This is going to be one of those "I am really fucking pissed off" blogs. I'm telling you this now so that you can prepare yourself for the inevitable onslaught of four letter words, and so you are not decieved by the cheerful beginning. This blog has a very dark ending, very dark indeed.
This morning I had a 30K row with my team. It went very well. I was suprisingly pleased. After the first 10K the balance was remarkably good for a scratch 8, it was strong and light in the water, the slide was controlled, the ratio steady, and the pressue stayed reasonably high. When it slacked off periodically the cox would remind us to hang off our oars and throw our hands out quickly, and the pressue came back. And the cox is improving, too. She only crashed into one tree today, which is a marked improvement over previous outings. Even the weather was good. It was fair and calm, and were were serenaded by a very horny little robin for a time. It was exceedingly pleasant. And the cherry on top was that we were short one woman, so one of the blokes filled in so we could take an 8 out, and he was sat at 4 seat in front of me (for some bizarre reason coach saw fit to put me in 3 today, which is wierd, because in 8 years of rowing I've never sat anywhere but 5, but there it is). So I had the best view in the boat. Rather than spending the morning looking at a pink babydoll t-shirt and a stringy ponytail, I got a view of tanned skin pulled tight over the broad shoulders of a rippling undergraduate. That colt needs breaking. Mmm. There were even a few strokes of "Oh, Oh! God! This is what it's supposed to feel like! God, I havn't felt this in so long! Drive, drive!" Yeah, it was a good outing. Which is why what happened next is so TOTALLY FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE.
Our captain told us that we had a weights circut from 3-4 this afternoon. The girls whined. They moaned on about how tired they were. They said they needed naps. They said they needed time to study. And they were all so tired, cause they'd only gotten a few hours sleep cause they closed down the late-license last night cause there was this really cute curly-haired bartender and if you'd seen him you'd understand. Captain said that the only way to get your body used to the intensive training is to train intensively. She said you can use really light weights, but do the reps and go through the circut 3 times. They reluctantly agreed.
Can you guess what happened when I arrived at the weight room at 3 o'clock? That's right!
I was THE ONLY WOMAN THERE. I waited for 15 mintues. No one showed up. So here's the question: WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I BUST MY BUTT TO TRAIN SO I CAN MOVE A BOAT FULL OF FUKING CHILDREN WHO CAN'T BE ARSED TO SHOW UP TO TRAINING?????? SHIT, I MIGHT AS WELL BE DRAGGING AROUND A BOAT WITH ME AND 8 COXWAINS! Fuck. So what did i do? I went into the gym and spend 30 minutes doing core stability excercises. Why? Because I'm better than they are, that's why.
1 comment:
Hmmmm! True. It depends on whether or not its in your blood and you want to win Henley or whether you're just doing it because its a fun thing to do while you're an undergrad, you get some exercise in the fresh air in a socially acceptable sport (it's cool to be able to say 'I row, actually') and you're involved in a wide social group where you might meet a future husband/wife. I suspect that your lot are the latter. Don't fret. All clubs have them. When N and I started going down to Agecroft, N routinely rowed with girls who demanded that the boat turn around and paddle home mid session because they were developing a blister. If it's any consolation, people like this are soon identified by the coaching hierachy as being the idlers and wasters that they are and left to their own devices while those with talent and commitment get on with getting better. Unless of course you have a weak coaching hierachy and a small pool of talent. In which case, you're fucked.
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