The weather on the Gulf Coast was gorgeous, and I savored it after the race on Saturday. Once the awards had been handed out, I went back to Nick's house and spent a leisurely afternoon. When suppertime rolled around, I joined Nick and his girlfriend Kelly at a surf-and-turf joint in downtown Ocean Springs, where I had a big fried fish po-boy sandwich accompanied by a generous helping of french fries.
Later on I woke up in the middle of the night feeling rather queasy from all that fried food. By yesterday morning I felt slightly better, but not completely in the pink. I had a slow breakfast and let my bodily processes do their thing.
By eight thirty I felt ready to get out for some easy paddling. On advice from Nick and Kelly, I drove over to Biloxi and put in from the public boat ramp next to the Schooner Pier Complex. It was another beautiful day, and I decided to do a lap of Deer Island. I wasn't sure exactly how long it would take, but I hoped I could do it in 70-90 minutes.
I wasn't terribly sore from Saturday's race, but there was definitely some stiffness in my midsection. I tried to keep the stroke rate low and just relax and let the blood flow. I rounded the western end of Deer Island and headed out into Mississippi Sound. Not being a local I didn't have the clearest idea of just how big Deer Island is, but for quite a while its eastern end was nowhere in sight. I had no particular objection to doing a long paddle other than my desire to get on the road and be home by a reasonable hour. On and on I went, and when the end of the island finally came into view it was clear that I'd be on the water more than an hour and a half. I rounded the point and saw my destination a good three or four miles in the distance. I tried to stay relaxed and let the boat get there when it got there. Finally it did get there, about 110 minutes after I'd started. I'd be getting home a little bit later than I would have liked, but... that's okay. Now I can tell people I've paddled around Deer Island, and that's always fun. I didn't have my G.P.S. device turned on, so I don't know what distance I paddled yesterday, but I think I remember Nick saying it's around ten miles.
It was a warm day on the coast, but in Memphis yesterday's high was barely 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Even as far north as Jackson the temperature was in the mid 80s, but I watched it gradually drop on my dashboard display as I continued north from there. It was 60 degrees in DeSoto County just south of Memphis.
Anyway... it's good to be home. What's next for me? In terms of racing, I'm not sure. The next race I know I'm doing is the Gorge Downwind Championships out in the Pacific Northwest, but that's not until mid July. Right now, events within a reasonable drive of Memphis are looking scarce. I expect I'll be settling back into some base training for a while before I ramp up the intensity again.
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