Emerging from the deep freeze

The frigid air that moved in last weekend hung around through the middle of this past week.  I responded with some workouts on dry land.  On Monday I stayed indoors and did a routine that included lunges with dumbbells, a couple of core balance drills on stability balls, and some lying-down leg kicks.

On Tuesday I went down to the Greenbelt Park on a sunny but frigid and windy day.  I did some running both on flat ground and up hills, some oblique abdominal exercises, and some torso twists with the medicine ball.

By Thursday the Arctic blast was finally relenting, and I went back to the riverfront and got in the boat.  It wasn't exactly warm--I think it was just a little over 40 degrees Fahrenheit when I paddled.  But that's warmer than some of the weather I was paddling in down in Florida earlier this month.

Friday was colder and I did another round of the indoor routine.  Yesterday, with the temperature rising toward 50 degrees, I was back on the water.  Having done a rather grinding, low-stroke-rate technique session on Friday, I was keen to do something faster yesterday.  After a long warmup I did a piece that was a little over 400 meters, followed by two pieces on my 450-meter course from the monorail bridge to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.  My time for the first piece was just under two minutes, and around 2:10 for the two bridge-to-bridge pieces.  I had a pretty strong tailwind for all three pieces, but having to paddle over the resultant chop offset that advantage somewhat.  My recovery time between the pieces was between five and ten minutes.

The wind was from the south, and that's better than a north wind, but at this time of year no wind is particularly welcome.  The wind forecast is definitely  something I look at when deciding when to paddle, when to work out outdoors, and when to work out indoors.

My jury duty starts a week from tomorrow.  Just how much of my time that's going to occupy, I won't know until I report to the federal courthouse downtown.  This coming week looks significantly warmer than last week was, albeit wet in the second half.  I hope to get in some good work before I venture into the unknown world of my civic obligation.

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