These training sessions are dedicated to MSG Anthony Yost, who was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and lost his life on Nov 19,2005 while conducting combat operations in Mosul, Iraq. Last week was the start of a two week taper program. I ended up not doing a scheduled 6 mile time trail on Thursday because of how tired I was feeling. I did do an elliptical workout of 33 minutes and a light weight workout. Friday morning I felt pretty good so I went ahead and did a 33 minute run at a reduced intensity covering 3.1 miles and a  TRX2- 5 week workout. Felt pretty good during this workouts so I was looking forward to some paddling time on Saturday. The weather was not bad on Saturday but I did try to stay out of the wind and did an easy 12 mile paddle with a speed of 4.1 MPH. I felt pretty good during the paddle but that evening things went downhill. All week I had been coming in contact with people who had a cold and I was trying to do my best at avoiding them. Washing my hands and keeping my hands from my eyes but it wasn’t enough.  Six months of training, not a day sick, and Slam !!!! a week away from the start of the race I get a cold.  Needless to say Sunday was a big time rest day and all workouts on Monday were skipped. It appears that everyone that has gotten this cold is over it in a couple of days so I am going to do my best (no workouts, lots of sleep, medicine, and low stress) to help it along. A cold is not going to stop me from starting this challenge. In between naps I did spend some of Sunday packing. This is a picture of me sorting and packing fuels for each day. I drive my wife nuts with how I sort everything by day and mark each bag. I do like things organized but I also feel that the more time you spend getting things organized before the race the less time you spend during the race trying to get to stuff. I am not one to spend a lot of time enjoying the scenery or wasting time when I land. I want to land get my tent setup, eat, get cleaned-up and sleep. Launching is even faster with a quick breakfast of Ensure and an oatmeal bar, camp tear down and go.  She thinks I am nuts but that doesn’t stop her from helping. After laughing at me and taking this picture she got down and helped me sort through the stuff. It is that kind of support from the home front that is so important to someone attempting to do one of these challenges. The challenge is hard on the person doing it but it equally hard on the loved ones left at home. The time away from home training, the time spent planning the trip, the worry that love ones experience and so many more things that would take this whole page to list them puts a hardship on them. I am lucky in that I am married to a very special woman who has always been very supportive of the adventures that I do even though she says ” I tell you he is not right. ” You will get a chance to get her point of view as she will be taking over the blog while I am on my trip. Since she is the “Queen of Sarcasm” I think you will tell by the difference in writing styles that it is her writing. As with every adventure trip I have attempted, the week before can be very stressful with the task of getting ready. I don’t care how much advance work I do I always feel like I am behind the power curve.  I am really trying to manage that stress and just go with the fact that it will be what it will be come Saturday morning. This means no more double checking lists, watching the forecasted weather every hour (like it will be accurate this far in advance), no more gear modifications, and getting over this cold. For the family of MSG Anthony Yost, Army Special Forces, that included a daughter, facing life without him is not easy. Please remember the name of this brave man and the sacrifice he made. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

Pythons " Game On"

These training sessions are dedicated to SFC Marcus Murallas – Night Stalker – who lost his life on June 28,2005 when his MH-47D Helicopter was shot down during combat operations in Afghanistan. The training schedule called for Sunday being a rest day and then a six mile moderate hard paddle on Monday. I am a firm believer that you have to listen to your body and adjust your training schedule accordingly. I found that when Monday came around I was still pretty wiped out from the long paddle on Saturday. So I did a run at a reduced intensity 3.1 miles in 33 minuets and did a weight lifting routine with 10 lbs less weight for each exercise. Tuesday started out with a bike workout of 33 minutes, again with a low intensity, and a TRX1 – 5 week workout. I went ahead and did the moderate hard six mile paddle 6 miles – 5.1 MPH – 1 hr 10 minutes. Wednesday I did a 4 mile walk with a 35 lb weight in 66 minutes. In addition to the workouts I am spending a lot of time in setting up the resupply bins, testing out gear, and boat prep. The list of things to do is smaller but the list still exist. After all this time it is hard to believe that there are still things outstanding. Just validates Chief’s statement ” Getting to the start line is half the battle”. I was asked about whether I am planning on carrying a gun. This year due to all the discussion of large pythons folks have actually talked about carrying a gun. For me I have never carried a gun on a kayak trip and I don’t see it being very practical. Keeping the ammunition dry, the gun clean, and having it accessible are all problematic in a salt water environment. I have always carried a knife and a camp saw but this year I have a new tool that is going to replace the saw. It is called a Parang. I think it’s origin is from the bush areas of Australia.  I think with this tool I will be a pretty good opponent for any python that wants to play. This week I am trying to cut back on my training and rest the body. For the family of SFC Murallas, that included two children, life is not very restful without him.   Please remember the name of this brave men. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

These training sessions are dedicated to Lt. Michael M. McGreevy ( SEAL) – Medal of Honor – who lost his life on June 28,2005 while conduction combat operations in Afghanistan. Have the courage to watch this video so that you can have a better understanding of what this man did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm4rikbtxJo&feature=related Today is Saturday and the last schedule long training paddle. The original scheduled called for a 45 mile paddle but I decided to cut it back to 40 miles based on how I felt last weekend. Sure don’t want to get injured this late in the game. Friday night a very heavy sea fog came in and out of concerned that it would be present in the morning I decided to start the paddle at 5:30 versus 4:30 to reduce the amount of time I would be paddling in it in the dark. Sure enough it was still present when I woke up and it was extremely heavy. I could only see about two foot in front of me.  Anyone that has operated in sea fog will tell you it is spooky, stressful, and you really have to keep you head in the game. At night it is even more difficult because of light rebound off the fog.Your spacial awareness is shot and you can become very disoriented if you don’t concentrate on what you are doing. If you hear another vessel without

This is what it looked like when it finally lifted and some daylight was peaking through.

radar you don’t know where it is and expect at anytime to see the fog separate and a bow coming at you. In a kayak you know you will be on the loosing end of that deal. So for two hours I just keep remembering  a lesson my flight instructor pounded in my head about flying a plane on instruments. “Trust what the instruments are telling you and not your body”. I m taking some writing liberties here. Body is my word he used a different word that was more specific to a certain part of my lower body that I sit on.  After a couple of hours daylight started to sneak though the fog and my range of visibility started to increase which was a relief. Oh and hallelujah the waypoint with a marker that I had been navigating to slowing became visible through the fog. The other troubling thing that happen when  I was in the sea fog is that my SPOT tracking signals were not getting out. I have never viewed the SPOT device as my primary emergency signal. I have a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) for that but SPOT can help reduce both my wife’s and the Race Director’s worry. That is if it is used correctly. My wife enjoys the water and has a pretty good knowledge base of boating. In the 2011 EC I was departing Flamingo and she knew a front was coming through but at the time it was forecasted to only have 25 MPH wind gust. Knowing that is a little dicey I teamed up with another Watertriber for the crossing to Key Largo. A couple of hours after we had launched she got a weather report that indicated wind gust of up to 50 MPH were in the front. Unfortunately we were out of cell phone range so all she could do was watch the computer screen knowing it was not going to be good. She knew when the front would come though and knew when it hit us by the SPOT track showing a drastic course change.  She was also able to see that we made it to a small island where I sent an OK message..  So for a couple of hours we played like we were Bear Grills and hunkered down as best as we could and waited for the front to pass. After the front passed we started out , after three previous attempts where we chicken out and headed back to the island, but I failed to initiate the tracking feature of the SPOT. So for the next five hours my wife got to look at a computer screen with my SPOT showing my location on that small island while myself and the other Watertriber, who had initiated his tracking feature correctly, were having a great time getting to the finish line at Key Largo. I still feel really bad for the worry she went through because I didn’t know how to use my equipment correctly. So for my brand new SPOT2 to have some limitations is troubling. The trip up the Little Manatee River was uneventful except the river level was very low. I ended up having to stop two miles short of where I went a couple of weekends ago. I just plain ran out of water. The shallow water also slowed me down quite a bit.  I finished the day off with 40 miles covered in 10 hours and 8 minutes which gave me an average speed of 3.95 MPH. I know that the sea fog and the shallow water effected my speed but I think the greatest thing that effected it was the fact that I was using my large rudder. I really do think this causes a 0.2 MPH speed hit but in big water or using sails I want the added control it gives me. The training session for the other days of the week were the following:

Thursday – Elliptical 4.0 miles – 33 minutes / Lift Routine 2  / 5 mile easy paddle – 5.0 MPHE

Friday – Ran 3.6 miles in 33 minuets / TRX2 – 7 week routine

For the family of Lt Michael M. McGreevy ( SEAL) – Medal of Honor,  life has not been easy dealing with his loss. Please remember the name of this brave men. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

These training sessions are dedicated to Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley, (ARMY) Special Forces, who lost his life on June 15, 2007 while conduction combat operations in Afghanistan.  I was surprized at how sore I was from the long paddle of Saturday. I felt worse that I did after my first 40 mile paddle. The only thing I can tie it to is that I was working harder than I thought fighting the wind and waves and it was much colder when I was doing my stretching after I had finished. It may not have been sufficient to get he lactic acid out of my muscles. Something I will have to watch for during the UFC. I see a lot of folks come in after a long day of paddling and immediately setup camp and  jump into the tent. I do agree when it is cold you have to do this but I find it best to do some stretching before going to sleep. The training schedule called for an easy 6 mile paddle on Sunday but I skipped it since I was sore and feeling so tired. Monday i ran 3.5 miles in 33 minutes and performed a weight lifting workout. The schedule didn’t call for a paddle on Monday. Tuesday I biked 11.3 miles in 33 minutes and performed a TRX1- 7 week workout. Didn’t paddle on this day either. Today I walked 5 miles in 78 minutes with a 35 lb weight and completed an interval paddle workout of 5 miles in 1 hour which gave me a speed of 5 MPH. This speed was lower than my past workouts but the wind and current was working against me. Since I was in my target heart rate range I am pleased with the workout. I have decided it is time to shake out the cob webs on the sailing gear so after the paddle workout I rig the boat for sailing and went out for an hour. Ran into Jungle Jim paddling back from work. Good to see him on the water and to know that he has signed up for the EC. He is fast, no let me change that to very fast, so he will be one to watch. For the family of Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley, that included a son and a daughter, life is not easy without him.  Please remember the name of this brave men. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

These training sessions are dedicated to SOC Nathan H.Hardy (SEAL) who lost his life on Februaury 4, 2008 while conduction combat operations in Iraq. Have the courage to watch this video so that you can have a better understanding of who this man was and how he felt about protecting our freedoms. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zys-Op2bIxk&feature=share. Today is Sunday and a rest day from the long paddle of yesterday. During the week leading up to Saturday I was concerned that emotionally I would not be able to do the scheduled 40 mile paddled. My concern was based on the fact that my mother’s funeral was scheduled for Friday night. To give me an extra reason to make the paddle I committed to a fellow Watertriber who goes by the name “Jarhead”  that I would meet him Saturday morning. I am glad I did it because sure enough I got very little sleep Friday night and the funeral did emotionally drain me. Not only did the presence of Jarhead get me out of bed and on the water but he sure helped me get my mine in the right place for the 7 miles he was with me. Jarhead thanks again. The paddle ended up being a 40 mile paddle primarily in the Hillsborough River. The paddle took 9 hours and 35 minutes which gave me a speed of 4.17 MPH. Other than continuing to test my fueling protocol I was also testing my new SPOT2 and the new SPOT procedures.  The insurance company for the UFC is now requiring contestant to not only have a SPOT and have it in track mode but also send an OK message every four hours. I set the new SPOT2 to send the same OK message to my Facebook account. Trying to make it as easy as I can for my wife to know where I am. She deserves that with all that she has had to put up with as I get ready for this event. In a future post I am going to talk about the important of a Watertriber’s support team.  That aspect is extremely important to your emotional mindset. Back to the Saturday training paddle. One of the things you learn in long distance kayaking is that because you are out on the water so long you have a very real possibility that the weather will change on you. Well Saturday re-enforced that point. When I started the winds were light with a chill in the air but other wise the start of a pretty day. About four hours into the paddle just as I was exiting the river the winds started to pickup. The other thing about kayaks is that you are so low to the water it is hard to judge wave height very far in front of you. I had a choice to turn around and head back up the river or go out into Tampa Bay and circle an island called Davis Island. I looked out into the bay and it didn’t seem that bad ( I had forgotten about that wave height thing. I am over fifty so I am going to blame it on old age versus a bad decision). Well the waves were bigger than I thought and the winds were increasing in strength much faster than I was paddling. I spent the next three miles battling a pretty lumpy sea that was caused by an ever increasing quartering sea and a rebound sea off a sea wall that circles the island. A much harder workout than I was planning but it was a good test of my abilities to stay upright in a place that provided a bailout alternative. I think I gave some very wealthy folks that live on that island a little entertainment. Who knows they might have been betting on whether I would stay upright or not.  After getting around the island I ended up going back into the river to get the mileage in. Even in the river the winds were strong and I was working harder than I wanted to but thankfully there were no waves.The training session for the other days of the week were  the following:

Thursday – Ellitical 3.8 miles – 33 minutes / Lift Routine 2  / 4 mile easy paddle – 5.1 MPH

Friday – Ran 3.6 miles in 33 minuets / TRX2 – 7 week routine

For the family of SOC Nathan Hardy, that included a young son, life has not been easy dealing with his loss. Please remember the name of this brave men. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

These training sessions are dedicated to CW2 Bruce Price (ARMY) Special Forces, assigned to 3rd Special Operations Group, who lost his life on May 15,2004 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan. I am always amazed at how emotional issues can drain you physically. Over the past four days I have woke up feeling like I didn’t get a wink of sleep and I am mentally and physically exhausted. The grief process over the loss of my mother is in full effect. The mental battles I have been dealing with have been intense. Thankfully I have been able to overcome them and complete all the workouts as scheduled. Today’s workout was particularly difficult. I started the morning off with a 5 mile walk with a 35 lb weight. I normally do this with a IPOD and the music is a distraction since the workout is so long ( 1 HR and 18 Minutes). Not this morning, my IPOD died and left me with my thoughts. Not a great place to be. Then this evening it was interval time and the question of could I keep focused during this workout. Since I really dislike these it was a real test. Had to dig WAY deep for this workout. Doing these alone really adds another level of mental challenge to them. When you are competing against someone else you have an extra drive to push yourself past the pain. When you are alone there is no one to say you are goofing off except yourself. I ended up completing the 4 miles of intervals with an average speed of 5.4 MPH and a time of 44.45 minutes.  The workouts leading up to today were as follows:

Sunday – Rest

Monday – Ran 3.5 miles 33 Minutes / Weight lifting Routine 1 / Paddle Hard – 14 miles average speed of 5.1 MPH

Tuesday – Biked 11.3 miles 33 minuets/TRX1 – 7 Week Routine

This week has been a tough one and there probably are more tough days ahead. Only time seems to heal some things in life.  For the family of CW2 Bruce Price, that included a  son, time may not ever heal the pain of their loss . A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen warriors such as CW2 Price.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

This training sessions is dedicated to JoAnne Whale, a mother, who passed away on February 3,2012. JoAnne Whale wasn’t a Special Operations Warrior. To me she was much more because she was my mother. There are a lot of things in life that I do not understand. One of the additions to that list is why my mother had to suffer so much and for so long with her battle with mesothelioma (asbestos cancer). How did a women who was a house wife her whole life even get it ? Why did a women with such a strong faith and who was such a good servant have to go through so much ? Lots of questions very little answers. Over the past two weeks I have found it very difficult at times to stay focused and get through the workouts. Not the best mindset considering that I am at the peak of the hardest workouts of this training regiment. At other times I have found the workouts as an escape to what was happening. After the night I had I wasn’t planning on doing a workout today.  I did one anyway because I felt the time alone doing something physical would be good for me emotionally.  I really only had a couple hours of sleep but that is what will happen on the UFC so no sympathy there.  I ended up paddling 35 miles in 8 hours and 13 minutes which gave me an average time of 4.26 MPH which is a pretty fast long distance speed for a deep dish Dreamcatcher. In fact this is much faster than I have planned to do on any long distance workout. I think it was more raw emotions powering me though the workout. Turns out it was good for me emotionally. Didn’t get any insight or answers to my questions but it did help in getting me to the point of just letting the questions go. Got to have faith and just be comfortable with the unanswered. I did do a workout on Thursday which was a 4 mile elliptical workout in 33 minutes along with a Lift 2 weight lifting session and a 6 mile easy paddle. On Friday I did a 3.5 mile run in 33 minuets and a TRX2 – 7 Week workout. Todays’ workout was not that painful for me. For my mother, efforts were made to try and manage her pain with medication. For the families of fallen Special Operations Warriors the only thing to help take the edge off the pain of their loss is time.  A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for these families.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012

These training sessions are dedicated to the fallen Navy SEALs of August 6th, 2011. Have the courage to watch this video so that the names of these men can be remembered. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrK4wA_uRh0&feature=youtube_gdata_player. The training session for the past three days has been the following:

Monday – 3.5 miles in 33 minutes / Lift Routine 1  / 13 mile strength paddle 2 hr and 30 minutes which gave me an average speed of 5.2 MPH

Tuesday – Biked 11.2 miles in 33 minutes / TRX1 – 7 week routine

Wednesday – Walked 5 miles in 77 minutes with a 35 lb pack / 5 mile interval paddle.The intervals were 150 very hard paddle strokes to get my heart rate up and then followed by 60 moderate paddle strokes for a rest. I really do hate these workouts. Completed the 5 miles in 57 minutes and 30 sec which gave me an average speed of 5.2 MPH. I had a lot of wind and waves on one leg of this workout. For some reason I was very tired during this workout and really had to dig deep to complete it. For the past two weeks the workouts have not been easy.  For the families of the Navy SEALs that died on August 6th life has not been easy dealing with their loss. Please remember the names of these brave men and a donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen special warriors.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012