My feet are still sore; my back is on the fringes

We won.

SIRA was this weekend. Our anxiety was high. This was it for us; our last big race of the season, the last major race for the seniors, my last race ever.

All we wanted was to win. We knew we could do it. We just had to keep calm during it.

I told my rowers to keep their heads in the boat. I told them to lengthen. I told them the rating was too high. I told them they were in third. Lengthen. Second. Everything you’ve got. Slow it down. 34. Lengthen. First. Hold on to that first and drive the other boats away. Last 500. Lengthen. 35. Pick it up. Keep ahead. Last 250. Push. My cox box died and I screamed through the last 20 strokes to reach and keep pushing.

I didn’t even hear the horn go off. Even though I knew we had crossed, I was so nervous when my girls abruptly stopped rowing. But we did it. We were first.

Women’s varsity four lightweight champions.

We won.

I got thrown in.

It’s so surreal to think about. We could win this weekend. It’s been such a rough season for my boat and we always just hope to medal. But everything’s finally so smooth and the speed and power are there. This is my last race before I graduate.

We could win.

I could get thrown in.

Oh and my (lightweight) boat got 3rd in a heavyweight race this weekend :)

my trainer had me erg and now my hands have blisters #coxswainproblems

SIRA!

Had a great time at SIRA this weekend! Instead of rowing, I coxed for our novice boys. It was my first time ever doing it and I was so nervous, especially as these guys have always had something go wrong during a race and I didn’t want to add to that…

It went great though! The guys really liked how I worked with them and thought I did an amazing job. Our first heat we placed second, only 2 seconds behind first. Stroke passed out immediately after from exhaustion and we were all so nervous about him! He came through just fine though, and I made sure all the boys were properly hydrated for the finals.

In our final we placed 3rd! We were behind for most of the race but brought it up in the last 500. All the boats were great sports too! We all finished within 20 seconds of each other, and once we crossed the line everyone, coxswains and rowers, were congratulating each other and all had big smiles on their faces. It made the experience that much better!

I’m so happy that the guys were finally able to have a successful race and placed well! And I’m thrilled that I was able to help and be a part of it!

:)

Almost got run over by a cruise ship today.

We ended up in front of it when the channel opened up and for a time I really didn’t think we’d be able to get out of the way. It was just us and the cruise ship as it blared it’s horns and we put everything we had into our strokes. After a few moments of pure adrenaline we heard cheers and the white of the ship took over our view on port. All the guests were on the deck watching and cheering us on, along with some other crew boats who had stopped to watch the ordeal.

It was epic.

:)

Today my boat finally beat the other boats in one of our practice races

It was fantastic! We certainly have a lot of work to do, but I feel like we are improving and it feels good to see us get better.

:)

Tomorrow is our first regattaaaa!

A little nervous but mostly excited! Not liking having to be up at 5 for it, but I guess it’s kinda like getting up for a feis…except I won’t have to do my hair and makeup…

And then our mayor is dyeing our river green for St. Paddy’s Day!

Though it would be awesome to race on a green river…

I’ve barely left my bed all day.

My body is just so sore from our weights workout yesterday. It hurts to move. It’s a good pain, but a pain none-the-less!

Good thing my homework involves just being on the computer…