Paddles Up! Huki!

Oh yeah!  I am so ready to “reach-and-pull”!  I have joined the paddling club Na Wa’a Hanakahi and am so pumped up and excited to get back into the groove of paddling.  It has been 2 1/2 years since I have been so involved in this sport (in the 2 years since the end of my 2005 paddling season, I have raced in the Businessman’s canoe race with my family but it was a month of practice and only one day of races). 

My first day of practice was last Wednesday and it felt so awesome to be in the boat and paddling with strong and competent paddlers.  I think what felt so great to me was that I had the confidence that I could slip right back into the paddler’s mindset and paddle with technique and power, and I did!  As I dipped my paddle in the water, I allowed myself to get lost in the empowering feeling of gliding through the ocean and knowing that I was a part of the force that was driving us forward.

One thing I love about paddling is that the person you are competing against is yourself.  You have to constantly fight within yourself to reach and pull, all the time reminding yourself to keep your technique sharp and your motions powerful.  And at some point, you may just want to drop your arms, jump out of the canoe and swim away because you don’t think you can sustain so much concentration and energy, but then you remember your crew – those 5 other people in the boat with you giving all that they have, the girls with whom you have bound yourself to and made a commitment to to stick with them until you reach the finish line – and you realize that there is no way you are about to become the slacker in the team and that they depend on you to give just as much and be just as dedicated as they are.  Your mind is an integral part of this sport because there comes a time in the race that it is the only thing that keeps you going.  The challenge of paddling is that it’s not only physical – it is mental, emotional, and spiritual because, seriously,  you  will  pray. 

I am hoping to be pushed to my limit, to grow personally and as a paddler, and be forced to step out of my comfort zone.  I so look forward to this season of paddling and I predict that it will be pretty incredible.