Thank You, Lake Merritt



Goodbye and good luck card.  Thank you, LMRC!
(There was delicious banana chocolate and walnut cake associated with the card,
but I could not wait and already ate all the cake...)

It has been over a week since my last row at Lake Merritt, and it already feels like a distant past.

In Moonwalking with Einstein, a story of remembering and the US National Memory Championships, the author describes that the more dramatic, memorable events are, the better you remember them, and thus, the slower time passes for you.  This is the opposite of the idea that "Time flies when you are having fun."  A week packed with "fun"--moving, traveling, a new job, new faces-- feels much longer than just seven days.

When you are young, life is good.  You are fresh, always improving, learning new things.  You are invincible, on-top-of-the-world.  You can handle anything and everything that life throws at you.  You are hungry--you want everything right now.  You are the epitomy of "bright-eyed and bushy tailed."  Moving?  New job?  New house?  No problem.

In a span of a day and a half, my husband and I stripped our old place bare and officially "moved in" to our new apartment, filled with boxes, bags brimming with our worldly posessessions (some of which we did not even know we had).  The next four days were spent traveling, meeting new people, learning new things for the job.  Ever felt really stupid and slow?  Ever felt like you are holding on by a nail? 

Maybe my constant memory loss, which sometimes does apply to other things besides rowing, ages me.  Maybe when people say that a new job, a new city, is a big chance, they are not kidding.  Maybe everything is easier when you know what you are doing, when you have your anchors--friends, family, rowing, swimming, goal, purpose, life--in place.  Maybe my amazing ability and huge appetite do have a limit because I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Just like the things I have learned from swimming with Marcia, here are a few things I have learned from rowing at Lake Merritt:

1. A really good coach is worth his or her weight in gold.  Coaching takes time, energy, patience.  Masters coaching is even more difficult.  Trying to get rowers of different ages, backgrounds, abilities, goals to row together, race, win is hardly an envious responsibility.
2. I am probably not the easiest athlete to coach.  I do not trust coaches easily.  Many people coach, but few actually know what they are doing.  I have my days when I disagree with the workout, line-up, people, life in general, etc. and have a few not-so-nice things lined up in my head.  As a friend pointed out to me, "Yes, you are a HUGE 'I'," I do not like to be pushed by a coach, coxswain, or anyone or anything else.  Who are you to tell me how far I can go and where my limit is?  Luckily, at Lake Merritt, I have met some really good coaches who do know what they are doing and who have helped me go farther than I had imagined.
3. Sometimes, I am just a kid with an attitude problem.  I may appear to be an adult with a real world job, a husband, and a Princess, but some days, I am really just your typical teenager, snappy and pissed off.  Forgive me.
4. I am a small boat person.  Big boats can be fun, but what I love is small boats.  There is not always strength in numbers, which is why small clubs can do BIG things. 




LMRC Women's Team...I have no idea what they are trying to do...


5. On a team, everyone brings something to the team whether it be a fast erg score, a good atttiude, humor, competition, maturity, rhythm, experience, etc. 
6. Rowing a single requires a lot of time, dedication, and patience with yourself.  Ever want to feel stupid and slow?  Remember rowing a single for the first time?
7. Erging can be less tortuous--sometimes.  Haunted by old erg tests, I hate the erg.  If the sport was erging, not rowing (like during the winter in the Midwest), I would just quit.  An former Cal Lwt Crew coach and friend would constantly tell us, "The erg is your friend.  You love the erg.  The erg will make you stronger."  Sometimes, the erg will be your only honest friend.  Think of the erg as a tool.  Work with it, not against it.  (I still hate it though.)
8. Be grateful for what you have and the people you meet along the way.  Thank you, LMRC.




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