what kicks your ass saves your life
- Anne Catlin
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I walked into paddling practice last March. I'd seen the recreational paddlers heading out in the early mornings—a group of smiling "white hairs," mostly retirees—laughing together as they returned from the water. They looked like they genuinely enjoyed themselves.
I had no prior experience and didn’t know anyone personally who was doing it. I've never been athletic (I free-dive and work on boats, but other than that, I just pick flowers while the ball flies by).
Once I scrounged up the $150 membership, I signed up on the Kai Opua website, thinking maybe I’d jump in a couple of mornings a week and make some new friends. After all the fallout of the last year, I was in the market for some new friends. I accepted that they were probably going to end up being older.
A couple of weeks later, I got an email that they were starting women’s Novice B training—total beginners—on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. Okay, I could swing that. Why not?
Five months and a stack of gold and silver medals later, I realized that paddling saved my life.
We wrapped the season over the weekend at the State Championships on Oahu. It was enlivening and illuminating and humbling, and so, so awesome.
Yesterday we started distance training—new coaches, new crews, new format. No more quarter mile drag racing, we're training for the 42 mile channel crossing. Novice B women just joined our more advanced club members, Novice A, and they welcomed us with patience, grace, and maybe some curiosity. Were we going to make the cut? I was handed a normal blade and sat in front of a new steersman. New for me, as the proud captain of last season.
Fifteen deep each side, ten up each side, three on each side six times, then jump in the water and do 15 boat-unders. Repeat.
Okay, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. What did the local sharks think of all this? Easy, flailing snack? This is what I thought about while I repeatedly whacked my face on the bottom of the canoe.
Now everything hurts today—ass, thighs, abs, back, everything. I got up and swam some laps at the pool before work so I could stretch it out. Swimming is hard work!
I also just a new job up the mountain, in the rainforest. I've been spending more time on Kona coffee farms in the last year than in the entire 20 years I've lived on island. What is that? Luckily, I love it—the coffee, the people, the beauty, the process, all of it. The more I learn, the more I enjoy myself.
I'm looking to lock down a new long-term rental as well. I have something in mind that I'm applying for now. Wish me luck!
