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!

Back to the Pool

Today I finally did some swimming at the Y again. It's been a while, but I was glad to find out that I can still swim :). I practiced my drills, especially bilateral breathing. It's still a work in progress. I'm getting better at the pulling thing - I was able to feel myself moving the water for some of the swim, and it definitely made me move faster. Also, it was a lot more work - so better exercise. The big problem is that I don't really swim straight when I do that and I bumped into the guy I was sharing a lane with.

Speaking of sharing lanes, the Y has a 3 lane pool. When I got there it was empty and I chose the center lane. And so did the fourth person. And then someone got out, and the guy I was sharing a lane with moved over there. And the fifth person chose the center lane too. Lesson learned. Go for the far lane if the pool is empty.

Tomorrow we are supposed to have our first Nor'easter of the winter. We just sprang forward - why couldn't it have been February?? And, no more skiing out of this storm - pretty sure my right toe nail is going to fall off after skiing yesterday. 

One More Ski Day

I put my skis away and was done for the season (twice, actually), but the weather was so nice and I didn't have anything important to do today, so I decided that I would do one final day of skiing. I was thinking about pat's peak, but their lift is so slow, so I decided to try crotched mountain again. I'd been there once, a couple of years ago, and remember it being fun but hard.

I invited my nephew to come along too, because he love skiing and apparently his ski-y friends have moved to silicone valley. I asked him to come to my place at 7:30 to leave, and then I would drop him off at home after. What I forgot was that we spang forward last night (something that I love, of course), but that meant we were really leaving at 6;30. So early! It was a good think I had already put the time out there, or I would have left later. 

We got there a little after 9, and I decided I could ski no more at about 3:15. I told my nephew I was fine with hanging out if he wanted to ski more, but he was ready to pack it in too. I did every green and blue at the place, and even a few segments of black! It was super fun. 

I stared with the greens, and felt a little awkward on them the first run. But then I got in my groove, and moved up to the blues. I was feeling pretty good about my curving and edging for most of the day. I feel like I'm getting the hang of having my lower body move while my upper body doesn't switch around. I also went down a few spots that were steeper, which was scary but successful. I kept just telling myself "the mountain isn't going to ski itself" and went for it.

After getting off the fast lift there is a little part that is pretty hard for me. I remember it from last time - eventually I gave up on the lift and took a slower one. This time, it was still difficult, but I did it a lot more times. By the end there were some mogels developing. Not easy at all for me, but I think a little better.

When I got home, I could barely get out of the car, my quads were so tight. I took a long bath and some advil, but I think they are going to be sore for a few days.

Good Ski Days

I bought a five pack for nashoba, which I was kind of regretting because I didn't think that I was going to be able to use all of them, but then I did! Yesterday we got some surprise snow, and today I was able to hit the slopes. I went with my nephew, which we do sometimes, and it was pretty fun.

The best thing was that for a couple of runs I felt like I got the edging and leaning piece of skiing, and it felt really great, super easy and relaxing. I still stuck to the blues there, I did the blacks a few times, but they are a little too steep for me really, but they felt good. I'm increasing my speed a little, and getting how to stop down better. 

My nephew skis a lot faster than me. He did a few runs on the blacks, and then practiced jumping in the mini terrain park that they have.

Next year I think one time at nashoba might be enough. 

This woman who I took a swim class from was at Memphremagog, and she invited me to be on her endurance athletics team, team b*real. Like a personal invitation. I can't resist a personal invitation, so of course I joined. Now, I am thinking about going back to running so I can do a triathlon.