Solo

Prior to this year, I hadn't really had any friends who didn't already row. Now, living in a mostly freshman dorm, I've met and befriended more people in one semester than the rest of my college career. Most of them find out that I row pretty quick, when we're hanging out and I leave by ten to go to bed because it's "late." I usually get one of three reactions: 1.) aren't rowers supposed to be taller? 2.) dude, your arms must be jacked (I don't know how to respond to this. Am I supposed to strip down to show them how "jacked" I am?) and 3.) Can you teach me how to row on one of those machines? We can go work out sometime.

My replies usually come out something like this: 1.) I'm tall enough. And if you don't believe me, check out Steve Tucker's height. He finished second in the Championship Single at the Head of the Charles this year. And there's Francesco Espozito, who was even shorter. So blow me. 2.) See above in parenthesis, as well as the standard explaination that rowing is a predominantly lower-body sport and 3.) Erhrhmmm...

It's not that I don't like introducing people to the sport. I think the more people who row, the better, especially in the United States, where rowing is far outside the mainstream. And I taught a friend how to erg so I could have a training partner for some of the steady states while I'm home on break. He's a former middle-distance runner, and we've been friends since middle school, so when he asked me to show him about cross-training, I didn't hesitiate. But as for my college friends, that's another story.

When I'm at school, training is probably the least stressful part of my day. Sure, it's a pain in the ass to get up at 5:30 every morning, and fitting in the afternoon workouts in a busy schedule isn't any better, but that's more of an issue of timing, not the work itself. Once I strap in and start stroking, I let the issues that have been bothering me about classes and friends and money all go. When I'm doing any type of piece, whether it be steady state or a category II piece, my mind is predominantly on my splits and the time remaining. It's only once the handle stops moving and the flywheel slows down that I let everything else come back into my mind.

Working out is a solitary pleasure to me, most of the time, and I don't want to have that meditative period of my day broken by having to talk to a friend about the very things I'm trying to forget about while I'm rowing. I truly like many of the people I've met while at school, but I'm not at the level of friendship with them yet where I would feel comfortable working out with them. My friend from home, as well as my teammates, understand this for the most part, and when we're doing steady state, the chatter is kept to a minimum, and we never talk during hard pieces, unless it's for encouragement.

So, to my friends at school, I appreciate you showing interest in my sport, and I'd love to have you hop in a boat some day. But, no, I'm not going to show you how to erg.