I'm on a boat

So I'm rowing again after a long break.  I joined up with Green Lake Crew, which is actually run through the Seattle parks district.  I went out for a ride along with the coach a few weeks back and ended up rowing.  It was so great to be back in a boat.  Then I had to do a float test before I could buy any rowing sessions and that took me a little while.  Then this past weekend I rowed on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday we put out two 8s.  The wind was pretty bad though and we were getting waves that kept splashing the riggers and consequently us.  So after about an hour we headed in and did a work out on the ergs.  For the erg session, we did a 10,000 meter relay in teams of three or four.  I partnered up with Sandra and Brianne.  We rotated every 1000m which allowed us to go at a pretty good clip.  I was pulling close to 2:00 split most of the time and below that when I really pushed it.  (As a consequence of trying to hard, I've been recovering from tight back and shoulder muscles all week.)  It felt good to exert myself though.  I erged on Monday and Wednesday of last week at the UW athletic center before finding out that I'm not allowed to use the facility.  I was pretty bummed, because I had gotten excited about having access to an erg and all the great weight lifting equipment.  But hey, I got to erg twice.  That was fun.  I wish I had consistent access to an erg.  If I had an extra $800, I would totally throw down for one.  Some day.

On Sunday I got to scull.  There were 12 people so we put out an 8 and a quad, and I got to sit bow in the quad.  It was a bit of a juggling act trying to steer and remember my sculling technique.  By the end it felt good though.  I hope I get to do more sculling.  The group I'm rowing with is the recreational group.  It meets on Saturday and Sunday at 9am, which is awesome.  I can definitely handle rowing at 9 in the morning.  During the summer there is weekday evening rowing too, so I think I'll do that too.  For the weekend rowing I purchased a pay-as-you-go card because I don't know how consistently I'll go yet.  For the weeknight rowing I might buy the package of 10 rows because there's not really any reason I would miss a weeknight.  I don't want to lock up my weekends for the beginning of the summer though.  Here's to more mornings on the water.

Oh, and bonus: on Sunday I saw a bald eagle on a tree next to the lake.  Sweet.