When Do I Get The Lycra One-Piece?
Quote of the moment:
"Come on! Lower! Lower! Yes! Keep it down! Keep it down!" - An unusual thing for a girl to yell at you as you're pumping away, but such are the delights of the rowing club.
I missed the meeting outside the gym to walk to the boathouse, but by sheer cunning (I used my bike and cycled up the towpath by the river until I saw it) I caught up as they arrived anyway. Hurrah for me. Perhaps talking until past 4am isn't such a great idea. I forgot to mention, though, that Ruth has the single most untidy room I have ever seen. There are about 5 layers of crap on her desk, 3 on the bed, stuff hanging out of drawers and a pile of clothes that wouldn't fit anywhere at least 2ft high (and 6 long). I was impressed. It's actually more than twice as bad as mine, which was the reigning champion of all the ones I've seen here.
Anyway, I was at the boathouse til about 4, as predicted. Parts of the boat and manoevering it from boathouse to river and back were first, followed by training in the tank. We were then unleashed onto the river.
Fortunately there were only 5 novices (no group was more than 6) and we had seniors in the bow, stroke and number 7 seats (That's the front and two furthest back seat respectively). We progressed from arms only to the full stroke pretty quickly and from 4 resting and 4 rowing to all rowing by the end, complete with feathered oars.
The rain was only a mild dampener (BOOM BOOM) because when you're actually rowing you barely notice it. It's only when you're crouched on the quay in your shorts and t-shirt holding the boat in that you shiver (and your teeth chatter, if you're me).
The final thing for my group was the first 2km assesment of the year. With a given target of 6 1/2 to 8 minutes I was a touch concerned, but thanks to the 'encouragement' offered by the two female coxes present I was actually the first of 5 to finish. W00tage! I got 7:23, with the others varying from 7:33 to 8:13. The best novice got 6:50, but fell over trying to stand up afterwards.
We were weighed directly after getting off, t-shirt, shorts, trainers and all, but the scales must be faulty because I was 14st8. That would be a loss of over half a stone since leaving home. Highly suspicious, because although I have done the OTC fitness test and the rowing circuit training since I got here, I've also got Fresher's Belly syndrome. Definitely dodgy.
I made it to the Union bar in time for the exceedingly dull second half of England vs Austria (apart from Beckham being sent off), cooked my most successful mashed potato yet for supper (the potatoes are sprouting quite happily now) and spent the evening p0wning Flat 3's film quiz (43/100 when I arrived, 87 when I'd finished) and watching Wayne's World. So, the Scooby Doo ending it is:
The mask is removed...
Kids: "Why, it was Fat Will who tampered with the scales!"
Will: "I would have got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids!"
"Come on! Lower! Lower! Yes! Keep it down! Keep it down!" - An unusual thing for a girl to yell at you as you're pumping away, but such are the delights of the rowing club.
I missed the meeting outside the gym to walk to the boathouse, but by sheer cunning (I used my bike and cycled up the towpath by the river until I saw it) I caught up as they arrived anyway. Hurrah for me. Perhaps talking until past 4am isn't such a great idea. I forgot to mention, though, that Ruth has the single most untidy room I have ever seen. There are about 5 layers of crap on her desk, 3 on the bed, stuff hanging out of drawers and a pile of clothes that wouldn't fit anywhere at least 2ft high (and 6 long). I was impressed. It's actually more than twice as bad as mine, which was the reigning champion of all the ones I've seen here.
Anyway, I was at the boathouse til about 4, as predicted. Parts of the boat and manoevering it from boathouse to river and back were first, followed by training in the tank. We were then unleashed onto the river.
Fortunately there were only 5 novices (no group was more than 6) and we had seniors in the bow, stroke and number 7 seats (That's the front and two furthest back seat respectively). We progressed from arms only to the full stroke pretty quickly and from 4 resting and 4 rowing to all rowing by the end, complete with feathered oars.
The rain was only a mild dampener (BOOM BOOM) because when you're actually rowing you barely notice it. It's only when you're crouched on the quay in your shorts and t-shirt holding the boat in that you shiver (and your teeth chatter, if you're me).
The final thing for my group was the first 2km assesment of the year. With a given target of 6 1/2 to 8 minutes I was a touch concerned, but thanks to the 'encouragement' offered by the two female coxes present I was actually the first of 5 to finish. W00tage! I got 7:23, with the others varying from 7:33 to 8:13. The best novice got 6:50, but fell over trying to stand up afterwards.
We were weighed directly after getting off, t-shirt, shorts, trainers and all, but the scales must be faulty because I was 14st8. That would be a loss of over half a stone since leaving home. Highly suspicious, because although I have done the OTC fitness test and the rowing circuit training since I got here, I've also got Fresher's Belly syndrome. Definitely dodgy.
I made it to the Union bar in time for the exceedingly dull second half of England vs Austria (apart from Beckham being sent off), cooked my most successful mashed potato yet for supper (the potatoes are sprouting quite happily now) and spent the evening p0wning Flat 3's film quiz (43/100 when I arrived, 87 when I'd finished) and watching Wayne's World. So, the Scooby Doo ending it is:
The mask is removed...
Kids: "Why, it was Fat Will who tampered with the scales!"
Will: "I would have got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids!"
2 comments:
Given that I'm 5 minutes from both lectures and dining hall I doubt walking makes a real difference.
On the other hand, the number of steps I climb per day must be quite significant, given that one of my lecture halls is on the 4th floor (and the ground floor is up a flight of steps), another is on the second floor and the third is on the "first" except that the "ground" floor is two storeys up because of the workshops (labs) in the "basement". Add to that the at least 2 storey high footbridge over the railway line between my halls and all the aforementioned facilities.
Hmmm.
How handy!
P.S. My shoulders are going to be t3h sch3x soon :p
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