Two national finals - managed to snag a medal ...

Yes, this non athletic paddler actually managed to get a medal at the national marathon championships in August (we're talking kayaking). It's been a good summer - watching my daughter win at the World Quad championships in the Czech Republic, time in Barcelona with my sister and a few races.
At the national marathons I managed 11th in my race division for K1 but came 2nd in the K2. That was such a surprise, but was brilliant news. My partner and I had never been in a boat together before the race and as I refused to go in the front and made him take the front spot, it has to be said that the front of the boat sat rather low in the water!

Today, it was the hasler final - the big event at the end of the season, for which you have to qualify throughout the year. I'll admit I took it slightly easier than I needed to, but the wash on the water was unbelievable, like being in the sea. I managed 13th out of 34, which given that I've only just moved up to this division, was a fantastic result for me, as I expected to be right at the back. Now my target is to get promoted to the next division in the next year, although that doubles the distance of the race. Of course I can actually tell people that I am the same division as Sir Steve Redgrave, who has paddled in a recent competition and been promoted to my division. Somehow I don't think we'll be in the same division for long!!

I have a couple more short races left before our long distance training kicks in, in an attempt to finish the DW (the 125 miler) in under 24 hours. We have sold on our beloved Humphrey (at nearly 30kg fully loaded, he was just too heavy to portage easily) and have replaced him with Steve, a lighter although slightly rougher looking K2. Time will tell whether this will be a successful boat!