Monday, November 9, 2009

I am Back In the Boat (if you can call it that)

Well I did it... I paddled a K-1 wildwater boat on flatwater for 30 minutes and it was not all that bad. I was fine the next day too!

Since he has been through the same kind of thing, Larry Castillo was kind enough to call me ahead of time with his thoughts on "watch outs".... and they were spot on. As he and I predicted, the hardest part was getting in and out of the boat!!!! WW K-1's are tough to get in/out of especially if you are trying to avoid putting pressure you your shoulders!

My thoughts are:
- I figure I have to crawl before I walk, and walk before I run. Yep this is a crawl.
- GEE, who made these WW boats so durn tippy?
For the first couple of minutes I was happy I wore my life jacket on flatwater if that tells you anything. By the end of the workout I felt pretty good about it.
- Marizio's Esox is way to small for me. If I am going to paddle it, I at least need to rip out the thigh braces.
- I will try C-1 next (because it will be easier to get in/out of). I should probably start with something more stable like a Tip Top.
- I'm going to start off slow/easy and only add 5 minutes per workout
- I'm going to start doing this 2x/week as part of my therapy.
- I have had wonderful advice/care from the Atlanta Falcons Physical Therapy Center (Marcus Hutchinson) and as a result I am already getting start messing around in boats again.

Stay Tuned.

2 comments:

  1. Great news, John! I'm so happy you're back on the water :-) I'd be glad to come out and paddle along in my pirouette to give you the familiar feeling of blowing away the other paddlers :-) I'm available Friday...

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  2. Hey John,
    Congrats! (So far.) Documenting your recovery is a going to be a great resource for injured paddlers in the future. One of the biggest problems and fears after an injury/surgery is, "What now?" Well, this could help other paddlers.

    Mend well!
    Mike

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