Mental preparation…This is the real training. Its the most abstract and hardest to train for, but its the one thing that can be the difference between success and failure. It started almost 5 months ago when I began this expedition training. I so vividly remember the distance, looking at every mountain encased in fog and regretfully contemplating how much further I had to paddle. I was always so eager to get out of this claustrophobia inducing kayak and onto the land I knew so well.

The 10th of May was the day. The day I kayaked for 11 hours with the majority of it into a strong headwind. The day my mind remained in the present, feeling every muscle twitch and encroaching pinch of joint pain. The day I started to sing “Hey Jude” into the oncoming gusts of wind. The day I did 65 kilometers, 5 short of my goal of 70. Here is my visual training log from my Gaia tracking software: https://cloud.gaiagps.com/public/2uZ8reXP5iLSO2yOrj3KNbyE/Aerial/