Oh, the bed, it awaits

Coherence, it is low. Should be a fun post.

What was I saying?

More windy rowing today. Oh, yay. But, but, not as bad as last week. Sadly, not so much due to skill increase but simply that wind and water weren't as bad. Tho Mass Ave still sucked. Think I have a new nemesis in that bridge. There's the always-crazy patch of water right before it, even if the conditions are fine, it's a like a mini Bermuda right there, I swear. Amelia's gonna pop up any day. But there's also inevitably wind whipping around under the bridge, swirling the water all up. Grrrr.

Oh -- crazy thing, launching in the wind, the water was no fun around the boathouse, but we headed down through the BU bridge "just to peek" (as in, see how crappy it was) in the basin, and -- crazy, the water totally flattened. I mean, for a bit. But it was amazing for that bit. Then its terrible face emerged at Mass Ave.

But what I realized was, it's not so very much the wind that I hate, altho I'm just fine with no wind, it's choppy water, specifically, the sneaky little wavelets that rear up, grab your blade (and it's always just one of them), and hold on, so in an adrenaline-rush-to-toes you know you're gonna flip. This is what always makes me stop and swear. Sometimes pant. Or whatever survival calls for.

So, it's good to know precisely what you hate, I maintain.

The good part about launching in scary-for-me conditions was I decided I was akin to a superhero just for the launch, and I didn't really have to do anything else -- wouldn't worry about ratings or pressure or hell, even the day's drills, could just bob around in the waves and feel triumphant. And stay upright. I'm really getting how much I need to practice in wind and crap water, so am grateful for anything I come up with to ease the way. And triply grateful when the conditions ease a bit.

Plus, it kinda makes everything else in life seem easy. Or easier. How bad can finding paying clients be, really, I survived crap basin water today. How bad can the layers of bureaucracy be we sometimes have to wade through, I didn't flip today.... Things like that.

I also feel like for near the first time in all my time rowing -- 10 years this summer! -- I'm starting to get inklings (inklings) of competitive feelings in a 1x (hey, I spent lotsa time in big sweep boats). My main concern in a 1x has always been simply to stay upright and to figure all the 5 million little pieces out. But I've spent so much time slogging through all that, it's like it's starting to flow a little. We shall see, I always pretty much figured I'd want to race in a 1x someday, just didn't know when the day would come. Still don't, but it's getting closer.

I'm pretty sure I had other thoughts, but I'm also pretty sure my brain just flipped out the lights and crawled into bed. So I'm like a headless chicken here, typing away. Impressive, right?