Thanks all for the good advice. I should have been more specific as I've already done the medical route. Sports Medicine orthopedist, physical therapy, chiropractor, personal trainer and I'm on my way back. Early Sept I went from 20 mile paddles and training for a marathon to walking with a cane. Even when I could barely walk kayaking didn't seem to bother it at the time, but I was never quite sure that the paddling didn't contribute to the general pain later on that day and the next. I did back out of a Lake Ontario crossing last fall because I was afraid that I would lose it half-way across. I'm quite a bit better now, no pain killers, back up to 6 mile runs and my core strength (which was pretty good before this happened) has returned. Between the weights, running, core work and stretching my every-other day workout takes a good 2.5 hours, and I'm moving about quite a bit for my job on off days. As you guys stated sitting around is the worst. Too much time in airports last weekend took a toll and makes me wonder what a long paddle would do. I like to think I have decent technique, I've worked on it, but there is probably room for improvement. I was fishing for any kayak adaptations in terms of position or padding that my have helped someone else. I have found that a slightly more Euro, knees up position is more comfortable than the flatter-legged Greenland position, probably a result of my tight hamstrings pulling on my pelvis. In the end Bill may be quite right and the best thing for it is standard, good technique, and not some variation of it. Single digit temps and a couple of busy weekends have conspired to keep me out of the boat since the first weekend in Jan. Hopefully the weather will break a bit and we can get out for a couple hours this weekend and I can see where I'm at.
thanks again,
Mark