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Breaking News: In a Surfski.info exclusive, we are happy to announce that defending champion, Paul ‘EK SÉ’ Marais, has signed the legally binding DWASOPE Southern Shamaal Document of Intent (DSSDOI) and will be on the start line come 6th December ….. not only will this be a boost for the organisers but it will also give Oscar someone to follow over the 4 days – his signature brings to 18 the number of members who have put pen to paper.
 Paul (ek se) Marais signs the pledge. Paul is the current PE2EL Challenge champion Training Week 1
Like the lazy squirrel who sees the snow falling and realises he may not have enough time to collect enough acorns for the winter, for most of us this first week of our training has been a wake-up call of note.
However, unlike the squirrel, who can beg borrow or steal his mates acorns to make up for his lack of preparation, we will have nowhere to hide come 6th December - the Challenge is unrelenting and will weed out those who arrive a little underdone. All of a sudden "16 weeks to go" does not seem that far away.
Since we've temporarily donated our daylight to the Northern Sphere of Hemis, most of our paddling during the week is done in a place affectionately referred to as The Swamp - it's actually a vlei (lake) but due to the fluctuating water level and proliferation of weed, it does sometimes feel as if Meatloaf is sitting on the back of the kayak.
 The Swamp - pretty dismal at 05h45! Or even at 07h00
To (partially) numb the hamster-stuck-in-a-wheel feeling that one can get from this place, most of the Swamp sessions are done as interval training.
Intervals
Our first week went something like this;
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Mon: 2km warmup; 5 x 2km intervals finishing on 9min going every 10min
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Tue: 10-15min warmup; 6x1.2km intervals (morning); 10km timetrial (evening)
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Wed: 10-15min warmup; 12 x 4min intervals, 60sec rest
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Thu: 10-15min warmup; 8min 6min 4min intervals x 3
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Fri: 10km bunch paddle
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Sat: 20km sea paddle or 30km river paddle
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Sun: Blur/Recover
While there is no doubt that there is merit in the interval training madness, if you're unfit and carrying a few doughnuts, it can be hazardous to your short term health. For the unfit these interval sessions turned into nothing more than a continuous paddle; just as we came around the corner to finish a 2km interval looking forward to a rest, so we would hear the voice of Peter Cole shouting "10 sec to go" and off we would have to go again.
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By Tuesday it was already obvious that some of us had a lot more work to do than others - the Tuesday night time trial saw two of our members, ‘Linebreak' Maddock and Dom ‘Juan' Strano, fall out of their kayaks through sheer exhaustion ...and by Wednesday there was No Doubt (Gwen Stefani) that we should have started collecting acorns a looooong time ago.
Wednesday's session started well - everything seemed fine and then all of a sudden, without warning, The Swamp looked like the opening beach landing scene from Saving Private Ryan: kayaks were spinning out; grown men were crying; spectators covered their children's eyes to shield them from the carnage that was unfolding before them .... and this the result of an interval session supposedly done at 70% .....oh, and did I say that we have a loooooooong way to go!!!
Weekends
The weekends are great as it gives most of us a chance to enjoy the ocean and get away from the demon Meatloaf infested swamp - it's also the time to start doing some slower, longer distances out on the ocean. Those that weren't paddling the river races met Saturday morning at Fish Hoek beach for what was planned to be a slow paddle to Millers Point (10km away) and back.
Fish Hoek is a really great place to paddle from; in the heart of False Bay it provides plenty of route options and no surf admin before setting out - even when the Cape is being bombed by 25ft swell it remains pretty benign ....not great practice for the killing fields of Woody Cape but a nice way to ease into a cold early morning paddle.
For one paddler however, the 1ft beachbreak proved too much: he was upended in the knee deep water sending the local retirement home body-boarding club scrambling in all directions. Having apologised for his inability to control his weapon and after having helped collect the swimming caps and dentures that had been lost in the skirmish, Father Tour headed out to where the rest of us were waiting for him.
 Father ('also known as the Georgio Armani of the Paddling World) Torr
‘What happened there Father?' - ‘Don't know, must have been the socks' came the reply, ‘I think they filled up with water and slipped on the pedals' - it was only then that we noticed that he was wearing a pair of socks. If anyone else were wearing them we would have laughed it off but not Father. At the cutting edge of fashion, sometimes also referred to as the Georgio Armani of the paddling world, anything he wears has to be taken note of - as it was, these were no ordinary socks, these were waterproof sealskin socks which, according to Father Tour, would become standard paddling gear once the manufacturers had inserted some kind of venturi drainage system into them to prevent the inflated-foot problem that had led to his steering issues earlier.
Notable Note: Father Tour single handedly led the tracksuit pant revival that has now become the norm amongst the rap/ hiphop fraternity.
Honest Paddle
The paddle itself was an honest 2hrs with very little help from the elements - it was great to be back on the sea and served as a reminder of how lucky we are to be physically able to do a sport that also affords us the opportunity to enjoy the nature in such a non-invasive way.
As if to drive this point home even further we were joined by 3 Southern Right whales who, it seemed, were quite content to hang out in a little bay just past the Boulders beach penguin colony ..... and if that wasn't enough I was given, what thankfully was a temporary escort back into Fish Hoek by one of the more famous inhabitants of False Bay .... what a privilege and what a way to start the day!!!!!
....and what better way to end the first week!!!!!
Friday evening dice at Fish Hoek
Editor: For any Capies reading this - Pete Cole is re-starting the Friday evening dice at Fish Hoek, from today... courses will be decided at the time depending on the weather and the dice will start at 17h30 until the sun starts fading a little later as we approach summer.
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