Dream Interpretation

I need a dream interpreter.

Last night, I launched rather late, it was pitch dark by the time I got to the NE side of Peng Chau, so the entire journey was a bit ... frightening.

Then I worked out in the gym, and met Kam to chat about kayaking, he told me about his fears of open water, of sea creatures...

* * *

In my dream I paddled Martlet out to some far away places to meet a group of Hongkie paddlers lead by Siu Ming, the plan was for me to join their group excursion, and we will have lunch together.

But then a small foreigner child appears lost on the beach, and she was severely sun burnt. Siu Ming tried to help the girl, but I speak better English.  I agreed to take the girl to the life guard station and help her find her parents and maybe interpret for her while she receives medical attention, while the kayak group launch.  I will catch them up later, because Martlet can travel faster than their Perception seakayaks.

One thing lead to another, by the time we managed to contact the girl's parents, it was very late.  I called Siu Ming to find out where they were, but I couldn't understand the instruction he gave -- suddenly I wasn't in Hong Kong anymore, I was in some unknown place, with unknown rivers and open water and islands.

Eventually I decided not to launch, but I still need to paddle my kayak home, and I didn't know where I was, and it was too late even for me to paddle home.  So I left Martlet by the river bank and took public transits home.

I "woke up" in my dream to realize I had forgotten to tie Martlet down, and the tide was rising.  I tried to hurry back to the river bank, only to realize I have no idea where that is, or how to get there.  I asked other boaters, I asked shop owners by the river, nobody knows.

Suddenly there was a crowd, they were watching something spectacular.  I walked over to see what's happening, turns out they were admiring two tornado twisting and dancing across the sky, and finally descending all the way to the water.

I was terrified: where is Martlet?  She would never survive a tornado!

Then I woke up (for real this time) filled with grief and guilt, only to realize, I already checked Martlet and Taurus after the cat-1 storm yesterday, and they are both okay.  (Not so sure about the seahorse in SK though.)

Funny girl, I am.

Yesterday:

1806 DB Tai Pak

1810 North "Pincher" of DB

1823 Sam Pak

1837 Sam Pak

1922 Peng Chau NE (didn't round KYC, because it was getting dark, so I turned around en route and paddled over to PC instead)

1933 Peng Chau SE

1947 Peng Chau Promenade 

1955 South Pincher of DB

2018 DB

Again, the jumping fishes were spectacular.  Their ghostly silver-white skin shown like a large breaking wave on the dark water surface.  A few of them jumped into my boat again, I still couldn't help screaming out loud when they bounced and wiggled on my lap; and I hate the "cute fragile high pitch schoolgirl" culture. (I know, I'm properly ashamed of myself.)

Siu Ming's training program

You know how they say, "be careful of what you ask for, because you might get it."  

First I wasn't training; now, I  can't seem to find the time or energy to finish my "homework."

Here goes: Siu Ming's program

Daily routine: 2 hrs land-bound workouts, then push for speed on water for 2 hrs.  Lunch.  Two hours of studying, 2 hrs gym/land workout, 2 hrs paddling. 

1. distance is one of the measurement of the strength only, therefore 20-30km paddling is not conclusive, kinds of resistance during  paddling are to be considered as well. such as wind, current, loading of the kayak. foer example, paddling in training pool in shek mun & on shing mun river is absolute different, towing & un-towing paddling etc.

 

1.1 time measurement

 count your time to finish a fixed distance. eg. 1hr/10km 1st (edited to say: as if!), after a certain period of time, the time should be shortened. 

 

1.2 cardio-pulmonary fitness (jogging)

count your max heart rate= 220-age, the lower the better

 

1.3 wt training,

strength (anaerobic), endurance (aerobic) etc. design a programme for yourself. what's the starting weight? 10 time wt lifting each time X 3 group, take a break (??sec/??min), train, rest, train, rest......

 

1.4 other muscle training & stretching before & after training

say, sit-up, push up,

 

2.hydration is always important, water is the best medium to regulate the body temp, to prevent either hyper/hypothermia. in hot weather, water to take away the heat via vasodilation & sweating. in low temp, water/blood flow can bring warmth to all part of body, that's why the mountaineers drink more than 3 litre a day, although they look no water loss/ sweating at high altitude. they always observe the colour of urine rather the feeling of the thirsty as an indication of hydration.

 

3. nutrition

 high carbo food (polysacaride/complex sugr) is the first priority as the energy source. electrolyte is better than glucose solution (simple sugar) since the latter one can vary the insulin secretion, a bit more compplicated mechanism will follow by, i'm afraid it will do more harm than benefit. 

 

Shek Mun Initiation, and Fan Goh's program

Trained K1 with Suk-Fun today (instead of Man-Sir), then went to Shek Mun to train for the first time.  Spend the first 15 minutes being told off with a lot of far-fetched metaphors about what a liability I could be to HKCU if I were to paddle solo and get hurt.  But then we talked about the circumnavigate NZ trip, and that was very helpful.

Am too tired to write coherently.  So will use point forms and maybe reorganize later (or not).

• I have 6 months before the expedition, so make 6 progressive monthly training plans.
• write up all my calorie intakes (food + drinks), time of consumption, (how frequently)
• write up  how much work out I did every day, and paddling speed
• make a point to analyze my recovery (how long did it take to recover after a long, hard, continuous trip?) and make a log 
• measure my pulse rate after the paddling exercise, aim to work it up to 191bpm, but starting with 114.
• paddle 20-30 km every day, with a tiger, with no break at all (not even to bail water or to drink, bring a mountain fountain for drinks.)  Must work it up to 8km/hr by the end of June.  And that's "leisurely pace," not the 100m dash pace.
• sync my breathing with every stroke.
• run/jog for 7-8 km every day for cardiovascular conditioning.
• #3 Work on Endurance
• #2 Work on Strength
• #1 Work on techniques, skills, postures, rhythm, cadence, coordination... 
• must work on speed for the sake of survival -- in case I need to turn around at the mercy of a storm
• use a pair of 8 lbs dumbbells to tone the biceps.  Lift (L.R.L.R...) for 5 minutes, rest for 3, lift 5, rest 3, repeat 3 cycles until I can do it easily, then do 4 cycles, and so on.
• 3 sets of 20 : pull-ups, push-ups, dips, sit-ups.  When I can do it steadily with decent speed, add another cycle. (ha!  fat chance!  oh, but think survival...)
• work on 20-30 lbs dumbbells only just before the trip (or tournament)
• take frequent, small meals, with lots of veggies, but must also eat meat.
• absolutely no smoking, only half to one glass of wine per day, and avoid fatty food.
• avoid using a liquid-only diet for long term
• stretch for 20 minutes before paddling, stretch for 10 after.
• towards the end of the paddling exercise, paddling slowly to cool down and let the lactic acid out.
• experiment with seat paddings for height and also to reduce blisters.

That's all that I can remember for now.  Oh, and the gym session was humiliating.  I couldn't even finish one set of dips.  And I had to finish my second set of push ups on my knees.  Got down to the water  after 3 cycles though, paddled a tiger and somehow managed to keep pace with the k1 paddlers.  So that lifted my mood a little.

whoa, 0129 in the morning!  must...get...sleep.

Training Plan

I'm going to write this blog, and then I'm going to bed.  

Paddled a typical KAT launching from WSWSC, went from WSC to Hoi Ha to Grass Is. to Chek Keng back to East Arm and then back to WSWSC.  It was fairly uneventful.  Siu Ming took a 15HP power boat out (instead of a kayak), so there wasn't much room for messing around.

What I want to write about is the discussion we had after everybody left.  First we talked about seal launching/ landing, he reckons we can probably get some practices, or at least experimentations, in Tung Ping Chau.  (Of course we can, I did it accidentally in 2007!)  He isn't willing to teach a course, but might be willing to come along for some mutual experimentations if I can find a power boat and if the wind condition is moderate.  So, I'll either have to ask Paul, or So-Goh (sampan).

The thing that really excited me was the discussion about the circumnavigate New Zealand South Island trip -- apart from Dennis and Horia, I don't know anybody else who would take me seriously.  Siu Ming thought I was suicidal to contemplate such a trip, he describes it as self-torture rather than adventure, but he conceded that it would be a good experience to have, and so we talked about a training plan.

He advised I should definitely work on endurance through gym workouts (dope!!!! I *hate* the gym with a passion!) and not just on-water type work out.  At the very least 40%  (preferably 50%) of my training time should be allocated to on land training, like rowing machines, resistance training, etc.  

So a typical training day should go like this: wake up early in the morning, spend 2 hours on gym workout, then get down to the water to paddle until lunch time, have lunch, after lunch, spend two hours on studying and researching, then get back to the gym for two hours, then get back down to the water.  

Have five training days and then take a day or two off to rest. 

If it's stormy (I say have fun paddling it!  But...) Siu Ming suggests to go jogging/ running.  Not sure how that helps me paddle but, oh well.

As for the water part, apparently I need to adjust my mentality - no more leisurely cruising; I need to get mean.   So much for my resolution to focus on rescue.  Siu Ming thinks I need to set a speed goal -- I have no control over time, I'll get 24 hrs a day and there is no way around it.  So the only factor I can control is speed.  Get to TMT faster on the same boat.  Then get to TMT with a loaded boat.  Then paddle to TMT while dragging a mass and I still have to get there on time.  Then paddle a shitty, loaded foldable kayak while dragging anchor to TMT (yeah right.) 

But don't just paddle on water, because it's going to end up damaging the muscle that I overuse all the time.  It's better to work on overall strength and endurance than to just focus on the muscle groups that I use when I paddle.

Research about weather patterns in NZ, look into the details and kinks in at least the last few years.  Also look into all the possible landing/ bailing sites.  Look into difficult spots and rough water warnings, etc.  Really study the blogs of the adventurous souls who already managed the trip before my attempt.  Look into the psychology and physiology of it -- see what difficulties others run into.  Look into all possible mental issues that might hold me back --  like trying to launch a boat alone while leaving a hypothermic patient behind. 

That's all I can remember for now.  My brain is shutting down and I need sleep.  Which might as well, the sun is setting, I'm going to work on my circadian rhythm if I plan to camp for 3 months.