Sea Kayak repairs and upgrades

So it's 2024...I have owned my Impex Force Cat 5 since 2009. She is a solid boat and we have had a lot of fun together. I managed to develop a chronic heel injury last summer training for Bromont, and I have not run since January 1st. So my warm weather sport will pivot back to kayaking. That means repairs and upgrades for rhe old girl!

First, the skeg wire needs replacing. There are a handful of blogs out there from 10-25 years ago discussing this procedure.

I visited The Boathouse in Dorval, a sailing equipment store and purchased 2.5m of 1 x 19 Stainless 316 cable. Size was 3/32". The almost equivalent of the OEM of 3mm is 1/8", but I read that 1/8" is y fat and may have trouble travelling in the sheath.

Ordering this wire online is very expensive. Locally it cost me $2.75.

I removed the skeg with a rubber mallet and it popped out. I measured the wires together, and the replacement is notably thinner. At least that's how it looks. Hoping it works!

I got out my heat gun and applied it to the epoxy where the wire joins the skeg. Using a screwdriver I eventually removed the epoxy and original wire.

Then I backed the existing hole with duct tape.

Discussing this procedure with my friends at The Boathouse we agreed that G35 epoxy was the best choice. So I mixed a bit and applied it to the hole once I had slipped the wire in the top hole.

I also applied some G35 to the hole that the guide rod in the slider fits into. It has been annoyingly popping out...I'm not sure it's built that way! Hopefully that takes and my skeg toggle doesn't pull it out anymore.

 

Next day:

The G35 has set and I installed the wire and popped the skeg back on with my rubber mallet. I clipped a bit off the end of the wire at the toggle.

The glue on the rod held....I tightened the toiggle screw and my skeg is working like new!

Bromont Ultra 80 thoughts

 Do something long enough and there's a good chance your mind and body (if it involves that) will know what to do when faced with a major and unprecedented challenge.

Never give up. Never!

Eat every 40 minutes (or stick to whatever plan you made).

Don't be a negative thinker.

Assume you have successfully completed the challenge weeks, days and hours before you have even started.

When you're tired, eat and drink.

If you are cramping, stop and stretch and relax, that will pass.

Your loved ones, colleagues and friends want you to succeed!

Be kind and helpful to fellow runners (humans in general), it might make the difference not only in that moment, but in their day, and quite possibly their life.

Being able to run alone on a trail on private property surrounded by forest with sun filtering through is possibly one of the greatest things God could give me. Hour after hour.

So those were a few thoughts that I had post race that I didn't want to forget. And now, looking ahead, the question is, do I repeat? I know I can do it now, and the fact that I'm a year older doesn't phase me in the least. In fact I think I can be stronger and faster in 2022. The best thing about an injury from overuse and unbalance is the reperative exercises that fix said injury and make one stronger.

The 80 isn't scary like it was before, because I have completed it once. The question now that I have completed it once is, what training aspect needs to be emphasized the most? Previously I was most terrified of the first 10kms, and it was all downhill after Lt. Dan, the ominous climb that takes me about 30 minutes every time. But now that is just a distant memory. The slowest and most difficult part of 2021 was the last 30kms. Mostly because they were all  in the dark. My headlamp gave up after three hours, at the 65km aide station, and I continued at a fast walk on technical trails, up and down for 3 1/2 more hours mostly holding my iPhone! The water my crew had put in my hydration bladder was local water and tasted horrible, so I ditched it. Little things like that had an impact.

So how to improve? Get strong so night RUNNING not power hiking is possible. Get a new headlamp.

Nutrition and hydration were perfect as far as I can tell. Shoes? Maybe a different shoe, one that doesn't make huge bubbly blisters on my fourth toes of each foot.

No chafing or other issues.

My core needs to get a lot stronger. So maybe 4-5 run days a week and 3 solid core workouts. Can I keep to that?

Strange, but I am now a Coureur des Bois Bronze!

Well the Canadian Ski Marathon was great! I missed the giant fireplace at the Chateau Montebello, and the 4:30 am school bus ride, and the beautiful scenery of the countryside rolling by me mile by mile. I missed the fiddle band playing next to the waxing station and the free chocolate milk being handed out by the milk producer. 

I also missed having to ski 80 kilometres on back to back days, which was kind of nice!

I showed up at the Sucrerie de la Montagne in Rigaud at 6:40am Saturday, February 6th, and began skiing the Escapade loop clockwise. I had brought hot honey water in a thermos, BBQ chips, Chips Ahoy cookies, granola bars, an apple and a Caramilk bar. And plenty of water.

I had waxed blue, as it was about -9, warming to -6C with overcast skies. I hoped the ski trails would have been freshly cut, but they weren't. It had snowed Thursday, and there was enough heavy loose snow that Rigaud didn't think they'd be able to set new tracks. Unfortunate, but there you go. I needed some kind of challenge!

The day was uneventful except for slipping on the ATV/Snowmobile track and landing on the arm I broke in 2015, one of the reasons I had hesitated to ski....I felt a small but sharp pain...hoped it wasn't anything serious, and continued skiing (it wasn't serious or painful later on!). I also fell much later on going downhill, some loose snow messed me up, but that fall was nothing also. Once I had completed 3 loops, I heard a voice in the parking lot. My friend Bryan, himself an accomplished ultra athlete had showed with his skis to accompany me on my last 8 kilometres! I was in no mood for being social but Bryan gets that, and a few silly remarks later I was grateful for his company, and off we went.

The Finish Line of day one, was Bryan way ahead of me, stopping to let me finish with him and telling me he was proud of me, which was kind of cool! At the "real" CSM, there is an announcer who calls your name. I missed that this year!

My time wasn't outstanding, but it was a finish, good enough for 2020! 7 hours, 10 minutes. Remember I have trained all of 35 kms for this event, and not been on skis since 2015 for a total 28kms.

It's funny, at the CSM your whole focus is recovery, wax, and the next day.  This year, I got home, went to the barn with my daughter, made dinner, waxed my skis and turned in at a decent hour!

Sucrerie Parking at 5:58am, Sunday morning.

Sunday morning I was able to start earlier, this time at 6am. I was tired, stiff, and the trail was dark, and cold, -14C. I plodded around the loop, this time counterclockwise (the big hill had destroyed me the day before...three times!).

Pretty soon I ran into my friend Olaf Knutson, doing his second day of Gold Bar #1, with his pack on. He was going the other way, and I was dedicated to my direction, so we moved on alone, instead of skiing together. Olaf had skied his first day at Whitlock Golf in Hudson, starting with 15kms with his 10-year old son! He slept out in his backyard. Tough!

As I completed my first loop, my running friend Donalda showed up, followed by Bryan. She had brought her famous homemade cookies, and a McDonald's Apple Turnover...what a treat! 

She was dressed to run, so off we went, the three of us. Almost as soon as we left the parking we came across another Gold Camper, none other than CSM President, Sylvain Parent! So cool, we chatted with him for a bit and kept going. 

Then we crossed Olaf again. I was starting to get a little frustrated, all this socializing...I needed to ski! At the beginning of my third loop, Bryan and Donalda left me and my friend Andrew showed up. He and I had done the CSM touring together in 2014 (2x50kms) and play jazz together as well (he's an amazing tenor sax player!). So off we went, chatting and skiing.

It seems the new trend in these shared use areas is to set ONE pair of ski tracks and leave the other side groomed for walking, snowshoes and fat biking. That's okay with me, except it's hard to chat. Used to be we'd have parallel tracks and we could chat while we skied.

Oh well. The 14kms went quickly enough, although I was getting slow and the ski tracks were getting really bad after a weekend of very heavy use. 

Andrew left me after his loop, and I hit the trail for my last 8kms, which went quickly enough...turned my watch off at 50.1kms, good enough for bronze...this year!

Funny, I have run so many kilometres since 2015, ultras, half marathons, thousands of kms in training, so the cumulative effect on my body of 100kms of Nordic skiing was very minor. Slightly sore elbow extensors (the left one creaks!), and two "almost" blisters on my big toes. That's it. I slept great, ate like a horse, and of course enjoyed the warming up process!

Someone started a Facebook group for the Virtual Canadian Ski Marathon and it has been like a fireside chat as skier after skier posts their photos and stories from the day. People from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Vermont so far! Better than nothing, I'd say, the CSM is successful in large part because of that sense of community.

Will I attempt the Silver next year? If the snow is as good as it was this year, sure! 

Back to the Canadian Ski Marathon - 2021 Virtual Edition

 I haven't cross-country skied since 2015. Or so my Garmin tells me. All I remember is doing the 2014 CSM Touring with friend Andrew (2x50km days) in absolutely perfect conditions, and completing the 51km Gatineau Loppet the week after. No Chateau Montebello, no 3am wakeup, standing in the cold for hours waiting for the Bronze start, no fretting about whether the snow would be intact for the event. I think I was mildly traumatized from my two Bronze attempts. Cold weather, tough weeks in advance of the event trying to find time to train, it was all too much. 

Finishing day 1, CSM 2013

I decided to focus on running, which has been a lot of fun. I broke my arm in 2015, tripping on a trail run in August. So the thought of slipping my wrist into a ski pole and then busting it all up again falling scared the crap out of me. So all my skis, gear, wax etc rested in the basement.

Fast forward to 2021. Two of my running friends (Olaf Knutson, CdB Gold and Bryan Amyot, local athletic legend)  started skiing almost every morning at 6am. The Town of Hudson started laying real x-country tracks at Whitlock Golf. So one afternoon in January I found a pair of skis that appeared to be in decent shape in my basement and drove over to a little park near my house that accesses the golf course. 

I had fun! My technique isn't horrible, and my fitness is better than it was in 2012-14. A lot better, even though I was 52 years old then and I'm 59 now.

I forgot how to connect my boots to the bindings. Yes. AND, I spread grip wax in the glide zone. They still worked!

It was brought to my attention that the Canadian Ski Marathon is going virtual this year (like every other outdoor race!), and I could get a Bronze Coureur des Bois medal by skiing two 50 kilometre days back to back. For $79. Any day within a one month window, as long as the days are subsequent. Well, I took the bait (while drinking alcohol!).

I have decided to do my loops at l'Escapade in Rigaud, to at least have some semblance of a challenge. Refuelling will be easy out of the trunk of my car, every 14kms. 

Since returning to the sport I have gone out 5 times so far, for a total of only 35kms, but I'm running also, and stretching a lot.

Here is my Strava page:  https://www.strava.com/athletes/6235221

Installing a Bumfortable Kayak Seat Part 1

I have owned and Paddled an 18' Impex Force Cat 5 sea kayak since 2009. The seat has been a never ending source of discomfort and dissatisfaction for me the entire time. The built-in, screwed in seat tilts my lower back downwards, and the ridge under my thighs cuts off my blood and my left leg is usually numb after twenty minutes.

The control I get from this seat is great, the balance is perfect and the kayak is a joy to paddle in any conditions.

I have tried many different ideas to get comfortable. Different backbands, seat pads, cushions behind my lower back and even an inflated thermarest pad under my thighs. I tried carving a seat from minicell a few years ago but that was horrible.  What to do?

I had read about the Bumfortable seat, made in New Zealand. I finally ordered one, but at $230 shipped I'm thinking this is it - if this doesn't fix it the kayak has to go.

It arrived very quickly from New Zealand, I was surprised how quickly it arrived.


The instructions call for cleaning your hull with alcohol and sanding it a bit. Easy enough. The instructions recommend gluing the seat to the hull with either "No More Nails" or Contact Cement.

In order to get the seat placement correct you have to determine where your sit bones land in the original seat by putting water on the original seat, and marking where the middle of the puddle is (as close as possible). Then you put the Bumfortable seat in the boat, put some water in it and try to match the middle of the puddles to where you measured before.

I took great pains to measure exactly where the seat would rest. There are water channels underneath it,  so you want to glue where the seat makes contact. I tried lots of positions in the boat, keeping in mind that the amazing control I have in the boat has a lot to do with the overall design, especially where my butt rests!


I started with No More Nails ($10). I glued the seat to the hull, and left it overnight in my warm garage.

Next day I took the boat out for a paddle and about 5 seconds after I sat in the boat the seat came loose and slid to the back, It was also very unstable. I beached the kayak, moved the seat forward a bit, and gingerly paddled back to the parking.

I scraped the No More Nails off the bottom of the seat (it's very slippery, that was easy) and out of the boat. It came out quite easily.

Next was the Contact Cement (another $10). This is a bit trickier, as the bond is instant and there is apparently a right and wrong time to press the items together for gluing. So when I was ready, I applied glue to both the seat and the hull (cleaned up, of course). I waited about 15 minutes, then pressed the seat in.

I left it, and went for a paddle a day or two later. Once again, the seat peeled out when I was done!

The contact cement was a lot harder to remove from the hull. I had to buy Acetone ($13). Even with that, it was quite a chore to scrape out the cement.

It occurred to me (and I had read somewhere) that thigh support is critical in keeping the seat in place. I bought two yoga blocks ($20), as recommended by a member of a Facebook Kayaking group I'm in. I haven't used them yet. Meanwhile, I took the foam thigh supports off the OEM seat, and glued them to the Bumfortable. One stayed on, one didn't. I used screws and washers to hold that one on, with more glue.

Next, I tried what the manufacturer of the Bumfortable doesn't recommend. Velcro!

I bought a few boxes of 15lb 1" thick Velcro. I laid two strips on the hull, and put their matching halves on the seat.

I figured out that the only way to squeeze the seat into place is by placing paper over the bottom Velcro, sliding the seat on it, then pulling out the paper so the seat makes contact in the right place. This is powerful Velcro!

I took it for a paddle, and with the thigh support, the boat handles well, but for this test paddle I had placed the seat too far back. But it stayed in place, and I had better contact with the boat thanks to the thigh supports.

I think the seat is higher than the OEM seat, I should be more stable just sitting in the water. They say one can shave foam off the bottom, but that scares me. Once you take foam off, you can't replace it!

More to come, as I must perfect the thigh braces and fit the seat in eactly the right place. I'm thinking of taking the OEM seat out for a paddle, just to remember how the boat SHOULD feel!

UltimateXC 38km Trail Race

Last summer was my first crack at a 50km ultrarunning/trail race. It was a shock! The race director had kindly warned me that it was a very technical race. I figured “whatever” I’ve gotta get my feet wet and see how it would feel. Annnnddd… it was brutal! Mud, rocks, roots….I was destroyed. But I finished. More because the search crew couldn’t find me (just kidding). And then I broke my wrist in August, pretty much ending the season. Anyway for 2016 I decided I’d need to be way more prepared. I began by actually going running. And after a 45-day streak I engaged expert trail/ultra running coach Benoit Talbot from North Hatley to help me. The result was a carefully designed plan (1,100kms of mileage over 5 months) that got me to the start line June 25th in St Donat.

Bib and tech short pickup was the evening before the race for the 38 and 60km distances. I was lucky to have a local friend who not only kept me company in the lineup (relieving me of that Awkwardness of Being Alone) but also fed me a delicious pre-race supper of salmon and salad.

Very smooth tech shirt and number pickup at the church the evening before the race.
photo credit taken by my friend Sarita.

I slept in Ste Agathe at the Super 8 which was cleaner and quieter than I had anticipated, so that was a relief....and it was only 850m from a McDonald's so yeah, my pre-race brekkie was a #3 trio...."Go with what ya know"! I had gone to bed around 10:30..woke up at 3:30 to pee and of course didn't get back to sleep! No matter, sleep before a big event is rare and I guess overrated. I had slept well all week and was not worried.


We boarded the busses at 8am.. I couldn't figure out if they were going to give me a bag for the shoe drop so I said "whatever" and didn't do it. The Salomon Speedcross I figured would be fine for 40kms. I use Drymax socks also and they are superb. This combo is great because with the Salomon speed lacing you can tighten your shoes for mud and water, and loosen them back up for land. I brought two bottles, one in my pack, one in the front. On the left I had my Muskol, Android and Oreo cookies. I had 5 baggies of Tailwind Carb/electrolyte mix in the pack, 300 calories each. Over the race I used 4. Of course I wore my wrist brace on my left wrist. Can't break that arm ever again.

Going out “slow and easy”...ummmm....

We drove for about twenty minutes and were dumped by the side of the road near a trailhead. Only one way out from this! On foot!

Dan the race director asked who was new to the event. A lot of people raised their hand. “good”, he said,” Last year’s runners are all dead!” And we all laughed.

The horn was blown and off we went. There was a tree down on the narrow trail about 20 metres from the trailhead, so immediately there was a bottleneck.

I stayed near the back, as I didn’t want to be “that guy” causing a bottleneck up the trail and I wanted to take it easy at the start. My goal for the race was discovery, not competition.

The group I was with was pretty slow, which was fine, but owing to the adrenaline of the race as well as the fact that the climbing began immediately, my HR was in the 160s for a few kms. I had trained in the 130s, so the goal was to get it down, which I was able to do later on.

Aide stations (Ravitos) 1 et 2

So the first ravito was hardly necessary but welcome nonetheless. I had an orange and some pretzels and topped up my water.

Ravito 2 didn't come until almost 11 kms later, on the backside of Mont Noire, and after that punishing long climb and descent. I had drunk both my bottles, but that was fine. At Ravito 2 I started in with salted potatoes, oranges and chips. I thought "what the heck, I'll see how much I can eat on course!!" Yes, I decided there that this race would be an experiment in food tolerance.

The forest itself is beautiful, birds, breezes, views, geological formations, what a fantastic reason to be fit and hit the trail!

Cramps!

I developed a cramp in my left thigh descending Mt Noire, at 15.85 kms. Whether it was the blast of electrolyte drink I took or walking slowly, the cramp went away and didn't come back.

Vietnam

Vietnam is a famous 500m section that was construed in an attempt to bypass Highway 329 without running on the road. The result is a walk through mud and reeds and water. Nobody runs through it and in fact it’s eagerly anticipated by the runners. Only the 38km and 60km runners have it in their course.

There wasn't a lot of rain prior to the race, unlike other years. Maybe Vietnam was a letdown? There were a few water crossings which felt AWESOME on my hot legs. Other runners had beat out a trail NEXT to the mud, so I was able to go past a lot of the mud without incident. I did go in deep once or twice, but that was just funny. It was so refreshing to go under Highway 329 in knee deep water!

Shoe change - NOT!

So it was a cruel uphill to that station, it was getting hot by noon when I got there. I bypassed the shoe swap and chatted with a volunteer while I filled up my bottles and munched more food. Then I was off again. This was around 3:27 for the halfway. I was hoping for a 6:30 but it was clear that wouldn't be the case. No matter. I had no idea what to expect from a race with all this climbing and hazards like Vietnam. I didn't think I would get cut off at 7:30. I saw from other peoples’ Stravas that I saved about 5 minutes not changing shoes.

The climb out of the halfway station is long and brutal. Steep and winding and never ending!

My New Best Friend JF

So this guy caught up to me and we started chatting. He had had some major pain, I'm not quite sure what had happened, but someone had given him Advil...I told him not to make a habit of that...it's bad to take NSAIDs and worse to do it when your body is working hard. Anyway we stuck together for the rest of the race! Laughed and chatted and pushed each other, which was pretty cool. At one point his wife had brought his twin 7-year old sons to meet him, which was really darn cute!

31 km mark: Hill from Hell or Cote de l'Enfer!!

A mild-mannered ski hill by winter, but a brutal Race Director's Joke by summer! This is where my right hamstring began to twitch, signalling a cramp. Thank God it worked itself out. This climb was very tough...the finish line is a tantalizing 8kms away, but not until you have climbed 200m in 1.3 ish kms. In the hot sun at the 30km mark!

At the top there was a ravito (warm water) and a fantastic view, and the knowledge that it was pretty much downhill to the finish line!

At Station Ravary there were bagpipers...that was terrific!

On our way down past that aid station there was a woman who had fallen and clearly broken her wrist. I told her to make sure she got a Cat-scan!

As we jogged our way along the neat path for the last 2kms, my feet were hurting in my Speedcross. They were wishing to be in my cushy Hokas....but there wasn't much left to go.

We decided to race the last km, and managed to do a 5:44 split! Bravo! I was really happy to finally be able to stop moving...grabbed some ice at the finisher's corral and rubbed my neck, legs, face, forehead...

Met up with some pals I knew loosely, one of them had done the 120km version of the race!! 25 hours....I couldn't imagine doing that trail twice, and some of it in the dark!

Conclusions

I felt that my training was enough to make it through the day. I didn't feel like I hadn't prepared well enough. I gather that the 800s were my hill training, I didn't ever feel weak on the hills, up or down, until l'Enfer, but that doesn't surprise me.

My Camelbak Ultra 4 vest worked perfectly again. I went with my Ultimate Direction bottles, they are the nicest size for the hand and have easy-open tops for the aide stations.

A last minute purchase was the MEC Instinct Shorts. They're tight, like bike shorts and with some local Organic body lube I bought at JogX in the right places I experienced zero chafing. Good products!

My left 2nd toe tends to get banged up a bit, and was sensitive for a few days, but not bloody, so I'll probably keep the nail. No blisters, even after all the water. Barely any dirt inside my shoes, even without gaiters! I have rinsed the shoes out and we'll see how they recover.

Nutrition was good, I have grown to love salted potatoes! Between Friday morning I weighed 191.4 and Saturday night I weighed 192.4!

Oh, and I peed at the start line at 8:30, and then at home at 8pm! It was a bit dark but it didn't hurt so I was okay.

My new buddy JF and his family drove me back to the church for my car....thank goodness! We are staying in touch and may run together again.

The race organization is very good. The volunteers were fantastic. The aid stations were well stocked. The course was really well marked. Everything was designed to allow the runners to enjoy their day. First class!

Next race is the Bromont Ultra 55km October 9th.

Good physio and Acupuncture!

So the new physiotherapist is doing great things. I think I have been twisted and pulled and pushed and snapped in two...had ultrasound and ice and Active Release Therapy (deeeep tissue stuff) and my butt is loosening up.

This morning I submitted to an hour of acupuncture and wow....I had needles up and down my leg and in my back. It was easy to let happen and it felt like a mini-laser light show was taking place in my body, notably up and down my right leg. When I finally stood up I was dazed, and as I walked back to the office I noticed my right side, hamstring and butt muscles were notably looser and more relaxed. Relief!!

I bought a 75cm exercise ball this morning for the office, and it is a welcome change from the static office chair I have been sitting in as well....

Hopefully I can start running -crossfitting-biking again soon!