we broke out the kayaks yesterday afternoon and braved the cold waters (well, i braved the cold waters; hubby has a wetsuit).  the gulf was fairly calm but hubby found an area that had some small waves for him to surf.  i wasn’t interested in getting splashed by the cold water any more than necessary so i paddled out past all wave activity.  i spent a little time piddling around and then i decided to see if i could make it all the way to the pier and back.  i kept a fairly comfortable pace getting to the pier, stopping a couple of times to rest and enjoy the view.  floating around out there is truly peaceful.  i was very proud when i reached the pier but quickly turned around because the sun was getting pretty low.  in an effort to beat the sunset, i paddled HARD all the way back, non-stop.  it really took everything i had to keep going.  my arms were eager to give up but i was losing light.  the sun set about a quarter mile from home.  so i dug in even deeper to make it before the residual light was gone.  by the time i made it back to the beach, hubby had already taken his ‘yak out and was waiting to help pull me in.  which was a very good thing because, after 2.5 miles of paddling (half of it very hard and continuous), i was DONE.  i couldn’t even pick up my ‘yak to carry it back to the elevator.  my wonderful hubby dragged both ‘yaks to the walkway, carried one to the elevator for me to accompany up and carry the fifteen feet from the elevator to our storage, and then went back and got the other one.  he’s so great!  and let me tell you, it was all i could do to muster the strength to get it out of the elevator and over to the storage closet.  i’ve got to say, i really enjoyed that paddle and i was so proud to make it to the pier.  i was even more proud at how hard i paddled all the way back — i was actually creating a wake in the water behind me.  while hubby was getting the ‘yaks put up, i headed back down to the pool.  i had planned on just getting into the hot tub to thaw out (my feet and legs were frozen after all that time in the cold water and wind) but i decided to get into the nice heated pool first.  i’m glad i did because that warm water stung against my frozen skin and i’m certain the hot tub would have just burned.  i swam twelve laps in the pool and then soaked in the hot tub for about fifteen minutes.  my toes were still cold when i got out but it sure did help.  today, i hurt.  my shoulders are tired and my hands are sore.  that’s a small price to pay though for enjoying some non-gym activity in my fabulous backyard.