Ždrijac, Croatia, 20.08.2013.

Bora wind, not as strong as expected, but tide on the right level. Flat conditions, and all in all, very nice day (maybe just too many people in the small area of Ždrijac bay). See the complete gallery - 25 photos on Soulwindsurf Facebook Page.

Warm up more!

Training session 14.08.2013., Karin, Croatia

This is an example of what I was writing about in What Is Your Heart Doing While You Are Windsurfing.

The picture of the training session with heart rate and speed you can see on the right, but also you can visit the shared training on PolarPersonalTrainer, with interactive map.

The first 13 minutes is warming up (something that I don't want to skip anymore). This is nice, in blue and green (60-80% of HRmax).

However, you can see that heart rate goes up immediately after starting. In short 3 minutes I am in red zone (90-100% of HRmax). Next 13 minutes, I stay there, more or less, with some minor lowering in upper yellow zone (80-90% of HR max). Well, I would say, this is too much, especially in the beginning of the session.

My conclusion is that initial warming up was not enough. However, I doubt that any amount of on-the-land warming up would cure this beginning red zone alert. Probably, the second phase of warming up has to be done with the board and sail, on the water. Something like this: short 1-2 minutes run out and back again, rest for a 1 minute; 2-3 minutes run out and back, rest again, and so on for at least 15 minutes. I suppose that would prepare me much better for actual session. All in all, this would be 30 minutes warming up (15 on the shore and 15 on the water), before starting the real windsurfing. It is not too much. The thing is that I am, like most windsurfers, always in a hurry to get in clinch with the wind. However natural this may be, it is not a good policy when it comes to the heart.

After that initial "wrongness" the session gets better, especially in the second part when I was able to sail comfortably in the green zone, around 75% of my Hr max, which is perfect.

If you play a little with the interactive map (going with the cursor over the heart rate and speed curves and looking where it is on the map), you can see that the heart rate increases with speed, but the highest peaks are in turns.

All in all, this was a good session, averaging cca 132 bpm (which is ok, but I would like it to be lower). The equipment  I used: RRD X-Fire 98 and Loft Blade 7,0. Bora (NE) wind, gusty, from 10 to 25 knots, flat to choppy conditions. Max speed was 35,3 kt, 5/10 average 31,9 and some good gybes @500 at 22,4 kt.

The main lesson of this session: prolong warming up to 30 minutes - 15 minutes on the shore and 15 minutes on the water.

Karin, Croatia, 14.08.2013.

Back to Croatia, hot weather, a lot of tourists and some good winds lately. After quite a while I visited my favorite spot: Karin bay in middle Dalmatia. Bora wind, north east direction, 10-25 kt, with lots of gusts, but mostly flat or some little chop.

It was a nice sunny day, relaxing and easy, with some friends from Croatia and Slovenia. Very enjoyable!

 More photos on Soulwindsurf Facebook page!

For those interested in background heart rate messurment done during the session, see Warm up more!

West Crete windsurf spots

Beside the unique beauty, Crete offers a lot of places for windsurfing. After exploring east and south, I checked the west coast of Crete. With the little help from all-knowing Google, it was not hard to get basic information about where the wind could be found. I was surprised, but Chania area is quite windless during summer. Fortunately, from there some nice windsurfing spots could be reached in less than an hour drive.

Paleochora

Beautiful village on the south-west coast. Good road takes you from Chania right in the middle of it, crowded with tourists. There is a note on the internet that once Paleochora was better windsurfing spot, with some Centers there, but winds started to be irregular and people left. When I came, the wind was from northeast direction and quite gusty. Still, on the east side of Paleochora, in front of the harbor, it was quite strong, with amazingly choppy water.

On the west side, there is a long sandy beach, with flat condition but not so strong. I suppose it could be good for beginners, but I didn't see anyone windsurfing there.

Falasarna

Half an hour from Chania, to the west, there is an amazing long sandy beach in Falasarna. A lot of tourist, though, enjoying the crystal clear waters and white sand. Wind from north direction, good for bigger sails, but again nobody windsurfing. Well, it was anyway less windy day, but I could imagine this place is ideal when there is more wind. During tourists season it could be difficult to get in the water, but once in, there is enough space for long rides all around.

Breathtaking view on Falasarna beach is worth stopping by the road and enjoy for a while.

Elafonsi

The most difficult place to reach. It doesn't matter if you go around, down from Falasarna, following the steep west coast, or you take the road to Paleochora and than turn right in some small village (there are visible signposts around, it is unlikely that you will be lost), you are bound to get dizzy from the serpent like narrow road which follows the mountains slopes.

But, in the end, when you finally get there, it is all paid for! Elafonsi is a real pearl! This is an unique beach made from few connected natural basins. Inside them, the water is shallow, light blue, almost white on some places. And full of people, of course. So, you can forget windsurfing inside them during high season. There was some beginners, though, learning to windsurf in perfect condition for them.

On the left side of the basins, there is enough space for windsurfing, all the was east to the nearby much bigger bay. When I was there, the wind was northeast direction, which is, as I understand, not often so. More usual wind is northwest, it seems. But, anyhow, you get the flat water and a lot of space for fooling around. It could be good for speeding, too, when the wind is stronger.

All summed up, west coast of Crete is very windsurf friendly, especially if you are not too demanding about perfect conditions and everyday wind. If you add to that amazing Cretan cuisine, unbeatable scenes of mountains, gorges and the see, you get charming combination you don't want to miss!

What Is Your Heart Doing While You Are Windsurfing?

Previous article from the same series: High Maximum, Low Minimum

I admit, two previous articles were written rather technically. I hope they will be of some use to you. The main point was: keep your heart rate down, as low and as often as possible.

However, while I believe that this is valid for conditional training and general fitness, windsurfing is something else. Do you know what is your heart doing while you are windsurfing?

I would like to share with you my experience during the last couple of months. I am not sure I can explain what is happening and what the significance of this numbers is. See for yourself or, better, check it for yourself, and share with us.

It is not enough to say that I was surprised by the numbers – the right word was: shocked! Namely, it was enough for me just to approach my windsurfing equipment and HR was over 100 bpm! During rigging, it is around 120, peaking at 130 or even more. Just rigging!

I thought that I am in quite good shape. I am doing my exercises (biking and gym) averaging on 60% HRmax – 125 bpm. In windsurfing, it seems that I am there without even getting wet!

Now, while actually windsurfing, my heart averages (during 90 minutes of windsurfing) from the same 60% (125 bpm) up to 75% (142). That is more than I expected, because that includes periods of resting.

Once, during one hour of pure windsurfing in moderate to strong wind (25 knots), average was almost 80% (145 bpm).

When you look at the peaks – they go up to 103% of HRmax (172 once) and many times around 160. The peaks happen during jibes, speed runs and gusts (in that order: a power jibe and speed run will almost for sure get you over 90%, and gusts will increase HR for sure).

During windsurfing in straight line, I was sometimes able to keep HR around 60% (120-130 bpm), but mostly it was higher (135-145 bpm). I am not sure I noticed any connection with the strength of the wind by itself, but gusty wind, even moderate or light, will increase HR.

Also, I have noticed many oscillations in HR. It is all over the place, so to say – quite different from other excesses like biking or running. I suppose that is due to a lot of anaerobic activity which happens during static effort, short bursts of energy in gusts, jibes and speed runs.

And, what surprised me the most: when I am on the bike and getting 147 bpm, that is 80% of my HRmax, I am breathing heavily, gasping for oxygen and cannot endure such effort for longer than a minute or two. When windsurfing, and pumping with that HR, I am ok, easy, relaxed, breathing through nose and happily surfing around for as long as I wish!

Now, as I said, I have no sure explanation why this happens. There are no available data (at least I could not find them) about HR and windsurfing. One of my speed surfing friends once told me that he used a heart rate monitor for a while, but then he gave up, because "he could not stand to look at such high numbers". Also somebody told me (but I didn't see the paper) about comparison of heart rates in wave, freeride, freestyle and slalom. According to that word of mouth, slalom windsurfers had the highest heart rate, especially during turning around the mark.

I can try to explain some of it by attributing high heart rate to adrenalin rush which we all get from windsurfing. Because, it is obvious to me that beating 145 bpm while windsurfing is not at all the same as keeping that rhythm in other sport activities.

Of course we like excitement – that's why we are windsurfing. However, putting that aside, the fact is that our heart is working hard during windsurfing, and that opens some very important questions, especially as we get older.

First of all: are we ready for windsurfing? The effort of windsurfer’s heart is probably equal to the effort of some professional athlete. And we don't have the same preparation, the same level of fitness, etc. We should have it, though! If my HR readings are at least partially applicable to an average windsurfer, than preparation for such activity must be more serious, especially if you don't want just to go out couple of times per year, but rather to actively improve your skills, speed, etc.

And, second, what about lowering heart rate during windsurf? Is this idea applicable to that kind of sport with so much up's and down's, turns and twists? I believe it is. Peaks will probably not go away, but in general, lowering the average should be possible. Exactly how to do it, that is what I intend to find out during a time to come.

See the example windsurfing session with interactive map, heart rate and speed under title: Warm up more!