Exhaustion on a Calm River

A bunch of us were in North Conway, New Hampshire this past summer, kayaking our way down (what felt like up) a slow river. It was my first time, and quite frankly, it had been quite awhile since I had given my arms any sort of workout. This particular river was shallow towards the edges and steeper towards the middle, but that wasn't always the case. If you drifted even a little towards the shore at some parts, you were stranded on a mound of sand that you had to push yourself out of with a paddle (either that or get out of the kayak and walk it somewhere else). It was only our third mile into our adventure when my arms started to hurt, and by the fifth mile I started to feel some numbness. I had developed a great stride and was picking up speed, but compared to everyone else, it was really nothing. I began pleading with a higher power (and with myself) to muster up the strength to complete this seven mile long ride, but the inches looked like feet, and the feet started to look like miles. For the last quarter mile, I pretty much just let myself coast because I had nothing left. My triceps were on fire, and my shoulders felt like I had been doing raises for a week straight. I was so happy to be using just my legs when I got out of the kayak. Too bad I had to carry the boat up two sets of wooden stairs after that.