Most of last week was unseasonably balmy, but when I went down to the river Saturday morning a blustery cold front had just moved through and I paddled for 100 minutes in a stiff north breeze and a Fahrenheit temperature in the low 40s.
My back stiffness persisted, and I was swamped by a combination of circumstances in my out-of-the-boat life. So it seemed like a good time to take a little break. I usually paddle on Sunday and do my strength routine Monday, but I took both those days off. As a competitive person I was loath to miss a single session, but my more reasonable side told me I need a mental break as well as a physical one.
I was back on the water yesterday doing my usual Tuesday paddle with Joe. Most Tuesdays we just do a steady loop of the harbor, but this time Joe asked me to come up with a workout that we could do together. So I gave it some thought, and here's what I dreamed up: Joe would do a 30-second forward sprint; I, meanwhile, would take four backstrokes at the start, and then sprint forward and try to catch Joe before the expiration of the 30 seconds. I had no idea how this would work out, but it ended up being interesting and fun. We did about ten of these sprints, and I never did quite catch Joe but I came close several times. Most importantly, it gave me some technical food for thought. I'd done backstrokes-then-forward-strokes drills many times before, but this competitive version forced me to think hard about how to get the best transition from going backward to going forward. I think I got my best results when I used one really good forward stroke to stop my backward motion, followed by several quick strokes to get up to speed from rest.
Today I am still feeling a lot of discomfort in my lower back. It didn't bother me while paddling yesterday, and it hasn't stopped me from doing any of the other things I need to do, but it's just got me feeling out of sorts and irritable. I did do the strength routine this morning and that went well enough.
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