Monday photo feature

As I paddled across Dacus Lake on Saturday I spotted a flock of ducks.  I had my Go Pro camera with me, and thinking that a bunch of ducks taking flight would make for a good shot, I started paddling toward them.  I got closer and closer, and they didn't budge.  Finally I was right alongside them, and realized that they were plastic decoys.

I don't know who might have put them there, or why--the only type of hunting that's in season right now is for light geese in Arkansas, and Dacus Lake is technically within Tennessee's boundaries.  I guess it's possible that some careless hunter left them there, and now they will become litter.


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Some distance paddling and a tiny bit of surfing

Yesterday was another unseasonably warm one, the temperature topping out around 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon.  It was also mostly cloudy with storms moving in late in the day.  The wind blew from the south around 20 miles per hour much of the day.

That meant conditions were bumpy out on the river as I paddled out there yesterday morning.  With a 33.9-foot level on the Memphis gauge, there was enough water for some exploring over on the Arkansas side.  I paddled up into the flooded Greenbelt Park and then ferried across to the outflow channel for the Hopefield Chute (aka Dacus Lake).  The water in the channel was plenty deep to provide access to this oxbow, and I paddled up there to see what was going on.  I didn't see another human.  Dacus Lake is a popular fishing spot, but with all the access roads underwater it's hard for any fishermen to get there unless they find some distant spot to launch their boats.

Once I felt I'd seen enough I headed back to the river's main channel.  The wind wasn't blowing quite hard enough to generate good downwind surfing conditions, but there was a huge barge rig moving upriver, and with its wake added to the mix I thought there might be an opportunity.

I waited for the rig to pass and then checked out the conditions in the section of river just below the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.  What I found was a "sort-of" downwind situation: there were surfable waves scattered all over the place, but there wasn't really a pattern to them like there is in a true downwind scenario.  I managed to catch a few okay runs, which you can watch here:



Make no mistake: I was not styling it out there.  This video includes only the halfway respectable runs I caught; in between I was doing a lot of flailing around.  One reality I'm coming to terms with is that I'm really not stable enough in my V12 to be as aggressive as I need to be.  I think anytime there's a south wind I need to break out the V10 Sport.

I'd hoped to paddle with Adam Davis again yesterday, but he had to be in his office.  But when I got up this morning I had a message from him asking if I'd like to paddle today.  I replied in the affirmative.

I met Adam in the harbor under a mostly-sunny sky.  We had cooler temperatures and a west-northwest breeze in the wake of those storms.  Adam had never really paddled on Dacus Lake before, so I decided to go back there so he could see where the outflow channel was.  We ended up paddling the farthest north in the lake I'd ever been, and that made for a satisfying wilderness paddle even though we were only two or three miles from the "concrete jungle" of downtown Memphis.  For most of our two hours in the boat we maintained a good strong pace.

Another barge rig was coming upriver as we re-entered the main channel, and once we were below it I tried surfing its non-wind-aided wake.  I got one fairly decent ride.  We went on back to the harbor and I completed a weekend full of paddling variety.


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The distancing intensifies

On Tuesday morning I did a round of the strength routine and then met Joe to paddle a loop of the harbor.

Meanwhile, the mayors of my city and county had handed down a "shelter in place" order.  It took effect at 6 o'clock Tuesday evening.  For the moment it falls short of all-out martial law, relying mostly on the cooperation of the populace instead.  I have heard anecdotes of cops stopping people to ask them why they're out, however, and that's a little unsettling.  The Memphis Police Department is one of the more obtuse organizations I've ever encountered and the idea of giving them one more reason to hassle people doesn't thrill me.

Our daily newspaper provides this summary:

You can

• Go to the grocery, convenience or warehouse store
• Go to the pharmacy to pick up medications and other healthcare necessities
• Go to medical appointments (check with your doctor or provider first)
• Go to a restaurant for take-out, delivery or drive-thru
• Care for child, family member, elderly, or pet
• Take a walk, ride your bike, hike, jog, and be in nature for exercise — just keep at least six feet between you and others. 
• Walk your pets and take them to the veterinarian if necessary
• Help someone to get necessary supplies
• Receive deliveries from any business which delivers

You should not 

• Go to work unless you are providing essential services as defined by the Order
• Visit friends and family if there is no urgent need
• Visit loved ones in the hospital, nursing home, skilled nursing facility or other residential care facility, except for limited exceptions as provided on the facility websites.

"Take a walk, ride your bike, hike, jog, and be in nature for exercise"--I interpret that to include paddling my boat down on the riverfront.  And so I was back there yesterday morning for a 60-minute paddle.  We finally had a warm sunny day yesterday, with the temperature shooting up into the 80s on the Fahrenheit thermometer, and I wore shorts and short sleeves for the first time in the northern hemisphere this year.

I did another round of the strength routine this morning.  It's supposed to stay warm for the next couple of days, but get stormier during the weekend.  Hopefully I can squeeze in some sort of river adventure tomorrow.

How am I feeling?  Great, that's how.  But I'm still trying to act under the assumption that I'm an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, keep my distance from everybody I encounter, and be as responsible as I know how to be.  Really, this new shelter-in-place order is just asking me to do what I'd already been doing for at least a week: staying home aside from trips to the river and the grocery store.


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Monday photo feature

Can you point to the LIGHTHOUSE????  This guy can!!!!!

This photo is a screen-grab from a short video Dawid Mocke shot as we paddled the Miller's Run back on the 4th of February.  Even though that was a mere seven weeks ago, in some ways it feels like a different lifetime.

On a typical day that week we were up at sunrise for an early-morning paddle.  We'd finish at Fish Hoek Beach, put our boats away, stop by the C'est la Vie coffee shop for a cappuccino, and then head back to the B & B just in time for a full breakfast.  A fine way to start a day.  Good times, man.  Good times.

Suddenly saddled with all the solitude I can stand, I guess one good way to use it is to examine my routine here at home, and ponder how I might incorporate some of the elements that I found so satisfying during my time in South Africa.


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Staying busy in the boat

Adam Davis came back down to join me yesterday morning.  We paddled out of the harbor, up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wolf River, and up the Wolf to the Danny Thomas Boulevard (U.S. 51) bridge before turning around and heading back to where we'd started.  I've paddled this route many, many times, but thanks to Adam and his G.P.S. device, I finally have a map of it to show everybody:

As you can see, the distance was almost 10 miles for Adam.  Since I started and finished at the marina about a mile farther north in the harbor, my distance came to about 12 miles.  Once I got back to the dock I orbited for several minutes to make a nice, neat 120 minutes.

Yesterday's high temperature was around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was in the mid 40s during the time Adam and I were paddling.  My feet were thoroughly chilled by the time I got back to the dock.

We had a rare few hours of sunshine yesterday afternoon, but by this morning it was overcast once more, with rain in the forecast.  I managed to get about three-quarters of my 60-minute paddle in before raindrops started falling.  I mostly paddled steady but threw in a long, pretty hard surge in the last 15 minutes, just because I felt like it.  Since there's not much to "train" for right now, I'll be doing what I feel like pretty much all the time.


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Trying to keep calm and carry on

I'd hoped that our beloved sport would remain above the fray in this time of distress.  But alas, that was wishful thinking.  I guess this has been the week that the situation "got real" as far as this blog is concerned.

At this moment the environment is such that it's all but impossible to have an event of any kind.  If the directors of the races in South Carolina and Ocean Springs had tried to go forward, they would have faced an onslaught of criticism of the "How can you be so irresponsible?" variety.  And maybe the critics would have been right, for all I know.

Right now I'm hoping the entire race season won't be wiped out, but that's certainly a possibility.  The Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race is near and dear to my heart, and for the moment it's still on for June 13; so is the Gorge Downwind Championships, a trip I really look forward to each July.  But unless things get turned around in the very near future, I'm afraid those events will join the growing list of casualties.

(UPDATE: I just found out this afternoon that next month's race on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg is off.)

My motivation took a hit when races started getting canceled this week.  I skipped my strength workout Tuesday morning, and the only reason I went through with paddling is that I'd already promised to meet Joe for that purpose.  Now I'm just looking to keep moving even though serious training might have to be on hold for a bit. I think some good "play" workouts are the best way to keep myself looking forward to being on the river.  Yesterday would have been a perfect example if I'd been better prepared: the wind was blowing from the south at least 20 miles per hour when I got to the dock yesterday morning, and when I paddled from the harbor out onto the river I found some sure-enough downwind conditions there.  They weren't big swells, but I had good rideable swells nevertheless.  Sadly, I wasn't dressed properly--I'd dressed for the 73-degree-Fahrenheit air temperature rather than the still-quite-cold water temperature--and I had to paddle timidly because of that.  There were also a lot of floating logs as a result of recent rains and a rising river level, and I didn't want to have my rudder whacked off.  Still, it was an encouraging reminder that we do occasionally get a taste of downwind here, and I'm going to start paying closer attention to the wind forecast and try to be ready for such opportunities from now on.

I managed to make a strength workout happen this morning.  It's going to be a chilly weekend with highs in the 50s, but I plan to be in my boat seeing what kind of fun I can find out on that big river.


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Race schedule update

As most of you know, a global pandemic has prompted the cancellation of events of all kinds.  Sadly, canoe and kayak racing is not immune.  This Saturday's "Paddle Bender" race in South Carolina, which I had decided not to attend but for which many friends of mine were registered, got canceled yesterday.  The first race of my season, the "Battle On The Bayou" event scheduled for a week from this Saturday down at Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was called off this morning.

I have a feeling there will be more casualties before this crisis has run its course.  As far as I know, the events listed below are still on for now, but I recommend seeking updates frequently.  I will share whatever I know as soon as I know it.


April
18  Bluz Cruz Canoe and Kayak Race.  Mississippi River, Vicksburg, Mississippi.  A 22-mile race down the largest river in North America.  Register


June
6  Taylorsville Lake Paddle Battle.  Taylorsville Reservoir, Taylorsville, Kentucky.  A 10-mile flatwater race.

13  Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race.  Mississippi River, Memphis, Tennessee.  The 39th edition of this classic.  A 5000-meter dash down the largest river in North America.


July
18-20  Gorge Downwind Championships.  Columbia River, Hood River, Oregon.  A 14-mile race in the epic downwind conditions of the Columbia River Gorge.

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Monday photo feature

Adam Davis shot this photo during our paddle around the Loosahatchie Bar on Saturday.  We're nearing the end of our trip, paddling across the Mississippi back toward the harbor.  That's me at eleven o'clock off Adam's bow.  Conditions were bumpy because two barge rigs and a bargeless towboat, all heading upriver, had just passed through.

I should note that Adam is one of the stars of my motion picture that came out last fall.  For those of you shunning the crowds in favor of watching movies at home, may I suggest adding this film to your list?  It's available for viewing here.


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Still yearning for sunny days

We're having another run of rainy, cloudy days here in the Mid South.  When I got down to the river yesterday morning it had rained a good bit overnight but had let up for a few hours.

Adam Davis joined me again and we paddled a loop around the Loosahatchie Bar.  We kept a good pace going and got a solid overdistance session.  Adam's G.P.S. device produced this map of what we did:

If it looks like we paddled over some land at the north end of the Bar, that's because the river level (25.6 feet on the Memphis gauge) was higher than whatever it was when this satellite image was made.  Because I put in at the marina about a mile farther north in the harbor than Adam's start/finish point, my total distance was around 12.6 miles.  My elapsed time was about a minute under two hours.

More drenching rains fell last night.  With the temperature in the low 40s Fahrenheit, it was a cold, soggy world I ventured out into this morning.  I went down to the river planning to paddle for 60 minutes and do a crisp workout.  When I say "crisp," I mean high in intensity but short in duration.  Long grinds have their place, but I'm looking to tip the balance in favor of quality more than ever this year.

So, after warming up and doing three 8-stroke sprints, I embarked on eight reps of 45 seconds on, 75 seconds off.  The sprints were tough but my body seemed to handle them just fine--75 seconds seemed to be adequate recovery throughout the workout.

As I walked from the marina back to the parking lot I saw a couple of patches of blue sky.  But I think most of the coming week will be cloudy with chances of rain every day.  I guess that's fairly standard for late winter and early spring.

Regarding my hands and wrists: they've done okay this weekend, though there continue to be moments when they seem to go to sleep on me.  I was right concerned when I woke up yesterday morning because they were throbbing pretty good, but they seemed to get circulating once I was in the boat.  While paddling today they felt fine at times and dead at times.


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Digging deep in more ways than one

On Tuesday I did a round of the strength routine and then headed to the river to paddle for an easy 60 minutes.

The current strength routine is one of my lighter ones, but my body wouldn't know it right now.  I mentioned last weekend that I've been doing some landscaping at my house: to be specific, I'm sprucing up what had been a gravel driveway/parking area in the back.  First came a lot of digging in rocky, rooty soil, busting it up with a pick axe before moving it with a shovel.  Then I poured a couple of concrete drainage channels for the downspouts to flow into.  In all I used thirty 80-pound (36.3-kilogram) bags of concrete.  That's 2400 pounds (1.2 tons!) that I moved from a pallet to a dolly down at the store, moved from the dolly into the back of my truck, and moved from the truck into a wheelbarrow at the work site for mixing and pouring.  Now I'm paving the area over with bricks.

How has my body responded to all this activity?  Certainly with a lot of muscle fatigue, especially in my legs, shoulders, and back.  The heaviest work days left me sacked out and falling asleep my nine o'clock in the evening.  And the work has been murder on my hands.  The skin on my fingers is raw and cracked, and for a couple of days I was having spells of no feeling or poor circulation from my forearms down.  I've had some off-and-on soreness in my right wrist since last summer, and all the digging seems to have exacerbated that.

The upshot of all this is that I wasn't exactly feeling sharp yesterday for what is probably the most dreaded day on my training calendar: the annual harbor time trial.  On top of that, there was a south breeze blowing when I got down to the riverfront just after 9 AM.  It didn't seem too fierce as I stood on the dock, but I knew it was enough to slow me down significantly during the first half (the north-to-south leg) of the trial.  The outlook wasn't good for my long-held desire to break 50 minutes for this lap of the harbor.

I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints as I paddled from the marina to the harbor's north end.  I settled into the usual starting gate between two submerged tree trunks, started the watch on my G.P.S. device, and was off.

To break 50 minutes for a lap of the harbor, one must maintain an average speed of about 7.2 miles per hour.  There are several stretches in the harbor where wind exposure is at its greatest, and in the first of these I found myself struggling to maintain 6.5 mph.  In the second such stretch, I saw my speed plunge to around 6.1.  Slowly but surely, I began to accept the reality that a sub-50 day was probably not going to happen.  I tried to keep my chin up and produce the best effort I could.

But as I passed the marina a new problem emerged: the pain in my right wrist became excruciating.  I tried to work it out as I paddled, but to no avail.  Just south of the A.W. Willis Avenue bridge I had to stop.

Having to abandon my time trial was disheartening, but that was the least of my concerns.  Suddenly this injury was getting severe enough to disrupt my paddling.  Was this something that could interfere with my race season?

Dejectedly I continued south, thinking I would paddle another couple hundred meters before turning around and calling it quits back at the marina.  But as I moved along my wrist started to feel better and I kept paddling south, toward what would have been my turnaround point next to Beale Street Landing.  I began to entertain thoughts of resuming my time trial there and seeing how I could do for the half of it with the wind at my back.  By the time I got there my enthusiasm for the idea had begun to blossom.  I reset my watch and took off back toward the north end.

What a difference a tailwind makes.  Now I was cruising along at 7.5 mph, occasionally even 7.6.  Energized by this chance to salvage my workout, I followed the tangent line to every curve and kept the intensity as high as I dared.

Fatigue started creeping in as I passed the marina.  I tried to lower the stroke rate while keeping as much power in each stroke as possible.  I reminded myself I was well ahead of the pace and could drop down into the low 7s if I needed to, but for the most part I stayed in 7.4-7.5 territory.

The finish line finally came into view, and I bore down even though I was hurting pretty bad by this time.  I hit 8.0 mph in the last hundred meters and crossed the line with a time of 23 minutes, 33 seconds for the 2.96-mile length of the harbor.

Could I ever put two such efforts together for a 47:06 full lap of the harbor?  Probably not, considering how wind-aided my time was.  But it doesn't seem unreasonable to think I can put together a pair of 24:59.5 halves for a 49:59 whole.  I expect it would take a perfect day with no wind for me to do that.

Utterly spent, I slowly paddled back toward the marina.  I was pleased with myself for squeezing something positive out of a tough morning, and I was relieved that my wrist hadn't been an issue during that second half.  For now I'll just have to keep an eye on it and seek some help if it keeps bothering me.

This morning I did another round of the strength routine and did some lighter chores out back.  Fortunately the heaviest portion of that landscaping job is behind me.


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Monday photo feature

I shot this photo of Joe Royer as we paddled last Tuesday.  Behind him the Kankakee, a channel marker maintenance vessel for the United States Coast Guard, returns to the USCG's Lower Mississippi River station.  The broad fluctuation of Mississippi River levels keeps the Kankakee busy resetting the red and green channel markers throughout the year.


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A nice sunny weekend

Yesterday morning it was sunny and beautiful but quite chilly.  It was about 43 degrees Fahrenheit when I got down to the river.  I put the pogies back on after going pogie-less for the past week.

I headed out for a 120-minute paddle.  I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints in the harbor, and then paddled out onto the Mississippi to see what was going on.  I paddled up above the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and ferried over to the Arkansas side.  With the river flowing at 28.3 feet on the Memphis gauge I wasn't sure if I'd have access to Dacus Lake: I paddled up the lake's outflow channel and discovered that I did not.  There's a private road that crosses the channel, and it's only when this road is completely underwater that one can paddle from the Mississippi's main channel to the lake.  (At low river levels the Dacus Lake outflow passes through a culvert beneath the road.)  Yesterday the road was several feet above the surface.

So I followed Plan B and paddled up the Loosahatchie Chute.  On these longer paddles I usually do whatever I feel like as far as intensity goes.  Yesterday I threw in a few surges but mostly paddled at a relaxed pace.  About the time I was ready to turn around and head back toward the harbor, my legs started cramping up a bit.  That's not a problem I have very often.  I don't know if it was because of the cold, or a lingering effect of some landscaping work I'd done on Friday that involved lifting a bunch of 80-pound bags of concrete... your guess is as good as mine.  Anyway, it sort of bothered me all the way back to the dock, and once I was out of the boat it took a while for my legs to loosen up so I could walk comfortably.  I'll be happy not to have that kind of discomfort as a frequent companion.

This morning I had some company: Adam Davis came down to the riverfront to join me in a workout.  He put in at the cobblestones near the harbor's mouth, so I paddled down there and did three 8-stroke sprints while waiting for him to get in his boat.

The first thing we did was paddle up the Mississippi to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, do a fast ferry to the bridge's middle piling, and paddle back to the harbor.  There was a pretty stiff wind blowing from the south that made the river choppy and confused.  Windy days are always wet days: by the time we got back to the harbor my clothes were soaked from taking a bunch of splashes and spray.

Back in the harbor we commenced our main workout: a 20-minute paddle consisting of 2-minute cycles in which we paddled medium-hard (over 6.5 miles per hour) for a minute, then increased the pace to 7.0-7.5 mph for 30 seconds, then paddled at sub-maximal intensity for 30 seconds.  The workout went well and I felt pretty good through it all.

Once that was over we continued to the north end of the harbor and then came back south.  I bade Adam goodbye when we reached my marina.  That wind was putting a chill on things, but the sun was out and the temperature was rising.  I found a sunny spot on the dock where I shed my soggy clothes and got dry.  I headed home with the satisfaction of a pretty good weekend in the boat.


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Another week's wrap-up

On Tuesday I did a round of the strength routine and then paddled a loop of the harbor with Joe.

I had a workout planned for yesterday, but with a busy morning I was worried my head wouldn't be in it.  Once I was in the boat paddling, however, the outside concerns fell away and I got down to business.  After warming up and doing three 8-stroke sprints, I did eight pieces of 1 minute on, 2 minutes off.  The workout felt taxing while it was going on, but I recovered quickly after the last piece.  With more than 20 minutes left in the 60-minute session I did a couple of long surges in which I kept the stroke rate moderate but pulled hard on each stroke.

I did another round of the strength routine this morning.

We haven't had anywhere near the volume of rain I'd been expecting at the beginning of the week.  We were spared the tornados and violent storms that laid waste to parts of middle Tennessee.  Today was bright and sunny, albeit cool.  It's supposed to warm up gradually this weekend.


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Monday photo feature

It's the 2015 "Battle On The Bayou" race at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  In this picture I'm taking a turn in the lead as we head from the Back Bay of Biloxi up into Old Fort Bayou.  On my tail are Rick Carter of Eutawville, South Carolina; Jeb Berry of Gulfport, Mississippi; and Kata Dismukes of Cordova, Tennessee.  Mary Neil Quave shot the photo from the Washington Avenue drawbridge.

The 2020 edition of this race is less than four weeks away.  If all goes according to plan I'll be starting up a new season there.


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This weekend: not bad

That sore throat I mentioned at the end of my last post has given way to ordinary coughing and sniffles.  The good news is that I otherwise don't really feel that sick.  My energy level might be down a little but my daily life is proceeding as normal.

Yesterday I went out for a 100-minute paddle.  With the Mississippi River flowing around 34.7 feet on the Memphis gauge, there was plenty of water for me to paddle over onto Dacus Lake.  I pushed the pace at times but generally just paddled however I felt like.

This morning I paddled for 60 minutes and did a short workout.  I did two sets of this:

20-second sprint
60-second recovery
20-second sprint
50-second recovery
20-second sprint
40-second recovery
20-second sprint
30-second recovery
20-second sprint
20-second recovery
20-second sprint
10-second recovery
20-second sprint

I held up well for most of the workout.  I started to struggle with my form a bit during the last couple of pieces.

Both yesterday and today, I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints in the harbor during the first ten minutes.

I see a pattern emerging here: a quick, crisp workout on Thursday; a longer paddle on Saturday; another crisp workout on Sunday; and a recovery paddle on Tuesday.  It seems to suit me all right and we'll see how it goes for the next few weeks.

We've finally had some warmer weather with some sunshine yesterday and today, with the Fahrenheit temperature rising into the 60s.  I think it's supposed to stay warm for a while but rain heavily.


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