Cape Cod Bay Challenge Training

[boardshorts]

This week's tip for the CCBC: what do I bring???

This year's Cape Cod bay Challenge will be in August 20th departing from Plymouth, MA across Cape Cod Bay to Wellfleet, MA.  The total distance will be 34 miles.  Instead of talking about training I wanted to talk about what to bring/buy/wear to get ready for the crossing.  There will be an email shortly to the participants regarding specifics that each paddler should have but I wanted to highlight some items early so that paddlers don't have to scramble at the last minute. 

For starters, everyone needs to have a pfd.  The last two years some people opted for the super ugly orange vests but a good alternative is a belt pfd that is small and doesn't get in the way.  Cabellas or west marine carry these for about $50. 

Here is a link: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=99591&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10107&subdeptNum=10494&classNum=11115

Paddlers will also need a whistle.  You can get these at West Marine or REI for short money.

Outside of these two mandatory items, I have some suggestions.

Footwear: I paddled & trained extensively last year, but still found 9 hours on my feet to be brutal.  I simply wore flip flops but others opted for vibrams or another watershoe to make the crossing.  Again, even if you train every day, 9 hours will be slightly shocking to your feet so it might be a good option.

Sun protection: the last two years crossings were under beautiful conditions.  That being said, we were all shadless and sweating for 9 hours.  In addition to sunglasses & liberal re-coatings of sunblock, most paddlers had hats with visors and many had long sleeve rashguards.  A white rashguard is a good option and can actually keep you cool.

I would highly recommend that each paddler try to carry all of their gear on their body rather than strapped to the board.  We have seen much duct tape & harnesses fail in the middle of the crossing & result in a big pain for the paddler.

Finally, I suggest that each paddler assemble their gear and make a long practice paddle with all the gear.  During a 15 mile practice paddle, I found out that bungee cords around my board were a REALLY  BAD idea.  But it would have been much worse if I had tried to make the crossing with that setup.

Good luck & keep training!  This year is going to be great!

[boardshorts]

I wanted to do a piece on what to eat/drink to get ready for the CCBC.

Hydration: start this EARLY.  I mean like two days early.  Focus on staying really hydrated on the Thursday and Friday before the CCBC and drink as much as possible before the start.  Again, you might think 34 miles is a cakewalk but the last two years were 90 degrees with little wind.  The weather alone can sap all your energy.  Camelbacks are going to be mandatory this year so get one that is comfortable (and hopefully not black like mine).  Yes, there WILL be extra water on the boats but treat your camelback like a lifeline: get to know how far/long you can go on one fill-up & that will make your fill-ups easier to gauge during the 34 mile event.

Food: space is a priority for the 34 mile paddle.  By the time you pack a pfd, camelback, itunes, etc. there is little room for carrying food.  This is why it is a good idea to do some long training paddles with different types of nutrition and find out what your body needs for a long paddle.  Some people need a bunch of snacks during the trip while others can go 34 without anything.  But going 9 hours of exercise without any nutrition is asking for trouble so you should at least plan on bringing some nutrition.  Remember: the boats will NOT have food for you.  So what types of compact highly efficient foods do people bring?  Some people love the gu for energy and it is convenient (small) but others cannot tolerate it.  I like to bring gorp and cliff bars with an emergency gu or 2 for caffeine + energy.  I even brought a submarine sandwich 2 years ago!  For me, a good idea is to have a HUGE protein meal before the start.  I made a 6 egg omlette at 3:30 AM before the last start.  Protein + efficient = tons of gas in the tank for the paddle.  I guess the best idea is to know your own body and its needs and have a stock of high energy, low sugar food to fuel it.

So here's where I am in terms of training: Jimmy C & I did a long paddle (15 miles) this morning.  We didn't have time to do longer so we tried to really push it.  Our average speed was 3.9 mph (on the 14' boards).  Conditions at 4:00 AM were hot (75 degrees!) with a SW wind @ 8 mph but it felt like 15 mph.  We did a loop so we got the benefit of wind and tides for 50% of the paddle but got tough conditions for 50%.  We finished by 8:00 AM.  I feel like that was a really fast time under those conditions.  The most important part was that Jimmy & I are tweaking all our food, water pfd, & other gear so that there are no hiccups on the day of the race.  My hydration pack was out at 15 mi so now I know how long I can go without a backup!  We also tried to push our limits a little: I was seeing if I could do 15 mi without any food and jimmy was working on a 10 beer hangover.  So in a sense, we succeeded.

Keep on training!  We are up to 75 paddlers & you don't want to be the "slow running gazelle" in the pack!

Send me a PM if you are having difficulties or need more specific advice!

cheers,

Craig

[stoneaxe]

Boardshorts advice is pretty much perfect. One thing I can add is that we'll have a bunch of Powerbars, bars, gels, and chews for everyone to use for the paddle. I usually not only hydrate really well in the days leading up to it i also try and eat especially well. Foods that provide great nutrition and help in particular areas...bananas for instance to help prevent cramps. I don't eat breakfast before we launch, ie: coffee and a bran muffin are NOT a good idea before a 34 mile paddle.  I'll chow a couple of Powerbars and maybe an orange and then snack on gels and chews along the way. It's great to have Owater and Powerbar as sponsors, low bulk, high nutrition works well. I also take a couple of ibuprofen before we go and this year I'll pack a couple of Aleve liquigels. Last year by mile 25 I was in some serious pain in my shoulders until my daughter gave me a couple that she had. Made a HUGE difference. The last 5 would not have been fun without them

We have a carb load party the night before at the Cabby shack in Plymouth. The majority of the carbs are in the form of Wachusett brews...a good way to prep providing you don't overdo it (been there done that... ). I'll be sending out an email in a week or so to try and gauge how many will be attending, we would love to pack the place with paddlers. We basically take over the upper deck of Cabby's.

[PonoBill]

10 mile downwinder today, and a bike ride after. Time to start ramping up. I'm going to be doing long paddles or downwinders about every day. I'll try to get a 35 miler or two in the mix. Nice to KNOW you can do it. With the five knot current in the Columbia these days (big runoff) a 10 miler is about a 15 miler.