Yesterday morning as we were about to launch off the beach. I told She-Hulk how
annoying I find it that the other rowers out our way never seem to take me
seriously. Yeah, I've cut back a bit (until the last couple of weeks) but still,
there I am out there at every race. And she answered, "Yeah, it's great the way
you support your team."
*bangs head against wall*
As
Rudder pointed out to me when we discussed it, I should have said, "See?? That
just proves my point. Even you don't take me seriously." Racing. I am racing. I
am at those regattas because I am racing in them. I might be off looking stupid in
last place, but I'm racing. Unlike all but a very small minority of rowers here
I'm not waiting for a coach to tell me what to do and when to race or coming up
with lame excuses. (Two recent memorable ones were "Well, we can't get there in
time to do a practice race," on a 1000m absolutely straight course, and "I don't
want to go all that way for only one race." This was from a woman who would be in
my same category and I'm even on more than one race. And I could be in four events
if I wanted, even without looking for someone to row a double with
me.)
I'm very conscious that I'm not all that fast, so I don't talk
big about how I want to kick butt, or about how I don't want to even speak to
anyone who's not serious, or about how hard I'm going to train. I know my body and
I know my workload and I know my stress level, and yeah, when any of those is
about to be overwhelmed or overwhelming I do take things a bit easier. I have a
responsible and frantic job and with my commute, no workday is ever less than 10
hours long. But dammit, I am out there on the water two to four times a week and I
almost never exercise less than three times a week total. And anyone who doesn't
think I am a serious rower can f@#$*&g kiss my oars.