Masters Camp

the Cascade Kayak Masters Camp is next month. Info can be found at http://www.canoe-kayak.com/downloads/2012-masters-camp.pdf

Drove up to Index to see the Outdoor Adventures facility. They are doing great work. Beautiful country and just an hour from Seattle. There's a really good site for a beginner-level slalom course.

Great Day!

After training this morning - Steve, Eric and Eugene on Lake Washington with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Glorious February

Typical of February, the skies here in Renton have parted and the sun is shining brightly. February is consistently one of the best months to train on Lake Washington – a fair amount of sun, less rain, modest winds and very little motorboat traffic. This week the lake has been like glass on most mornings. Yesterday we held three workouts, one for the entire Cascade Team, one for the Cascade advanced group and one for Seattle University. I feel like we have built a strong foundation and are poised to really grow these programs. The SU workout was focused on developing stability and moving from TK-1s to Orions. Stephanie was the star of the day as, after falling in at the dock she hopped back into the kayak after a little more practice, was able to do a very long circle without falling in. Credit the brave team members with toughing it out learning stability in the cold 45 degree water of Lake Washington. The Cascade workouts were all aerobic endurance and we talked a fair amount about driving the boat forward harder and more aggressively to build endurance around racing at a higher level. The athletes found this extremely fatiguing (as they should), but also saw the potential increase in development rate with training at that level. Fun stuff!

Glorious February

Typical of February, the skies here in Renton have parted and the sun is shining brightly. February is consistently one of the best months to train on Lake Washington – a fair amount of sun, less rain, modest winds and very little motorboat traffic. This week the lake has been like glass on most mornings. Yesterday we held three workouts, one for the entire Cascade Team, one for the Cascade advanced group and one for Seattle University. I feel like we have built a strong foundation and are poised to really grow these programs. The SU workout was focused on developing stability and moving from TK-1s to Orions. Stephanie was the star of the day as, after falling in at the dock she hopped back into the kayak after a little more practice, was able to do a very long circle without falling in. Credit the brave team members with toughing it out learning stability in the cold 45 degree water of Lake Washington. The Cascade workouts were all aerobic endurance and we talked a fair amount about driving the boat forward harder and more aggressively to build endurance around racing at a higher level. The athletes found this extremely fatiguing (as they should), but also saw the potential increase in development rate with training at that level. Fun stuff!

Weather and training

The weather continues to prevent us from getting on the water, or even driving to the boathouse. I’ve encouraged team members to get in any kind of training they can during this time – run, lift, swim, ski. It looks like the temperatures are on the rise so I hope to be back to normal tomorrow.

Revised Training Plan

Cascade Team,

We’re in the third week of a 5 week anaerobic endurance cycle. With the snow, we’re missing many workouts so we need to take a look at revising the training plan for the next few weeks. For Wil, going to trials, Block 3 is a Competitive Block with 2 Aerobic Endurance (AE) Cycles, 1 Anaerobic Cycle (AN) and then Taper. For the rest of the team, instead of tapering, you will match Wil’s training until his taper and then start Block 4 with an AE Cycle. Wil will join you after trials in you in second AE Cycle. Below is the portion of the training plan that’s revised. The rest remains as previously posted.

All the best,

Dan Henderson

Revised due to snow
16-Jan	Competitive Block 3	Cycle 7 Revised AE 1&2	1	80%	90
23-Jan			2	80%	100
30-Jan			3	80%	110
6-Feb		Cycle 8 Revised AE 1&2	1	80%	100
13-Feb			2	80%	110
20-Feb			3	80%	120
27-Feb			4	80%	130