Laura Egerdal: I did this today!

No, this is not a picture of me -- I walked down and snapped it later in the afternoon. But it is a C1 on the same line that I followed successfully through this hole. By the end of the day, I'd run the bottom half of the Charlotte course 6 times. And some of those times I was even in my boat at the end of the channel!

The thing that intimidated me about the bottom drop was not the drop itself, but the random, surging waves and piles above it. I was terrified of flipping here and then scraping over the shallow drop upside down. And so, of course, I did just that. And it wasn't that bad. I bumped, scraped, and banged against concrete, but my helmet and other gear took the blows. I have found that accidentally doing the thing I am most afraid of can be productive. Whether flipping in Tablesaw on the Ocoee, or swimming the Z-route of Cat's Paw on the Saint Francis, I end up thinking "oh, okay, that actually wasn't so bad." Once I get the fear out of my system, I can relax and start learning.

I ended up swimming on 4 out of my 6 runs today. I had trouble hanging on to my paddle in the surging, powerful water. I need to fight for it! I also had trouble waiting. Knowing that I was going to hit the big hole upside down, the self-preservation part of my brain would immediately send my hands to unbuckle my thigh straps. In bigger water, I need to learn to wait.

But on two of my runs, I pulled into the eddy below the drop hooting and hollering. The second time I absolutely nailed the line, and the hole actually gave me free speed as it spat me out. It was an addicting feeling, a taste of what is accessible when you really groove and flow with water.

Even though I swam at the bottom drop, I nailed probably 2 dozen combat rolls this weekend on other parts of the course. Once I even got sucked down and had to fight to get my paddle in the set-up position before I could roll up. A month ago, I would have swam. I know I have many more swims in my future, but my combat roll has become reliable enough that I am willing to start trying risky moves. Until now, I have been in survival mode on the Charlotte course. Now I am ready to start playing.

With Pan Ams and Team Trials only 7 weeks away, I know I will not be totally comfortable on this course by then. I will not be able to make all the eddies they will hang gates in, and running the bottom drop will still feel like rolling the dice. But this weekend it was clear that I can get down the course in one piece.

I paddled with Nic and Colleen today -- two wonderful training partners and peer coaches. They walked alongside the water with me and talked about my plan, and chased my gear when I bailed. I took a gamble randomly showing up in Charlotte with a rental car and a paddle, and it was wonderful to feel welcomed and part of the group. This is a difficult sport to get into, and I really hope that I can give as much to others as they have shared with me.

Video of the approach to the bottom drop is online here.