Wye Island Regatta 2013

The weeks passed during the summer of 2013 and I continued on my journey to shed some pounds and get “healthier” by eating at a caloric deficit most of the time and by doing as much cardio as possible much of the time.  I also paddled quite a number of training runs in August and September to get in racing shape.  My typical training run is either 10 or 14 miles on my local reservoir, depending upon how much time and daylight I have to work with.

I also continued weight/resistance training and had no idea what I was actually doing but I knew I was starting to have chronic pain in my shoulders and elbows.  My tendons almost always ached.

I had peddled my bike hundreds of miles that year and I had paddled kayaks 317 miles prior to September 14, 2013 which was the date of the Wye Island Regatta.

I drove up to Easton, MD the day before and stayed at my usual Holiday Inn Express so I would be in place and ready to paddle the following morning.  Thankfully I went out and had a big meal that night and woke up and ate a big breakfast the following morning, hours before the race.

It was another year where the weather was questionable so the race organizers once again re-arranged the course to be an out-and-back on the more protected side of the island.

I had two cameras on my Thunderbolt-X kayak and the one on the stern malfunctioned before the race even began and the one on my bow almost got knocked out of commission, but friend and fellow paddler, Cliff Roach, from Keystone Kayaks saved the camera so I would have the video below to share with you.

I took a disappointing third place that year in my division and found I had to make many bracing strokes to deal with the chop from the wind.

I would be remiss at this point if I did not give a shout out to Hoos In Treble, an all-female acappella singing group at the University of Virginia for the soundtrack for this video.  I adopted these young ladies when my niece was a member of the group and I like to share their talent with as many people as possible whenever I can.  You can even buy their music on iTunes.

Enjoy!