Moving the goalposts again

My foot injury continues to play havoc with my training and this season is now officially a write-off. It's settled down in that I can walk comfortably but if I have to stand on it for any length of time it soon starts to nag away. I have been doing 3 commutes per week on the Van Nic with one of  them being my 22 mile route home via Boxhill to get me out on a 'proper' ride. I have to be careful though. I have found out that trying to push any form of larger gear gets my foot grumbling again. Gentle spinning is allowed but anything racey is a no-no. I'm still using RICE on it, but I honestly don't think it's doing any good at all, but at least it makes me feel like I'm doing something. I can feel my fitness ebbing away and when this foot problem is resolved it's going to be a long climb back. There's another GP's appointment in the pipeline and then hopefully some treatment.

In the meantime I've been getting to grips with the Ranger. We've kind of reached a stalemate. I'm not good enough to paddle it properly and it's not tippy enough to throw me in the water, although I've had quite a few close calls. Tonight I will be out for my 3rd paddle this week in it. On Wednesday I even went out onto the open river and before I knew it I was in the middle of the Thames. It was a stunning sunset over Teddington and I just wish I had had the stability to take a picture on my camera phone but as it was deep in my BA pocket I thought better about getting it out.

So, I've done an hour's paddling and stayed upright. Now I have got to figure out how to start paddling with greater fluency. I think it's something to do with my recovery; maybe leaving the paddle in slightly too long? I need a goal and it now seems obvious. I'm going to aim to be able to paddle to Hampton Court and back in the Ranger before the end of the summer holidays. At the moment I stand more chance of unicycling to the Sahara, but like I've said before, no one said it would be easy. The bit that worries me is around Kingston Bridge as it's not easy to get out there if you take a swim, so I'll plug up and down between the bridge and Teddington lock for a few weeks and then a bit like Buzz lightyear,  I'll head to Thames Ditton and beyond.