Got my 12 stock Bark and your video at the end of May. Did my first race this past weekend, covered the 7 mile course on Chequomegon Bay (Lake Superior) in 1:35.

Thanks so much!!! Really happy with my progress.

PS: Since no one around here prones, I was on my own out there. Is that a respectable speed (4.4/mile)? Couldn’t knee paddle as much as I wanted due to a wicked cross chop. I am 60 years old…

Easy one. Here goes:

• The average on stock boards is high 4 mph to low 5 mph for most paddlers while the top guys are padding mid 5mph to high 5mph during races.
• Unlimited boards are faster and you can expect to see speeds of mid 5 mph for the average paddler and high 5 mph  to low 6mph for the top paddlers.

All of that should help you get a feeling for how fast you are paddling in a race. Please, however, remember that training based on speed is a silly thing to do because you might be having a terrible day but be going fast because of a tail wind or current. Conversely, you might be killing it but creeping along in a headwind. Speed tells you little about fitness or if you are training too hard (or too easy) getting ready for a race.

A much better bet is to worry about your heart rate during your training sessions. That is why all of our training programs (including our prone training programs) are based on heart rate and not speed.

Price: $34.95 Prone Paddleboarding: Essential Techniques from breedfreakphoto on Vimeo .