Paddle (Kayak) 1:01:02 [3] 3.1 mi (19:41 / mi)
Hammies were feeling a little less tight today, but still were a bit tight, so I just did the paddle today. I had planned to put in on Sanford lake at the park, but turns out it was still frozen. I was trying to find a place to put in that was not frozen and was also public. I was beginning to wonder if all I was going to just get a lot of practice driving around with the kayak on top of the car. Finally, I found the trail off the side of the road where I'd put in a few years ago when I paddled with Don - just off M30 north of Edenville.
The river was MOVING! Sometimes, it felt like I was on a huge outdoor kayak treadmill! I paddled upstream for 28 minutes before I saw the dam and decided to turn around. Being near dams is scary to me. I never know when they're going to turn up the flow. After I turned around, it took me 10 minutes to go about 1.5 miles - back to the put-in and then down stream a way. Wow- what a difference.
Pattern today was 10 minutes steady, 5 minutes harder/race pace. Sometimes, just to get through a fast section, I'd have to turn it up a bit.
When I got back, I had a hard time getting close enough to shore not to have to step in the water. It was pretty close to 32 - I know because I stuck my hand in to try to pull myself closer, which resulted in a cut that I didn't notice until the hand warmed back up again. Eventually, I was able to rock and shimmy the boat until it was close enough to shore that I could step out. Whew!