Respite

For the last few Tuesdays in a row it's felt like paddling was the only good thing that happened.  Maybe it's the fact that the work week is still just getting started on Tuesday, and my work weeks have been pretty nerve-wracking for the last couple of months.  In any case, once again this week paddling was the bright spot of my day on Tuesday.  After warming up and doing three 8-stroke sprints in the harbor, I paddled up the river into a north breeze that gave welcome relief from the stifling heat that's settling into the Mid South now. On the way back downriver I stopped and played around in the eddies created by the Hernando DeSoto Bridge pilings.  Slalom racing and whitewater boating are never far from my heart, and I had fun doing a couple of ferries from one piling to another.  They were long ferries, of course, but at 21 feet long my boat is commensurate.  Back at the dock I enjoyed a long drink of lovely cool water from our Memphis Sands artesian well.  I also took a bath under the hose, for which I keep a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap down there.  And so at least for a little while, life was good on Tuesday.

Last night was another round of "Thursday evening sprints" out at Shelby Farms.  I mentioned that last week's sprints seemed to hurt more than usual, and I'm now convinced that wasn't just my imagination because I felt significantly better during last night's workout.  I must have been tired and low on energy last week; maybe I wasn't as hydrated as I should have been.

Yesterday was another hot and steamy day--I think the high was around 97 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index value up around 106.  But out at Shelby Farms we got a break in the form of a nearby thunderstorm cell that provided some cloud cover and a cooling breeze.  We got rained on a little bit but the heart of the storm was several miles south of us for the entire workout.

This morning I wrapped up the "business" week with another round of the strength routine.  I did it on Monday, Wednesday, and today this week.