Winter eases up a little

We're finally getting some nicer weather here in the Mid South.  Today it's sunny with a forecast high in the mid 50s Fahrenheit.  As I took my paddling gear out to the car this morning, I was tempted to think that spring was in the air.  But on the 16th of February, I know better.  Sure enough, I later found myself paddling up the Mississippi against a stiff north breeze.  But compared to the long frigid stretches we've had, today is an awfully nice day.

I continued my pattern of going longer on Sundays, and paddled for 120 minutes.  I paddled up to the mouth of the Wolf River, then couple of miles up the Wolf to the Danny Thomas Boulevard bridge that links North Memphis with Frayser.

For most of the session I tried to maintain a good solid aerobic pace.  When I reached the mouth of the Wolf, I embarked on a set of three long surges.  The first one went from the power lines that mark the start of the OICK Race to the Second Street bridge (elapsed time: about seven minutes).  I returned to my cruising pace from there up to Danny Thomas, and then did another surge back down to Second Street (elapsed time: about eight and a half minutes).  I recovered from there back down to where the Wolf enters the Mississippi, and did my last surge on the big river down to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge (elapsed time: about eleven minutes).  That left me about a 25-minute cool-down back to the dock.

I was plenty tired by the time I returned to the harbor, and my stroke form was really faltering as I approached the dock.  I'm glad I finished when I did--I sure don't need to be reinforcing bad strokes.