August Bootcamp 2012: Action and Adventure

You have been very good to me, and I’m sad to see you go. A lovely, happy month chock full of action and adventure.

3 miles walking today; I’ve met and even surpassed my goal for August.

45 miles. Woohoo!!!!!! Yeehah!!!!

It amazes me that we can drive 5 minutes in the car, put our kayak in the water in what looks like a dirty pond next to a sleazy strip club by a crowded main street overpass, and in less than 5 minutes of lazy downstream floating, find ourselves in the stunning wilderness of the N. river.

No herons or egrets today, but we saw loads of ducks, geese, swans, and multiple schools of tiny fish, not to mention the hugest horseshoe crab shells I’ve ever seen washed up on the muddy banks. We didn’t run into a single other soul on the water, and the silence was so peaceful. The only sound was the flapping of geese wings and the gurgle of the downstream current.

We definitely need to invest in a real kayak if we go again- the inflatable one we have can’t really support all our weight, and makes steering harder than it should be.

The river was very shallow in some points today, which made paddling upstream in a fast moving current extremely difficult. At one point, I had to get out and pull the boat behind me to tow everyone so Frog could get a rest from furiously paddling. This gave me an even better view of the river bed, covered with small, closed clam shells and iridescent mussel shells. Towing worked well until I stepped into a surprisingly soft muddy section on the river floor and sunk several inches in the mud! We all laughed, but one of my feet was really stuck for a few minutes. Then we laughed even harder. In the end, some clam shells had attached themselves to my water shoe.

Hooray for kayak adventure! (And hooray for one more mile of walking/towing people in a kayak in the river.)

Total mileage for August so far: 42 miles.

3 more miles today, city walking.
Action and adventure all in one!

41 miles so far this August. : )

In July, I logged 43 miles. In August, I am going for 44 miles. 45 will be my goal for September!

I pushed myself to do 3 more miles today.

38 miles total for August so far.

2.5 more miles today!

35 miles in August so far.
That means I have to walk 8 more miles in 5 more days! Can I do it?
Yes I can!

August is nearly at an end! Too bad, because it’s been a wonderful month. Maybe my best August yet.

Action:
4.5 miles walked

32.5 miles so far this August. I have to hustle if I’m going to meet or pass my July mileage (43 miles) by the last day of August!

Other action:
I spent another half-hour on my book. More organization and research than actual forming of prose, but it’s a start. ; )

Adventure:
Another day of spontaneity with JM. Conversations with strangers, rough ocean swimming (I STILL have sand in my ears, even after my shower, from the waves breaking on my head!) and other general feats of daring-do.

Action:
2 miles today. Yay!

Total 28 miles for August so far.

Adventure:
nope. Perhaps tomorrow will bring on some more adventures.

Action:
2 miles today.

26 miles for August so far!

Adventure:
A lovely family party this evening.
Getting the gift for the honorees, I saw a sangria and fondue special event advertised at a fancy restaurant, and spontaneously decided to make reservations for Frog and I for our 19th anniversary on Wednesday. A bit pricey for us, but hey- it’s our anniversary!

Action:
3.5 more miles! Yay yay yay!
Total: 24 miles in August so far.

Adventure:
24 child-free hours to revel in my spouse. Yummy dinner, depressing but well-acted movie, sleeping in, and a beautiful beach day.

Action:
4 miles more!

Total so far for August: 20.5 miles! Woohoo!

Adventure:
The funniest misadventure of the summer: A came to visit, and really wanted to go to the beach. The forecast promised isolated thunderstorms, but we were determined. The forecast said it would start storming in a few hours, so I thought we’d get some good, uncrowded beach time before the weather was too bad. It was uncrowded, alright. We settled down in a beautiful spot, saying, “See? It’s not so bad. The sun is even peeking out!” and enjoyed ourselves for a lovely 10 minutes. Then the wind quickly turned, the sky darkened, and before we could process what was going to happen, we were blasted with pouring rain. We ran to the car, soaking wet, laughing on the edge of hysteria.