Right on schedule, the latest round of cold air moved into the Mid South Monday night. When I got to the river Tuesday morning it was 29 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, and windy. I did all of my 60-minute paddle in the northern half of the harbor, where the protection from the wind is greatest. I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints and then paddled steady with a few good surges.
This cold spell is part of the big "polar vortex" that has gripped most of the nation. Here where I live we're getting off easy; I doubt I would be paddling this week if I lived in the upper Midwest, where double-digit subzero temperatures have prevailed. I can't imagine there's much liquid water to paddle up there right now.
It was bitterly cold outside when I woke up yesterday morning, and by the time I got down to the river it was about 30 degrees. But it was warming up fast: by the time I was in the car coming back home it was 43 degrees, on its way to a high of 51. So it was well up in the 30s for most of my time in the boat. With mostly-sunny skies and not much wind, I felt fine. I warmed up and did another three 8-strokers in the harbor, then paddled up the Mississippi about a mile above the Hernando DeSoto Bridge before coming back downriver and back into the harbor.
The forecast calls for highs in the 60s this weekend. And so this weird winter plods along.
I did rounds of the strength routine on Monday, Wednesday, and today.
(For more information on what this blog is about, click here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment