Well I lied and I broke my Lenten promise, but I got to save the day!
I lied because this is going to be another entry about rowing. First off, yesterday Hannah came by with our gilets, which is totally awesome, with my name on it and everything. So now we can all look the same in the boat. We’re so excited. And she said she had decided not to have me row because of my cough, and she hoped that was okay. I don’t know if she just said that to make me feel better or if it was the real reason, but I said it was probably for the best anyway. I started feeling sick yesterday morning, runny nose, scratchy throat, and I’m starting to stress about my last two essays. Reading for them is taking way longer than I anticipated. I spent all day yesterday on one reading. So then later, she came by because there was this marshal meeting for rowing, and three people from Regent’s had to go to find out what the marshals do and everything (make sure the river is clear and no boats are going to run into each other or a swan or duck, etc.). So none of the girls had volunteered, and two guys had, and they needed one more. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to, but I didn’t really have an excuse not to, other than reading, so I said if she couldn’t find anybody else, I would do it. So I’m pretty sure no one else got asked, but that’s okay. So at 7:30, I went and now I might have to do marshalling.
So today I wore my gilet, and I was getting excited about getting to watch the girls and cheer them on and take pictures. And it was fish and chips for lunch. I went to the library and worked all morning, and then came back to Regent’s for lunch and Johnny and Ali both asked me why I wasn’t rowing. But I sat where I could get served first so I could get down to the river in time to see the girls. So I was eating quickly when Ali came and asked Johnny if he had seen Jennifer. He said no. I said she had a tutorial today, so maybe it ran over (it turns out she was at her tutorial). But she wasn’t down at the river, and they couldn’t row with 7 girls. So Ali was on the phone with Hannah and said maybe I could do it. I said I wouldn’t be very good, but I could. Sarah (not South African Sarah, but the one who let me borrow her dress my first time here) and Ali both said I could take their bikes, but I said I was afraid of the consequences. I really need to learn how to ride a bike over this next break.
So I didn’t finish my fish, ran and changed out of jeans, forgot my camera (so I have no pictures, sad), and ran practically the whole way down to the river. And was in some serious pain and feeling like I wouldn’t be able to move my legs, much less make them do work, by the time I got there. I was too late for us to make it for our original division, but we could row in the next one right before the boys. So I rowed at 4, the one place I’ve never rowed before in the boat, and by the end of it, I could barely breathe, I was wet from splashing, and I was freezing, but I had left in such a rush, I hadn’t brought any extra clothes. Nicola let me borrow her hoodie. We rowed quite well, good balance, kept the rate up, but our pressure wasn’t that great, so we could have done better. Or they could have, I don’t know if I could have worked any harder. I haven’t been on the river in a really long time.
So it all worked out okay. Some people had brought some food down, and I was hungry since I hadn’t gotten my whole lunch, so I had a chocolate thing and another sweet thing called a flapjack (not a pancake). So I snacked, and later, I came back to my room and ate Ramen noodles and a cheese biscuit thing because I was still hungry. I’m telling myself it was acceptable, eating three times within 2 hours, since I didn’t really have a meal. Before leaving the river, we watched the boys, and they did really well. Then, Jennifer was coming down to the boathouses when we were leaving. She apparently didn’t get the last e-mail about a time change and had rescheduled her tutorial to work with the first time. I felt bad for her. But I’m glad we got to row. It would have been really bad if the girls had missed the qualifying round. But now it’s all good, and I got to save the day, which was fun. So now I’m completely exhausted, but I have to try to do a little work before I go to Sarah’s. Thought I would write in here first, though.