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Just Another Day in Paradise.
Seattle, WA, on University Bridge looking West toward I-5 Bridge over Lake Union |
A week ago watching the A Final (online) of the light men’s four at the 2011 World Rowing Championships, I thought out loud: "Wow this is so competitive I can't even tell who is losing and winning." Australia ended up the winners, rowing a more beautiful, powerful stroke than most rowers will ever take. The lightweight men’s straight four is the most competitive event at worlds, seems to me. My good friend and former teammate at Dartmouth and at Riverside Anthony Fahden was in the US entry for that event, missing the A/B Semifinal by only a second. That guy is an inspiration, and has already picked himself up from that and is moving forward in high spirits.
Now that I’m back in Seattle, with perspective on the Summer, it’s clear I've been wallowing a bit in my feelings about not being able to row. This wallowing culminated the week after our Riverside cocktail party. My back was f***** again (see previous post) so I just went out and partied for a week straight, hard, every night. This is not normally something rowers do. It was all the more reason to give the Rock Star Lifestyle a try. I was tired, furious, and fed up with the whole process of investing so much time in physical therapy, in chiropractors, in stretching and good nutrition and rigorous cross training on the bike, hours and hours and hours that all led to a devastating result – still feeling the same horrible pain and tightness in my lower left back while trying to row. Who cares if I can walk if I can’t row? It felt good to throw everything out the window, and after that week I was fully ready to leave that negative energy behind.
As I was moving out of my apartment in Cambridge, I took 2 weeks off from all exercise. I wanted to let my body rest, really rest, and gain back some of the weight I’d lost during the Summer of cycling and swimming and lifting, about 10 lbs from 169 to 159. Who knows what that partying/rest process actually did, but there's a great Physical Therapist in Seattle I'm working with who has got me to the point where I can row, hard, without issue. I’m still watching it like a hawk, but yesterday our competitive group at Seattle Rowing Center did a Charles length piece (5400m or so) at 24 strokes per minute and I was going after it 100% with no pain or tightness. Finally! It was the perfect end to a first week of real rowing, Tuesday through Saturday, every day. Granted, the force I can exert on my back is probably pretty pathetic right now, so the boat isn’t moving as fast as I’m used to. To me that’s a source of humor, because getting to race against my teammates is in itself a gift regardless of the result. I was joking with Lindsey Meyer (an exceptionally accomplished rower and multiple national-team member in the single at the U23 and Senior level) that I’d have about 1 minute of rowing in me, followed by 19 minutes of comedy and she’d have front row seats starting in front of me in our timed piece. To my surprise there were at least 10 minutes of rowing in there, but my God did I have to work for it. My spirits are through the roof now that I can row again.
This injury has been a very humbling experience. I am not invincible, but I am also stronger than I thought. Being able to push myself on the water is a rare and beautiful thing I will never again take for granted.
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