Mt. Major and a swim lesson

I took the day off today because I realized that I had 10.5 hours of personal time that I need to use or lose by the end of June, and things are going to be so busy for May and June. I was so glad that I took today, because it was a beautiful day, and it's supposed to rain all weekend. 

The reason I chose today was that I had a second swim lesson at the Y in Oak Square, which is actually kind of far to get to - it was a 30 min lesson that was a 45 min drive. I spent the whole ride there feeling grumpy and questioning my judgement on going there, but then the coach that I took the lesson with was so good, and she gave me some tips on breathing that were so effective! I actually feel confident that if I practice her drills I will get the bilateral breathing down eventually.

After, I went to the kittery outlets, mostly to go to the lulu outlet there. I tried on like 15 things at lulu, and not a single one of them sparked joy. There was a pair of hiking pants with the zip off legs that I though about getting but they were $100 at the outlet, and I though that once the legs were off, the shorts would bunch when I walked. On the way out of kittery I stopped at the eddie bauer and they had a pair of shorts I really liked, and a cute summer dress. They had the shorts in 3 colors and the dress in 2, and I bought all of them :)

I was excited to hit Mt Major - it seems like it's become my traditional first hike of the season. The weather was so nice, and the leaves were just coming out. It took me 50 minutes to get to the top. Once up there I admired the view. I think you can actually see Mt. Washington! Last year I hiked Mt. Straightback and enjoyed the ridge line so much I decided to do it again. I really like walking over there, but then I decided I didn't need to go all the way up straightback because it's viewless, and turned back. I went down the main trail this time - it was a little wet in a couple of the steep places, but still a nice trip down. 

On the way home I wanted to stop at this new place I saw called buns and bowls (because that sounded yummy) but they were closed. So I got ice cream instead, which was delicious! 

On Thursday I bought new running shoes. I tried on every pair of la sportiva trail runners, but in the end I got the exact same shoes as the last time. Now, just have to put them on and run.

Kayak on Upper Charles River

I had to go into work today (boo), but I balanced it out by going for a post-work kayak in my oru. It's the second time I've gone after work on the Charles, and I really liked it! The first time I went on the Charles really near work - it looks like there's a small stream that connects the college to the river, and I wanted to check it out from the river direction. I put the kayak in at a park that's so close to school, and went downstream to the connector river. It may have been possible to go through, but it was a little sketchy, and I decided that I didn't want to chance it and hurt my beautiful kayak.

Today I went from a little further upstream, just past a small dam. I looked at the dam at first and was a little nervous, because there's really nothing to prevent a kayak from going over it. But, I took careful notice of where I was, so I could turn to the boat launch on the way back. 

I knew I was going upstream when I started, but I didn't realize how much until I turned back. It took me about 55 minutes until I turned around, and about 25 minutes to return. Wow! It was so easy with the current.

Even though I was in south natick, there was a ton of wild life! On the way up I saw a swan sitting on its nest, a goose on its nest, and a great blue heron just chilling out. Right when I turned around I saw a deer that looked like it was coming for a drink. It was standing completely still, just waiting for me to leave. And then I saw a beaver swimming across the river! At first I wasn't sure if it was a beaver or muskrat, but then it slapped its tail on the water and dove under. I was like "wut?" Then it popped up a little upstream and slapped its tail so hard that I screamed a little. I looked on google, and it said that they do that to scare away predators. Very effective beavers!

Last week I got to see my reader again! We went for lunch at one of my favorite Thai places and browsed some cute stores. It was fun!!

PS According to google, I went about 3 miles.

First swim to the Point

It's spring for sure, time to get back into extended outdoor activities! Today I went swimming at lunch time and a group of four of us swam from the beach to the point. The water was 56 degrees, so still kind of chilly and I was glad to have my gloves. I forgot my goggles and my swim float (will have to put those in the swim bag now) but decided I wanted to go anyhow. I was able to borrow goggles, which sat on the top of my head because it was still a little cold to put my face in the water. So, I did breast stroke the whole way. According to google its .21 miles each way, so .42 miles in total. It took about 25 minutes. 

The swim race that I'm doing in the Charles in June is one mile and you have 40 minutes to finish the race or they pull you. So, I got some work to do to speed up my swimming. Doing crawl will certainly be faster, but practice is in order.

It felt so nice to do a real swim instead of a dip. The water as nippy, but felt really good once I got going.  

First Hike of the Year

Today my entire body hurts from parkour yesterday, but it was beautiful out so I really wanted to go for a hike. We still have my mom's stuff in a storage locker, though we are trying to clean it out. My brother, sister and I decided to meet there for a cleaning session. So, I went to the Blue Hills before - it's right in the neighborhood. 

I was going to do Great Blue, but I left a little late and didn't have time. So, I did Buck Hill instead. It's really a hill, just 436 feet, though with the ups and downs the hike had 489 feet of elevation gain. It was so nice to be out hiking, even though it was only 3.5 miles! There were a ton of people, though not too many when I got up the hill - I actually had the place to myself while I ate an orange and some pretzels with hummus. 

I definitely want to get out more this season - my goal is to do a pemi loop - I'm thinking a 3 day + loop, where I drive up and hike the 3 miles of flat to the handcock campground the first day, and then camp at Guyot, Garfield and Liberty Springs. 

Women's Parkour Day

Today we had a women's parkour workshop, which hadn't happened since my first weeks of parkour. Super fun, I hope we can have another one soon! We started with two groups, and I actually went in the more advanced one, and was glad I did! Our first session we played world chase tag. I was kind of nervous that I would lose every match, but actually I did fine. Apparently women's world chase tag is a thing now - it's just like regular tag, but you run around a scaffolding. When we were playing the chasers wound up using the scaff more than the evaders, but I can see where, if you are fast, using it would help. 

For our next session we used an indoor scaffolding at the rock climbing gym. First we talked about our fears, then we faced them. The scaff is pretty high, and over a cement floor, so also pretty sketch. I stood on this platform that was about 10 feet up and very small. I let go with my arms, but did not want to stand up straight. Small steps.

After lunch we got to chose sessions - I went with a jumping one on the indoor scaff, and was super excited that I worked up to doing this cat splat with a bounce back to a tire. By the end of the session, I felt really confident with it, and felt like I was jumping and getting some good air. There was another spot that I could do it without holding on with my hands, just jumping, landing with two feet, and bouncing back. The thing was that I was landing on a wood board instead of cement, and it was at an angle instead of being a wall. 

The final session was practice with using our core to assist in our practice. We did balances and vaults. Then we had a chance to play around. I was goofing around, feeling all good about myself, and then I fell on my butt from like 4 feet up - ouch. A reminder that humility is key in parkour. 

We ended with dinner and a movie. Now my entire body, especially my butt, hurts. Definitely a good workout and a successful parkour day!