Okay I know I already did a long entry on rowing, but it’s the most interesting part of my life at the moment
At rowing today, we learned to feather, which basically means when we bring our oar, or blade as they call it, out of the water, we flip it with our wrist up to make sure it doesn’t catch anymore water and slow us down, and then right before we put it back into the water, we flip it so that it’s straight going into the water so it pushes us forward more. Fun stuff. And it is what gives you blisters. We did a lot of rowing in our tank session today, which is where we are inside and can see ourselves in the mirror rather than on an actual boat, in a tank of water, I guess. So we were all really tired from rowing so much with the water not really going anywhere and no current to help either, and our hands all hurt from the blisters on our fingers and hands. Hannah, our captain, said this was the week that both the girls and guys realized how painful rowing actually is. So I have three blisters and three places that might become blisters. Can’t wait for practice Monday. I might actually go to the erg machine tomorrow to see what my rate is so I know how quickly or slowly to move up the slide because I really have no idea and since I’m supposed to set the pace, I think I maybe should find out. I think my form is fairly good, although Matt, the guys’ captain who was at the tank session too, gave us a few pointers that will help. So I still like it. I’m just not going to enjoy the pain in my hand. Really only one hand does the twisting of the blade so on the stroke side we all have blisters on our right hands and on the bow side they all have blisters on their left hands. So now my left hand has no nails and still one painful one and my right hand has a bunch of blisters. My hands just are not looking too pretty these days and I’m guessing when the blisters heal, if they ever do, the skin won’t be too soft anymore. Or at least, I actually should be hoping it won’t be too soft because calluses will help so I don’t get blisters next term. Taking a break from reading and now I must get back to it. I’m just not that fast of a reader and it takes me a while to get through all these books, if I ever actually do get through enough to formulate an essay.