Thank you Alan - after Joe’s account, things might take a bit of a nosedive on the technical side but here goes …
Despite my trepidation, it was a pleasure to meet and row with such a wonderful group of people, who never once made me feel that my lack of experience and speed, compared to theirs, was going to be a handicap to the team. They only provided me with plenty of kindness, support, encouragement and humour.
It was decided to start the challenge at 11.30am ( which in reality became 11.45am ) - Georgina had advised me to have some breakfast, so at 8.00am I had yoghurt, a banana and then some scrambled eggs with a slice of toast.
We spent plenty of time before the ‘off ‘ warming up and practising the changeovers; it was agreed that there would always be someone on ‘ seat duty ‘ and if needed, someone on ‘ helping a team mate off the erg duty ‘.
In order to make it easier to slip our feet in and out of the foot straps, Alain had adapted them into something resembling a stirrup, ( a method used successfully by the French relay teams ).
Each strap was encased in sponge tubing, which was then held in place, by wrapping it around tightly, with masking tape.
Most of us then chose to go without our shoes and just wear thick socks; this was my preferred option, as my rowing shoes tended to catch on the heel part of the foot-stretcher - I wore The Pink Star socks underneath.
We then decided the rotation order and with Joe pulling back the handle for that first 200 metres, The ‘ Diamonds ‘ were off!
Before I go any further, it’s important to mention, that from the first 200 metres to the last, the other team members rowed with good technique and controlled and even pace, the latter only dropping slightly when fatigue started to set in. They were impressive.
=D>
In Plummy’s reply to my original post, he said that he knew I’d be worrying about my pace compared to the others … Very astute of him and again spot on, as this is a major problem with me; how to pace myself properly, so that I don’t start off too quickly ( it’s invariably a type of panic ) and then pay the price later. It’s funny how things go, I can apply common sense to plenty of other situations in my life …
This is what happened during my first two sessions and I was very gently advised to slow down, as there was a long way to go still … I took note and decided that I needed to be sensible and stay at a slower but realistic pace of 1.55; better to arrive than not at all. This worked most of the time, until the final 10 x 200 when my legs started to let me down during those last 50 metres:
Right leg, “ Is the old bird with us? “
Left leg, “ Haven’t a clue mate! “
Practising at home, my fastest pace had been 2.05 and I was desperate not to let it creep above that, although, at this point, I could at least take some comfort from hearing others say that they were also starting to feel tired. I think it was the penultimate 200 when, almost at the end of the row, I hit 2.11. Mmmm …
Managed to redeem myself a little during the final 200 and didn’t let the pace go higher than 2.07.
My ‘ technique ‘ started to unravel; very sloppy by the end.
Alain rowed the last 200 metres and the Diamonds gave a huge cheer. We had done it! =D> =D> =D>
Of course, there were plenty of amusing moments along the way. I think it was one of the young 70’s who came across when Joe was rowing, and called him the ‘ Duracell Bunny ‘, which was a good description because whatever he might have been feeling, Joe did give the impression that he could have gone on and on and on and on … In my mind though, he will always be ‘ Joe The Jet Man ‘.
In the rowing order, I had Andy in front of me and he set off at a cracking pace and hardly seemed to let up at all, so in my mind he will always be ‘ The Cracking Cornishman ‘.
It was my job to make sure that he sat down safely but on a couple of occasions he was so raring to go that he nearly missed the seat. In order to guide him down safely, I took to holding onto the back of his shorts - we both agreed that if I accidentally pulled them down, I wouldn’t see anything that I hadn’t seen before … Apart from his tail …
I was nervous about taking over from Andy because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep up his pace - I mentally told myself to shut up and get on with it.
It was therefore a great advantage to have Alain come after me as I knew that he would make extremely short work of getting the pace back down again - please imagine an express train and you’ll get the picture; in my mind, Alain will always be ‘ The Flying Frenchman ‘.
Three Great Gentlemen and five Great Ladies.
=D>
Sometimes, during one of my rest intervals, I’d look around the room and take in the scene: the 70’s, laughing and joking and counting down the twenty strokes for whosever’s turn it was on the erg, Andy calling across to them and saying that we were at least 20,000 metres ahead and Tommy Gee booming back that he didn’t believe him, Denise, urging us to have one of her honey sandwiches and Marjorie, blessed with long legs, sprinting beautifully, with her hair flying out behind her, or one of the men, taking their turn and seemingly, getting on and off the erg in the time it takes to blink an eye.
It has taken me a while and a lot of reflection to think of a word or words to try and describe how I felt watching all this lively activity and I’ve finally decided on joyous and uplifting.
Question: What do the ‘ Diamonds ‘ all have in common? What connects us?
Answer: We are all young.
When I’m rowing, one of the groups I like to listen to is Snow Patrol. One song in particular sums it all up for me; it’s called ‘ PPP ( Studio Version ) and it consists of one lyric, repeated over and over again:
“ You won’t be around forever girl you ‘ gotta ‘ grab life with both hands. “
Thank you too, Free Spirits, for helping me get this far.
Jill
=D> 
But then again, I do have a very naughty imagination. 
)
