Training for the dordogne intégrale, a 130km stand-up paddle race

"I am fortunate enough to rub shoulders with athletes from all backgrounds, some of whom have become my friends. Giuliana, my Brazilian friend, is an amazing swimmer! She crossed the Channel as part of a relay team and does long-distance training at sea. She was the one who advised me not to train to music, "the training must be difficult", she told me. She wasn't wrong there (haha), so I followed her precious advice in more than one sense. And as for Guénolé, he ran the 100 km de Millau! He was trained for this challenge by one of the world's best coaches and gave me an invaluable tip: to force myself to drink every 15 minutes. Stéphane, my friend from Martinique whom I have known since I was a student, took part in the Olympic Games in Turin! He strongly encouraged me to keep up my muscle-building exercises and reproduce the paddling movements at home, using resistance bands, to be able to train every day.

And then there is Irwin, of course, my life partner as well as training partner, whose steely determination I admire every day! Every time I go out on the board he tries to help me improve my paddling technique, which is probably my biggest area of improvement in my stand up paddle practice!"

This was the third and last long-distance trip that I wanted to do as part of my training. 70 is quite an achievement! It's a bit like a Dordogne half marathon.

But you can't just pull 70km out of thin air, it requires a certain amount of logistics: leaving a car at the finish point, carrying enough food and drink, keeping an eye on the tides, the wind but also the sunrise and sunset, because we were preparing to paddle for at least 9 hours! The day before, Irwin prepared a training plan by calculating our estimated speed according to the current and more importantly the counter-current! His calculations proved very accurate and allowed us to prepare ourselves psychologically. Personally, I was not disappointed! 11 hours of paddling, including 4 against the current, brilliant sunshine, passing under the Dax and Bayonne bridges, and finally a heroic finish at La Barre beach in Anglet as our reward!!! This memorable training session—an emotional and physical roller coaster—will stay with me for a long time... and especially when I am paddling on the Dordogne on 27 May.