Day 25- Feeling Very Broken

    After yesterdays competition, I woke up thinking about what my perfect ride would be. It would involve me solidifying a couple more moves, that is for sure. Sometimes I wonder why I do this sport. It is an odd one. Then, the moment I begin surfing or have an amazing conversation with someone who I am with, I remember that it isn’t always about the sport, it is about the experience. I have big goals for myself, both kayaking and non kayaking, that is what the adventure is all about. This morning, walking around the island, I looked across the river to see a family doing their laundry in the river. Kids were playing, moms were working, it was a beautiful thing to see.

    I am, however, feeling quite broken after 12 days straight of pretty difficult kayaking. My muscles need recovery time, my brain is overworked. I only have two days left of actual coaching before Den and Jacko leave, I am trying my hardest to keep moving forward with new moves. I feel like I have the basics down, but then I think about how much more there is still to learn. 

    It was a hard morning on Club Wave, the water was just a bit too high for it so it was pretty trashy. I wasn’t having the best of rides, the lineup was really long (30 minutes between rides), I was also feeling a bit feverish and achy. I was a bit worried that I may be coming down with Malaria. I took 3 rides and figured it just wasn’t my day so I headed back to the island, all in all, I was on the water for two hours and took three rides. I laid down in the sun for a while, if I did have Malaria I was going to cook it out. 

    By lunch time, I was feeling heaps better and had drunk about 2 liters of water in an hour. The water had started coming up so most of the island decided to go paddling. It was still a bit low for Nile Special but it ended up being a pretty fun session. I was working primarily on Helixes and Flipturns, these moves are the ones I came to this camp to learn and I feel like I am making progress. I stayed out for a long time, working hard and taking loads of short rides. I knew it was time to go home when I flipped five times trying to get into the eddy. 

    Oh yea, I don’t have Malaria.