Busy Weekend

It has indeed been a busy couple of days. I suppose that won't really change very much from here on out, but this week has been especially dense since we've had a week's worth of work to do in 3 days. I still found some time for sports stuff though

Saturday was Frisbee day. We met up with the other freshers that had signed up and returning members of the team at about 1. Practice pretty much consisted of playing ultimate for about 2 hours, which is to say that practice was a bunch of fun. I was concerned that the returners would be insanely good, but I fit in pretty well as far as skill level goes.The level of competition was just a hair above Myers League, with the addition of stall counts and a stack offense. Plus there were lots of beginners. If I'm feeling particularly brave, I might go out for the University wide team, which is a little more competitive. Once I get used to actually having a plan instead of just running around, I think I'll be alright. The next practice is scheduled for this weekend. If nothing else, I'm determined to make the team to get the awesome Keble Ultimate jersey. It has a cow on it. Nice.

The running around on Saturday made my legs surprisingly sore, which did not bode well for my erg (rowing machine) test on Sunday. Rowing practice took place in the Keble gym, which is a room in the basement that is, to put it charitably, of decidedly modest size. But it does have four new model D's and a big mirror to watch yourself erg in. Why you would want to watch yourself erg is beyond me. That's like putting a mirror next to The Rack so you can watch yourself get taller. We novices took turns, 4 at a time, getting a brief crash course in erging technique from a few returning team members. I was very impressed at how student-run practice was (that goes for Frisbee too). Everything from recruiting to coaching so far has been other students, and they've been very patient and friendly about all of it. At least I thought so until they made me pull a 1k erg test.

As it was explained to us, the test was more "just to see how it feels at full pressure". Well I can personally attest, it feels a lot like pain. My tentative goal was to finish in 3:30, which would be about the same speed I would aim for in a beginning-of-the-season-after-sitting-on-my-butt-all-winter-eating-cookies kind of test back in the day. Of course, back in the day the distance was twice as far. My final time was 3:32. Yeah Matt, I know I know, but it's been three years and we can't all get recruited by Harvard. Cut me some slack. While I might not quite have a shot at The Boat Race, I was pleased that I at least got close to my goal. I'm not sure what the varsity rowers thought; my technique was rusty enough that I didn't have to try really hard to appear to be new. In the last 200 meters or so, I actually felt it more in my arms than in the lungs. Once I get over the muscle stiffness, perhaps I'll do some push ups or something. In any case, I couldn't go to the optional rowing tank session today since I have work to do for my first tutorial tomorrow.

This weekend I had to read an awful lot of Thomas Hobbes, the 17th century English political philosopher who holds a less than optimistic view about human nature. I finished most of the reading, but I'm actually writing this post mostly to avoid starting on my essay. I'm turning it in during class tomorrow, but it could be worse. Rose, my classmate, actually has to read hers aloud to the don and me. It's my turn for that next week. No pressure, but I want to make a good impression and represent my family, school, state, and country well. Now that I put it that way, I really must go write my essay. Wish me luck.

Oops, almost forgot. Desert at hall tonight was spotted dick. Many jokes were made. Delicious.