Getting to know me!

So today I thought I would give you guys a sort of introduction to me as a rower (better late than never) The idea absolutely stolen from Rebecca - hope you don't mind darling :*

1: Favorite thing about rowing?
That feeling you get when you have given absolutely everything you've got knowing you've done your best. Your whole body is a mess and you can barely stand on your feet from exhaustion but still, you've got the most amazing feeling of satisfaction. 

2: Favorite rowing memory?
Training camp with my team in the Easter holidays. So much fun, hard work and bonding time with the team.
3: Favorite seat?
hmm good question actually. I don't quite know. I've mostly been stroke (the person sitting in the front, setting the stroke rate and rhythm) , which I really like but I do get all irritated when I'm not allowed to shout out calls, so I think I might like to be bow (seat one from behind), even though I've never tried it. 

4: Goal for this season?
I dunno, not capsizing at a race or something like that... Or perhaps entering a race where I don't come last... Yeah, my expectations for this season are really high! 

5: Best rowing experience?
Rowing past the finish line at my first race ever. Even though my time was shit I just couldn't stop smiling, I was so happy (and high on endorphines) 

6: What made you decide to row?
My mother, who insisted that I should join the local rowing team. apparently, according to her, because she wanted me to learn how to behave on the water...

7: Do you want to row in college?
I want to row forever. So yes, in college too. 

8: Ever won gold? 
Sadly no - but still hoping it'll come one day

9: Ever capsized in a boat?
Pains me to say it, but yes. Last Thursday... And I choose the worst possible moment to do it. I was all alone and I had just begun to row in a really good single scull made out of carbon fibre, and when it is made out of that, you are not allowed to crawl up in the boat again because it might break it. So basically I was fucked. Luckily my trainer saw me capsize and came and helped me. I swam into very shallow water where I could stand on the sea floor and somehow swing my leg over the boat and get into it again. Sounds difficult but I actually managed without the biggest trouble.  Still, wasn't a very pleasant experience, I got quite a chock! But nothing to do but get into the boat and row, row, row!

10: Worst rowing experience? 
A time when one of my trainers decided to seriously yell at me and my double partner in the middle of a practice on the water. He was seriously pissed, forgetting the tiny fact that we we were brand new at the sport and had no idea what we were supposed to do. I was seriously mad at him, which he apparently couldn't understand. Afterwards I've been told that he admitted he was out of line, telling us off like that but we never got an apology...

Hope you guys can get a better idea of what kind of person I am as a rower. Perhaps I'll make a similar entry on me as a person sometimes - we'll see.

Love as always
Christine 

Rower friends

As Rebecca said this Monday, sorry for not posting anything last Saturday. I can definitely relate to her confusion about what day of the week it is - today I caught myself wondering what day it is and getting a minor chock when I realised it was already weekend.

Apart from all the studying I have been doing this week it has actually been a rather pleasant week. The sun has been shining and I have done a lot of good workout. Yesterday I was also at the beach with my sweet rower friends, which was really so much fun. Apart from them bullying me about my body's absurd refusal of getting tanned, we had a really good time, talking, laughing, even grilling and just enjoying each others company. They are all very nice people, which is yet another positive thing about rowing. I always have this pleasant feeling whenever I've been together with them. I think the whole difference is that we all have this one thing, this one goal that demands so much of our time - Rowing. We all understand how important it is for us and it knits us together in this tight, safe community without us having terribly much in common, apart from that.

Also yesterday when I was at the beach a bird shit on be. Seriously right on my thigh. I cried. And all my so called rower friends just laughed. God I hate them sometimes. 

I think I will leave you guys now and go drown my sorrows about my insensitive friends. Also, I promise I'll try and remember my blog-entry next week

Love, love, Christine 

Copenhagen Regatta

Today I have had the most exciting, challenging, exhausting, mind-blowing, fucking awesome day in a long, long time (when it comes to rowing, that is, I do actually do awesome stuff apart from rowing...) Today, I participated in my first ever outdoor regatta, and oh Lord, it was one hell of an experience! 

The regatta was called Copenhagen Regatta and there were races for all possible ages and classes. I entered two races: A single scull beginner race and a double scull fitness race.

The single scull race a 1000 meter race for first time regatta-participators. It doesn't matter if you have sat in a single sculler four times (like me) or been rowing in a single scull for a whole season, as ling as you have never entered a race before. As it turned out my opponent was most likely the latter, and she absolutely kicked my arse. I mean seriously, I came over the finish line 45 seconds after her... But I really couldn't care less because I had so much fun which was the whole point in doing this! And my trainers were all very pleased with me, so I couldn't be more satisfied!

My second race, three hours after my first, was in a double sculler with my one of my very good friends from the club, who has rowed about as long as I have. This race was a fitness race, which means everybody can enter, no matter age or experience. Soooo, I got my arse kicked yet again, but actually not as hard as in the single sculler. Afterwards I was told that we were actually close at beating number 2! 

All things considered I couldn't have had a better day, and I am quite certain that I will be the one kicking arse at my next regatta! And after today I am extra, extra motivated for giving all I've got at practice every time!

Until we meet again

Christine 

Single sculler for the first time!

So it's been quite a challenging week but also a very exciting one. For the first time I was put in a single sculler and send out of the harbour - out in the big, big fjord, me all alone in the boat with no one to hold the balance for me. For the ones out there who doesn't know the tricky thing about a single sculler, let me elaborate: In a single sculler, you are only one person in the boat so the balance in the boat completely relies on you. That means, if you take one bad stroke where you lose your balance there is a good chance you will fall into the water. Which wouldn't be very pleasant at all...

My first time in a single sculler. Seriously I felt like dying being so scared...

So a single sculler is quite a big challenge for a person who hasn't gotten a very good balance (which i definitely don't have) . But I managed not to capsize (!!!!) and I did get quite good at it after a couple of days.Well perhaps not good, but better at least.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Tuesday I was out in single sculler, Friday and today I was out in a double sculler, which I am also doing tomorrow, and Monday is yet another day of training. So I am training fucking much at the moment, don't really know what's up with that... But I love every minute of it. Or, I don't think I love how my body is totally wretched and so, so tired because the past four days I have had to wake up at 6 am in the morning for an early training session and all I really want to do is sleep but I've got this damn English assignment that needs to be written and I'm so hungry but I have absolutely no food in the house..... Apart from that, I absolutely love it! It's all worth it.

I think I will this entry at that and go hunt the house for something eatable. Until we see again, love life!

Love Christine  

The life of a rower

Apart from a huge amount of training (just agreed with my trainer to start row five times a week now - wuhuu!) and a painful lack of sleep (Seriously. I. Need. Sleep) there are two things that have changed quite a bit since I started rowing: 1) I don't drink alcohol anymore, and 2) I eat a horribly amount of food. I know, it sounds a bit sad (mostly the alcohol thing, because food is never sad) so please let me elaborate.

It wasn't really a hard decision to cut alcohol. Over the summer I started to get tired of drinking and partying (God knows why because it used to be my favorite thing to do) so when I decided to do competition rowing it sort of just came as a natural thing, not to drink any more. Our trainers don't want us to drink and in general there is an attitude against alcohol among us competition rowers (Even though I am pretty sure some of the boys drink more than once in a while). And honestly I would much rather be one hell of a rower than having a fun night out once in a while. I have been told that one beer ruins a whole week of training, which I am not quite sure I believe, but alcohol definitely has a bad effect on your training. And it's not like I don't go the the parties, I am just that lonely sober person sitting in the corner... No seriously, I have lot's of fun. And zero hangover, which is a very big plus. So all in all, no big sacrifice.

As far as the food is concerned I have to admit it is not at all a sacrifice. The quite opposite actually. I love food and being able to eat more is just like being in heaven (Okay perhaps I am exaggerating a bit here, I just like eating okay) And there is no need for me to get a bad conscience because I actually need the extra energy. So no harm done right? Actually I must admit that I have gained a bit of weight these past two month. But I just keep telling myself it's all muscles - and as my friend says, muscles weight more than fat. So all good, and I can keep eating. So I eat, and I eat a lot, and I don't really plan on changing that. I have actually reached a point where every time I start eating something my friends look at me and say something like this: "Are you seriously eating AGAIN? you just ate 30 minutes ago?!" Okay, maybe not every half hour, but often. A girl from my class once said to me, that "It is not often I see you without a piece of food in your hand, Christine"

With that lovely comment I will leave you guys and go drown my sorrows in lots of food, and no alcohol.

See you
Christine

The love story about me and rowing

Okay, so I thought I might tell you a bit about how and why I started rowing today. You know, the lovestory about me and rowing.

Once upon a time (last summer) there was a young princess (yes, me) going on a canoe trip with her faithful esquire (one of my very good friends), not knowing how her life would change drastically once she got home. It was a very exciting canoe trip where the princess and the esquire had to fight their way past frightful weather and horrible monsters (some very VERY aggressive swans) and more than once they thought they would never get home alive (honestly, there wasn't a single second where we thought that). But eventually they returned safely to the castle where they lived, having had a very good canoe trip.

The princess was so excited about the trip that she started to follow the rowing tournament (the Olympic Games) because rowing is as close to canoeing as you can get. The princess found that rowing was much better than canoeing and one day when the queen (my sweet mother) got tired of the princess watching the tournament all the time, she said the following to the princess: "My dear, if you enjoyed your canoe trip so much, and if you like watching the rowing tournament so much now, why do you not start rowing yourself?" And the princess thought to herself, well, why not?

So she started to look into the business and discovered that: a) there was a rowing club in her kingdom (my town) and that b)  the rowing club was having a rowing week for novices (kids between 11 and 17) just like her where they would introduce new people to rowing. The princess immediately sign up for it and for weeks  she looked forward to it. She convinced one of her maids (yet another of my very good friends) to go to the event with her.The week finally came and for five days from 10 am to 3 pm the princess and her maid went down to the local rowing club and learned how to row.

How I felt after summer rowing school

When the week had come to an end the princess had to choose weather to continue at the rowing club or resign and never row again, there was no doubt in her heart. She had found her knight in shining armour and from that day on the princess and Rowing lived happily ever after.



So as you can see, it was love at first sight with me and rowing. If you understood nothing from my little fairy tale (I wouldn't blame you), here is a short summery: I went on a canoe trip and liked it a lot. I started watching rowing in the Olympic Games and liked it even more. I started at a summer rowing school in the local rowing club where I was introduced to rowing and the people down there. I loved it and joined the club. End of story.

Now one of you guys asked how the people in the rowing sport are, if they are reserved and very closed, and yes, to some amount they are. Rowers like their safe and comfortable community, where they know everybody and everybody knows who you are. So perhaps yes, a little reserved. At least reserved until you show just the tiniest interest in rowing. Then they come at you like hungry wolves and try to recruit you at all cost. That is what happened to me. When I went to the summer rowing school I met a girl who needed a partner for a double sculler, and she took good care of me (and still does). She showed me the do's and don'ts in the rowing world and I think meeting her and her unconquerable enthusiasm about rowing is part of the reason why I kept rowing after the summer rowing school. Of course apart from the total awesomeness of rowing, obviously...

I think I could keep blabbering on and on about the joys of rowing and why I started, but I suspect it might start boring you guys, so I better stop now while the going is still good. So, see you next week guys!

Love Christine    

Rowing is passion!

Weekend at last! What we have all been looking forward to all week has finally arrived and it is now time to relax, have a nice time with your friends and family and most important of all sleep. A lot. Or at least, that is what I suspect most people will be doing, because that is not exactly what I am doing. I woke up at 7 am this morning and while I am sitting and writing this I am getting mentally ready for a way too early training session at 9 am. I honestly have no idea why the trainers in my club want us to train so early every goddamn weekend. I mean, who on earth is ready to go train the hell outta you at 9 o'clock in the morning??? As you might have guessed I am not. Even though I always wake up two hours before training I am still not mentally awake and I suspect I look more like a zombie then a person. I think the deal with this early training session is that we can get training over with quickly and afterwards be able to do stuff in the afternoon and evening with our friends and family. I do see the point and it is rather sensible, but honestly the first thing I usually do after a morning training is go home and sleep or do nothing productive at all because I am so tired...

Well, enough of me complaining about the ungodly hour of my training in the weekends, what I really wanted to show you today was this video I found on youtube. It is the Austrian rowing crew just being awesome to even more awesome music. This last week I have watched it  very, very many times and every time I see it I can't help think "This is why I row". I mean just look how awesome they are! You can almost feel how the boat moves with every stroke they take, and the perfect water and just how f***ing fantastic rowing is! Okay, I might be a bit too excited, but what the hell, I like it.  

Also, I thought this little video might give you an idea of what rowing is, if you were wondering. I mean, before I started rowing I had absolutely no idea what it was, how you did it or what the boats look like. So here you go. And also, all creds for the video goes to the Austrian crew. I wish one day I will be just as good at rowing as these guys are! At the moment I am just trying to stay in the boat and avoid falling in the water but I suppose it will come soon... My tainer told me that I will be a good rower when I have rowed 4000 km. At the moment I have rowed 130 km in total. I have a long way to go...

Okay admitted, while I wrote this, I might have listened to the video... More than once... Actually three times... I should really use my time for more productive things than watching rowing videos on the internet... I should probably train instead, so I can row my 4000 km and be good.

Also, I should probably go now or else I will be terribly late for training.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and please drink responsible everybody

Love Christine

A Saturday Surprise

Surprise! Five has been made into six and Saturday is now officially a day of blogging. Exciting isn't is? I am, as the other five girls, a danish student from the same class as the others and part of the same lovely group of friends. I am 17 (very soon 18!), young, wild and free and loving life - at least when it is not raining and I don't have to do my homework.

I used to be a quiet, some times a bit lazy girl, who enjoyed lying on my bed reading a good book all day or watch television. I still like to do that whenever I have the time but a little over 8 months ago my life took a quite unexpected turn. I started down at the local rowing club in my town and suddenly I found myself turning into a weirdly aggressive sports freak - me who used to hate gym class and hard physical activity. Now I train four times a week and row competitions and hope that I sometime during spring can start training six times a week.

Now you might be sitting and thinking "What the hell... Don't you have a life?" The answer to that is no - I don't have a life... I row and I row and I row, and when I don't row I think about rowing and I always look forward to the next time I can go rowing. So as you might get an impression of I don't do much besides rowing. And I absolutely love it.

Of course there are also other things which are very important to me. My friends for example mean so so much to me and whenever I have the time I try to squeeze in a few hours with them. I also love fashion and design and I did actually for quite a few years dream about becoming a fashion designer. I weave (or well, I have been trying to finish the same piece for half a year now, so...) and I just finished a sewing course. I enjoy reading, doing yoga, watching all sorts of TV series and just doing normal teenage stuff.
So as you can hear I do have lots of other hobbies! I just don't have the time to do it because I use all my time on rowing...

As you might have guessed my main focus on this blog will be rowing, sport and how to stay healthy. I will try to explain how a sport can be so fantastic that it can make you change your life completely (I don't quite know the answer myself yet, but I will try my best to figure it out - it is still a mystery to me) and I will show you why sport is so awesome. I mean, sport is hard, it hurts, it takes all your time and basically it is just pure pain. So why do I keep coming back? I don't know, but what I do know is that I love my sport - and I will try to show you just why I love it so much.

I hope you will find it interesting and if you don't, then what the hell, I'll just keep writing anyway!

With love and all that
Christine (you may also call me Sporty Spice, if you prefer that)