Three Crabs Later, the Skin Came Off

This Friday was the first time I rowed hard. I was in a four-man boat, and I sat in position two -- the second from the front of the boat. The bad part about being in a four-man boat is that it means that all my mistakes are amplified for everyone in the boat to see and feel -- there simply are not enough rowers in a boat this size to dilute my mistakes. We rowed hard for two long hours.

Every stroke was nerve racking. I did not know how to get the blade of the oar to properly enter the water. Getting the rhythm and flow right was very difficult because everyone else in the crew was taller than me, and so I had to really slow down in order lengthen each of my strokes in order to keep time with everyone else.

Things only get more and more difficult as my body got more and more exhausted. It became hard for me to keep time as well because my my body was reluctant to do things as quickly as I wanted it to. I had greater control of my actions when I was not so tired. I pulled three crabs* in this outing.

At some point, in the delirium of fatigue, I noticed that my right hand felt wet. This typically isn't remarkable if you're rowing a boat -- you are maneuvering over the water after all. However, none of the water splashing ever gets onto your hand...and I knew that none of it got on my hand. This portends nothing but bad stuff...and I was reluctant to look at my hand.

I looked at my hand, and it was at this moment that the pain kicked in. My skin had blistered, popped, and shredded by the friction of the blade. Effectively, a patch of skin got eroded off of my right hand. Because I was rowing stroke side, this means that my right hand is the one that turns the blade, while my left hand is the power arm that pulls the blade towards my sternum. I was clearly too tense; gripping it too hard.

For the rest of the session, every stroke was excruciatingly painful. But, the one thing that this did do for me was allow me to focus on the pain, and not on my fatigue. This made the return trip much more bearable. Moreover, at some point, my endorphins kicked in, creating quite a profound moment of "runner's high"on the way back to the boat house. This was made the pain worthwhile. Fortunately, I have next week off, thus allowing my hand to heal before I kick it in full gear for the next training.

ouch.

* The term "Crab" is rower's jargon. It refers the moment where your oar get stuck in the wrong orientation in the water due to improper squaring** of the blade.

** The term "Squaring" is rower's jargon. It refers to the movement of orienting the blade of the oar such that it is perpendicular to the water before slicing into through the water surface. Squaring the blade permits greater efficiency of the stroke, requiring less energy to push the same amount of space through the water..