This week has been a slow transition from damp and warm to drier and cooler. Even though last weekend's rain brought lower temperatures with it, it remained very muggy for the first half of this week. Yesterday morning we had our first true chill in the air. I'm not eager for winter but I'm hoping for a good long period of comfortable fall days.
On Tuesday I paddled away from the dock feeling tired and lethargic. For the first time in several weeks, I did a set of three 8-stroke sprints, just to see if I could even make my body move that fast. I was pleased to discover that I could. For the rest of my 60-minute paddle I felt somewhat more upbeat and energized as a result.
It was only 60 degrees Fahrenheit when I got down to the river yesterday. I thought I might be underdressed, but once I was in the boat and paddling I felt fine. With nine days to go before my last race of the year, it was my last chance to do a workout that my body will have internalized by race day. After warming up and doing three 8-stroke sprints, I did a set of five 5-minute pieces with two minutes recovery in between. I had my G.P.S. device on board and shot for 7 miles per hour during each piece. As it turned out I was able to maintain 7.2 or 7.3 mph while paddling well within my comfort zone.
I did this workout in the harbor, and during that time the Memphis Police Harbor Patrol was cruising around in the fancy new boat they've got. The boat is equipped with a big nozzle for fighting fires, and as I headed in to the dock the officers were spraying the prettiest arc of water you've ever seen. I wondered where they were a week earlier when the heat index was in triple digits: I'd have been paddling right into that spray.
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