It Goes A Little Something Like This

So of course Monday means rowing class day. And today, since I did capsizing training last week, I got to really row in a single for the first time.

Holy crap. I don't EVER want to row in a team boat again. Rowing in a single is way too awesome. It took me a couple minutes to get my balance on the thin boat and get a feel for the oars, but then I took off and rowed down the river. I soon realized, with a small amount of prideful satisfaction, that I had a knack for this. I've never considered myself very "athletic." But back in high school, when I ran cross country and my stepdad came to watch one of my meets, he said, "You know, people have told you that you aren't athletic, and sports have never been your main thing. But I don't care what anyone says - I saw you run today and you are an athlete." I'd shrugged it off then, but now a few years down the road in a rowboat on a lazy river, pulling the oars to my chest, I realized he had been right. It's always a good feeling to realize that you are something you thought you couldn't be.

For a blissfull 40 minutes it was just me, the boat, the river, and the sun. No coxswain shouting orders, no drills, no people messing up my technique. Just me, gliding inches above the water's surface. I had all the time to concentrate and focus in the world, and it was amazing. My craft, the Neckarfröschle (Neckar froggie), cut through the water like a knife through hot butter, splitting the Neckar at the bow, and my wake spread out in an arc behind me. The sun beat down and warmed my arms and face, and the only sound was the eeeeeek of the seat when I rolled forward and the psssssshhhh, pssssshhhh of the oars as I let them skim the surface of the water to help with balance, preparing to take my next stroke.

Eventually I got confident enough to really put some power into it, pushing with my legs against the river and getting enough speed so that I could actually lift the oars from the water on my backstroke without risking capsizing. You'd never think it, but rowing is primarily done with your legs, not your arms. You push against the boat and thereby pull yourself against the oars. It's hard to get that down, especially in a single, but when you do, it feels amazing. You feel strong, powerful. The river is so smooth you might as well be flying. The rhythm is soothing. Screw rowing in teams - give me a single and a lazy river that stretches for miles.

I didn't want to stop when our time was up. I could have rowed up and down that river all night. I'd still be out there if I had anything to say about it. Someday, if I have the money, I want to buy a single and move near a river. Then, on warm summer afternoons, I'll take my boat on the river and row for hours.

On a totally unrelated note: lately I have gotten into the habit of taking notes in pencil instead of pen, and I'm loving it. It's even better for books, because instead of using a highlighter or underlining with pen - both of which permanently scar the book - you can write all over the pages in pencil and it doesn't make you wince. At least, it makes ME wince to mark up a brand-new book with highlighter, but that's just me.