Dance After Dark Photography

Today Patty and I set off to kayak the 5-mile route from the Ocklawaha to Silver Springs. This is the same trip I tried to make a month or two ago, when the geography creatively realigned itself and I wound up kayaking the Lower Wekiva instead (because I know where that one is.)Guess what! Same thing!We were on track for almost half of our trip. We had directions this time. Unfortunately, we forgot a turn and wound up driving 30 minutes out of the way. In our defense, we were supposed to make two turns onto Highway 44 because it jogs along with several other roads. Because it was the same road name, we forgot that we hadn’t made the second turn. We wound up on 441 in exactly the same spot that I hit on my first attempt. After half an hour of trying to get back on track without actually backtracking, we gave up and headed back.We put in at Katie’s Landing on the Wekiva and headed upriver toward the springs. We didn’t really have an objective, so we kept going until we were tired. As we progressed, I hoped we’d hit a landmark that would help me judge the distance we covered. Eventually we hit the two big fields of water lilies that are a mile north of the Wekiva Marina. At that point, we had to turn around both because we were nearly exhausted and because we were pushing our luck to get back by sunset.The trip was fun. It may also have been the longest trip I’ve made yet. We didn’t really have any of the hair-raising experiences I seem to engender when I hit the water. All of that happened en route, apparently. I’ve already mentioned the geographic instability, but my car died 3 times before we even left Sanford. It didn’t reoccur, so I think everything should be fine. Figures that something would happen, though. It’s just out of warranty. Distance: approx 15 miles, round tripCalories burned: approx 4400

Lazy afternoon

Wow. Busy day today! I got moving at 9:00 this morning, despite a severe crick in my neck and ominous clouds on the horizon. I loaded up the kayak and put in at Katie’s Landing on the Wekiva River. I went upstream for about an hour, taking my time and taking pictures. That’s right, folks. I finally brought the camera long. This is the first time since I bought my own kayak that the camera has made the journey with me.

As if my 2.5-3 mile trip up the Wekiva wasn’t enough, I just got back from the YMCA where my workout total equaled 25,930 lbs! I’m tired!

Mom and I went to the gym Monday, and we went again last night. We’re finally set up so the machines’ll track our exercises at the Oviedo YMCA. There’s nothing wrong with the one in Lake Mary, but Oviedo is just more convenient. I think we’ll be going there primarily from now on.

In related news, I lifted a total of about 16,000 lbs. That’s split between several sets and over a period of about two hours, but it still sounds good. *grin*

Mom & I went to the gym before I went to work this morning. I had told her I’d be getting up between 6:00 and 6:30, and I invited her to come to the gym with me. At 5:50, she knocked on my door to ask if we were still going. Little mix-up there with the distinction between getting up at 6:00 and leaving at 6:00. We worked that out.

So I crashed again for another 30 minutes, but we left the house at 6:30 and headed off to YMCA. Got there at 7:00 and worked out for an hour. I cut things short just to get out at 8:00, but in 5 exercises I lifted a grand total of 12,780 lbs.

It’s always depressing to look at what I’ve done and see how few calories I’ve burned. I don’t do much cardio, so the returns are always low. However, I figured out that with the 4 miles of kayaking I did yesterday I managed to burn about 1,300 calories.

I don’t see myself turning into a calorie counter, but it’s nice to have the numbers to back up what I’ve already experienced. Kayaking is damn good exercise! My shoulders and arms feel great after I’ve done it, and I don’t have trouble breathing like when I go running. I’m thinking about buying a kayak so I can hit some other places. I’m not brave or dumb enough to try Lake Jessup, but I’d like to explore some of the islands on the eastern edge of Lake Monroe.

I wouldn’t say they’re loaded, but I’ve got guns, baby! (heh) I just came from the gym. I’m nowhere near where I want to be physically, but I’m rather enjoying the fact that my arms are huge post-workout. “Huge” is of course a relative term, but I’ll take my happiness where I can find it. I was feeling a little self-conscious about my stomach when I looked over at the gym’s mirror wall and realized that I’m bigger than most of the guys who were there. The two big exceptions were the owner and a guy who’s obviously a personal trainer.

What I want is wider shoulders and a narrower waist. I’m built like a barrel, so I think I need to concentrate more on the widening than the narrowing. To that end, I did lots of deltoid and lat exercises today. I also toughed it out through 20 minutes (and 7 miles) on the bike, where I usually get mind-numbingly bored at 5. I’ve got a long road ahead of me and quite a few pounds to lose along the way, but I feel good.

I just joined Ironworks Gym down the street from my house. It’s within easy walking distance, or it will be when it isn’t hot as #$@^ outside. Less than two minutes to drive there. Much happiness on my part.

I spent just about an hour at the gym today, including 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. I usually stop at 10 because I get bored, but I zoned out today and took the full 15 to warm up. 5.5 miles, and I broke a good sweat. A little stretching, a lot of lifting, and now I’m strutting around with the “arms akimbo” tough-guy pose because I just can’t help it. I haven’t done curls in a while, and no matter how much I stretched afterward my arms just don’t fall back into a normal position. The good news is that I forgot how big my arms look after I’ve just worked out. (heh) Go me.

No pictures today. Maybe tomorrow. For now it’s shower time. That’s like Hammer Time, but wetter and with less dancing.