Colorado kicked off its 2013 SUP race season last Saturday with the 3rd annual Icebreaker SUP Race. This event is always a great social icebreaker to kick off our SUP season.  Close to forty racers, plus another 60 or so enthusiastic people, showed up to enjoy the vibe of SUP and connect with other like-minded people on a gorgeous spring day. The Icebreaker sported the largest variety of boards seen so far in Colorado, and everyone did an awesome job of welcoming people and getting them out on the water demoing boards.

Colorado has one of the coolest SUP communities out there. It’s an incredible feeling to be able to connect with people that inspire you to rediscover your passion for SUP, challenge yourself, share your love of SUP with others, and have a blast while doing it. One of my favorite moments was the post event race photo. Everyone – racers, friends, family, spectators, vendors – was invited to be part of the picture. A photo finish to the event, capturing the spirit that everyone is welcome to join the SUP scene in Colorado.


(thanks to Sue Butcher for the photo)

I am stoked to be competing in the first Denver Indoor SUP Race hosted by Mile High Rowing this weekend! It promises to be several minutes of breath taking (literally!) excitement as Colorado’s SUPers stand up and paddle on a Concept2 (www.concept2.com) ergometer outfitted with Vermont Waterways/Paddle Sport Training System’s (http://www.paddlesporttraining.com/) SUP adaptor. Whether you are a seasoned SUP racer or a novice paddler, The Denver Indoor SUP Race is a test to see how your fitness and training is progressing over the cold winter months. Since this will the first SUP erg rodeo for many of us, it will be interesting to see the different approaches to the race. The information below should help all of us novice SUP ergers make the most of this first race,

There are a couple of Concept2 functionalities that are good to know if you haven’t experienced the torture of a Concept2 erg. Plan to arrive at the race early and get familiar with the performance monitor and the damper setting. The performance monitor is where your race performance data will be displayed. There are five different display screens, so chose one that you’ll be able to interpret during the race. At a minimum, you’ll want to know where the time, distance, and 500m splits are displayed. Pace is expressed as time per 500 meters (for example, a 3:14 pace means that it takes three minutes and 14 seconds to complete 500m or 3:14/500m). Since we’re racing 1000m, the 3:14 pace would put you on target for a 6:28 1000m time. Take a few minutes to play around with the damper setting (the lever on the side of the fan marked 1 -10). Generally lower settings are best for aerobic workouts and higher settings for strength workouts. Try starting with a setting of five or lower, most likely lower. The feedback from the performance monitor can help you decide what damper setting gives you the fastest splits. You may set the damper setting to any level for the race, but you are not allowed to change it during the race.

Mark McAndrews of Vermont Waterways/ Paddle Sport Training System was kind enough to offer the following advice for paddling your best race with the SUP adaptor.

• Keep the damper setting low.
• On the drive phase or pulling phase of your stroke, begin your recovery phase as soon as the elbow of your lower hand gets to your hip.
• Use equal force with both hands on the paddle shaft. Downward force with the top hand and pulling force with the bottom hand.
• Use your trunk; core, abs and back muscle groups to power your drive phase. Your arms should not get fatigued. Think of them as ropes connecting you to the resistance.
• Unlike rowing the recovery phase should be a little faster than the drive phase.
• Keep your catch as far forward as possible.  It is where you will be the most efficient when you apply force and speed to your drive phase.
• Try not to let your top hand drop below your sternum.
• The Concept2 performance monitors will reward good technique and penalize poor technique.

So what’s a good strategy for paddling a good 1K race? Make sure you warm up thoroughly. Once the race starts, paddle fast! Seriously, the first three strokes should be quick and hard to get the flywheel spinning. After about the fifth stroke, it’s important to reduce the rate, lengthen the stroke and back off the power slightly. By the tenth, and probably no later than the twentieth stroke, you should settle into your race pace. It may feel like you can maintain this pace for the entire race, but trust me, that’s your fresh body and the adrenaline talking. Be aware of your limitations and realize that you are paddling at a pace you most likely cannot maintain for the entire race. Settle into your race pace. These first strokes  might feel easy, they might feel tough, but it’s a pretty sure bet that it is going to feel tougher as you keep paddling. Stay calm and paddle on. Maintain your split, relax, breathe and above all, stay consistent. If you feel yourself struggling, refocus on your splits. When you reach the 500m mark it’s time to get progressively faster. Drop your split by 1-2 seconds per 500m and hold that pace until 300m are left. You will find more speed by increasing the stroke rating (hint: spend less time on the recovery stage of the stroke) and by pulling harder. For the final sprint it’s all about increasing your rating and power to the final stroke.  Anyway, that’s what I plan on doing.

However you decide to paddle the race, your goal should be to leave everything on the erg and walk (or crawl) away knowing you did the best race you could. The best part of racing is the challenge of improving your performance. It pushes you to get fitter, stronger, faster, and to keep working toward your goals.  And the best part of racing on an erg is the performance feedback. You get immediate feedback on what is and isn’t working with your stroke, and you don’t have to rely on your gut to tell you that you went out too fast or faded after 800m.

The Colorado rowing community has been very supportive of SUP. Many of the local rowing clubs (Mile High Rowing, Frisco Rowing Center, and Fort Collins Rowing Association) have added a SUP race to their regattas. It is awesome that Mile High Rowing has added this SUP erg event to the Denver Indoor Rowing Championship. Take a moment to thank Mile High Rowing as you nosh on your post-race donut.

Once in a while someone asks us about the meaning of "Aloha Elevated". Visitors to Hawaii may recognize Aloha as a Hawaiian greeting used to say “hello” and “goodbye”. But the meaning of Aloha goes deeper, it is a way of living. And Aloha Elevated is our Colorado way of raising it to the mile high level.

Aloha is living life in peace and treating all living beings with love and respect, compassion and grace. Its core values of kindness, unity, agreeableness, humility, and patience teach us to exist in harmony in all relationships. One might say that Aloha is the spontaneous generosity of giving your very best to every person you meet with no obligation in return. 

Living and paddling at nearly a mile above sea level puts us on a higher plane. At Longmont SUP we believe we can elevate Aloha by being aware of our surroundings and caring about it all. Every paddle is the occasion to respect, love and celebrate nature as we practice Aloha. And practicing Aloha both on and off the water elevates your paddling and you to a higher level. 

Aloha. Elevated.