Here in the Mid South we've just emerged from a long, unpleasant cold snap. I got out and paddled in it, but did not enjoy it. I'm not asking for sympathy and I'm perfectly aware that there are many places on this Earth that have longer, colder winters than this place does. But I'm tired of what we do have, and with January just barely half over I'm afraid there's plenty of time for a couple more bad cold spells.
So I'd better enjoy this little stretch of not-so-bad weather. On Friday I paddled with a temperature above 50 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time that I could remember. I did a set of eight 30-second sprints at three-minute intervals, and I always forget that this is a fairly tough workout. As I've mentioned, I'm trying to paddle more with my legs and lower torso this season, and I found this difficult at a higher speed. I had trouble making all these parts of my body move smoothly and in sync through all the phases of a stroke--the catch, the pull-through, the recovery, and so on. It's going to take practice, and I think I need to incorporate a bit of higher-speed paddling into every session, even if for just a couple of minutes.
In keeping with that idea, today I warmed up for ten minutes and then did three eight-stroke sprints, trying to achieve maximum technical quality in each stroke. For the most part the strokes felt good, and after this short and sweet little exercise I had a good 80-minute aerobic session with some long surges thrown in. I hope a couple of months of this sort of thing will get me feeling better about my form at higher intensity.
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