First row of the season

Today was the first day back on the water! I'm glad I signed up for the whole season, it was a lot of fun. The group right now is pretty small, it seems that there are 19 of us, including two coxes.  Which is an eight, a four and some doubles - I guess they don't bring out the singles until the water warms up in case they tip over. 

Anyhow, we started in a big circle with introductions - your name and how long you have rowed. Everyone was like "6 years" "10 years" "2 years" and then I was like "3 months." And then the head coach moved me from the four to the eight. I was so sad because I had memorized everyone's names in my boat, but I didn't know the folks in the new boat. 

I had forgotten a lot over the winter, but fortunately the most essential parts came back to me. I didn't completely suck, or catch crabs or throw everyone else off. And throughout the class I got more into the rhythm of it, and was better able to keep time with the other rowers. The cox even complemented me on that :)

We started with some drills on placement, which I really needed to remember the different positions and how to move my body in legs-body-arms-arms-body-legs order. Then we went back and forth with four people at a time rowing and two steadying the boat, which was a really nice way to get back into things. I assume we didn't have everyone rowing at once because we were two rowers short - it worked for me, though. According to my watch we went 8.68 km with an average pace of 4'34" and my heartrate was in mostly zone 1, but got up to zone 2. 

It was really nice on the water. We got to watch the sun set and the stars come out. When we finished and were taking the boat out of the water I got wacked in the leg and now I have a shinjury - it's a little bloody and I bet there will be a bruise there tomorrow. Also, I bet I'm going to be sore tomorrow. 

Over the weekend there was a rally in the city that I went to with a friend. It was really nice seeing so many people out in support of democracy. I love the signs and the energy. Both our senators talked, as well as the governor and AG, and then a bunch of regular folks. And then the dropkick murphy's played, which was pretty awesome. The star of the band wound up being the ASL interpreter; he was so into it. At one point ken casey was like "this is our new seventh band member." I feel like there will be more protests and I'm going to try to go to them - I'm not sure if they really do anything, but it's better than staying at home acting like everything is OK.

Putting in the dock

I decided to register for the full season of crew this year. I will have to miss some days for work, but when I did the math I decided that the cost was still reasonable enough for what I would be getting, and it was such a good workout + being on the water that I want to do it. Today we put the docks and launches into the water. It was hard. Definitely a strength training workout!

There are 32 sections of dock, some heavier than others. Fortunately there were a lot of people there to help with the work, because it was a lot to move. One thing that I really like about the group is that everyone is equal - everyone was expected and accepted to lift and move things. A couple times I was in a spot where I was like "this is too heavy, I can't lift it" and guy would switch spots with me, but there was never a time when the guys were like "old ladies can't lift." For a while I held a rope that was attached to the dock in the water to make sure it didn't float away - that was cold because the rope was wet, and I thought about post 200 in VT - my hands did not reach that level of cold, thankfully. The most fun job I wound up with was moving the launches in the water around the dock with a couple other people. We got a good system going by the end. We start rowing on the 30th; I'm going to be sore tomorrow but hopefully will be better by the first day of rowing :)

The ask to help said that it would be from 8 am to 11 or 12, but by the time we finished it was 1:00. I was supposed to meet folks at the lake at 2, so I went home and had something to eat. I didn't shower because I was just getting into a lake. We went to the beach today because the ice is totally gone! That happened fast. It was nice to be in a little more nature-y setting, and the many bald eagles were still there to entertain us. There were at least 4, but maybe more. One juvenile flew over us with a giant fish in its claws. We sat around in the sun and enjoyed the birds and company for over an hour before we got it. 

The water is up to 41, which is still cold but obviously getting warmer. It's the warmest temp for and ice mile - I couldn't imagine swimming that. I wore my swim suit, booties with wool socks under them, mittens and a wool hat. It was cold getting in, but after a couple minutes it was a really nice dip - hopefully it will keep me from feeling as sore tomorrow. After my swim I wore my dryrobe, heated mittens, hat and uggs, but I didn't bring hot water and I didn't wear my heated vest. I did take a nice long hot shower and then sit on my couch with my hot pad.

Tomorrow I'm planning on hitting the garden for some clean-up, raspberry cane trimming, and spring set up. Super exciting! 

Eagle bonanza

It turns out that I was exhausted after my swim festival because I was sick - I had some chest cold that left me feeling exhausted for about a week and a half. It took two whole weeks before I could go swimming again, or really do any exercise. I'm better now, though, fortunately.

Last week we had a day where it got up to 76 with sun! It was so nice out that at lunch I had to go to the lake for a swim even though no one else could join me. The dock was covered in Tufts students enjoying the sun. I sat on a bench for a little bit and enjoyed it too. After a while it was time to get in. Even though it was warm out the ice shelf was still there, so my goal was to swim out to it, of course. I got in and headed out slowly, got to the shelf and tested it out. It was still a couple inches thick and when I put my weight on it it felt solid. There was some slush on top which actually made it easier to climb out, and as I was thinking about that I heard a general buzzing from the dock. I climbed out and stood up and all the students applauded me - it was pretty awesome, to be honest. Since it was so nice out I stayed in for over 10 minutes. When I got out my watch said the water was 37, which is still pretty cold. After I sat on a rock in the sun in my dry robe both feeling warm on the surface and also shivering. It was so weird.

Yesterday I met a friend at the lake in the afternoon. There were a ton of bird watchers and people with telephoto lenses, which had to mean eagles! Soon we saw three giant birds flying overhead. I wasn't sure if they were eagles - the body type looked right, but I didn't see the white heads. Later there were 5 of them, and one had the white feathers - I think the others must have been juveniles. It was pretty windy out, and they were catching drafts, hanging out, and just doing bird stuff. We swam for about 10 minutes - I went to the ice shelf but it was a little cracky and so I didn't get out on it. The water was up to 39. On the drive home I saw three more sitting on the ice, just hanging out and chilling. 

This morning I went and hung out with my friend in Gloucester at the quarry. We were a little worried that it would be frozen over and not swimable, but when we got there the was just enough cracking in the ice at the shore that we could get in. It was fun walking around on top of the ice, popping in and out of the water, and moving the ice around on the surface. The water was 39 there, so getting warmer, but still cold enough to get a nice shiver on the drive to get pancakes. I love that it's quarry season again!