This past week I've been as busy as ever with out-of-the-boat concerns--some good and some bad, but all hectic and demanding of my mental energy. I still managed to get in the boat and at least go through the motions.
On Tuesday Joe and I did our usual loop of the harbor, and on Thursday I went out and found some good barge traffic moving up the Mississippi. As I went out to play on the wakes, I focused hard on the need to keep paddling in order to prolong wave rides, link one ride to another, and advance to waves in front of me. When you're getting a great ride it's tempting to stop paddling and savor the sweetness, and there's nothing wrong with that, but this time I was in a mood to work on my maneuverability in the waves.
Like I mentioned before, the Mississippi has been on a big rise this week. With a long-ish race coming up in several weeks I figured my mileage base could use some freshening up, and I decided to spend yesterday morning paddling around the Loosahatchie Bar, made possible by the 21.7-foot Memphis gauge reading.
It's gotten quite hot again--we had a cool spell earlier in the week but now that seems like it was just a dream--and as I paddled south from the marina toward the mouth of the harbor yesterday, I could feel the sun beating down on the left side of my body. Once I was out on the main river it felt like an early-summer day in June: the vegetation on the bank is still dense and green and lush, and the high water level enabled me to paddle alongside it or even through it, the crickets and katydids singing away. With the water rushing through the trees the big river had the feel of a playful babbling brook.
Back at the house I'd packed my camelback full of ice cubes, but by the time I reached the north end of the Bar they'd long since melted and my water was becoming lukewarm. I got what refreshment I could from it and reminded myself that some lovely cold water awaited in an insulated bottle on the dock.
I felt as though I was making decent time throughout the trip, but as I neared the southern end of the Bar I realized I would have to hoof it to break two hours as I like to do. So hoof it I did for the last half hour, and at last I glided alongside the dock at right about an hour and 59 minutes after I'd left. Not my best time ever, but under two hours.
The reward for my efforts was to be dead tired and achey in my back for the rest of yesterday. By this morning the aching had eased but I was sore in my midsection. I went down to the river and paddled easy for 60 minutes. It was another hot day but a north breeze made it bearable.
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