The River Wild
Yesterday was the canoe club's first day on a river since about April. Man it was so good! I got such a kick out of it! I was even able to play in some of the rapids for the first time - all the skills work we've done over the summer has paid off for me and things are beginning to click into place. It's such a good feeling, I managed to get a few rolls in as well - pretty different rolling in moving water than on a lake! Unfortunately water levels were fairly low and the rocks were freaking me out, I would have been trying to roll more if it hadn't been for them.

Rodger worked us pretty hard and made us go down some of the weirs and rapids backwards. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to stay upright with any of those runs! And there was one in particular which ended up like a bit of a washing machine experience for me – I was very glad of my helmet, but my butt has some not so beautiful bruises as a result!

The only bummer about it all is that I’ve managed to wreck my left shoulder. A few weeks ago I noticed pain with my right arm and difficulty lifting it. A physio friend reliably informs me I’ve got rotator cuff damage and inflamed a tendon in my shoulder. I thought I had done something at the gym, but I’ve realised in the last couple of weeks that kayaking aggravates it. Apparently rest is the best thing and my friend gave me some exercises to do which have helped but after yesterday it’s now my left arm which is giving me major gip – even changing gears in the car is painful! Frustrating, but hopefully if I do the exercises and work on strengthening my muscles it’ll get better. Heigh ho!