Water Loop and Paddle Fit

I wasn't in the mood to do my usual run, and the water was very flat, so I decided to do a loop. Here's my track:

This is about as flat as the Hudson gets. Of course the wind picked up after I started paddling. This is the view south towards the Peekskill Yacht Club. (I spend so much time on the water in Peekskill the club should give me an honorary membership.) And, yes, I had to get my board in the shot.

Here are the MotionX results:

Nice loop, then I started working out.

Name:		Water Loop And Paddle Fit
Date:		Aug 2, 2013 8:25 am
Map: (valid until Jan 29, 2014)		View on Map
Distance:		5.68 miles
Elapsed Time:		1:19:47
Avg Speed:		4.3 mph
Max Speed:		5.4 mph
Avg Pace:		14' 03" per mile
Min Altitude:		0 ft
Max Altitude:		0 ft
Start Time:		2013-08-02T12:25:15Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	41º 17' 07" N
	Longitude:	73º 55' 56" W
End Location:
	Latitude:	41º 17' 07" N
	Longitude:	73º 55' 55" W

The loop goes from the Peekskill Waterfront to Fleischman's Pier, to Fish Island (that's the northwest point on the map), and back. It's about four and three-quarters miles. After I returned, I did some extra distance and did board sit-ups, a plank and squats. Not bad considering it takes into account the extra time I was working out.

Cross Training

It would be so nice if I could get on the water whenever I wanted to. Man, I would paddle almost every day. Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not a professional athlete, just a working person with three kids, trying to do his best with keeping in shape and training for some long-distance runs.

Yesterday I did a PaddleFit jog, which is what I call my cross-training runs. There I get onto the track (one block from my house) and run as much as I can take whilst I do a few extra exercises each lap. Is this fun? No. If it involves jogging, it probably isn't fun. I don't think I actually hate jogging, but it would be fair to say I do not like it. Jogging is painful. Jogging is stressful. Jogging is boring. Jogging is, well, it's just yucky! Why do people like this sport?

I did two miles yesterday, though. I'm quite aware that two miles is a pretty pathetic distance, but it's about all I can take going around in circles on that track. Drives me MAD. If I'm running cross country, I can happily do more, but that has the advantage of being a lot less boring than the track. Instead of running around a human-sized hamster wheel, I'm jogging through the cool forest. Unfortunately with all the rain we've been getting these last couple of days, the forest is a mud slog. So it's the hamster wheel for me.

It does look like a large, earth-colored hamster wheel, and yes, I can see my house from here.

Tonight I plan on doing a workout even more pathetic, an Indo Board balance session with a 12 lb. bar. Doesn't sound so bad, right? But, I'll also be glued to the TV while working out, watching the final episodes of Orange is the New Black. Am I working out to watch TV, or watching TV to work out?