Well, that’s the headline in the LA Times this morning as the folks around San Simeon try to avoid hitting Elephant Seals who are gathering to breed right below Hurst Castle (You remember, Rosebud!!!!!!!!!!)  and occasionally making it onto the road.

Anyway, all that talk of blubber got me thinking of my own winter layers. I’m now subsiting on 1600 calories a day to try to keep the chub at bay.  It won’t stop it, but it will slow it down a bit.  Now you’d think that at that low of a coloric intake and putting in an hour a day sweating away up a hill or clearing out a driveway would have me slimming right up.  It does for a while, then the wall hits.  The wall for me between the 190-200lb range. To get below that line takes an amazing effort.  I.e.,  paddling around small islands for a month, or running around tiny montains for weeks on end.  Now what’s important to recognise too is that your personal healthy weight is not the same as someone elses.  Even someone who at first glance seems built like you.  There are many factor’s that go into finding your ideal weight and frankly, your family doctor is the only expert in the field of “YOU”.  In the end my doctor said I should keep my weight at 190lbs.  When he came up with that number I was quite amazed, because that was right where my “wall” always hit. As I said, I can be losing weight right along and then suddenly right in that zone it stops.  Unless of course I starve and really boost my physical work outs.

Paddling luckily enough is not a sport limited to the young or to lean and bronzed.   Anyone can paddle.  The trick is to know what shape you are in and what limits you face before you go out.  It’s sort of obvious that if you do not have the endurance, you don’t want to go paddling 7 miles out into open ocean.  (or 1 mile for that matter). The thing is, YOU have to know this.  It’s a rare thing that paddling buddies or group leaders are going to ask you.  You can imagine how touchy that would be.  Then of course some paddlers have an “every man for himself” perspective and would’nt care much if you did slip behind or get lost at sea.  This is why coaches keep ranting on about good judgment.  Good coaches want you to have not just the skills, but the judgement to be safe.

Of course there is much more to paddling fitness than just weight.  In fact I’d say that weight is not much of a factor as it is a byproduct of fitness.  What is important physically is endurance and flexibility.  These are the things that keep you moving over distances and help you avoid injury in the rough stuff.  Paddlers want to keep their hearts healthy, control their bodies and avoid injury. So as us northeners start preparing for another paddling season we want to focus on being fit which means a bit more than just dropping blubber.  Of course dropping blubber makes all that tight paddling gear look much nicer. . .

Man, I’d love one of those Krispy Kreme glazed sour cream donuts. . .  340 calories each. . . Oh well back to my salad. . .