When the wrong thing is the right thing

On Sunday at 5am I embarked to complete what I anticipate will be the second leg of my around Long Island paddle. I started in Shinnicock Bay and paddled to Smith Point Park. The trip is about 25 miles. This map is my actual track as recorded with the MapMyRun app for my Droid.

I managed to get an early start and when I reached Ponquogue bridge, I was treated to a magnificent sunrise. There are actually two Ponquoque bridges, the new one and the old one. The picture is of the new bridge. Most of the old bridge was demolished in the 1980s. What is left is a fishing pier to the North and a SCUBA diving preserve to the South. 


If you are a SCUBA diver and you want to dive this preserve, be careful or you will get swept away from the bridge and be taken for quite a ride. The current running through this area at a non slack tide is deadly extreme. You should enter the 1 hour and 21 minutes after high tide for Shinnecock inlet as published in Newsday. Do not stay in the water any more than about 35 minutes. If you feel the tide start to turn, immediately take a southerly heading and stay under water because the current is stronger on the surface. You shouldn't panic because if you keep heading south you will eventually reach the eddy caused by the structure of the bridge and be able to easily swim back to the bridge itself. I have been diving here before and it is a great dive!! 


As for my paddle, at first the water was calm, then the wind picked up and of course, it was dead against me. After about five hours of continual paddling, my right shoulder started to hurt. Usually, I would just ignore a minor annoyance such as this but this pain seemed different. It felt like it was coming from my rotator cuff. As you might imagine, this freaked me out a bit. I honestly have no time for a shoulder tear right now. As I paddled, I explored different stroke technique. None of them seemed to help. Then, finally, I decided to paddle with my hands. I strapped the paddle to the kayak, leaned forward and did sort-of an Australian crawl. It helped! I was able to keep my shoulders low and thus engaging different muscles. I would have just stopped paddling and rested but every time I stopped paddling, the wind would push me back. I had to keep moving or lose ground. I paddled like this for about a mile. Then I tried using my paddle again but instead of a "proper" stroke, I used mainly my arms. This also helped to rest my shoulder. Slowly, I raised my stroke and was able to paddle normally without shoulder pain. When I got finished over 6.5 hours later, I was exhausted. I burned over 3400 Calories! That is like burning a whole pound of fat in ONE exercise session! My main lesson from this experience is the importance of being body aware. When I paddle, or SCUBA or rock climb, etc. I constantly do mental body scans and try to interpret what I am feeling. This helps me to safely push through minor annoying pain, modify my activity so that I can continue or just find a way to stop and rest. 

What is YOUR most important thing?

This morning I kayaked for 4.5 hours straight. I managed to cover over 19 miles and burn 2808 Calories. Why did I do it? I did it to train for the around Long Island Paddle (duh). It is my plan to do the whole 260 miles in 10 days or less so I need to do at least 26 miles (or more) a day. 19 miles in a day is my upper limit right now. That is roughly the distance from Montauk to Block Island, a route that I have taken many times before as part of Paddle for Humanity ( www.p4h.org )

I kinda like the idea of pushing this particular region of my comfort zone. Today's paddle was hard. The wind and the current were against me much of the time. One thing I observed was when I focused on the miles (I wanted to do 20) I would get discouraged because all these external forces were working against me. When I felt discouraged, my performance suffered. 

Then I realized that if I shifted my focus, I could change everything about the experience. It turns out, when your tired and sore, your attitude can be a source of reserve power. 

What if I focused on the incredible value of the training? After all, the training is more important than today's mileage, right? I once had a mentor that said success comes from knowing the most important thing.

This is not a picture of me.
Although I have been in similar waters.

As I focused on all these forces that were beyond my control, I was limiting what I would actually accomplish today. The most important thing was the training! The mileage was secondary. Besides, the wind, the current, the sun and a ton of boats tossing 3 foot wakes my way will all be here when I do the actual paddle. I needed to train for this. I needed to see the value of the here and now. When I shifted my focus, my attitude changed and it was actually easier to paddle through. This was an AWESOME training day.  

To carry this lesson through to life. I wonder how many other areas of my life would benefit from a shift in focus? There are a lot of times when I am "tired and sore" as I navigate the sometimes rough waters of my life. I often need the reserve power of a renewed perspective. 

I suppose the best way to get this perspective is to stop and ask, "what is the most important thing here?" "What do I REALLY want to accomplish?" 

In my work, I get people to focus on asking themselves the right questions at the right time. The more uncomfortable the question, the better it is for you. 

What questions make you uncomfortable?

When I help people lose weight, I continually ask them to evaluate their focus. Is the number on the scale the most important thing? If you answer yes then you might quit if the scale rebels against you. Also, people who focus on the scale tend to gain the weight back after they lose it. Why? Generally, they regain because they lose focus. They figure they have arrived so there is no reason to worry about it anymore. 

What I have found is that lasting weight loss comes when people focus on the life they gain. They get jazzed about being healthy, climbing mountains or playing with grand kids. The most important thing for them is life, not weight loss. Living a remarkable life is an constantly renewable source of positive motivation. 

Sunrise training in New Jersey

Took an impromptu hop to the Jersey shore last night with my Jeep, my tent and my kayak.