March 1, 2004
Rowing Goddess
Today while sitting down by the river with a friend I watched a lone kayaker. Once again I found myself longing to be out there. The walking bridge has been my 30 minute escape amidst current stress these past few weeks. I watch the water below and wish that I was under the bridge rather than on it. There is nothing like the stress release that rowing gives me. I'm not sure when the boathouse opens again for members but it looks like I will miss it. I am just itching to get out on the water - especially on a day like this. I didn't know what form of boating I wanted to be involved in but I found my niche this past year. I joined the Lookout Rowing Club after my husband went overseas - just one more thing to keep me busy. I had always admired the sport but never had the opportunity to pursue it. Mornings exercising on the riverwalk with my friends I would see people out in two-man crews or sculling in a single. I signed up for a class without a clue of how hard it would be. The first day they wanted to weed out the quitters and briefed us rather graphically on the hazards and what it would require of us. I had too much pride to give up but I thought, Bloody hell this is going to kill me! That first week I was just proud of myself for keeping up but I felt like I would never get it. My form was perfect on the rowing machines but when I tried to add in all of the other stuff I wanted to give up. The greatest difficulty I found was that you had to concentrate on so many things at once. Your body had to be doing one thing while your arms and wrists did another all in a certain sequence. Then you add in things like you row backwards so you have to watch out for little things like barges. When we finally got out on the water I realized how easy it was to tip the boat. Very unstable - you can lift one oar and go over. Normally someone tips but the entire class managed to stay dry. I'm a good swimmer but the instability of the boat and the current terrified me. The first day off the tether the waves from large boats nearly ripped me from the dock where I was waiting for my turn. On my first attempt to get off the dock the current immediately pulled me into the dock and one oar got trapped underneath. That should have tipped me but I was lucky. Once out there I tried to relax because being rigid can send you into the water also. Strangely enough rowing turned out to be one of the best stress relievers I have ever found. My mind is always going a million miles a minute and when I am stressed I don't think about that one thing - no, everything rushes in to overwhelm me. With rowing I didn't have a choice - there was so much to concentrate on that rowing was the only thing on my mind. When I came in with my boat I felt rejuvenated physically but even more mentally and emotionally. Levin speaks of a feeling akin to this in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. He is working hard alongside the peasants and loses all sense of time and worries for nothing but the work in front of him. If he didn't it would break a perfect rythem and he wouldn't be able to keep up.
My two best rowing experiences were the time it started raining while I was way out in the middle of the river - the sight of it falling all around me was breathtaking and the second was the time I rowed under the bridges with a friend - our laughter echoing underneath and rowing alongside the beautiful cliffs going up to the Hunter. My worst time out on the river was the time I went out alone. No one was at the boathouse either and that was unwise on my part. I accidentally fastened my oars on backwards and then pushed myself off from the dock. Immediately I realized what I had done but it was too late. The current was strong and rapidly carrying me down the river and I had nothing to scoop the water with. I prayed my way back to the dock and rowed with the little bit of oar I had. It took awhile but I got there and then I made myself go out again once I fixed my mistake. I was also in one regatta that, while still competitive it was more laid back - a poker regatta. I plan to join up again once we move back to Chattanooga - hopefully with my husband or a friend. If anyone knows of a place in Colorado Springs give me a holler. So far I've only had luck with Denver. Ah, here comes the rain that would keep me off the water anyway.
