After a few days of not-so-bad heat it was starting to get rather sweltering by Friday. I went to the river and did an interesting workout: it started with pieces of 7 minutes/6 min./5 min./4 min./3 min./2 min./1 min., with a minute rest after each one; I started the series at 56 strokes per minute and nudged it up to 68 spm (basically adding 2 spm with each new piece). Then, after a 3-minute rest, I did the series in reverse, ending with a 7-minute piece at 56 spm. It was essentially a new variation on an old-fashioned endurance paddle.
On Saturday I paddled to the mouth of the harbor and saw a barge rig coming up the Mississippi. The towboat was one whose bridge can be raised and lowered, and in my experience those usually generate nice waves, so I went out to see what kind of surfing I could do. A lot, it turned out: I found myself surfing the nicest set of towboat wakes I've seen since this glorious day last year.
After maybe 20 minutes of fun out there, my spirits were as high as they'd been in quite a while and I returned to the harbor feeling energized for my assigned workout. It was four sets of four 15-second sprints at 2-minute intervals, with a stroke rate of 100-110 spm. The efforts were not all-out; the objective was to practice good mechanics and technique at high speed.
Yesterday's session was a calm 80-minute paddle. I did a loop out on the Mississippi and the only reason it wasn't entirely delightful was that it was very hot outside.
I continue to have a lot of non-athletic things going on that are making me feel swamped and not as enthusiastic about going to the river as I should be. But for the last several days I haven't felt as physically exhausted as I'd been for a while. Right now I'm just trying to keep something going in the boat and survive the hot summer.
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