Tavernier Paddle Log

Over the weekend, myself and five other Crossing Crusaders travelled down to visit and paddle with fellow Crossing Crusader Chris Bell for a group paddle we’d set up as a double loop around Plantation Key. We had purposely planned the paddle to start very early in the morning, stretch through most of the day and expose us to various paddling conditions— in short it was meant to be challenging to hopefully mimic certain aspects of The Crossing, namely: to travel out of town, get up super early and paddle all day. The wind kicked up the day before and although we attempted the full loop starting at Paddle! The Florida Keys, the wind and chop in the Atlantic was too much for our group and we turned back at the Postcard Inn backtracking through Bayside. Our first segment was 21.38 miles and the second segment was 13.93 miles, giving a total recorded mileage of 35.31 miles. Although, I think my mileage was more like 40, as I paddled back and forth between the front and back of the pack on the first segment without using a tracker to preserve my phone battery.

What worked:

— prepared my breakfast the night before, ate half of it at 4am and the other half at noon.

— used Nuun electolyte tablets in my water bladders for the entire day, consuming an average of one liter for every 5 miles paddled.

— ate a small amount, mostly bars, every hour or so, even if I wasn't hungry to sustain my energy.

— had a jar of pickles & coconut water on ice.

— kept my mind occupied by counting strokes, singing, talking, calculating time, speed and mileage.

—on the second segment, we kept our breaks pretty short, although less organized as we were quite exhausted.

— sun protection: polarized glasses, leggings long enough to cover my most of my foot, long sleeve shirt, gloves, neck buff, visor & Raw Elements Face Stick. The only place I got sunburn was on the little space on my wrist where my shirt didn't quite meet my glove.

— mustard packets. Its actually really gross, but can help alleviate muscle cramps. I ate close to a tablespoon of mustard with my breakfast (eggs, arugula, avocado), tested out mustard straight from the packet about halfway through our first segment and then another tablespoon or so around noon with the rest of my breakfast. One of the local gals that paddled the second segment with us, swears by it and I think it worked pretty well. The only cramping I got on the whole paddle was in my left foot where I have a chronic issues.

What didn't work & what I would change:

—eating only bars, I was craving whole foods at the end of the day— fruit, vegetables, fish, grains. I don't really think this is feasible while paddling, but I do plan to add baby food packets, fruit, nuts and nut butters (they make a nut butter in a squeeze pouch!)

—my sunscreen was stashed in my pack, strapped to the board and hard to get to; my cell phone and chapstick were in an easy to access pouch on my body, so I’m going to try to find a slightly larger pouch that can hold my phone, chapstick, sunscreen and a small snack.

— I only had 1 pair of gloves and they got soggy after awhile despite my efforts to keep my hands out of the water; I definitely need to get a second pair.

— My left foot, especially my ring toe is a constant bother and was the first thing to break my morale; good paddle form, especially internal rotation of the thighs and abdominal engagement to balance out the pelvis seems to help alleviate most of the effects.

— A more comfortable sports bra. The one I was wearing had multiple thin straps that laid directly under my water pack and dug into my upper traps.

Recovery:

— I took a hot shower and used baking soda to get the sunscreen off my face, feet and neck & ended up using the baking soda to exfoliate my whole body; it was stimulating and felt good like a massage. I followed up with coconut oil for my skin, rose oil for my face and shea butter for my hands and feet after my shower and before bed.

— GOOD FOOD. We went out to Marker 88 (a waterfront restaurant we passed 4 times) for dinner and I had Fish, green beans, fries and key lime pie. It was a perfect combination of protein, veggies, carbs and comfort food—almost identical in to my dinner after the 2018 Crossing.

— A good night’s sleep.

— Yoga. I stretched and move by body the night before, the morning of, that night and the next morning as well as on the board

— Deep Blue. I put it on the muscles I’d been overusing (upper traps, lats, erectors, qL, forearms, calves) before bed.

— Katie, Buz and I hit up a couple walking trails the next day— it was hot and we were pretty exhausted, but it felt good to move.

— Staying hydrated. I was particular to continue drinking quite a bit of water, tea, and electrolytes the next day.

— Ice Baths. during our break between the segments, I filled my water bladder with cooler water and ice, essentially icing my hands. I iced them twice the next morning and iced my hands and feet on Monday morning. This wasn't in my original recovery plan but when I was cleaning out the cooler and saw all that really cold water I realized it was probably for the best and in the future will ice that night, the next morning, the next evening and the morning after that. Ice creates a condition called ischemia, that is basically a lack of blood flow that can reduce swelling as well as stop the neural impulse causing the pain-spasm cycle. Iced body parts should not be moved or used until the tissue returns to normal temperature (usually takes about 10 mintutes.)

This list is specific to what worked, what didn’t and what I would change as it pertains to The Crossing. As with all advice, please do what feels best for your body and be sure you test out any new products on a training paddle before deciding to add it in for the crossing itself.