Ritual

Everyone has one for just about everything in life. Whether it is the brushing of your teeth or staying up to one in the morning, we all have rituals. Nothing is more sacred then ritual in rowing. For races I have my lucky socks and hat as well as my slapping of the chest and thighs before the start of the race. As par usual I stuck to my rituals this 5k test on saturday. Step one nap before hand at least one hour in advance. Step two make sure i'm on the verge of hungry not quite hungry but just before. Step three watch motivational rowing videos. Step four calming music and slow breathing on way down to testing erg. Every rower has his pr erg. One at the boathouse and one at the gym should the need to change location arise. Step 5 the strapping of the feet with a double loop to prevent strap from loosening. Step 6 pr playlist activate. Step 7 stick to the race plan. Step 8 realize at 2500 meters that all hope is lost and you are in fact going to die. Step 9 slap the shit out the weak minded negative thoughts of that step 8 pussy and go ham into the second half of the piece.  Step 10 no negative thoughts get angry thoughts flowing and bite the bullet and sprint the last 800-500 meters of the piece. All said and done I should have pr'd and that's my ritual for 5k erg tests. Now if only I could apply such strong rituals to studying I could have a much more stress free day.