Board the Fjord

Saturday, May 11, 12024 Human Era (HE)

Board the Fjord: Intro

It’s a new season of SUP (stand up paddleboard) and the first big local race event is Board the Fjord. I skipped out on the Board the Fjord last year to do a paddle with a pal to Thywates Landing. But since then I have caught the racing bug and was keen to test out my off-season training.

I was inspired to take up training after last year’s year-end paddle, the Whey-ah-wichen Whipper, along with a few other motivational events. Before this change, I was engaging in what I would call physical activity, through daily tasks (e.g., commuting) and recreation (e.g., paddling), but, I was not participating in formal exercise. For more details on the distinction, check out this post.

The off-season, if there was really one, as I paddled through the winter, included actual additional exercise. Indoor rowing on an ergometer, stationary biking (ayo to my partner’s pandemic Peloton purchase that I persuaded, but previously had passed-on as a poor procedure for physical activity), running, and a sprinkling of strength/resistance training sessions made up my exercise milieu.

Already, the fruits of my labour were evident with discernable changes in intrinsic factors like my resting and exercise heart rate, and extrinsic variables like pace and power. I could see my relative improvement in early-season races from last year after participating in a couple of the Tuesday Night Races hosted by Coast Outdoors through Deep Cove Kayak. As well as the Jericho Wavechaser Paddle Race Series hosted by Jericho Sailing Centre on Thursday nights.

Playoff Paddle Points

Now, it was time for a bigger event with a wider panel of participants. This year’s Board the Fjord had 110 players, with 23 paddlers in the Men 14′ SUP 14-kilometre race. On arrival for registration, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a Race Jersey stylized as a late 80s-era Vancouver Canucks jersey. With playoff hockey in full form, it was a well-chosen design. Go Canucks Go!!!

Board the Fjord: Background

“Board the Fjord is a fun and scenic event, with a course that takes paddlers around 7 different islands in North America’s southern-most fjord.” The event includes three race distances. A 14km, 7km, and 4km option means there is a race for everyone in this community-oriented event. There is even a 1km Kids Race held after the adult races.

This year was the 12th season of the event. The image below shows the various course length routes.

Source: Board the Fjord Race Course

Preparation and Planning

After completing the long-distance (18-kilometre) race of last year’s Whipper, the 14-kilometre long-distance race for Board the Fjord seemed achievable. Especially with some added fitness on my side.

Harder for this year were the logistics of making the race happen. Family and life commitments and circumstances meant the race fell within a hectic window. For a while, it was looking like I was not going to make the event. Thankfully, with some big sacrifices from family and help from friends everything came together (a huge kudos goes out to my wife and kids for letting me play).

After several months of training, it was really rewarding to be able to participate in the event, given that it is one of three larger-scale SUP races that happen locally (the other two being the Vancouver SUP Challenge and the Whey-ah-wichen Whipper).

Learning Lessons on Length and Libations

Last year, I was ill-prepared going into the 18-kilometre Whey-ah-wichen Whipper. While I would not fully have labelled my finish as a “bonk,” it was too close for comfort. Much of that feeling was likely fitness, but I could not help but wonder if fueling played a role. Particularly after listening to this episode, “#299 ‒ Optimizing muscle protein synthesis: the crucial impact of protein quality and quantity, and the key role of resistance training | Luc van Loon, Ph.D.,” of Peter Attia‘s The Drive podcast featuring Luc van Loon. The episode focused on optimizing muscle protein synthesis, but in the opening remarks, they veer off into van Loon’s background in fuel selection and utilization during endurance exercise.

Sugar Baby!

I had already been thinking that I needed more carbohydrates on board for my sports drink compared to last year. The podcast confirmed this, though, when van Loon suggested consuming 1.0 to 1.1 grams per minute of glucose or glucose polymers while exercising (or 60-70 grams per hour) to spare liver glycogen. The threat of liver glycogen depletion is the ultimate reason for hitting the wall or bonking since your brain requires a sufficient supply of glucose. Without an adequate supply of glucose, the brain will shut down the rest of the body. And then it is more or less game over in endurance events.

To be fair, I was nowhere near truly bonking in last years Whipper, but I do think my fuel supply/access was compromised by the end of the event.

For my 12024 HE, DIY sports concoction, I piggy-backed off my mix from last year inspired by Andy Galpin‘s hydration video, “3 Steps to Optimizing Hydration : 25 Min Phys.” I used the same mix, adding salt (i.e., sodium and chloride) and magnesium to match sweat composition as per Galpin. This year, however, I added sucrose (i.e., table sugar) as my carbohydrate to get closer to the 70 grams highlighted by van Loon. Sucrose has the advantage that it is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose subunits. As per van Loon’s insights, you can get a slightly greater carbohydrate uptake by using fructose and glucose since fructose uses a different transporter.

Location: Səl̓ilw̓ət (Indian Arm/Deep Cove)

Board the Fjord took place in Səl̓ilw̓ət (Indian Arm) with the race starting from the Deep Cove Kayak Centre in Deep Cove. Səl̓ilw̓ət is S’ólh Téméxw’s (pronounced “soul tow-mock”, or British Columbia’s) southernmost fjord and is a spectacular paddling destination in the Pacific Northwest.

Gorgeous Geology

The fjord was formed in the last ice age, roughly 115,000 to 11,700 years ago. When colder climatic conditions permitted mountain ice accumulation over the Coast Mountains and Cascade Mountains, large ice sheets formed covering the Fraser Lowland and extending out into the Salish Sea (Strait of Georgia). With lower sea levels at the time, each glacial advance was able to cut below th e present-day sea level in the coastal portions of many valleys. During the last 10,000 years, sea levels have risen, submerging these valleys, creating the coastal fjords.

By the way, I am tickled by the title of this section. Gorgeous ties in gorge, gorgeous, and George, all of which are pertinent to the fjords of the Vancouver area.

Səl̓ilw̓ət extends north approximately 20 kilometres from Burrard Inlet, reaching Say Nuth Khaw Yum Provincial Park and terminating at the mouth of the still pejoratively named Indian River, which perhaps should be referred to as the Meslisloet River again. It is well worth the effort of making the paddle out to the northern end either for a day trip or an overnight stay. There are camping options. Just be mindful of tides and winds. Warmer weather tends to bring outflows and cooler weather inflows as the typical summer and winter weather cycles.

Registration/Check-In/Parking

The race organizers do a great job with the registration and check-in process. I felt a little pushed on time with family commitments and was worried about parking and registration. Deep Cove is notoriously difficult to park at the best of times, let alone on an amazingly weathered Saturday with an event happening. I arrived on site just after 1000 hours, unloaded my board, and hit the registration table, leaving my car illegally parked with the hazard lights flashing. The registration was seamless, and I easily beat the 1025 hours cut-off.

Parking was another story. By the time I made it to the overflow lots, they were packed. I did manage to nestle into a super tight space between two cars before deciding it was too tight and that I should find something else. With street parking taken by early paddlers and keen hikers, there was nothing available. Until I stumbled upon the Deep Cove Gospel Hall. I prayed that the good lord and his people would take pity on me and not tow or fine me for taking advantage of the ample parking. It would seem their Sabbath must be Sunday and not Saturday, judging by the surplus of stationing spots.

After parking, I rushed off to the pre-race meeting. To be continued…

Board the Fjord