We spent a fair bit of time trying to decide which canoe to rent for this race, and opted to go with the advice of the folks at the rental place. We picked up our boat in Ottawa on Friday afternoon and then spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to carry both the canoe and Nat's kayak on the car all the way to Kingston.
We started the race at 6am with the rest of the racers - a beautiful morning for paddling with what would be a steady, all-day headwind blowing in our faces. The first half of the race was actually somewhat uneventful - just a long paddling on a nice sunny day in relatively good conditions. We moved fairly well and were quite efficient at the portages around the locks. This was in part due to the fact that we opted to go without a support crew for the race, so there was no reason to stop at the lock stations, except to refill water and go to the washrooms.
As we moved into the night, things got quite a bit tougher. Not only were we tired from having completed over half of the 200km of the race, but night time made it harder to find our way through the snaking channels. We had good nautical maps with us, but we didn't have a GPS unit, so although we weren't all that worried about getting seriously lost, the difficulty of finding the buoys at night was a big risk for slowing us down considerably. We were very fortunate to have another canoe not far ahead of us, so this made our lives much easier as we paddled on into the night.
As the night wore on, we eventually ended up paddling completely on our own. After about 30 minutes of detours and playing in the weeds, we finally found our way back into the channel. The thick fog made it increasingly difficult to spot the buoys and fatigue - both muscular and sleepiness was adding to the challenge. As we crossed under Highway 416, it was a few hours before dawn and both John and I did a few head bobs as we nodded off briefly.
When morning finally came, we were finally in the narrowest section of the race course, which meant not having to focus too much on the navigation. Despite our tired muscles, John and I were able to increase our pace and have a strong last portion of the race. We finally arrived at the finish line after 30+ hours, weary and beaten, but very happy to have completed such a tough test of our mental and physical abilities. We ended up finishing in 8th place overall. Considering we were not well trained for this length of paddling and we were not in a racing canoe, we were happy with the result.
Going into the race, I wasn't sure what to wear, particularly on my legs as I knew I would be dealing with a whole host of changing conditions - heat, water, cold, wind, chafing issues, etc. I opted for my 2XU tights and a light pair of shorts over top - which turned out to be the perfect combination. No major chafing issues and I was never too hot or too cold (I did put on rain pants as well for the night). In terms of nutrition, I was very happy as well. Since we were unsupported, we had to carry all of our food for 30+ hours, so this wasn't much different from our usual adventure racing food selection. Once again, the StrongBars were an awesome and filling treat at various points on the course while the NUUN kept us well hydrated. I had also brought a few Pacific Health Labs Accel Gels and 2nd Surge gels with me for those moments when I needed a boost of energy and they delivered right on cue - I really like the fact that these gels are more liquid than most, so it makes it way easier to take.
So other than the brutal beating that comes with doing a repetitive activity (paddling) for so long, I was very happy with how the race unfolded. If I ever do this event (or any other marathon paddling event) again, I will definitely need to put in more long training hours beforehand. The Rideau River system is very weedy, but very beautiful nonetheless and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do the race and to get back in a canoe with John again.
James.
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