12 April 2008 - ... and the training resumes.

This Saturday, the Sun was great, no "pissing down" from the heavens above (much to our dismay...)

Attendance was good as we welcomed back Christy and Desmond from a long-missed absence.

During the recent lull, Papillons have not been idle - in fact they dispersed temporarily to form various teams that took part in the annual ESRC Dragonboat Carnival, bombarding others with their boundless energy.

Someone made an enlightened observation that most of the folks in our boat today actually won some medal in the carnival! (Or well, at least appeared on the stage - HOR, Jon?)

On that point, i BET all of us are happy to be swiping water with our pro-paddles again - what heavy stubby pieces of wood we used during the carnival! Bum pads are a boon too - yes, we are a pampered lot.

Warm up was a lethal cocktail of jumping jacks and push ups. Fwah - 30 push ups was never more difficult when it's on a "team count".... especially after a 3-week break.

The agenda for today was simple enough - we focused on technique again, to get the new stroke right before we try adventurous patterns that might break our arms.

So we simply rowed, and rowed... and rowed somemore, while Coach Patrick observed and corrected us.

With Pierre on vacation, "backpacks of the week" were Ken and Ben. However, all the 'Ken, Ben', 'Ben, can?', 'Ken, bend', etc. were confusing the hell out of our backpacks and everyone else - we should never put them together again.

There was a period during training where everyone was mesmerised by a peculiar sound that reverberated from the stern of the boat. That was actually Coach demonstrating the new stroke, and we witnessed the power that it can generate, as long as we master the correct technique.

It was a Piston-like action - throw your weight forward, controlled punch of the paddle into the water, keep shaft straight as you pull back to mid-thigh, torso restored to upright posture... (and repeat) throw weight forward, controlled punch...

Not easy. But hey - we made good progress and will definitely get better as our muscle memories get recalibrated. Remember - practice makes perfect!

Learnings:
1. With a higher stroke rate, consistency becomes more crucial in order to be effective as a team - this demands fitness - Hint: cardio training.
2. For now, the shorter strokes makes it harder to feel difference in power (think: hard 10) vs a longer pull. Perhaps the difference will become obvious when we build up strength, giving us more control over how much power to exert - Hint: weights training.

Conclusion: Time to hit the gym!

Rest up everyone - and welcome back to the serious stuff. Are you ready, for the new season?

Let's rock and row!

= Chief Editor signing off =