SUP Alps Trophy: My first SUP Race

SUP Alps Trophy: Mein erstes SUP Race

Ever since I started stand up paddling, there was never a question for me whether I would take part in competitions. Although I am quite a competitive guy when it comes to sports, the main focus of SUP sport was enjoyment right from the start. Feeling nature and especially the water with all my senses and letting these experiences have a relaxing effect on me has been my primary claim to paddling ever since. There was no place for competitions here, although over the years I switched to faster and faster boards and paddled longer and longer tours. After all, with skill and experience, the demands on the material rose and the leisurely rides got bored. Without realizing it, I started doing SUP more and more performance-oriented, soon 10 km tours became 20 km and more and challenges became more and more the norm. After all, I was able to enjoy nature in my very special way, even at high speed, and a high level of exertion was even able to intensify this enjoyment.

One day in the spring of 2022, a friend informed me that the SUP Alps Trophy would take place for the first time at my favorite lake near my hometown. From that moment it started to work in me. Should I participate? Finally there would be a 12km long distance race. Absolutely manageable for me with a good time. Been there, done that - I thought to myself. That sounded more like a brisk ride to me.

SUP Alps Trophy

On the other hand, I thought that it makes no sense to take part with an iSUP anyway, especially since hardboards and iSUPs are rated together. Seen in this way, it's an unequal competition, because hardboards outperform iSUPs by far in terms of speed. Chances of winning would not really exist for me, after all there is a reason why only a few exotics on iSUPs take part in such races. The mass glides along on carbon.

As fast as my touring board was, it just wouldn't be enough for a top result and if I'm going to compete, I want to be among the front runners. I kept dismissing the idea of entering a competition, but a few days later the opposite thoughts crept in again. The idea came up to get me a race board through my sponsor. While this would also be an iSUP, it would be much faster than my fastest touring board. It only took a short chat message and my race board was already on its way to me. The decision, which had never really been relevant before, was also made. I signed up for my first long distance race and already visualized my success. In order to have that too, I needed a hydration bladder, because without electrolytes and water I wouldn't be able to do it. So that was also bought in the nearest sports shop and the Long Distance Race project began.

The workout

I immediately started the preparations, because there were still five weeks until the competition and of course I wanted to make the best use of them. As a fitness trainer and experienced long-distance paddler, it was easy for me to put together a suitable training plan that would get me in competitive shape in a few weeks.

From now on, two to three paddling practices per week with distances between 6 - 12 km were on the program, with volume and intensity gradually increasing. I trained according to the extensive and intensive continuous method as well as the interval method. The continuous training was always 8 - 12 km long and served to improve basic endurance on the water as well as speed consistency. The intervals of one, two and four kilometers should establish my competitive conditioning and above all improve a maximum stroke rate and my lactate tolerance.

The training results were motivating as I was able to increase my paddling frequency to an average of 55+ strokes/min and my speed to an average of 7.5 km/h. These values were new territory for me and could also be maintained over the long training distances.

Unfortunately, this speed is not enough to withstand the 10 km/h, which is possible on hardboards over long distances. On the other hand, the paddling frequency of about one stroke per second was right, which made me dream a bit. What if I hit such a frequency with a carbon board under my feet? A top 10 result?

I felt well prepared and started with the intention to at least be the best iSUP rider in the race and to paddle a maximum of 95 minutes to reach the finish.

Before the race

The day of the competition started early, I felt relaxed, ready to perform, free from nervousness and with joyful anticipation. How does it all work in competition? What will I be like on the water? How good am I really?

Of course I wanted to prove something to myself and I was sure of myself because I had trained well and was prepared for anything. For real?

Everything at the event site was very pleasant and informal and I immediately felt at home. The pre-race meeting drew around eighty riders and I couldn't sense any rivalry in the crowd in front of the race director. We were all going to compete in half an hour and also wanted to win a cash prize, but until then we were colleagues, not opponents. I liked the vibe that seems to prevail in the race community and it's good that it's going that way. After all, everyone was here because of the same passion that unites us.

The start

It can take a while to get eighty boards aligned enough for the race director to be happy with and the race to start. Everywhere I looked, there were hardly any iSUPs to be seen. Well done, I thought to myself and quickly set my sports tracker. Then the starting signal came and with it a situation that I had completely underestimated:

Such a SUP mass start whirls up a lot of water because everyone starts sprinting as if the devil is after them. The waves themselves are not the problem, because everyone here can easily master significantly larger waves. The big challenge, on the other hand, is the strong interference from countless small (and in themselves harmless) waves around each board. If you don't paddle right at the front and have the flat water in front of you, you have to be careful not to be thrown off the board in the erratic waves.

The paddler to my left got hit right at the start and fell off his hardboard. This pressed against my fragile iSUP on the port side, which was already being shaken by the waves and the element of surprise. It was a miracle I didn't get wet for the next 500 m as I battled the swell more than the other paddlers. It took time, energy and a little motivation. I later learned in conversation with one of the favorites that hardboards are simply more stable in choppy water, even if they are narrower than a corresponding iSUP. The reasons for not contesting races with an iSUP in the future were slowly growing. Let's wait and see if there would be more races for me.

The race

After I had established my regular place in the last quarter of the racing group, the motivation came back. Firstly, the water was pleasant again because all paddlers were now spread out nicely and there was no more crowding. Second, I saw how seemingly effortless and slow the paddlers in front of me were paddling. With my high paddling frequency, I would soon have caught up with them and overtaken those guys in front. In the end it was barely 100 m to the group in front of me. So I shifted it up a gear and cranked up the stroke rate with full physical exertion. What happened? Nothing at all! After about a kilometer of hardcore paddling, the four guys in front of me just passed the first buoy and I passed it about half a minute later. But their turn was slow. They also seemed to be relatively new to racing. Unfortunately, due to a lack of sophisticated technique, I was even slower on the turn and lost valuable meters again.

But that didn't matter at first, because there were still about ten kilometers ahead of me and therefore enough time to catch up. I also got the impression that the paddlers were going for a walk up there anyway, they probably hit not more than 35 strokes/min.

The gap fluctuated a little over the next few kilometers, but all in all I was probably about a hundred meters behind. However, I sensed my chance on the last lap. I was slowly catching up, paddled starbord for ages and had established a great rhythm with powerful, long strokes. I still had two kilometers to go and I caught up to about 30-40 m behind the group.

If only I hadn't fallen into the water once during the turn and once when changing the paddle side, I would probably be paddling in front of this group of four. At least I could have saved myself the fall when changing paddles. That never happens to me. This is a classic rookie mistake that I've long since outgrown.

The end of the story: the hardboarders in front of me really started paddling towards the end, did something like a sprint and finished the race well ahead of me again. Game Over! Lessons learned!

The goal

I also took hold of the stick for the last few meters and pulled as hard as I could to gain a few more seconds. I was alone in the far hall and headed for the beach. The target buoys were already behind me and I already thought that that was it. So I slowed down and let myself slide onto the beach. In my relief after this torment and in my little self-satisfaction, I didn't even notice that the onlookers and the race director were shouting at me.

Oh yes, it would of course be good to also pass the time barrier, which was located on the shore. With the dawdling I lost everything that I could make up for in the final sprint. Also, it would be good to take the board out of the finish zone when I'm done. Okay, got it, hopefully everyone only makes this mistake once.

The goal

My time was great and even two minutes faster than I had expected. I was even able to increase my average speed by 0.1 km/h over the entire distance – after all this torture must bear fruit. I also felt it in form of sore muscles afterwards - less in the upper body, but especially in the calves.

I definitely tasted blood and shortly after the competition I started to think: I have the necessary training discipline, the paddling frequency, the paddling technique and the willingness to suffer to achieve better results. With a hardboard and improved buoy technique, I think I could be at the forefront. I'm bubbling up – in a positive way, of course.

It's a good thing that I was able to try out the most common carbon race boards here at the event site. After two short test rides, I made this decision, which was also never up for debate. I would get a hardboard and start again in my home country in 2023. And then an unknown local will have learned from his mistakes and be at the forefront.

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