We are as gods.
Athletic gods. Or so sayeth one of the women who was in the race with us this morning (who also happens to be married to a friend of my dad's). But it was still pretty cool to hear. *G*
The canoe race went fabulously. My father is an excellent partner, just as I knew he would be. And joy of joys, he actually knows how to steer a canoe! (Nothing against Nick; I had lots of fun in the race during the two years that he was my partner. But he was easily distracted - for some reason he got a kick out of photographing the capsized boats of other people in the middle of the race, which usually resulted in a very tired me, since it meant he had to stop paddling. He also wasn't very strong when it came to steering - if we were aimed at something, I could tell from fifty yards off that we were probably going to hit it. He took a long time to swing us around and it usually resulted in us . . . not. Unless, of course, it meant swinging us a full 180 degrees. That, we were good at. Can't tell you how many times we faced the complete opposite direction during our first race two years ago.)
Partnered with my father, on the other hand, we rocked like a mad rocking thing . . . rocks like the sharp ones jutting out of the river, which we so deftly managed to avoid each and every time. *G* In short, we done good.
The course was extended by, I believe, another mile this year, so the hardest point of the race for me was just after the spot where last year's race would have ended. Everything after that I was hurting, since I wasn't sure how much farther we had to go anymore. We managed to keep pace with these two men in front of us who, we could tell by watching them, really knew what they were doing. I used that as a gauge to determine that we, also, probably did pretty well. Unofficially, our time was around 89 minutes for approximately 9 miles. If the preliminary results posted at the finish line don't change, we may have finished 2nd in our category and 6th overall. (With over 120 other boats on the water, I'm pretty proud!) What was really cool was that the overall winners of the entire race were a male/female team - cool because the only mixed couple to beat us were the ones who came in first out of everyone. (They finished four minutes ahead of us - which, in a race, is a long time. Even doing as well as we did, we never would have caught them; they must have been absolutely flying.)
The funniest part of the day was the conversation my father had with an 'Overly-Excited GentleMan' while checking out the unofficial results:
O-E Man: (pointing to a spot on the board) I'M HERE! THIS IS ME! WOW! WE DID PRETTY GOOD! (looks at my father) HEY! WHERE ARE YOU!?
Dad: I'm right here. It's me and my daughter.
O-E Man: YOU'RE KIDDING! 89 MINUTES! 89 MINUTES! I WOULD HAVE BEEN UP THERE TOO, BUT WE HIT A LAND BAR UNDER THAT SECOND BRIDGE AND CAPSIZED! I GOT SWEPT AWAY! SWEPT AWAY! I HAD TO WALK BACK ALONG THE BANK TO GET MY CANOE BACK!
Dad: Man, that's rough. How was your time?
O-E Man: 139 MINUTES! BUT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN UP WHERE YOU ARE IF I HADN'T BEEN SWEPT AWAY!! (checks out the ranking of the first place couple) WOW, THEY DID GOOD TOO! OF COURSE, THEY HAVE A RACING CANOE! I HAVE A RACING CANOE TOO! WHAT KIND OF CANOE DO YOU HAVE?!
Dad: We don't have our own canoe, so we just used one of the rentals.
O-E Man: A RENTAL?! YOU MADE 89 MINUTES IN A RENTAL?! WOW! YOU MUST HAVE PRACTICED! MY PARTNER AND I PRACTICED AT LEAST 15 TIMES SINCE THE SNOW MELTED! TODAY WAS THE ONLY TIME WE GOT SWEPT AWAY! HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU PRACTICE?!
Dad: Um . . . once.
O-E Man: (grabs my father by the arm - Dad's face was priceless at that) JUST ONCE?! WHOA! WELL, AT LEAST YOU MANAGED TO GET THAT! YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE AT LEAST ONCE! IF YOU DON'T, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE SWEPT AWAY!
Dad: Guess so. Well, we have to go now. (starts walking away)
Me: (whispering) You didn't tell him that was our "practice run," huh?
Dad: He was a little excitable. I wasn't sure what knowing that would do to him.
Gotta wonder, though. If we don't have a canoe of our own and had to rent one for the race, how many times did that man actually think we were able to practice? (*giggle*) I felt sorry for him, though. 15 practices over the last few months, and still couldn't avoid getting "SWEPT AWAY!"
I am quite sore (especially my arms and my back), and ready for a really good sleep, but all in all it was a great day! The official rankings will be posted on the internet in a few days. When they factor in the minutes and the seconds together, it may change our placing a bit. But even if that happens, I'm thrilled with the job we did.
Yep. We are as gods.
The canoe race went fabulously. My father is an excellent partner, just as I knew he would be. And joy of joys, he actually knows how to steer a canoe! (Nothing against Nick; I had lots of fun in the race during the two years that he was my partner. But he was easily distracted - for some reason he got a kick out of photographing the capsized boats of other people in the middle of the race, which usually resulted in a very tired me, since it meant he had to stop paddling. He also wasn't very strong when it came to steering - if we were aimed at something, I could tell from fifty yards off that we were probably going to hit it. He took a long time to swing us around and it usually resulted in us . . . not. Unless, of course, it meant swinging us a full 180 degrees. That, we were good at. Can't tell you how many times we faced the complete opposite direction during our first race two years ago.)
Partnered with my father, on the other hand, we rocked like a mad rocking thing . . . rocks like the sharp ones jutting out of the river, which we so deftly managed to avoid each and every time. *G* In short, we done good.
The course was extended by, I believe, another mile this year, so the hardest point of the race for me was just after the spot where last year's race would have ended. Everything after that I was hurting, since I wasn't sure how much farther we had to go anymore. We managed to keep pace with these two men in front of us who, we could tell by watching them, really knew what they were doing. I used that as a gauge to determine that we, also, probably did pretty well. Unofficially, our time was around 89 minutes for approximately 9 miles. If the preliminary results posted at the finish line don't change, we may have finished 2nd in our category and 6th overall. (With over 120 other boats on the water, I'm pretty proud!) What was really cool was that the overall winners of the entire race were a male/female team - cool because the only mixed couple to beat us were the ones who came in first out of everyone. (They finished four minutes ahead of us - which, in a race, is a long time. Even doing as well as we did, we never would have caught them; they must have been absolutely flying.)
The funniest part of the day was the conversation my father had with an 'Overly-Excited GentleMan' while checking out the unofficial results:
O-E Man: (pointing to a spot on the board) I'M HERE! THIS IS ME! WOW! WE DID PRETTY GOOD! (looks at my father) HEY! WHERE ARE YOU!?
Dad: I'm right here. It's me and my daughter.
O-E Man: YOU'RE KIDDING! 89 MINUTES! 89 MINUTES! I WOULD HAVE BEEN UP THERE TOO, BUT WE HIT A LAND BAR UNDER THAT SECOND BRIDGE AND CAPSIZED! I GOT SWEPT AWAY! SWEPT AWAY! I HAD TO WALK BACK ALONG THE BANK TO GET MY CANOE BACK!
Dad: Man, that's rough. How was your time?
O-E Man: 139 MINUTES! BUT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN UP WHERE YOU ARE IF I HADN'T BEEN SWEPT AWAY!! (checks out the ranking of the first place couple) WOW, THEY DID GOOD TOO! OF COURSE, THEY HAVE A RACING CANOE! I HAVE A RACING CANOE TOO! WHAT KIND OF CANOE DO YOU HAVE?!
Dad: We don't have our own canoe, so we just used one of the rentals.
O-E Man: A RENTAL?! YOU MADE 89 MINUTES IN A RENTAL?! WOW! YOU MUST HAVE PRACTICED! MY PARTNER AND I PRACTICED AT LEAST 15 TIMES SINCE THE SNOW MELTED! TODAY WAS THE ONLY TIME WE GOT SWEPT AWAY! HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU PRACTICE?!
Dad: Um . . . once.
O-E Man: (grabs my father by the arm - Dad's face was priceless at that) JUST ONCE?! WHOA! WELL, AT LEAST YOU MANAGED TO GET THAT! YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE AT LEAST ONCE! IF YOU DON'T, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE SWEPT AWAY!
Dad: Guess so. Well, we have to go now. (starts walking away)
Me: (whispering) You didn't tell him that was our "practice run," huh?
Dad: He was a little excitable. I wasn't sure what knowing that would do to him.
Gotta wonder, though. If we don't have a canoe of our own and had to rent one for the race, how many times did that man actually think we were able to practice? (*giggle*) I felt sorry for him, though. 15 practices over the last few months, and still couldn't avoid getting "SWEPT AWAY!"
I am quite sore (especially my arms and my back), and ready for a really good sleep, but all in all it was a great day! The official rankings will be posted on the internet in a few days. When they factor in the minutes and the seconds together, it may change our placing a bit. But even if that happens, I'm thrilled with the job we did.
Yep. We are as gods.