Rowing

So, I took up rowing. And by 'took up' I mean I tried it once, liked it, and intend to do it again.

My company has a rowing team, and they were looking for new recruits, so I decided to give it a try. The first time I went out to the lake, I had a sore shoulder (from moving a lot of my boxes the day before), so I got to be the guy who sits in the back, watches everyone else work really hard, and just sits there and turns the rudder to steer us. It was a pretty sweet gig, but I promised that if my shoulder was better the next week, I'd actually do some of the rowing.

So, my first time actually rowing, yesterday, it was about 60F, with a steady rain out on the lake. Nevertheless, I gave it a try, and loved it! It's more difficult than it looks, and frankly, it's a bit more coordination with my hands than I'm used to. (Hey, I grew up a soccer player!) And to make matters more difficult, the other 4 guys I was with were cracking jokes ('No, I'm not paddling too early! Everyone else is just paddling a bit late!') and I have no hope of staying coordinated while laughing.

Nevertheless, I had a great time, and I have a strong suspicion that if I like rowing when it's a bit chilly and rainy, I'm probably just going to like it all the time. Which is awesome, because I've been looking for an easy-on-the-joints aerobic exercise ever since I had knee surgery 3 or so years ago. I always thought it'd be swimming, but I'm quite terrible at it, and don't really enjoy it. So I'm super excited that I might have found something else. Something with:

-human interaction
-outdoors on the water
-low/no impact
-generally fun

And the best part, there's a bar in the rowing clubhouse with an outdoor balcony, and an awesome view of the lake, where you can sit and enjoy a beer after the workout! Perfect! I have my Tuesday evenings planned for the rest of the spring/summer! =)