Yesterday was definitely a recovery day after the beating I put on my body in Saturday's race. I did some stretching at home and then went down to the river for a very easy 30-minute paddle. I spent probably ten of those 30 minutes just sitting in the boat talking to a couple of friends I ran into down there.
I woke up today feeling much better, and that was a good thing because I had an afternoon paddle planned with racing friend Ted Burnell of Chattanooga, who is in town on business for a couple of days. Ted and I raced twice last year, with me barely winning once and him barely winning once, so I'd say we're pretty evenly matched. He'd probably be a great training partner for me if we lived in the same city.
We met around 3 o'clock this afternoon and paddled for two hours. I tried to give him a nice well-rounded experience out on the Mississippi: we paddled out of the harbor and upstream to the Greenbelt Park, then ferried over to paddle up the west side of the Loosahatchie Bar. With the river at about 13.6 feet and rising on the Memphis gauge, we had to do a couple of slick attainment moves to get up over the Corps of Engineers dikes there.
Then we turned around and came back downriver, admiring the view of the downtown skyline. I pointed out a few riverfront landmarks before saying goodbye back where Ted's car was parked. Ted seemed to think it was a worthwhile afternoon spent on the river, and I was glad to have the chance to show him around. I know I enjoy visiting the places where other people paddle.
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