Oh man, its been a while! Sitting by a window at home in Scotland, watching a temperate 11 degree rainfall invitingly hammer the window, the summer training camp feels a million years away. Actually I got home on Sunday, after two days of driving. I could probably write four blog entries to even remotely describe everything from the trip, but nowadays reading audiences demand quick return material. So I'll try not to blether.
Moja oblubena slalomová trat' je Bratislava
Its true; my favourite slalom course EVER has to be Bratislava. Last time I went was about four years ago, roughly two years after I started canoeing. So the feeling I have on the water now is a little different from the feeling I had back then. Don't get me wrong: the first two sessions I had doubts. The usual 'come into the upstream directly from the side and do a nice safe bow rudder' rules don't seem to apply here. I was suspicious of every eddy. But by the third session it clicked. I don't mean I magically figured it out by myself. I mean the words the coaches had been endlessly saying at me actually took root in some deep part of my brain, and engaged with my actions. Go in direct. Go into the eddies from above, and pierce the water behind the gate like an enraged (smooth, controlled) narwhal. Suddenly everything felt easier, smoother, and the niagara drop wasn't even half as intimidating. This is the end of the slalom course, the infamously long drop that leads into depressingly shallow upstream eddies. Still, its probably my favourite part, rocketing over the edge and feeling a sense of complete 'yolo' as I may or may not have the most perfect upstream of my life.
This part of the trip was also the hottest. By hot I mean probably the highest, most prolonged temperature my body has ever been at. I don't think the temperature gauge inside the minibus ever went higher than 41 degrees celsius, but a slow cooker oven only needs to be at sixty to cook meat over a period of time. There was literally no escape; paddlers who have been to Bratislava know there really aren't many trees or areas of shade, other than the marquee outside the hotel and the grand stands. I felt like a prune by the end of the week, but also a tanned, weather beaten prune who was ready for whatever temperature Prague decided to throw at me.
This part of the trip was also the hottest. By hot I mean probably the highest, most prolonged temperature my body has ever been at. I don't think the temperature gauge inside the minibus ever went higher than 41 degrees celsius, but a slow cooker oven only needs to be at sixty to cook meat over a period of time. There was literally no escape; paddlers who have been to Bratislava know there really aren't many trees or areas of shade, other than the marquee outside the hotel and the grand stands. I felt like a prune by the end of the week, but also a tanned, weather beaten prune who was ready for whatever temperature Prague decided to throw at me.
Ja chcem čučoriedka zmrzlina, prosím.
I'm trying to learn Slovak. Probably mainly because I've been told its the hardest language in the world to learn and I'm inherently stubborn. Also because its arguably one of the most useful languages in slalom. Slovak, Czech and Polish are all able to communicate fairly easily with one another, so I think its a good reason to have a shot. The hardest thing for me is the lack of vowels. Above, zmrzlina means 'ice cream'. Its an easy word for Slovakians; children say it constantly. I have to make the most ridiculous faces to get those sounds out of my mouth. 'Zemuurzleeena'.
Prague was awesome. Prague is always awesome; great course, great city, great people. Sure, its been overtaken on my favourite places list by Bratislava, but two weeks there still wasn't enough. Play tech in a lot of slalom courses can get a little dull after an hour. On Prague you can still be playing after two hours, on the same wave, without moving any gates. It took its toll on my generally pathetic wrists, so I had a couple of infuriating days off the water. Days I spent sulking in the sun, being a 'salamander' in the heat. But soon enough I was allowed back on, after some excruciatingly pleading phone calls with the physio. Its the only course I have ever been to where I can spend two long sessions on the water, and the rest of the time watching other people on the same water, without it getting tiresome. Its a lifestyle, in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Canoe slalom is a way of life, and even when people don't race professionally, or just get on the water twice a month, they do it because they love it. We visited two other slalom courses while training in Prague, both of which deserved a week longer each. But it was done too soon, and we moved again.
Moja meno je Bamber. Je som št'astna.
Česke Budejovice is pretty interesting. Its sort of what would happen if Pinkston was allowed to grow and mate with Teesside. To be honest, I was a bit crap on it. We were at the end of a heavy four week block, and my body was beginning to resent the demand for new moves. However I did have a couple of awesome sessions, where I began to really like the twisting, tight features that characterise the place. Speaking poor Slovak was a little harder, as on top of speaking mainly Czech, the patient locals had less English to use when the poor foreigner couldn't communicate properly. I think I managed to butcher my way through a couple of coffees and thank yous, but hopefully next year I won't be as infuriating to understand.
Basically it was awesome. I love the slalom courses, the coffee, the people, the weather, the atmosphere of slalom. Its good to have a couple of days off at home, to let myself recover. But to be honest I want to keep living with the mindset of every day, to not need anything to 'make' my day because its already there. Its completely in the mind, I'm 100% sure :).
Basically it was awesome. I love the slalom courses, the coffee, the people, the weather, the atmosphere of slalom. Its good to have a couple of days off at home, to let myself recover. But to be honest I want to keep living with the mindset of every day, to not need anything to 'make' my day because its already there. Its completely in the mind, I'm 100% sure :).
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