1. London Lite Monday, 1 June 2009 13
What’s in
an hour with kayaking lessons on the regent’s canal my fridge?
Long-distance
runner Paula
Radcliffe, 35,
lives in Monte
carlo with
husband
gary and
daughter isla.
“I’ll get up, have
an energy bar, some toast and
an energy drink, then I go out
and train for 90 minutes.
When I get home, I have a
replenishment drink followed by
a bowl of porridge
or a mix of cereal
with rice or soya
milk, a banana,
then toast with
sardines or almond
butter. In the
afternoon I have a
biscuit or an energy bar, go
and train again for an hour or
so, then dinner is high in
carbohydrates, so it’s rice, pasta
or potatoes with fish, meat,
vegetables and salad. I have
dark chocolate every day and
fruit with yogurt or a
slice of cake. I
have a glass of
wine two or
three times a
week but I’m
not one for binge
drinking — I don’t
want to get to the stage where I
can’t remember what I’ve done. I
stock the fridge with lemons,
Water babe: Daisy yogurt, strawberries and other
gets to grips with fruit, tomatoes and avocados.”
her kayak. Below nutritionist Fiona Hunter says:
left, all suited up “Paula’s training schedule
means she has high energy
needs. But in order to get all the
to allow the user to transfer their
energy straight into the kayak so that
also work hard to stabilise the kayak
and to power the strokes from the Rocking the boat diminutive size. the longer the boat,
it turns out, the more stable it is.
calories she requires she would
have to spend
it becomes like an extension of the arms. the rotational move of a kay- lEavinG technique aside, we moved two hours flew by, even if i did turn most of her day
body. aker’s body means large muscle on to some games. First up was a out to be a pretty shambolic kayaker. eating, which
Keeping afloat groups in the back, abdomen and legs
are used more than the smaller muscle
round of musical paddles. throwing
our paddles into the water, we franti-
But with open sessions for club members
twice a week and my dogged enthusiasm
would make it
difficult for her
With kayaks and paddles assigned, groups in the arms, although you can cally steered our kayaks using only for this unlikely city sport, i will master to train.
we were ready to take to the water. guarantee that the biceps and triceps our hands and attempted to grab the a straight paddle by the end of the sum- Therefore, she
Gingerly, we launched ourselves into will have a good workout, too. remaining f loating paddles. i lost. mer, come hell or high water. relies on energy
the murky canal. it was difficult: the afterwards, i was fully aware that arms soaked, i drifted, defeated, to l Regents Canoe Club, 16-34 Graham drinks and bars to
kayak was held steady at each end as i’d used my whole body — from the the sidelines and watched. Street, N1. For more information supplement her diet
i nervously climbed in. tight grip of my feet against the foot- a game of chicken was an exercise contact regentscanoeclub.co.uk or and provide the fuel
i realised right away how integral rest, right up to my neck, which in emergency stopping — we paddled email web@regentscanoeclub.co.uk her body needs for training.
balance is to the kayaker. Every move strained like an owl’s as i inadvert- full-pelt towards one another before unless you’re an elite athlete
i made almost resulted in a dunking. ently paddled backwards. inserting a few sharp reverse strokes like Paula, energy bars and
Despite a forecast of sunshine, the in spite of Paul’s guidance, i didn’t to brake quickly. as minor collisions
Quick fix
drinks aren’t necessary. a study
clouds had rolled in and capsizing was take to kayaking like a duck to water. ensued, our sturdy plastic kayaks came published earlier this month in
not an appealing option, although i was Each time i dipped my paddle, the into their own. the Journal Of The International
assured the canal was clean. kayak seemed to veer in the wrong after a paddle to the end of the society Of sports Nutrition
direction. i weaved left and right, basin and into the main canal, we
Outmanoeuvred bumping into the canal wall and my headed to the club’s slalom course. Want to touch up your hair on the
showed that a bowl of whole-
grain cereal with milk was just
Paul was brilliantly laid-back and easy- long-suffering fellow kayakers. here, the intention was to weave go? these ultra-slim hot pink as effective as a sports drink at
going. We started off with some simple however, i consoled myself with the our kayaks through the over- straighteners from Diva are small replenishing energy stores in
strokes — the fundamentals of manoeu- thought that my ceaseless activity was head hanging poles without enough to fit into a clutch bag, instantly the muscles after exercise.
vring the vessel. holding the paddle with burning lots of calories — about 300 incurring penalties. heat up to 200C and feature ceramic- Paula’s diet is quite high in fat,
hands a kayak’s width apart, i learnt per hour apparently. W he n my t u r n c a me i tourmaline plates for single-stroke styling. but as it’s mostly healthy,
that the whole body is used to control luckily, the next moves were the for- chalked up just about every Small in size, big on perfomance. £59.99, unsaturated fat from sardines,
the vessel as we made strokes from bow ward and reverse sweeps. i was fairly penalty possible as i lurched divapro.co.uk avocados and almond butter, she
to hip, forwards and backwards. good at the sweep, its key objective being from side to side. doesn’t need to worry.”
Most of the power comes from the to turn the kayak. a simple swoosh Paul, ever-consoling, l Paula is backing Cancer Research
rotating trunk of the body, rather than through the water from bow to stern (or assured me that my kayak, UK’s Race For Life, supported by
the arms, though i felt my shoulders vice versa) spun the kayak 360 degrees the smallest in the group, Tesco. See raceforlife.org/tesco
working hard. the legs and the torso — dizzying but easy to master. was hard to steer owing to its