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Loch Tummel, Scotland

August 2018

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Only a couple of weeks until the 11 City. After a great w/end on Loch Tummel with Rhona, Allistair, & Alison – 25k on Saturday in the sun, and then 18k in the wind & rain on Sunday – Rho and I returned to Tummel again on Monday evening, so I could have an early paddle on Tuesday.
On the 11C, we are likely to be awake for 35+ hours, and after speaking to my great mate and kayak adventurer extraordinaire, Patrick Winterton, he advised me that I should get in some sleep deprivation training. This would consist of staying awake for one 24 hour period, and include several training sessions, (including one when I first wake up and one just before I go to bed).
The plan was to sleep until 4.30am, but at 3.30, the local geese got spooked, and for the next hour they kept honking and flapping around.
At 4.30 I got up, and was on the water just before 5. The first 1.5km is in a narrow section, and due to the poor light, heavy cloud, and darkness of the trees on either side of this narrow section, I couldn’t actually see where I was going.
However, once out of this, I had a clear run up the loch.
This was my first training session of the day, doing a steady 20km in just over 2½ hours.
The next 2 sessions were at 10-11pm and 4.15-5.15am on my indoor SUP trainer.
There were a couple of times during the day/night were I almost dosed off, but managed to push through.
Patrick tells me that this training is to help build confidence in myself, so now I know I can stay awake. Not sure how confident I am yet, but every little helps!

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