Lately the highs have been above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but it wasn't so bad yet when I got down to the riverfront Saturday morning. There was a mild breeze blowing and it actually felt very nice out on the river. It was one of those days when I just felt great in the boat and I had an enjoyable 60-minute paddle. I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints in the harbor, and then paddled a strong tempo out on the river. At Saturday's river level (14.4 feet on the Memphis gauge) the wing dams over on the Arkansas side were submerged and creating boily water, and I worked on keeping my boat gliding through that stuff.
Most weeks I paddle again on Sunday and do a round of the strength routine on Monday, but because of a busy day yesterday I flip-flopped those two things. So I was in the boat this morning with a workout on the agenda. In the harbor, I did ten one-minute pieces with three minutes recovery in between. I had my G.P.S. device on board and my goal was to stay at or above 8.4 miles per hour during each piece. (I mentioned in a previous post that 8.4 mph is about the average speed that produces a time of 2 minutes for my monorail-bridge-to-Hernando-DeSoto-Bridge sprint in the harbor.)
The workout was plenty taxing but I held up pretty well all the way through. I kept my speed at or above 8.4 mph for the first nine pieces. Toward the end of the tenth one I finally dipped below 8.4, and at that point I just tried to keep my form together and take the most effective strokes I could. In the end I felt good about how it went and I think a few more weeks of workouts like this will have me well positioned when the racing starts back up.
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