Date: 6/13/21
Training Day: 142
Miles: ~2? (bushwhacking)
Lakes: 2 (paddleboarding)
Weather: Mostly sunny, low 70s to mid 80s

How It Felt: It felt good to be paddling on the water and using non-leg muscles. And I’m beginning to feel that a race weekend is not complete without some bushwhacking, lol.

Commentary: Saturday afternoon I eventually made my way to a couple of cold-water fed lakes that right next to each other in Montana. The next day (today) I was meeting friends at one of them, so I decided to paddle the other.

I bought an inflatable paddleboard because of its portability. It fits nicely in my car even when I’m living it. Little did I know how much effort it took to blow up, even with a dual-action pump.

By the time I got my board inflated and at the minimum 13 lbs of pressure my arms were tired, my mouth was dry, and I was out of breath. But I still lugged it and my dry bag of snacks down to the lake.

Because of the wind and being tired, I didn’t paddle too far. I found a nice spot by a fallen tree to eat my snacks and headed back. Thankfully the wind was at my back.

Today I met some friends at the lake right down the road from the one yesterday. I got their early and secured us a picnic table. While waiting for everyone to arrive I inflated my paddleboard and relaxed on the lake.

Once everyone was there we paddled to the far end of the lake. From there we bushwhacked to the lake outlet that just appears out the side of the cliff. While we didn’t make it to the origin, we did get to experience some pristine wilderness that made me wonder if this is how the first explorers felt when they set eyes upon this same piece of land.

The paddle back was into the wind, and by the time we finished I was tuckered out. We grilled up some sausages, corn and Anaheim peppers, drank beer and shot the shit for a few hours before packing up.

All in all, I’d say this was a pretty damn good weekend. My knee was a wee tight today, but it didn’t hurt. I had another decent half marathon and three good days of paddling. Aside from not having to go to work tomorrow, I don’t think it could get much better than this.

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