It's already halfway through this week so I best had write about last week…
Prince William was in town last Monday - laying a wreath at the war memorial, opening a new building and then doing a walkabout. It was poor weather for it though, really grey and kind of rainy. However, as the day wore on and the hour approached for both dragon boating and for HRH to have a barbecue with the Prime Minister (that should be a joke, but it isn’t) the weather got all sunny and pleasant!
In fact, it got quite hot. Not that such things actually meant I would stay dry - I noticed in my first session that the guy two rows in front can kick up a ton of spray, enough to reach me, although I generally settle for dowsing myself.
Mindful of having worn out my arms before we finished in the first session I decided to focus on technique and timing, rather than being knackered and having to stop while everyone else carried me. My intention was good and my technique clearly needed attention, mostly due to it being rubbish. However, after a while I think I actually got it, or at least significantly improved. I was really reaching over the side of the boat and I was feeling like I might just get the hang of it. Which made the coach's decision to get everyone to swap sides slightly gutting. Never mind, I thought, my arms are tired now, so each of them can do something a bit different, it'll be a like a second wind.
Hmmm... wrong kind of wind.
Sitting on the right hand side of the boat felt like all kinds of wrong for me, like having the buttons on the wrong side, I imagine.
In dragon boating one of the things you really have to get right is your seating position. This is actually a kneeling position with your outside hip and thigh wedged up against the gunwale of the boat and your inside knee on the bottom of the boat, with your inside foot under your seat. Sat on the left of the boat I seemed to be able to lock in fairly easily, on the right though, I just didn't seem to wedge in the same. Slipping around makes the whole exercise even more exerting too, making me so tired that my brain decided it was sick and tired of me and died. When Hayden, the coach, asked me how I was finding it I said "I prefer it on the left." To which he said something like "That's good, but what about your position in the boat." Everyone tittered and I assumed I'd said something stupid, so I rambled on some more and he just said "Ah, right." At least I realised it was a willy joke before the end of the session.
All in all I ended the paddle feeling somewhat disheartened but kind of figured I'd be back on the left the next time out... which was only two days later!
But the next session came and Dave, who was now sitting next to me, seemed happier on the left and me being new I figured I could get used to the right.
Actually the thought of making a fuss about which side I was on and then being just as pap after the move was my real motivation for saying nothing.
Behind me now was Robin, who is a dragon boating terrier, if you think of the water as rats and his paddle as teeth. He is also a supremely encouraging man who doesn't say the obvious things like "I've known children who are tougher than you" or "I wish you'd fall in the sea, at least the boat would be lighter". Instead he gave me advice on pretty much everything and even complimented my timing - which was probably because there was nothing else positive to say. He pointed out my faults, for sure, but he also told me how to fix them, which was especially useful when practicing starts. The paddling for these is very fast and very short, shorter than it's possible to imagine anyone wanting a stroke to be.
However, the best bit of advice Robin gave me was while most of the crew were paddling along, "If you stop paddling get your elbow in, because I will hit it!" Every time I flaked out I forgot this advice, but he never did whack my elbow. He's a sterling guy fo shiz.
