Makin' waves

Well if you'd told me yesterday morning I was going to feel good enough to go paddling last night, I would've stone cold laughed in your face yo.  The second day soreness from our strength workout was still there and then add in being shot from the hips down from our lower body workout, I felt like I was 80.

But by the time the Mr got home, I was feeling like as long as it wasn't a difficult paddle, I was up for it and doing a "traditional" workout didn't sound appealing either.  We went to the lake closest to us and as soon as we got there, the torrential current was something I knew I couldn't do.  I told him I was out and he agreed.  The previous night's storm was still rearing its head in the body of water with a lot of flooding and with a dam not too far away, we didn't feel experienced or strong enough right now to take it on.  I suggested another place 25 minutes away that we've gone to a few times so we headed there.  We came in the back way and I suggested a boat launch we hadn't used before but scoped out last week.  We saw a sweet spot to launch.  It should be noted that I didn't think I'd need the camera and on the way in we saw a mama and two fawns and a baby rabbit.  *irritated stare*

We unloaded and got to pumpin' up the vessels.  As I glanced out, I could see the current in the main waterway but it didn't look quite as menacing as the other place.  We shoved off under overcast skies and prayed the 10% chance for rain wasn't over our area.  As soon as we started paddling, it was nothing but choppy waves and wakes from speedboats.  It honestly felt like the ocean and was non stop.  I felt okay but I was really worried about how the Mr would take the waves on the paddleboard because there is so much balance involved.  Thankfully he went down to his knees and paddled a bit like that.  I spied a cove and motioned for him to head that way.  We sat in the cove for about 10 minutes just kind of hanging out and I asked if he wanted to continue or if we should head back due to the winds and whipping waves.  He said he wanted to go on so I made sure to stay close to him.  He tends to paddle behind me and I can't see him and it makes me nervous.  In these choppy, somewhat dangerous conditions for noobs like us, I wanted him close in case he fell in from the sometimes violent waves that came out of nowhere.  I found that if you timed your paddle between waves, it gave you more power behind your stroke.  I relayed the info to him and we forged ahead.  I was so proud of him.  He didn't fall once and I wouldn't have even been able to stand on that thing much less paddle on it in those conditions!

There were a buttload (actual unit of measurement) of sailboats out.  I was so ticked I didn't bring the camera and told him to NEVER let me not take it again.  We explored coves and hung out in another one before heading back.  The paddle back was not fun for me.  With the waves behind me, I couldn't time the sets and had to use a lot of energy.  My shoulders didn't fatigue though, it was just a lot of work and I was happy to see the boat launch area.  Then it was time to avoid the goose poop in the grass as we deflated and packed up the car.

So the only pic I got was the one when we got home to record my calories burned.

We were famished and ate late (8:30pm).  I was so hungry I forgot to take a pic of my whole dinner which was a BBQ mahi sandwich with mango jalapeno salsa and brussels.

It was quite a challenge but conditions we needed to face so we knew if we could handle them or not.  We could...we did...and I'm pretty friggin' proud of us!

What have you done lately to make yourself proud?

====================
Like this post? Don't miss another one...subscribe via email or RSS feed. (Or you can follow me on Facebook )