White water kayaking

Yesterday, I went to my first of two rolling sessions to prepare for April 6 white water kayaking trip to one of these rivers, the Potomac River, Shenandoah River, Lower Yough, Muddy Creek, and Gunpowder Falls.

I had surfed JHU Outdoor Pursuits website which offered a variety of outdoor activities like sea kayaking, mountain biking and climbing since last year. This time, I wanted to participate in at least one of these activities.

After work, I had a quick dinner of two bananas and a pot of beef soup. I was lazy to transfer the soup into a bowl as I would have to wash the bowl too.

When I reached the pool at 7pm, I was the only person attending the rolling session. There was a small test before the session, I had to swim 50 feet and tread water for 2 minutes. After only 45 minutes of digesting my dinner, I swam slowly to prevent regurgitation. It is advised not to exercise strenuously one hour after meal.

After passing with 'flying colors' (quoting the tester), I was introduced to my instructress, Jamie. I had to put on a spray skirt to keep water out of the kayak (imagine a ballerina tutu). Getting into a tiny kayak was difficult for me since I had long legs.

Jamie taught me how to get out of the kayak upon capsizing. Basically, I had to lean forward toward the bow, tugged my head, pulled the
grab loop toward me and pushed the kayak away from me.

I had no qualm in water as I love swimming and water sports but I hate being inverted where water tend to get into my nose.

Next, I had to learn hip snap to row the kayak upright upon capsizing. This movement utilized muscle groups which I hardly used. A good thing I had been training my abs, obliques and back (core muscle) for running longer distance.

I practiced at the side of the pool where there should be a smooth but forceful movement involving twisting your hip up and keeping your head close to the shoulder where you last exit the water. Lifting the head up (a natural instinct to breathe) while hip snapping makes it harder to upright the kayak as it offset the roll.

I had little trouble uprighting on my right but had to practice more on my left. Next, we proceeded to T-rescue where you signaled for help by tapping on the sides, sliding both hands on the sides to feel for a rescue kayak and hip snapping using the bow of the rescue kayak as support.

The next training involved hip snapping using two floats and subsequently one float to simulate the paddle.

I had fun learning rolling though my neck is aching now. I am looking forward to the beginner level on April 6.