Long-time readers who have paid close attention know that Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my normal paddling days. Yes, I am stubbornly regimented.
But I made an alteration this weekend. On Friday we were still having that balmy weather that we'd had all week here, but a cold front was scheduled to come through overnight and make things chilly for the weekend. So, after doing a round of the strength routine Friday morning, I headed for the river. The air was muggy and the temperature was headed above 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
I was hoping to find some barge traffic out on the Mississippi since it was possibly the last day of the year warm enough for aggressive surfing. But when I reached the mouth of the harbor, all I saw was an upstream-moving rig well above the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and another rig drifting downriver with its engines barely running at all. I pursued the southbound tow hoping it might eventually fire up its engines, and in fact it did, but the waves were confused and my arms, tired from the strength work, didn't have a lot of punch in them. Soon I was heading back to the dock to complete a 60-minute paddle.
The front came through late Friday night with some stiff winds, and yesterday was drizzly and bleak with a high of no more than 55 degrees. I gave myself some much needed rest. The weather wasn't much better today, but I felt a whole lot fresher. With a race coming up next weekend, I wanted to do some short fast stuff in the boat. I did eight 12-stroke sprints at two-minute intervals, and then paddled a strong tempo for the rest of the hour.
My neck-muscle woes continue. I'll be picking back up with the chiropractor tomorrow.
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