This section will post some of our training for various races throughout the year.. I am aware of its inconsistancies and shortfalls. Please feel free to email me with questions about the workouts. Also my blog will comment on things related to surfski paddling in general and our business. I welcome any comments about our new web site. If you see photos in wierd places or things amiss..bear with me as I am learning how to update things myself.

Pat, me and Eva
12 x 4' on 1' off rest after 4, 3'.
All of them...1' at 70%, 1' at 90%, 1' at 70% and last minute at 90%
Good hard workout with some tempo changes!

My turn to paddle and the wind was trying to give me something. Did a nice little 10km with 6 km of swells and a sweet 13.8 km average time.
Nice and mellow, easy to connect and surf...super day.

Pat had a great demo day(sold 3 Mako Elites) and downwind race. He came 2nd to Steve Woods and then Noah rounded out the medals for Team Ocean Paddlesports..then the drive home...usually SF to Costa Mesa is 7 hours pulling the trailer..but the nasty freeway was closed for repairs????at 12 midnight so they sat inching along for 3 hours..pulled in at 5 am..holy moly..good thing Hayden and I weren't there as we would have been crying.

ok..Pat, Correy, Noah and Reece off to Northern Cal for the Wavechaser downwind race and demo day. I decided to turn off the TV and go for a long paddle...only a month till surfski champs...so NAC to Newport Pier and back. 22.5 km. not hard, but time in the boat.

Patrick competed Friday and Saturday at the Lifeguard Nationals in Manhatten Beach. Highlights include him winning the stacked age group surf ski (Mitch Kahn and Rob Pelkey) and winning also his heat to make the surfski open finals. He ended up coming home and not racing the finals in the late late afternoon that day.......I think he would have won it..turns out Zsolt from Hawaii(not a lifeguard) won...but as I race as an associate, not a lifeguard, you don't get credit for the win.....I'm not sure who the first real lifeguard was that day....
I decided because of the long day and the Aussie girls weren't there, not to race...and my final would have been in the late day too. So after the morning on the beach, we organized a long paddle in the wind in the afternoon. Pat, De, Noah, Correy and KC... 17km with headwind, a roaring side wind(even had waves breaking over the side of the ski...great balance practice for me on the Elite!) and a good, not great downwind run....the wind was humping, but the current was going against us...made for some good stacked up swell, but slow...

Congratulations HAYDEN!!! 4th place C boys paddleboard and woohoo.... 5th place C boys Iron man! And thats after racing and winning the Distance Swim at HSBJGs before going up to LA. Gotta get some of that energy.
You rock and your only 11!!

Alan of the North, Pat, Eva and I all did some course work sprints. 1 x 2000m, 1 x 1000m and 1 x 500m had to paddle a quick one.....all at 90%. 3 minutes rest.

Saturday night was an Interntaional(Aussies still hanging around) Surf Festival in Torrance and I was invited to be part of a womens taplin relay team(surfski, swim, paddleboard). Reece brought his night vison goggles (classic 9 year old) and Hayden brought his fins and never left the water even to watch the race. (classic Hayden won't get out of the water, even at night) Pat was a great boat handler...up and down the big hill. I had a blast paddling at night, in the surf, with flood lights and a crowd cheering...but never ever... ever drink a large Coffee Bean coffee before a race in the dark..jitter bug vertigo and no sleep till 4am....And my jump in starts were bad enough without the caffeine to screw them up even more.
Sunday was paddle easy after no sleep
Monday was a 5km run on the beach
Tuesday was a rest day to recover from all that....

Yea, Eva is back..sick too long!
12 x 1' on 1' off and 12 x 30" on 30" off, 90% 5 minutes rest between sets.

Tired to do a good 13 km downwind on my lifeguard spec ski to get more used to it for the USLA Nationals in a week. The 7 knot breeze turned into a nothing slog for over an hour. Had a good hard push trying to get the ski to glide like the Mako 6, but it dosen't...it plods like a spec ski....40 pounds of 19"wide, 19' long with plenty of rocker and a big ole bowfoil....gotta love those specs!

Ok so now we are all keen to do the USA lifeguard nationals after the weekend soooo we went down to Hungtinton Beach with the spec skis and did 8 x jump in starts out for 200 meters...surf in, and 2 x 2000 m. Awesome to get in the ocean surf some more!

Super fun weekend spent on the beach. Friday was the Junior lifeguard regionals where Hayden (11) went to compete for Huntington State Beach. He had a fantasitic day, getting 2nd place in the C age group boys paddleboard. It came down to a sprint off the wave and he was up on his knees and running for 2nd. He was thrilled and is gunning for first at the nationals.

Patrick and I decided to go and compete in the Seniors. He represents Laguna Beach as he was a lifeguard there for many years. I go as an associate member because I never worked. Team Hemmens won all the surfski races..what a great day. Pat won the open and the age group and so did I. I managed to get a chance to try and beat that Aussie girl from last weekend. Turned out not to be a wave for me this time and I was ahead from the beginning...and no wipe outs at the finish. So relived to get the surf jitters out for a while. I jumped on the a paddleboard too and had a fun race winning the age group.....All in all a super day on the beach, even Danica was there for 7 hours...slept in her stroller..what a tropper.

Alone today so went for hard work on the course. 3 x 2000m rest 3' wind and current opposites. Times slow, but work out good.

A super fun event that we have not been to in over 5 years. Last minute we decided to go and race in the surf. The Aussie team was here from Victoria for the Whale and Sheild yearly event with LA County. The first event in the morning is the 10km surfski race. Starts on the beach and goes out around and back..finishing on the beach. The surf was small, but sets came in which made you have to be careful in and out. Steve Woods from SA was the winner in the mens, with Pat right behind..yea old boy. I won the womens, getting in and out throught the surf with out losing my hat (ha, I did not wear one). Then there were some dory races and paddleboard and all the things we don't do anymore and might die if we tried without some training. Steve though,(24 years old, not 44) was trying to win as much prize money as possible, so he jumped in the 1000m surf swim. I think he got points, but it was dominated by Olympic swimmer Chad Carvin. Next was the 2000m surfski sprint..surf was picking up and all morning I told eveyone how I would just back off the big waves and paddle in the back of one. Steve won the mens, although he decided to go the wrong way and almost missed a buoy...he came around and had to paddle hard for 10 strokes to get back in front. Pat raced in for 3rd..again well done old man. I had a bad(normal) jump in start, some Aussie girl busted out through the surf and I had to go hard to catch her...passed her on the last turn and then was home free for the win, except for the big wave that I decided to take off on, not back off of and so I wipe out good...(always keep paddling, but do I? no)..so as I swam to the finish, the Aussie girl won. Bummer...but all in all a fun day...I think I will be sore for another week.