Finding my stamina again at 50

It was October when my enthusiasm for doing a few regular 5km Aqua Paddles turned into an “If we can do 5km then how about a 40km event?” and my lovely group of ladies who had been paddling with me regularly for the last two years said YES! so that was it.

We signed up to paddle 40km at the end of April and then the reality hit of what it actually meant to paddle this distance - not least to maintain a certain speed for hours on end and the necessity to paddle throughout the winter as we boosted our fitness and built on our technique.

Finding the right gear to paddle in winter has become a must!

For me, training for the 40km has become so much more than just paddling. It began as a journey to push myself beyond previous limits whilst embracing the transition into my fifties but it has turned out to be a journey of friendship, womanhood, mental resilience and mindset.

There has been a re-arranging of priorities such as making time for self during the general working week and family commitments, remembering to eat - and ensuring correct nutrition, allowing time for reflection as aches remind me of injuries sustained whilst doing other activities that I have loved (dislocated shoulder from kickboxing, broken ankle from one of my darling horses – the list goes on!), and personal discovery as I tapped into levels of commitment to self that I haven't been able to since pre-motherhood.

I really feel as though I've embraced the concept of ‘taking the time rather than making the time’ and discarded what's not really important.

Whilst paddling longer distances I've also found myself musing over the trials and tribulations of everyday life – we’ve had an ongoing issue with a hot water tank at home which has thrown a curveball into an already busy family for one thing - and I’ve truly been appreciating the value a resource like Ocean Lake is for community, wildlife and - on a greater level - climate change of the future. We should all have the opportunity of connecting with nature whilst exercising for our physical and mental wellbeing.  

This journey has led me to things that were familiar in my working life as a leadership coach but mostly unknown to me on the water. Navigating the ups and down of working as a team during my Paddle UK Journey Leadership qualification - which I'd intended to do anyway but it was fitting to work on it whilst I was also training for endurance - and experiencing the joys of shared challenges, being motivated and inspired by teammates as well as the never-ending excitement of meeting new people. Being back in the role of student rather than teacher I was able to experience trepidation on all the things there are to learn and re-discover the thrill in learning them.

This image doesn't do justice to how windy it was during my PaddleUK training in Fowey!

My February Takeaway:

I've spent so much time on differing stretches of water in the past few months but one thing I have been constantly struck by is the beauty the water brings to all seasons. There's always something going on whether on sea, river, canal or lake. Sometimes it's nature - swans kicking up a storm or the wind furrowing the water's surface into frisky little waves; sometimes it can be the absence of disturbance, like the days when the lake is like a millpond and the sky is perfectly reflected and you can just stand and breathe.

I always try to make time for at least a couple of minutes of stillness to appreciate my surroundings wherever I'm on the water and simply observe what's going on around me. It really is a privilege to connect with the earth in this way.