Another winter blast (I hope it's the last)

It was lovely outside Friday morning: sunny skies with a temperature around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  But the weather was expected to make an abrupt turn for the worse from lunchtime on, so I wasted no time doing a gym session and getting myself down to the river.  The north wind was already picking up by the time I was on the water.  I warmed up paddling to the north end of the harbor, doing a set of three 8-stroke sprints along the way, and then commenced my workout: ten 30-second sprints starting every third minute.  I was straining a bit in the last several reps but I otherwise held up well.

The sky had clouded over by the time I returned to the dock, and the temperature was dropping.  That continued through the afternoon, and in the early evening the precipitation began.  I'd been expecting mostly rain that would turn into some kind of frozen mess once the temperature dropped below freezing, but instead it was a sure-enough blanket of snow.

I knew the snow wouldn't be sticking around long: yesterday was bright and sunny and a little above freezing, and today's forecast called for a temperature well over 50 degrees.  But I was glad just the same to stick around home and busy myself with indoor activities yesterday.  I patted myself on the back for getting my paddling in on Friday.

It was still below 40 degrees when I got in the boat this morning, but with the sun shining I knew the temperature would rise fast.  What I didn't expect was just how windy it would be: it was blowing hard out of the south.  My original plan was to paddle up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wolf River, and continue up the Wolf to the Danny Thomas Boulevard bridge before coming back.  But out on the Mississippi the conditions were choppy and confused, and I found myself getting much wetter than I care to be on a chilly morning.  About halfway up the Greenbelt Park I decided to turn around and do the rest of the session in the harbor.  Back in the harbor boredom became my main nemesis.  At least I had the wind at my back from the mouth to the north end, and I tried to keep my speed over 10 kilometers per hour while taking less than 70 strokes per minute.  Once I reached the north end and turned back south it became a slog into the wind, and I just tried to keep my stroke rate the same.  I labored on until I'd been in the boat for two hours, and called it a morning.

By this time it had warmed up over 50 degrees, but the wind chill was acute as I changed into dry clothes. I felt just as worn out as I do when I paddle to Danny Thomas and back or around the Loosahatchie Bar.  I was chilled to the core and would spend the rest of the day warming back up.

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