and I shouldn't be sore, it just doesn't make sense.  I don't know if I want to use the winged paddles again either, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to use that for NZ, I can't even trust it to do a simple sculling-draw stroke to get me to the pontoon.  I think, I should probably use the paddles that I intend to use when I go to NZ, like my Kiska or whichever spare paddle I decide to get before the expedition.

The gym work out was disappointing.  I just don't have the will power to push myself through the last few sets.  I ended up dragging my feet and doing steady sets of 10's, that is to say, I performed worse than yesterday.  I know I can do it if my life depends on it, but it's hard to convince myself lifting the metals have anything to do with survival when the water waving at me to come down and play.

In the gym:

chin-ups: 20/20/12

push-ups: 20/20/16+4

dips: 10/10/10

sit ups: 10/10/10

leg lift: 7 ... u_u

On the water:

1434 launch (pontoon)

1505 turned around at the very end of Shing Mun River

1533: pontoon -- went up to the gym to get snacks and drinks.  Was really hungry.  Then my body cooled down too quickly and I had to take a hot shower...

1552: launched from pontoon again

1604: -500 mark

1636: 3000 mark

1704: -500 mark

1734: 3000 mark

1802: -500 mark

1812: landing (pontoon)

tried to do another set of gym routine but the skin on my palm was peeling off.  So went to shower after a painful set of 10 chin-ups and went home.

Came home to walk and feed the dogs, and I'm ready for bed again.

[edited to add]

I need to do something about my cool-problem.  I was shivering uncontrollably on the bus on Monday after working out in Shek Mun, and I was shivering under the 30C sun when I took a lunch/snack break yesterday.