Wow, that was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. After I completed that race I felt like nothing in my life was as stressful as this and that I could handle anything that life throws at me. And I did it on my 21.5″ Blackfish courtesy of Infinity, thank you!
I was most nervous for the beach start because I had taken April Zilg’s clinic the day before where we tried to launch into the ocean near Mason’s Inlet. The waves were much messier being so close to Mason’s Inlet. It was discouraging to say the least, out of everyone that was there taking the clinic or just out on their own, no one made it past the surf zone except for April. On race day the waves were smaller and cleaner, I felt confident that I could get through the break zone. When we lined up with our boards on the start line I was next to my friend and fellow Infinity Speedfreak Wendy. But I looked to my other side and saw another Speedfreak, Candice Appleby. At first I didn’t want to start so close to her and bugged Wendy to move over a few inches. But then I realized that at least Candice would take off at the start, not fall in like most people would, which could have been a potential hazard and leave me a nice wide open space to paddle out.
I started on my knees even though my pride wanted me to stand the entire time, but I thought it’s not worth it to get caught in the break zone and be pummeled over and over like a ragdoll zapping my much needed energy for the 22km ocean race. This was my first time at Carolina Cup and my goal was to complete the race.
After taking a few strokes I decided it was time to stand but my balance wasn’t the best with all the race jitters and I fell in almost as soon as I stood up. “That’s okay, I needed to cool off” I told myself, I don’t know when my self-talk got so positive but it sure helps! I got back onto my knees and kept going. I had swallowed salt water…gross. A massive wave built up right where all my competitors in front of me were. It took out at least 6 women like pins hit by a bowling ball and I realized “Wow, I’m exactly where I needed to be, it was a good thing I fell in where I did.”
I stood up again just as another big wave came through, the woman next to me dropped on her knees and I followed to brace for impact. It was a good plan because I got over it no problem and I was out of the surf zone. Task 1 complete! Another 21.7km to go!
Then it was around the buoy and a sort of downwind on the ocean to Mason’s inlet. The waves were heading toward shore at a 45° angle which was somewhat rideable but forced a zigzag paddling line to avoid ending up near shore in the surf zone. There were 4 of us paddling together, 3 on Infinity boards, go Team Speedfreaks! I think almost all of us fell in at least once because the chop and swell from the ocean really made balancing exhausting. My legs felt like noodles and I wondered how I’d have the strength to finish. This race is really early in the year for Canadians and thus difficult to prepare for since we are frozen off the water for parts of January/February and focusing on our base training.
When we got to the inlet it was time to surf, I went wide to avoid the break zone in the shallows where if you fell off the wave you had to paddle out against the surf in order to keep progressing. You are not allowed to advance in the race by running on shore. I caught a rad wave and hopped back on the board like April advised us to do rather than trying a fancy cross step. I wiped out but I had no fear of being caught in the surf like I had felt the previous day in the washing machine. I got right back on and rode another wave. It was fun! I noticed everything was really bright, I put my hand on my face then my head to feel for my sunglasses but they were gone, I never even noticed them coming off. I also lost 2 of my gel shots that I had duct taped to the board, luckily I brought 4 for redundancy and an extra emergency one in my hydration vest.
Next it was time for the slog. The flatwater section against currents/tide, over shallows and add some motorboat wake to the mix just for fun. My pace was so slow I kept venturing side to side looking for faster moving water but didn’t find any advantage, it was time to put my head down and grind it out. This is what I had trained all winter for.
A fellow Canadian caught up to me and we worked together drafting for about 5km, it was so nice to take a break and eat some gel shots while I was riding her wash. My heart rate settled a bit and I recovered enough to feel strong again.
Finally, I reached the Masonborough Inlet, or the “washing machine” just needed to get through there to the final ocean stretch. There was a LOT of sizable motorboat wake from huge craft. I was surrounded by a few men, most of whom fell in during this section. I steadied myself as much as I could and I made it through without falling in. There was a breakwall to go around and some people cut the corner which I felt was dangerously close to the rocks with waves bouncing back and forth. I later heard that the water close to the breakwall was sucking people in, which is a scary thought.
My levator muscle pain in my right neck/shoulder started acting up, it’s a pain I’m familiar with from years of kayaking long distance and now it’s back due to the long distance SUP races. It’s a sharp, excruciating pain that I can paddle through. This is my pain cave and the only way to get out is to paddle through it to the finish line. There was a Canadian woman just in front of me, who was a fierce competitor and I was gaining on her, determined to pass. I couldn’t let this pain get the better of me and stop now. I pushed through and rode the swells as much as I could. Then I realized I couldn’t see where the last buoy was that we needed to go around before heading to the beach. I scanned the horizon and finally I saw it. The buoy was hard to find because everyone in front of me was quite a ways off course, much further left of the buoy instead of to the right of it. I veered right and hoped taking a more direct line would be my chance to catch up. I rounded the buoy entering the surf zone which is challenging at best when my energy levels are full, as I’m not experienced at surfing on my race board, let alone after 21km of challenging conditions. With my pain and rapidly depleting energy I rocked and bobbed through. I fell in when my jello legs finally turned to mush. I was so close, less than 200m to shore. I might have let out an expletive or two, frustrated, got up and willed the race to end. When I got to shore I scrambled across the finish line. My Mom was right there on the other side to give me a big hug and tell me how proud she was of me. I had felt so nervous to disappoint my family who had traveled all this way to see me and hoped I’d at least finish the race. I did it. I cried tears of relief and joy that it was done. It was the hardest thing I’d ever accomplished in my life. I felt like I was on top of the world and nothing, no challenge in life could be bigger than this, I was invincible and could handle anything life threw at me. Nothing at work could be more stressful than this was.
I. Feel. Empowered.
I came 12th in my age category and was the 4th Canadian woman to cross the finish line.