Today is a strength training day, but instead of going through my usual routine I decided to go out for a paddle. Kayaking is an excellent upper body and core workout, and lugging a 17 foot, 50 pound kayak out of the garage and down the road to the river is a pretty good workout too.
Once in the river, I headed downstream for a half a mile, then turned back and paddled into the Lower Mystic Lake and across to the new dam. It was a beautiful morning, the kind of day that helps make up for the water quality in the Mystic River, which is at best not terribly bad for a river that flows slowly through a heavily populated area.
The sun beating down from the pure blue sky promised another hot day ahead, but at 6:30AM it was still cool, with barely enough of a breeze to ripple the lake.
One nice thing about waking up before the alarm goes off is that I can get out on the river early, before the activity of the day drives the waterfowl into hiding. I saw a mama duck and her flotilla of babies feeding among the lillies, two great blue herons, multiple cormorants diving for breakfast, and a bird that looked like a night heron with an Einstein wig (possibly an egret. Ruth, my bird expert, was out for a run).
The other nice thing about getting out early is that after my paddle, I didn’t have to wait long to get my boat back across the Mystic Valley Parkway. When the commuter traffic picks up, it’s hard to find a gap between cars long enough to wheel a 17 foot boat over the curb and across the road.
It’s not all about the exercise. Tonight, I’m heading to Brookline for my first glove puppet class. It’s always fun to try something new, and after all, the puppet pictured in the ad is wearing running gear.
(3 mi. paddle; 149.5#)