Paddling hurt

The discomfort in my right lat muscle continues.  It was at its worst on Sunday and Monday, when it hurt to take deep breaths and the simple act of existing was less than pleasant.  Since then the condition has eased but not gone away.  I've backed off on the strength work, taking Monday off and doing only the core exercises Wednesday and today.  In my experience injuries are more likely to occur in the weight room than in the boat, and I'm suspicious of the bent-over rows and maybe the front and lat raises as possible culprits.  But that's just an educated guess.  Meanwhile the injury doesn't really bother me much in the boat, and I was even so bold as to do a workout yesterday.  I mentioned in a previous post that even before the lat muscle started hurting I was having tightness in the right side of my neck, as if something's out of whack in the chiropractic sense.  It's been months since I've visited a chiropractor but maybe it's time.

On a happier note, I do believe spring is near.  I say this in spite of the frigid weather we're set to have over the next week.  When Joe and I did our loop of the harbor on Tuesday it was simply lovely: calm, warming toward a high in the 60s, and becoming sunny.  Wednesday was delightfully warm as well.  As we move through the next few weeks I expect such spells will grow longer and more frequent.  And in nine days we'll be back on Daylight Savings Time.

My first race of the season is now just four weeks away, and I'm trying to train through my ailment as carefully as I can.  Yesterday I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints and then commenced a pace workout.  I did five 5-minute pieces with two minutes recovery in between.  In each piece I did two minutes at a target pace of 6.5 miles per hour, two minutes at 7.0 mph, and one minute at 7.2-7.3 mph.  The north wind was blowing hard enough that when paddling into it I struggled to meet these pace goals and when paddling with it at my back I comfortably exceeded them.  In the end I had to do each intensity level by feel rather than rely on my G.P.S. device to do my thinking for me.

The crest prediction for the Mississippi River keeps getting pushed back and revised upward.  The current forecast says it will crest at 41.5 feet on the Memphis gauge around next Wednesday.  I hope the weather and my body will allow me to get out and explore some more.


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