Your First Paddle Board Race
An eight-week training plan, pacing, fueling, and a race-day timeline for a first SUP race, built around Battle of the Bay.
Read guide
Paddleboarding
For the recreational paddler and the athlete. Trip reports, training plans, and gear notes from lakes, rivers, and open flatwater.
By the Numbers
A Year of Paddling, Logged
Apple Watch data from every paddle I logged between September 24, 2025 and September 5, 2026. The training guides and speed benchmarks in this collection are built on this set.
- 66 sessions logged
- 264.0 miles paddled
- 105.1 hours on the water
- 41,996 heart rate samples
- 12.01 longest single paddle, in miles See the speed benchmarks
- 4.47 moving pace over 10.7 miles, mph What counts as fast
- 65.1 miles in the 35-day build for USA SUP Nationals, including two ten-milers eight days apart Read the event guide
I log every session and go through the data afterward. What lands in these guides comes from three places: peer-reviewed research, my own time on the water testing technique, and a year of tracked progress. Here is how I measure moving pace.
Train Stronger, Paddle Longer
Science-backed strength, endurance, and racing guides. ACSM, JSCR, and real Apple Watch data over modeled numbers.
Read guide
The SUP Strength Program
Six-week strength program built on ACSM and JSCR research. Posterior chain, rotational core, the lifts that transfer.
Read guide
Speed Benchmarks
What 3, 4, and 5 mph feel like on a 14-foot inflatable, with split data you can compare against.
Read guide
Why You Bonk on Long Sessions
The carbohydrate math behind paddle fatigue, plus the in-session fueling that keeps you upright past hour two.
Read guide
Recover Between Sessions
Targeted stretching, grip and hand work, mobility, tendon care, and post-session recovery.
The SUP Stretching Guide
A 12-minute post-paddle routine for obliques, shoulders, and chest.
Read guide
Paddle Grip & Hand Position
Why your hands hurt after long paddles, and the grip-pressure changes that stop dorsal hand pain.
Read guide
Nerve Glides for Paddlers
A five-minute daily routine covering the three nerve pathways that paddling compromises.
Read guide
Isometric Exercises for Paddlers
Holds that build a tendon’s tolerance for load, with where the research supports them and where it stops.
Read guide
Paddleboard Exercise & Recovery
Earlier piece on what a typical paddle session burns and how recovery should look on the days after.
Read guide
My SUP Elbow Injury
The arm that gave out in a Nationals race sprint, a normal X-ray, and what peer-reviewed research says it could be.
Read the story
Gear and Accessories
Tools for long paddles and recovery, picked from gear I've used on the water.
Reef-Safe Sunscreen
Four sunscreens tested over full days on the water. What reef-safe means, and which ones I trust.
Read guide
Paddle Board Pumps
Electric, cordless, or manual. PSI headroom, heat shutoffs, and altitude failures, with the pumps worth buying and the ones to skip.
Read guide
KT Tape for the Elbow
What trials found for kinesiology tape, three elbow applications from published protocols, and the evidence on wear time and water.
Read guide
Where to Paddle
Trip reports and access guides from launches I've paddled. Parking, water conditions, the windows that work.
Sand Harbor State Park
Tahoe east-shore launch with the alpine-postcard view. Parking, entry, wind, and best paddle windows.
Read guide
Jenkinson Lake (Sly Park)
About an hour from Sacramento. A 5 mph zone in the narrows, and clean, dry paddleboards skip the golden mussel quarantine.
Read guide
Fuller Lake
Smaller Sierra reservoir at 5,400 feet, about 24 winding miles from Nevada City. Quiet water and a granite shoreline.
Read guide
Lake Natoma
Folsom flatwater with a 5 mph limit and hand-launched craft only. Glassy mornings, the everyday training paddle.
Read guide
Folsom Lake
Entrances, fees, and parking for a flood-control reservoir that is drawn down every fall and refilled each spring.
Read guide
Lake Clementine
Deep-canyon reservoir below Auburn. Granite walls, a paddle-friendly upper lake, and water skiing on the lower.
Read guide
Juniper Lake
The largest lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park, at 6,800 feet. The road reopened in July 2026; the campground and day use area are still closed.
Read guide
Races
What to expect on a stand-up paddle race course at every level, from a local festival with a First Timer’s Race to a national championship: courses, board classes, race-day logistics and results.
PaddleSplash Festival 2026
Three races in one Sunday morning and three first places: the 8 Mile in 1:49:01, the First Timer's Race, and the four person relay.
Read the race report
USA SUP Nationals 2026
The first Nationals with a separate inflatable division. Sprints on Friday, a 10K on tidal salt water Saturday, and a technical course Sunday.
Read the event guide
Battle of the Bay
The 15th annual race launches from Dunphy Park, with SUP, surfski, outrigger, prone and rowing shells on one course. Proceeds go to Play Marin.
Read the race guide
How These Guides Get Made
01
Science-Backed Claims.
Every training claim has a citation. I lean on peer-reviewed scientific studies and academic papers from well-researched professionals: ACSM, JSCR, Frontiers in Physiology, and the Compendium of Physical Activities.
02
First-Person Testing.
Gear reviews come from equipment I've tried and played with thoroughly. Speed claims come from my own Apple Watch data on actual paddles.
03
Community-Backed.
Fellow paddleboarders help evaluate gear, pressure-test the data, and refine techniques. Whether you're race-curious or out for the slow-Sunday float, you're welcome to weigh in: send me a DM on Instagram.
Why do you have to be so good at everything!
Megan, “Pink Menace,” after run-launching for the first time after she demonstrated it to me.
Start on flat water. Lake Natoma is the Sacramento default.
See the lake guideHit a wall at 90 minutes? The bonk has a fix.
Read the fixHand pain at mile three has a mechanical fix.
Read the techniqueFAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is paddleboarding hard for beginners?
Not on calm water. Standing up on flat water usually happens in the first session on a board 32 inches or wider. The learning curve is steeper for paddling efficiency than for balance.
How long does it take to get good at paddleboarding?
An hour on the water feels comfortable after three or four sessions. Getting fast is a different question. The math of pace, stroke rate, and board waterline starts to matter after you've put in about a year of regular paddling. The SUP Strength Program accelerates the strength side; pace comes from miles on the water.
How do I train for my first paddleboard race?
Give it eight weeks. Start with aerobic base building (long, easy paddles), add tempo and interval work in weeks three and four, and keep strength sessions on land alongside, such as the SUP Strength Program. The full week-by-week plan is in Your First Paddle Board Race.
Where can I paddleboard near Sacramento?
Close to town: Lake Natoma for a sheltered paddle with a 5 mph limit, and Folsom Lake for a bigger day. About an hour out: Jenkinson Lake (Sly Park), with a 5 mph zone in the narrows. Farther out: Sand Harbor on Tahoe, best in the morning before the afternoon wind builds.
How do I prevent hand pain on long paddles?
Loosen your grip. Squeezing the shaft harder than the stroke needs causes dorsal hand pain after the first hour. The fix is mostly conscious relaxation between strokes plus the grip-position adjustments in Paddle Grip and Hand Position. Nerve glides (covered in Nerve Glides for Paddlers) help if it's already chronic.
What's a good speed on a paddleboard?
On a 14-foot inflatable, 4 mph sustained for an hour is solid recreational pace. 5 mph for the same hour is competitive at the local-race level. Rigid boards run roughly 5 to 6 percent faster at the same effort. Full benchmark data with Apple Watch splits is in Speed Benchmarks.
Collection Updates
September 24, 2026: Added my SUP elbow injury report to Recover and the KT tape elbow guide to Gear.
September 15, 2026: Added a Races section, Folsom Lake, Juniper Lake, isometric exercises, and a browsable list of every paddleboarding article. Corrected lake rules, routine lengths, and program details on several cards and in the FAQ. Updated the Juniper Lake, Jenkinson Lake, and Fuller Lake cards to match those guides' corrections.
May 24, 2026: Launched the collection with 13 articles across Train, Recover, Gear, and Spots.
All Paddleboarding Articles
Every guide, trip report, and race report in the collection, newest first.
KT Tape for the Elbow: What the Trials Found and How to Apply It
How to apply KT tape to the elbow, step by step from published trials, and what peer-reviewed research says it does for pain, strength and stand-up paddling.
My SUP Elbow Injury at Nationals: What It Felt Like and What the Research Says
My right elbow gave out in a sprint at USA SUP Nationals. No pop, no bruising, a normal X-ray, and what peer-reviewed research says about a distal bicep tear.
2026 PaddleSplash Festival at Lake Natoma: Races, Relays, Festivities, and Taking Home Gold
Lake Natoma runs four miles between Folsom Dam and Nimbus Dam, and for one weekend every September it fills up with boards for PaddleSplash. Nor Cal SUP, a 501(c)(3), puts the festival on out of Black Miner’s Bar with Visit Folsom presenting. Races go off Saturday and Sunday mornings, with stand-up boards, kayaks, outriggers and …
USA SUP Nationals 2026: Gig Harbor and the First Inflatable Division
Everything I could verify about the 2026 USA SUP National Championships in Gig Harbor, plus the 35-day training block behind my entry in the new inflatable division.
Isometric Exercises for Paddleboarding: Preventing Tendon Injury
It crept up on me over a season, not in a single dramatic moment. Early spring paddles felt fine. By June, somewhere past the two-hour mark on a long Folsom Lake loop, my right forearm would start to burn from the shaft, and a dull ache would settle into my elbow and the back of …
Folsom Lake: A Local’s Guide to Beaches, Boating, and the Town Underneath
The most important choice at Folsom Lake happens before you see the water: which of the six gates you drive to. Get it right and the day sorts itself out, a swim beach or a boat ramp or a quiet cove, exactly as you pictured. Get it wrong and you are looping the long way …
The Paddle Board Pump Guide: Electric, Cordless, and Manual
An honest electric paddle board pump guide from a Tahoe paddler: PSI headroom, heat shutoffs, altitude failures, noise, and the pumps worth buying or skipping.
The Science Behind Foam Rollers (And Which One Actually Works for Paddlers)
Peer-reviewed foam rolling research meets a three-way vibrating roller comparison. Which recovery tool actually works for stand-up paddleboarders?
Your First Paddle Board Race: From Casual Paddler to the Starting Line
A real paddler’s guide to entering your first SUP race. Science-backed training plan, gear breakdown, pacing strategy, and what nobody tells you about race day.
What’s a Good Speed on an Inflatable Racing SUP? Real Data and Benchmarks
Real Apple Watch data and honest speed benchmarks for inflatable racing SUPs. What’s fast, what’s average, and why your PSI matters more than you think.