Last Saturday after a four day rest period, followed by a long Erg session the day before, I was on the water in my Ses Advantage(30lbs). Intending just to paddled hard to Black Point, I found myself at a record setting pace so I pushed hard to Black Point, caught my breath for a few seconds and continued on at to finish my 1st leg of my 3Rd Rock course. The conditions were typical for winter paddling, light winds at my back, outgoing tide and air temperatures of 34 degrees and water temps in the thirties as well. I have done this course in part or fully 69 times. The first leg is 5.5, then I turn at 3rd Rock go back the same way. This is an out and back course down the Sakonnet River that is 3 miles wide and 12 miles long one way and leads to the Rhode Island Sound. This is the same course of my Sakonnet River Race.
I pushed hard to 3rd Rock peaking at 164 heart rate and averaging 144 which is low for me, but in this case indicates my fitness level. So when I stopped at 3rd Rock I had averaged an 8.17 minutes per mile or 7.34 mph. So I had beat my old time in September 2008 in my Huki S1X by 55 seconds. On that day I had drafted my training partner for 2 of the 5.5 mile course. This significance for me is that the Advantage even at 30lbs is an extremely fast ski. I almost paddled my Excel SES at 25lbs and probably shattered the record by another minute. I tend to paddled the Advantage during the winter due to it is more stable.
