So last night was the first time I've gotten more than 5 consecutive hours of sleep in a night. 8 hours in fact, and even despite the fact that yesterday was a pasta dinner!
Its been a pretty busy week, among all the lab reports, homework assignments, getting exams back, I haven't done much studying, but yet I'm so incredibly tired. Yesterday was the worse because I only got 2 hours on Thursday night, and yet I still went to class, went to the grocery store, prepped for the pasta dinner (chopped onions, roasted vegetables and garlic), went back to class, prepped some more, walked to Keswick, played bingo and carted old people around for 2 hours, walked back, finished cooking (an overcooked meat sauce and an over-sweetened roasted vegetable tomato sauce), and attempted some semblance of socialization amidst the crazy spaghetti cooking scheme I was attempting.. to come home and crash before 10.
It was worth it. I feel much more rested, my body at least. My head, still hurts a bit. But no matter. Today's the Casperson Cup, hosted right here in Baltimore. I'll be coxing the varsity 4. From stroke, its Greg, Chris, Wesley, and Josiah, in the Evans. I always have my qualms about being in a 4 where the next race is only an hour away.. but I guess it works itself out. We'll get some pretty awesome footage from the bridge (hopefully).
So Coach has been critiquing our coxing techniques. I find it immensely helpful, just difficult to implement. When I first learned to cox, I was always told to do everything, absolutely everything, in the 2 part call with calling 1, 2, etc. I guess this change has something to do with the two part, using "ready, now!" instead of 1, and 2, and not calling the "in 2". Perhaps it is still useful for drills and land events, but I can see the logic in a race, or during sprint pieces. Thinking about having to do something, without doing it, over a period of 4 strokes is often conducive to preparing oneself, in the bad sense of storing energy, opening and breathing more, which in turn can lead to lost boat speed. And counting everything out, which I am often likely to do, makes moves very obvious. Not to mention, Joel dislikes our secret pieces and finds "2 seat your rigger's broken" distracting. Oh well.
More on that later.
Anyway, any opinions? I'll update post-race to tell how we did too. We have boats in every event, hopefully we can take the Cup again this year.
Ok, time to make my index card.
---break---
No cup. But a few medals. Got first in WV4, MV2-, MV4, and MV8. Yeah, we swept the men's varsity events, with some awfully pretty DVD-potential footage to boot. And also my first coxswain "tossing". Well.. rather, my first coxswain "getting dumped with a lot of water" due to the health risks of the Baltimore Harbor. Hah.
It was exciting, yes. A little sad. But good. But I'm not feeling fantastic. Perhaps the drowsiness of the Tylenol Cold I'm taking is finally setting in. Perhaps I'm just fighting this inevitable, chemically-induced sleep that I need so badly.
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AHHHHH..congrats. Mazel tov. I'm so proud of you. As for the coxing thing, yeah, they don't count like we do in England and it took a while for me to adjust. You should talk to the rowers more than Joel about what they are thinking, are they listening. I have had rowers that liked background noise (Caroline) because it was like the CD player on the erg and they wanted me talking for all 8 minutes. Others prefer that every word, like every part of the stroke, contribute to moving the boat forward and be more intentional. I like to count in general (which might be why you do it) but the most important thing is what moves the boat forward. I recommend trying different counting methods on say, two 25 minute pieces - and be strict with yourself. Then see which felt better for the rowers. You can always practice coxing in front of a mirror. HUGS TO ALL THE BOYS FOR DOING SO WELL.
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