Burners: Marsh and Lee Valley

My first Burners of 2015, and also a day of many other firsts, including, first time at Marsh this season, first time paddling the feature at Lee Valley, and first time ever paddling in the snow!

Marsh

Although it was cold, we were all super eager to get on, and with the tow rope already set up, the eddy was soon full. Last year, I had really struggled using a tow rope, however, I managed it with ease (a little reminder of how much I have improved). 

The level was a little low, but this worked in our favor as it meant the feature was retentive enough to try lots of different new moves, and still stand a chance of staying in there. I mainly worked on airscrews and back stabs, as well as trying a few blunts. 

While waiting in the eddy, snow began to fall, and we even sung Christmas songs. When on the feature though, we tried to put in more energy than usual, bringing up the intensity ready for selections. I managed to land blunts fairly consistently and airscrews worked surprisingly but need to refine my technique as only retained a couple. 

It was also great practice using the tow rope to get on as this will be essential when I head to Uganda at Easter.

Lee Valley

As Lee Valley's Olympic Course is only open for us for an hour at the weekends, we had to make the most of this so for our second session headed over to the course. With half of selections being held on the feature there, it was important we made the most of the time. 

However, with this on my mind, and a bit of rushing around to get ready, I felt a bit stressed as we dropped down into the eddy. The eddies were quite busy and surged quite a lot but it was good to be on the course. The wave is nothing like I have paddled before and I found it quite hard to master. There is still lots of work to do, but it was good to begin practicing and getting used to the feature. 

Having a time constraint of just an hour, meant that although it was quite stressful, it was effective at replicating a competition training scenario - something that is otherwise hard to replicate, but essential to get used to.