Harassing Herons

It was a long week at work, and my body (left shoulder) spent much of it trying to decide what to make of last weekend's adventure. So yesterday felt like a good day to stay close to shore, take it fairly easy and work on my position in the boat.

In particular, I'm trying to figure out how to prevent myself from leaning back. That took the form of playing with my paddle float, both behind the flexible backrest and under my thighs for more support.

I'm not sure I made any real progress on the fit business, but I did explore some nooks and crannies of Jordan Lake that I hadn't been to before. This was helped out by the highest water levels of the year--no beach at all at Farrington Point.

It also proved to be a particularly good day for flushing herons, although not nearly so good for catching them in pixels. I managed to spook what appeared to be the same bird on two occasions. On my way north, it fled to the other side of the lake; on my way back on that side, it headed back for the eastern shore--this time expressing displeasure loudly.

Farther south, I watched some radio-controlled model aircraft ply the air and then crossed the lake again through the stump field. Double-crested cormorants are one of the most common birds at the lake, and they seem to have declared ownership of this tree.

Altogether I spent a relaxing 3-1/2 hours on the water, but I'd be surprised if I went even 10 miles. The EC is only five weeks away now, and part of me thinks I should have done more. It's a fine balance between building up and tearing down, but I seem to be on the edge. This should be a good week for some weight training and running. One more long weekend--either next weekend or the following one--on the water, and that will have to be good enough.