That Wednesday evening snowstorm added a fairly substantial amount of snow to the already above-average accumulation we had here in Memphis. Here's a pair of photos of my back stairs before Wednesday's snow and after:
This street in my neighborhood could be a street someplace like Buffalo or the Twin Cities:
As weary of all this as I was, I still had to go out and get some exercise. I also had to go check on a rental property I own where there had been problems with the central heat and some frozen pipes. The rental property is on the far side of Overton Park just west of my house, so Thursday morning I hit the Old Forest Trail through the park. I have to say that it was absolutely beautiful. I tried to put aside all my worries about missed paddling and frozen pipes and malfunctioning heating systems, and just savor this experience that I have so rarely had as a resident of a southern-ish latitude.
Yesterday the temperature rose above the freezing point for the first time in ten days, reaching 40 degrees Fahrenheit by the late afternoon. It was still only 25 degrees in the morning, so I stayed in and did a gym session. I also exchanged several e-mails with Maks, who sent me a training plan for the coming week, and that helped get me excited about being back in the boat. I have yet to speak to Maks in person, but in his e-mail correspondence he's always very upbeat and encouraging, and I appreciate that. I expect it's a real boost for his Slovenian athletes, too.
After the thawing that took place yesterday, and with the temperature expected to rise into the 50s today, it was time to get back in the boat at last. I had a feeling the harbor would still be frozen up, so I loaded up one of the surfskis in my garage with the intention of putting directly onto the Mississippi River up at the north end of Mud Island. It turned out that was the right call, because the harbor looked like this:
Those rocks that I'd thrown onto the ice on Wednesday, whose picture I included in my last post? They hadn't melted through the ice yet:
On up to the north end of Mud Island I went, to the parking lot that serves as the staging area for the annual Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race. The lot was still completely covered in snow:
As I drove down the entrance ramp to the lot, I wondered whether I would be able to get back up it. But that was a worry for later, because I was ready to paddle! I carried my boat down the ramp, got situated, and paddled up to the mouth of the Wolf River. I continued up the Wolf to get in a good 10-minute warmup. There were some ice floes on the Wolf and by the time I was 1000 meters up they were beginning to choke off the open water, so I turned around and commenced my workout, doing most of it out on the Mississippi. I did eight 5-minute pieces with 1 minute recovery; the first two and last two pieces were to be done at 60 strokes per minute, while the middle four were to be done at 64 spm. There was a pretty good south wind blowing and the river was choppy, but I was pleased with my ability to maintain the stroke rate in spite of that distraction. As always, I tried to make every stroke a solid one, and worked on the technical aspects that Maks and I have discussed. Pretty soon I need to get somebody to shoot some new video of me so we can evaluate my stroke again.
Once the workout was done I cooled down for ten minutes plus, and returned to the boat ramp. The sun was shining bright, and what might normally have been an annoying breeze felt pretty good after the long stretch of sub-freezing days we'd had. I savored the weather as I changed into dry clothes in the back of my truck.
I started the engine and prepared to face the moment of truth about getting back up that ramp. But lo! Look who showed up!!!!
Anybody need my company in Vegas?
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