I dragged myself out of bed at 8 on a Saturday (this is a crime. A CRIME.) and got ready to head over to the Cayuga Inlet with my roommate Beth. She rows for the novice women, which is ridiculously convenient.
When we first got there, I departed from the group of crew girls as they went to start setting up boats and prepping for warm-ups. I explored around the boat house and stuck my nose inside Cornell's, which is 9 billion times nicer and larger. The difference between a top-ranked Division I team and a top ranked Division III team is huge in appearance and performance. Not that that stopped our women's varsity from beating Cornell. Nor did it stop our men's team being crushed by Cornell.
It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, 60 degrees. It was unbelievable. So I hung around, watching everyone set up and warm-up. Hobart, Marist, and Cornell teams set up tents and loaded boats off trailers.
The weirdest part was that Coach Dan Robinson found me because he recognized me from orientation. I kind of got a scolding. "You shouldn't be here, you should be out there."
Which a part of me agreed with. I miss team sports. Maybe I am just obsessed with lakes and the sparkling waters of Cayuga made me subconsciously think of summers in Otis. Who knows. Robinson said a lot of rowers start sophomore year.
Anyway, so he showed me where they were posting results and tried to explain them to me, because he said very often they are reported incorrectly. Let me just say, it makes no sense at all. I mean, I understand it now--at least, the basics-- but it doesn't make ANY SENSE.
Then, I sat around and watched many many races with large lulls in between. My editor Cory came down to cover the women's team, and I tried to explain crew to him. But I didn't exactly know what I was talking about, so I think I just made him more confused.
Then, because I had nothing else better to do, I interviewed 8 different rowers, and Coach Robinson. The required number is three. Whatever. After that, I got a ride back to campus with Cory.
After that, it was time to get ready for Relay for Life. The theme was 80s, and so my friends and I spent a lot of time applying gross eyeshadow, messing up our hair, cutting up t-shirts, and pulling on brightly colored leggings and leg-warmers. Pure awesomeness. We all carpooled over, and then spent many many hours at Cornell's indoor track, Barton Hall, walked the track, dancing around, listening to acapella, and being crazy. For a while, future roomie Ashley and I tabled for Active Minds, where we blew up balloons for an hour or so. The idea was stress relief. At our table people wrote things that stressed them out on balloons, and then popped them. So, it was totally worth my sleep-deprived delirium today.
Now, I've got to do some serious writing and get this work done. Time's running out, it's almost April!
