Freedom

Fun bit of paddling this morning out on the Standup Paddle Board. Well fun in a spooky kind of way.

I got down to the river this morning to find a solid bit of fog rolling in up the river. The more I paddled the harder it got to see until it felt like I was paddling through the scene of a horror movie, with dark, ominous shapes looming up through the murk. At one point I even came across some kayakers who had got themselves turned around and didn't know whereabouts on the river they were. It was kind of surreal. Still, I didn't run into anything (or anyone) so in end the paddling itself was lots of fun and a nice bit of exercise.

They were the sort of conditions that really would have made a great clip on the GoPro. However, this morning of course was one of those mornings where I found that I had left the GoPro turned on and so the battery flat. Rookie move.

Interestingly I was told by a girl I work with who comes from New Zealand that this morning's fog was a cute bit of mist, but compared to proper Kiwi fog it was nothing, so perhaps I just need to man up a little.

I am still really enjoying getting out on the Standup Paddle Board during the week. It occurred to me that this morning I could have gotten out on the bike instead, but I have to admit that when I was thinking of what exercise to do today going riding didn't even really occur to me.

I know this enthusiasm is simply the first flush of excitement that comes with something new, but I am not really bothered by that. Instead I am really enjoying the freedom of being able to do whatever exercise I like. Training full time for Triathlon means you simply don't have time to do other things, instead you tend to put things aside telling yourself 'you will give that a try when you are done with triathlon'. I don't have a problem with that, I wouldn't give up my triathlon experiences and memories for anything and single minded focus was what was necessary to have those experiences and form those memories. However, now that I don't need to have that single minded focus I fully intend to enjoy some flexibility and try a few different types of exercise. I have said on numerous occasions that I really enjoy cycling, and I do, however, my bikes aren't going anywhere and neither are the roads. Time to try some new things.  Call it a silver lining of not being able to race anymore.

Speaking of new things. Tomorrow morning the old will become new again down at the final session of Swim Smooth Old Skool week. Tomorrow the squad will be doing strokes besides freestyle, should be lots of fun to watch.