Row Conditioning

As expected I'm getting a little better at this rowing stroke, and going a little further too. I might not be too embarrasses to be seen either, but not by seasoned competitive rowers. Judging from the comments I see on YouTube videos, competitive rowers are very harsh critics. Drop a shoulder or drag an oar and they will crucify you. Maybe they'd be a little charitable to someone fighting 60.

Anyway, I get out about every other day, generally in the AM and I do the entire length of my canal, which is about a mile. Maybe this weekend I will go a bit farther.

I am feeling the punishment in my shoulders and back, but very little in my legs where I thought I'd feel it the most. Nevertheless, the mile that I do is getting easier so I can probably start rowing longer distances, or at least a little faster. It takes me about 20 minutes, maybe less to do the mile now, but that includes a few moments to breathe, drink a little water and enjoy the serenity of the morning on the water.

It would be nice if I got conditioned enough that I didn't sweat like a pig in the summer.

Uncorked

I was away in San Francisco for a very brief trip (45 hours to be precise) and noticed before I left that the weather forecast predicted a modest chance of rain while I'd be away. So I pulled the cork out of the drain on the Papa Boat so it wouldn't accumulate too much if it rained hard. Smart? It seemed that way at the time.

I did tell myself to remember to put the cork back in the next time I went out, but did I remember? Nooo.

This morning I pulled myself out of bed to fulfill my pledge to myself to do regular morning rowing. Once outside I didn't hesitate to push the boat into the water and get in. That's when I noticed the water sloshing around at my feet. A quick glance to the back of the boat spotted the source, a nice gusher of water from the drain. I quickly moved to get back to the dock but hadn't yet locked the riggers into place so that wasn't the easiest thing to do.

Once back on the dock myself, I managed to insert the cork and stop the inflow of water. At this point I contemplated abandoning the rowing and focus on getting the water out. But I decided that there really wasn't all that much water in it, so I jumped back in and rowed down to the West end of the canal and back. The water sloshing from bow to stern then back to the bow with each stroke was not effecting my efforts. It was a bit harder getting the boat onto the dock with 5-10 gallons of water in it. I pulled the cork again and let it empty out, then replugged it.

I think I'll remember that cork more easily now.

Rowing in the dark

I'm slowly making progress and trying to row as often as I can. I've now been out 4 out of 5 days since I got going, including this morning.

It's usually dark when I can go out on weekdays, but that will change slowly. This morning I left the dock around 6:15 returning all of 20 minutes later, having gone 3/4 mile. I don't generally get home in the evening before 6:30 either, so it's dark then too.

It's probably a good thing that it's dark so people can't easily see my terrible form. I will get better quickly but my speed and course are quite erratic. If I don't turn the oar at the right point it upsets the boat enough that I then dip the oar too soon on one side or the other and further upset the stroke. I think that when I focus too much on the stroke I actually do worse.

It was warm this morning, near 70 degrees, and I sweat pretty easily and don't stop sweating for a while. Morning showers are gonna have to be cold ones just to shut the pores so I can get dressed.