Shut down, to some extent

It's been a frigid week here in the Mid South.  Since last Sunday the temperature has risen above freezing for just a few hours, and it's spent quite a bit of time in the single digits on the Fahrenheit thermometer.  The snow that fell Sunday and Monday has had little chance to melt, and the melting that has occurred has re-frozen, making the streets even more treacherous than they were earlier in the week.

I've spent most of the week indoors being utterly unproductive.  While I have a project to work on in the woodworking shop, it's at a point where I need to go out and get some more material, and I just don't want to be out driving right now.  I'm trying (and mostly failing) to persuade myself to knock out some tax-filing and other paperwork chores.  Meanwhile, I've been binge-watching some television.  I normally watch very little TV, but my housemates down in Florida got me hooked on the "Ted Lasso" series, and now I'm using the seven-day free trial period offered by Apple Tee Vee Plus to watch all 34 episodes.  Just one of the little ways in which I stick it to The Man.

It's hard not to consider it a lost week in terms of canoe and kayak training.  Even if I were feeling plucky enough to go paddle in this weather, it's been cold enough that there's a fair chance the harbor has been iced over (I haven't been down there to check).  The same is true for bike riding: I'm even less inclined to do that in cold weather than paddle, and the whole landscape is covered in ice anyway.  I have managed to do a decent amount of stretching, including the new hip stretches I started doing last weekend; I've also started doing a couple of core exercises on the stability ball and some Hindu squats, along with some rotation drills in which I'm trying my best to twist my rear end against the floor, just like I need to be doing in my boat.

So I haven't completely wasted the week... I haven't made any cardiovascular gains to speak of, but I've made some effort in the tedious process of technical adjustment.  I admit that it would have been nice to have an erg machine for this work.  I've resisted getting one because most of the time we have liquid water to paddle on here, and even when it's cold I prefer that to the mind-numbing repetition of erg work.  But when intensive focus on mechanics is necessary, it's better to do it in a warm, comfortable environment, and it sure would be nice to have an erg for that.

The last blast of Arctic air was last night and this morning... for now, at least.  This coming week the temperature is supposed to rise as high as 60 degrees, albeit with some rain.  I hope to be back in the boat soon.

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