Onward toward fall

I have completed my two-week training break.  I spent the second week feeling a lot better physically than I had felt in the first week.  Monday afternoon I got in to see the chiropractor who'd helped me beat that plantar fasciitis I suffered from for a couple of years, and she cracked me right back into proper form.  I also told her about the wrist ailment, and she thought it was probably a muscle imbalance, and she showed me an exercise I can do to strengthen the weak opposing muscle.

On Wednesday I received the disappointing news that the downwind training camp in South Africa that I'd hoped to attend this November is already full.  When I posted my intentions here last weekend I had notified the Mockes that I wanted to attend and was awaiting instructions on how to register.  It was dumb of me to announce it here before it was a done deal, but I thought surely there would still be an opening or two three months out, and I also just wanted to explain my training plan for this fall.  Well... maybe next year.  Sigh.

I was pretty despondent for a couple of days, thinking that my whole plan for the fall had been ruined.  But as usual, one's perspective evolves with the passage of time.  In a way I'm even more glad I took a training break, because toward the end of it I was really missing that regular athletic routine.  I really should appreciate the paddling opportunities I've got right here, even if world-class downwind action isn't among them.

Today I started with a round of the new strength routine, and then headed down to the river.  Over a 70-minute paddle I mostly felt good in the boat; the effects from the layoff didn't really become apparent until the last 20 minutes or so.  My fatigue by then told me that my stamina was down a bit (the hot weather didn't help).  When I tried to surf some small waves behind a downstream-moving barge rig, I didn't have the top gear I needed to do so.

But I shouldn't get too bummed out by that.  I've got a solid base from the paddling I've done this year (and for that matter, the last several decades), and I think I'll get those little things back soon enough.


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