This week has given me some great stories.
Did you know . . . Daylights Savings happens a week earlier here in the UK than in the US? I woke up pretty late on Sunday, flipping out a bit because I had a paper that I needed to be working on, only to realize that it was an hour earlier than usual! What a great surprise.
Of course, this means that it gets darker earlier, which means that land training for rowing (read: running laps and core work = no fun) is in the dark. Boo.
Speaking of rowing - I had my first outing in an eights boat on Tuesday! And rowing in a real boat is much better than rowing on an erg. It was fantastic fun. Of course, it was everyone's first time, so the boat was quite shaky, but the cox (who tells you what to do) said that we improved a lot over the outing (yay!). Apart from it being early, very early, in the morning (we had to be there at 6:55 AM) and then having to race to my first lecture at 9 AM (smelling like the Cam), it was really fantastic.
Queen's Ergs, a huge indoor race on ergs (which are indoor rowing machines) was Tuesday evening. While I didn't make the original cut for the two crews competing, on Tuesday morning one of the captains told me that one of the rowers was sick, and that I was the next best time. What?! I know. Crazy, truly, because I thought I was pretty slow, but I ended up competing, and it was so much fun (although I was pretty nervous!).
The race is set up in a big gym, with 15 ergs set up, with a crew (of 8 girls) at each erg. Each person completes a 500 meter sprint, and then you have 20 seconds to switch over to the next rower from your crew. All of the ergs are hooked up to a main computer, and each crew is represented by a tiny boat on this large screen, which shows your progress and speed in comparison to all of the other college's boat clubs. There's a DJ, everyone is cheering, and your captains are on either side of you, screaming at you - its an amazing atmosphere. I rowed 2nd, and John, (who was watching with Anna, who competed in the first crew, and Lea), swore to me that I wasn't the slowest rower on the team (which is what I had feared). It was fantastic. In the heat, our crew finished in 2nd place and missed first place by 2 seconds! Overall, we landed in 5th place, which I think is pretty wonderful (out of 31, assuming all colleges were represented). Homerton's first women's crew also finished second in their heat, but 13th overall - missing the finals by 3 spots. I also got a sweet shirt. Here are some photos:
We had just started the race - can you see how nervous I look?
That's me racing! I'm so fast the camera couldn't catch me (ha, not really . . . ).
LAST story (and then I need to go get ready for my supervision):
This is what my brain looks like:
I signed up for a research study on the brain. I spent a little less than two hours at a lab, where they taught me how this program works on a computer where I would hit a button depending on what combination of blocks and colors came on the screen. Then, they put me into an MRI machine, and for 40 minutes, I did the test and they scanned my brain. I was struck with claustrophobia the first time they put me into the machine - its a tiny hole! - but the tech told me that I might feel better if I remembered I wasn't closed in by wiggling my feet, which worked! So after that, I was fine, although it was hard to concentrate that long with all the noise that was going around me (MRIs are LOUD - I had to wear ear plugs and head phones). But I left with this sweet picture of my brain, and was paid 22.50 pounds (=$45 dollars). Not bad, I say.
