Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Untrue?

I'm thinking of learning to row this summer. I've been fascinated with rowing since I started college. The only reason I never started doing it was rugby's powerful allure and the forceful insistence of my teammates that I needed to play year-round. After seven years, dare I take a summer off from contact to learn (gasp!) something new?? How can I spend time in a city with three rivers and not guide a boat down one of them?

I started investigating the Three Rivers Rowing Association and they have a summer league for beginners. AND it meets in the evenings and not 5am like the experienced teams. The best part is that you get to participate in a regatta at the end of the summer.

I told my rugby team I was planning to be untrue to them. They looked at me with wide eyes, not understanding what I was saying. "Sooooo you're not playing for us this summer?" I don't know that they ever heard such a thing before. Several hours later, they had warmed to the idea and agreed to watch me row in a regatta, but only if I wore a green spandex outfit.

I'm having so many mixed emotions about this endeavor. On one hand, I don't want to get burnt out from rugby. On the other, this sport has given me so much and been my one true constant in life through periods of serious upheaval. Can I be untrue to my first love? Can I hang up my boots for a few months and take to the water? What will I do if I like rowing better? I can't even think about it. This will have to be a brief fling.

2 comments:

kk said...

it will be a summer romance. go for it try something new. if you don't you will always wonder....what if?

JL said...

give your bones and cartilage a break