Summer is almost here, and I'm feeling pretty good

One topic I haven't been discussing much here this spring is the aches and pains in my arms and shoulders and neck area.  And the reason for that is that I've been feeling pretty good.  There are probably a whole variety of reasons for that and I would say that they're largely a mystery to me, but I would like to believe that ONE reason for my lack of upper-body discomfort is my effort to rotate from the hips when I paddle, and derive as much power as possible from my leg-drive.  Doing so takes a lot of pressure off the smaller muscles of the upper torso--the upper back, the neck and shoulders, the biceps, the forearms.

And so, I extend credit and gratitude to Coach Chris Norbury, who alerted me to my inadequate rotation during our training camp in Florida back in January.  I've been working on the issue ever since, and while I'm probably not doing it perfectly, or even all that well--if Chris watched me paddle right now, he very well might lambaste me all over again--I'm pretty sure I'm doing it better than I was back in January.  And, well... that's something.

Meanwhile, lest we think that my physical health picture is completely rosy, just in the last day or so my right big toe has become swollen and sore, to the point that just walking around really kind of hurts.  I can't remember doing anything to cause such a thing-- I haven't stubbed my toe, or dropped anything on it, or anything like that.  Whatever this is, I sure hope it'll run its course in just a day or two.

I paddled for 60 minutes Tuesday morning.  There was little barge traffic on the river, so it was mostly a steady paddle, but I did get to follow a downstream-moving rig on my way back to the harbor.  The waves were small, and it was more like riding the wake of a fellow paddler than outright surfing, but that's okay.  It was a good little workout.  I worked to read the conditions and get as much aid from the waves as I could.

It's getting warm now.  The forecast is showing the daily Fahrenheit highs nudging into the high 80s and low 90s.  It was around 78 degrees when I went down to the river this morning, and by the time I'd finished paddling it was up in the mid 80s on its way to a high of about 90.  Fortunately a light breeze made things pleasant out on the river.  I paddled for 60 minutes at varying paces, and coming back toward the dock in the harbor I timed myself in my bridge-to-bridge sprint, clocking 2 minutes 10 seconds.  That's not a great time for me, but under the circumstances, it was a decent effort.

For more information on what this blog is about, click here.