Exercise can be fun

I enjoy the outdoors more than most.  It's part of why I like the Tough Mudder event.  It's not just a marathon or even simply an obstacle course.  It's a physical and mental challenge that takes place in the great outdoors.  I've thrown in a few hikes into my exercise routine and this weekend, I just felt like doing something different.  So I took my kayak out for a spin on Lake Habeeb.

Kayaking works the biceps, shoulders, and back muscles.  Not to mention, it can be downright therapeutic too.  The trail that goes around the lake is 5 miles long, so I'd say I kayaked about 3 miles total in about 1.5 hours.  Not exactly a record pace, but I wasn't going for speed.  To be honest, I wasn't treating it much like a workout either, but I got out and did something active.  I probably got more of a workout when I purposefully rolled the kayak over and tried to roll it back up.  More specifically, I got more of a workout trying to get back into my kayak when I couldn't roll it back up.  

From a guy on www.youtube.com, here's what I was hoping to do:

Here's what I actually had to do- sans the nifty paddle float and bilge pump: 

But since I was only about a hundred yards from the shore, and not in a life-and-death situation, it was good practice.  I like to try rolling whenever I get a chance to.  Especially when the water is warm and calm.  I figure if nothing else, it gives me the opportunity to perform a wet exit and a self rescue.  I was a little rusty and fell off the boat once before I was able to successfully get back in.  But I got back in, paddled back to shore and dumped the 15 or so gallons of lake water that my kayak had taken in during the wet exit.  

All in all, a pretty good "workout".  Here's another shot of Lake Habeeb: