I had another full morning on Tuesday. After a short run and a gym session at home, I went down to the river for a workout in the boat. I warmed up and did three 8-stroke sprints, and then did three 1500-meter pieces starting every 15th minute. I paddled at 75-80 strokes per minute and recorded times of 8:02, 7:47, and 7:53. I was a little off the pace of last week's 1000-meter pieces, but that day I had more of a tailwind than I did this week. The wind on Tuesday was blowing from the west and was as light as it had been in several weeks, and that portended tough days ahead as the temperature was forecast to hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit by today.
But I didn't let that bother me Tuesday. With just one more killer Tuesday morning left before I leave town, I was feeling pretty good as I put my boat away back on the dock.
Over the weekend, as I paddled up the Mississippi along the Tennessee bank, I noticed a six-foot ladder revealed by the receding water. The aluminum and fiberglass thing had clearly been there a while. Here it is in situ:
As the owner of two properties, I find myself using ladders quite often. So I decided to go down to the river and retrieve this one yesterday morning. It was no small amount of work pulling it up out of the silt and carrying it up the steep, rocky bank, and I found it was in need of some repair, too. But it always feels good to remove a piece of garbage from one of our local waterways. The one thing I can't help wondering is, How on Earth did a ladder end up in this spot? At normal water levels this place is some 40 or 50 yards from the bank. Did it fall off a boat? If so, what use did it have on that boat? Or did somebody purposely dump it in the river to get rid of it? If so, why? There are plenty of places where it's easier to dispose of a ladder you don't want, even if you are the kind of so-and-so who dumps things out in the wilderness.
So many questions, and so few answers. Oh well... the ladder is at home now, and when I find time I'll fix it up, and then I'll use it. Or if it turns out I don't really need it, I'll give it to somebody who can use it.
Today it is indeed hot, hot, hot. It was well into the 90s this morning when I got in the whitewater boat for some more drills. At least it was perfect for doing some Eskimo rolls. I've actually really enjoyed having a different kind of paddling to do one day each week. My work in the whitewater boat is very technical, so a session doesn't last more than 50 minutes or so. Highly technical paddling quickly tires you out both physically and mentally, and once your technique starts breaking down, you're just practicing bad technique if you stay out there too long. I remember reading in one of the books by U.S. whitewater team coach Bill Endicott that he rarely worked his slalom athletes for much more than an hour at a time for that reason.
Once I'd put in my 50 minutes today, I enjoyed a nice bath under the hose on the dock, and came on home to beat the heat anyway I could.
Tomorrow I get my nerve block injection! I've been hearing that such a treatment works for some people and doesn't work for others, but I hope it'll work for me, at least for the duration of my travels.
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