Today I did four laps of the March strength circuit and paddled my boat for 100 minutes.
There's really not that much I can tell you about these paddling sessions this time of year. I'm out there just paddling along, practicing my strokes and balance, trying to put as many miles under my boat as I can. It's all part of building the aerobic system, as I discussed in earlier posts.
At times it can seem like a grind, as though I'm just putting in the time because I have to more than because I want to. But most of the time that's not how it is. These paddles are the time I get to see the most beautiful scenes that the Mississippi River environment has to offer. After all, one of the main reasons we do this sport is to get outside and enjoy beautiful places.
Whenever some glossy travel or outdoor magazine publishes its list of the top destinations for canoe and kayak touring, it typically includes places like the San Juan Islands, the Baja Peninsula, the Florida Keys, the Boundary Waters, maybe the Great Lakes or the desert canyons of the American Southwest. It never includes the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee. But as a result of my training routine, I know better. And I hope all people who train for canoe and kayak racing will take the opportunity to discover and appreciate the natural beauty in the places they live, regardless of whether those places get written up in glossy magazines.
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