Dear all,
I am struggling quite a bit with managing power input and heart rate during surfski races. I am 50, have quite a record of competitive endurance sport (running, kayak marathon) and, by this, thought to have a good feeling for how to determine a level of effort during endurance competitions that I can keep up until the finish.
But since I have started to participate in downwind races two years ago, I am at a loss how to approach this. Typically, as soon as I catch my first wave, my heart rate goes up to 175 or above (my max HR is a bit over 190), and just tends to stay there. Or it goes further up to 185 when I really try to stay on the wave. This is contrary to my expectation that surfing should bring your pulse down, and trying to hop to the next wave is the stuff that costs. So far, my only way to relax my heart rate is to let the waves pass me, which is highly frustrating, as then your speed is no higher as when seakayaking, and you are much less in control of what's happening. But OTOH, I can't imagine that I can sustain a heart rate of 175 or above for 1.5 or two hours. Or is that just how it is in downwind races?
I am aware that I have not sufficient exposure to waves, as I rarely have the opportunity to practice on open water. This surely creates technical issues, but I am also interested about whether this high heart rate throughout the downwind race is something common you have to live with (and adapt to), or whether you found a way to relax at least bit during races.
I am struggling quite a bit with managing power input and heart rate during surfski races. I am 50, have quite a record of competitive endurance sport (running, kayak marathon) and, by this, thought to have a good feeling for how to determine a level of effort during endurance competitions that I can keep up until the finish.
But since I have started to participate in downwind races two years ago, I am at a loss how to approach this. Typically, as soon as I catch my first wave, my heart rate goes up to 175 or above (my max HR is a bit over 190), and just tends to stay there. Or it goes further up to 185 when I really try to stay on the wave. This is contrary to my expectation that surfing should bring your pulse down, and trying to hop to the next wave is the stuff that costs. So far, my only way to relax my heart rate is to let the waves pass me, which is highly frustrating, as then your speed is no higher as when seakayaking, and you are much less in control of what's happening. But OTOH, I can't imagine that I can sustain a heart rate of 175 or above for 1.5 or two hours. Or is that just how it is in downwind races?
I am aware that I have not sufficient exposure to waves, as I rarely have the opportunity to practice on open water. This surely creates technical issues, but I am also interested about whether this high heart rate throughout the downwind race is something common you have to live with (and adapt to), or whether you found a way to relax at least bit during races.