Kayak Angling Fitness 2012/13

It's come up in light of recent happenings, but perhaps we should pay direct homage to the fitness aspects of the sport.  Maybe we can use this as a thread/sticky for personal goals and related progress.  Maybe as a place in which we can publicly set forth our individual plans, and update them with progress reports.  An arena for accountability. Maybe we can do it on a yearly basis and use July 1st as a start/stop date.  Harness the good weather for a stoke-inducing kickoff and reasonably warm time in which to chase the tail end of the goal.

I'll go first.  I vow to paddle at least 400 miles between July 1st, 2012 and July 1st, 2013.  I will chase my goal through sustained paddles averaging at least 90 minutes at a mean speed of at least 3.5 MPH.  I'm prepared to provide self reports or pics of my GPS.  I also vow to post updates on dietary and cross-training contributions to my goal of becoming a fitter, and therefore more able-bodied, paddler.

Anybody game? Put a little kayak into "kayak angler?"  If you wanna lose weight, get faster, make yourself fitter, or just have a place in which to receive encouragement or take on accountability, state forth your goals...

Ohhhh - I like this idea... hmmm... I don't know how to do gps shots... I also have no idea how many miles... but I'm game, as long as my elbows hold up.

I like it.  There are several folks that enjoy the fitness aspect of the sport.  Sadly, packing up the yaks on a random weekday is a bit too much to talk for me, so I have to go to a room full of sweaty, stinky, and generally rude people and become sweaty, stinky, and perhaps a little less rude than the others, on a 2-3 day a week basis.

My general goal at the gym is 30-45 minutes of weights and then 20-30 minutes of cardio.  I do the cardio with my heart rate around 150 to 160 and a high enough resistance level to burn 500 calories in 30 minutes.  Now if I could stop eating so damn much...  (insert fat kid joke from Ravdakot here)

Wednesday is LA Fitness followed up by Sushi. 

This is more about technique rather than fitness per se, but I really dig playing in the surf with a kayak, as much if not more than fishing from one (sacrilege I know  )!  I'd like to spend more time in the surf, without fishing gear, to hone my braces. 

Nice.  Glad that this didn't get dismissed.  Micah - you're right; refining of technique should be included.  Let's post and hold accountable all betterment of kayaking fitness.  Rev, just take a picture of your GPS screen.  This isn't AOTY; no need for photo rules.  If your goal is to paddle X miles, just keep us updated or post that you're needing inspiration.  We'll try to provide encouragement.  That's what this is about.  We could make it a definitive competition if ya'all want, but Lee has a point.  Miles paddled aren't the best quantitative bits for all involved.  Go for a brisk walk with the wife.  Chase the poodle around the yard.  Let's just provide a place for bettering our stamina, abilities, and strength. 

Let's see some accountable and lofty goals....it isn't July 1st yet; have a few pops and commit yourself to an ungodly amount of miles or gym sessions.  Then hit it!

The only problem with fitness paddles is that sometimes the water can be so damn interesting one cannot help but slow down to check things out.  The other day I took advantage of a no wind afternoon on the Strait and decided to do a little paddle.  The total distance was just a bit over four miles.  Fighting the ebb current I was making 2.7 knots according to the GPS, but I kept slowing down due to all the interesting things to see.  First was the porpoise.  Then there was the seal and birds pushing herring onto the beach.  I couldn't not paddle over and check out the huge mass of firecracker herring loaded into the shallows.  Then finally I couldn't help watching the Coast Guard doing helicopter drills.  Next time I will have to drive further to a local lake that offers less sightseeing.

Great thread as I am trying to get in better paddling shape to make the adventures I dream about a reality.  I remember my last trip out to Hobuck.  I was feeling pretty good about my stamina after the 15 miles I paddled the previous weekend out there.  I ran into a gentleman camped there who was going to paddle solo from Hobuck to the mouth of the Columbia camping along the way.  All I could hear was Wayne and Garth saying "I'm not worthy!" 

One of the reasons I enjoy kayak fishing is because of the exercise element.  I am a daily runner, except when I fish.  I actually get more exercise fishing!  PBers...not so much Still can't get rid of this damn paunch tho.  Not willing to compromise on beer.   

My point, I guess...I like to try to figure distance, but I get hung up with how to account for current.  3 mi against a current is quite different than with it.  Hobie should make a mirage drive pedometer.  Or maybe someone should invent a fitbit with GPS that takes into account direction and current.  You'd make a million dollars!  Or not. 

In the meantime I will just use my level of soreness the next day to determine how good of a workout I had.

I remember my last trip out to Hobuck.  I was feeling pretty good about my stamina after the 15 miles I paddled the previous weekend out there.  I ran into a gentleman camped there who was going to paddle solo from Hobuck to the mouth of the Columbia camping along the way.  All I could hear was Wayne and Garth saying "I'm not worthy!" 

Man, what a frickin trip!  dude's got balls of steel.  It would be awesome to do that on a SOT, fishing for dinner along the way. 

Yeah, topwater has a good point.  I need to eschew my racer mentality at times, and learn to enjoy the surroundings a bit more.  I'm working on it.  For distance/speed/progress, I just use a simple, waterproof, cheap-ass Garmin marine GPS.  It straps to any watercraft, and lasts a while on a set of batteries.  Once I know my flat calm average on a given boat/board, I can assume resultant speed reductions from current/wind/flow.  Not the most accurate, but it works for my simple mind.

A couple of years back had me trying for a 600 mile year.  It wasn't too bad, but my boat was slow, and I didn't have it in me to suffer through the last 100 or so miles.  I fell short, but it was a good learning experience.  I kept a little diary/journal thing, and that helped.  I'll likely geek out on a spreadsheet for this project.  We could, perhaps, share a Google document.  Depends on if people are interested...

This is why I got into the sport in the first place   Great topic, great potential thread.  I actually started a Fatyakker blog to track my journey but I will also post here.

Since purchasing my PA - 35lbs lost
Target weight loss for 2012 - 60lbs.  That will take me down below the 300 mark.
Overall target goal is 250.

Congrats, Oly.  Thanks for posting that.  Feel free to share specifics of routine/workouts/etc.  Obviously something is working for you!

Yeah!  Motivation to keep my blog up   I will link and update as "The Milkcrate" does

To start out, my first change after picking up the kayak was to try to obey the 1st rule of losing weight:  NO FAST FOOD!!!  Yeah, we are all human, and during outings like ORC, I failed, but normal weeks it is not that difficult.  What I found is a healthier substitute.  Personally, I am a huge Gyro fan, and the difference between a Super Sized anything or my favorite, the Bacon Ultimate, is tremendous.  So, once or twice a week, I treat myself to a Gyro from the place downtown.  The rest of the week I eat fish I caught from the yak, salads, rice, fresh veggies, and sushi.  I make BLT's, salmon patty burgers, and still have "normal" food...I just don't eat the junk.  For me, a lifestyle change that is going to stick is one that does not restrict me from what I like.  Ice cream, sure, just one scoop instead of a quart.  Easy, peasy.

My second change - Yeah I was bad at ORC and enjoyed my Black & Mild's, but some of you saw that I also had my Volcano eCigar.  I switched over from "analog" smokes to the glycerine based eCigar to help keep my lungs in better shape.  Notice, I am not even thinking of quitting smoking, but found a healthier substitute:  Water vapor, nicotine, and flavoring vs. 2000+ chemicals from burnt tobacco.  I get my nic fix, but lose the cough and risk factors caused from all the other crap.

Hardest change - exercise routine.  Yeah being an IT guy, I sit a lot.  I like my certain shows on tv, and love to just chill.  Easiest change I made was to park in the spots furthest away from the stores I may shop at.  I take the steps at work instead of the elevator, and even walk down to the farmer's market instead of driving down.  I may take a bus back up with a sack of fresh veggies, squeaky cheese, and a new tie die, but even a little change can go a long way.  Yeah, and while we are on exercise....I have a yak now, so instead of going to the pier to fish or take a charter, I am in my PA peddling, fishing, filling the freezer, and getting that exercise that I would have not gotten by sitting on a boat or a pier with a beer in my hand.  ORC = 22.5hrs of open ocean time in the PA peddling against the current, positioning myself over drifts, etc....  Wonder what I lost vs what I could have gained from the same time on a charter eating snax and drinking beer? 

Change sux...we all hate change...but for me, if I can make a series of little changes that are not too painful, I find I am more likely to stick with it.

Enough from me for now....

Great idea Andy!

Eric, I checked out your blog, pretty cool stuff. I think you need an update with some ORC pics in it! Feel free to use any of mine.

My fitness goal for the year is to continue to build strength in my right leg. Six years ago I did this to it,

It's never been the same since. I worked really hard a couple of years ago to rehab it to the point where I could run a 5k. It was extremely painful getting it to that point and I should have done a better job maintaining the leg strength. The muscles atrophy if I don't keep active and now it's painful again to try and run on it. Kayak fishing helps but I need to work harder to rebuild the strength and get back to the point that I can go for a 3 miles run with my wife. My goal for the next 12 months is to be able to run 3 miles without stopping.

Thanks Noah, I have not advertised the link as it is just getting up and started and I need to get content added.  Thanks again for permission to use some of your pics.  I plan on a lot of pics and vids to keep interest in a subject that most of us "fatties" really don't want to read about....changing our lives.

I love the extra strength that I have in my shoulders and arms from paddling.  I'm wondering how much peddling will help with leg strength.

I hear you Oly, changing for the better is what we are all looking for. I really started ramping up my kayak fishing in April this year and all that peddling time combined with a fairly strict diet I am down 41 pounds since April. Super stoked to see other big boy boaters having similar results! Keep it up!