Early to rise first to fall asleep in Class.

Oh man oh man have I missed rowing on the feather. Rowing all eight on the square for three weeks is just torture. Day two of the feather and my body is figuring out slowly that we are on starboard no longer. Muscles that have been built up for 5 plus years are now nul as I must strengthen the opposite side of my body for the struggles of Port side rowing. My right shoulder and forearm tendons are on fire as they must now twist the oar instead of pulling it. The act of taking what you know and applying it to the opposite side of your body is easier said then done. At the turnaround point the shore turned into the sun as a barge turned on its spotlight revealing its massive structure. Nothing is more heart stopping then a sudden tugboat horn from right behind you early in the morning. Anyone still half asleep was now wide awake in my boat as we raced out of the way of the speeding barge. Didn't help that he felt like keeping the spotlight straight in our eyes. Felt like some kind of alien abduction as we race away from a blinding light. All in all a good practice however the starboard rowers are lacking in focus and need a kick in the pants as they keep dragging us down to their side with bad finishes. Three weeks to the big first race and tensions are high as we go into the 3rd 5k test this weekend. There is nothing fun about a 5k test except the PR. Its a 3 mile sprint using your whole body while getting as much oxygen as a swimmer does with only about two spots in the technique where breathing is viable. Going "dark" is common and is both terrifying and a regular achievement in our sport. Its the point when your body shuts down senses due to the amount of oxygen demand created by the last half mile sprint in a race. Every rower experiences it slightly different, for me its a loss of the feeling in my legs followed by a cold sweat. One of my friends went colorblind in the last few hundred meters which is just odd as he described it was more like going gray then going black. Its been three weeks since our last and I'm hoping for big drops in our boat.