Last Land Training session.. or is it the beginning of paddling season?

So yesterday (April 4th) was our last dragon boat land training session with our trainer.  For some strange reason, the team really just wants to paddle for 30 mins rather than get an ass kicking for an entire hour, so we decided to go out onto the water for 30 mins, come back to the gym and finish our workout there.

me and my big mouth, asked whether i was paddling or steering.. oops!  Coach had forgotten i could steer.. so of course i get put into the steering position cuz, well I need to practice steering right?  Well, everyone reassures me that i did well, but I know that I am so rusty after the winter off steering.  How do i turn again?  How does one leave the dock?  ohhh, the problems I had staying straight last night :/  Oh well that is what practice is for i guess, making mistakes, learning from them, etc.

Then we had 30 mins left -- with the trainer.. hrms this could be bad.  We did chin ups, followed by kettle bell lunges?  with some shoulder component (held the kettle bell straight up, as we lunged around the gym) -- Sorry UA gym folks that were actually trying to use other equipment..  Then we did some hip workout, followed by wall squats, and then we ended the workout with a plank contest... whew!  i'm sore thinking about all this again...

DC dragon boat Festival

This weekend (May 16-17) is the DC dragon boat festival @ the Thompson Boathouse. Am i excited? Sure.. its a weekend of racing, watching other teams paddle.. the only trepidation is what happens if it rains again this year? Last year's race was postponed due to rain and it rained at the rain date, how ironic. This year instead of racing with the NG team, I'm racing with a premier league (though we signed up for corporate mix) team.

Those early AM practices have been brutal! Rain or shine we've been out on the water. We've also started learning a new start... guess we shall see how well it fares.