Paddling

Buwahahaha... Why? I dunno.

So yesterday, I participated in the 2nd Dragon Boat Paddling Competition held at Mina Siyahi, Dubai. After registering and receiving my Dragon Boats Alive (DBA) t-shirt, cap and bandana, wifey and I relaxed by lying on the beach chairs admiring the white sand and view.

The main problem with the DBA team is that there are more women than men members, while other teams like DFD (Dubai Flyin Dragons) and the Noodle House teams have ample members to make 2 teams. That would make me a huge asset (Hah, they wish).

So there I was, on my first round of the day, on a 20-man team with 7 males, and 13 females, and our opponent had around 12 males (I think). As we paddled to that starting line of the 500 M course, I instantly knew I made a huge mistake by not stretching properly. See when the race started, I gave my all, and by the last 200M I was almost out of breath. My arms were exhausted and my plam was almost numb. Wifey told me that the first match was the most exciting because no one knew who was going to win, since it was neck and neck. Sadly, we lost by 2 seconds. :(

When we got back to the beach, I immediately went to wifey to have my plam massaged, because it was so numb that I couldn't even clench my hand to a fist. After resting for 45 mins while watching the other races, I told her that I want to quit now before joining any other races because my body couldn't take it. So I go to Chantelle who is the DBA coach, and before I could even say anything, she goes "Glenn, the 12-man mixed race will be starting in 10 mins. Get yourself ready, and you're one of the 5 guys in." oh no.

So I get on board, and apparantly, we have to do a 5 minute paddling because The One TV news crew is on board and the interviewer wants to make his statement while we row. :( Thats an extra 5 minutes paddling. But guess what, we won the first match! My kabayan in front of me (Dan) was a big help. He had so much energy that it fed into me, and in the last 100M, when we were pulling away, he just gave a small grunt and paddled like anything, and I did the same. Wow. We were so exhausted and overjoyed at our first victory! That puts us in the finals, where we started to pull away from DFD in the last 250M! We won! Woo hoo! I WON!!!!

So there you have it. Our picture (sadly I wasn't seen in it) was published in Emirates Today today.

Listening for instructions

Getting ready to paddle

Pa-cute muna

Wet, tired and contented after winning

Painful....

During college around 10 years back (holy crap I'm old!) a friend of mine invited me to try out for the Dragon Boat team. For those who are unsure what this sport is about, a team would consist one drummer, 20 paddlers (max) and one steerer. Nowadays it could arguably be cosidered the second most popular sport worldwide, and at one point in time been considered for the olympics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_boat

Last week, Obet called me up and said that he saw an article on Emirates Today that a dragon boat team has been set up in Dubai since March, and that they are recruiting new members. He says that if I join, he'll join too. So I called up Mhinx who was my gym buddy and told him about it.

So yesterday, I woke up at 6am, watched a bit of NBA playoffs (go Nets!) then headed off to pick up Obet and Mhinx. The only drawback is that since I am living in the province (International City, LOL) I have to travel 15 mins going to Dubai (35Km) and then another 15 mins going to Mina Siyahi Beach Resort (another 30 Km). Sigh. Good thing it was a Saturday and there was no traffic whatsoever.

Anyway, Mhinx, Obet and I had a very light snack before heading to Mina Siyahi. We got lost inside the beach because of the huge number of yachts, and Mhinx' oogling with the ladies in bikinis. We arrived to the spot while they were doing their stretching excercise, and we immediately followed. Since Obet and myself have had prior paddling experience, we were put in the group with the current paddling team. Mhinx was put in with the other n00bs.

Man that was tough. We did 3 sets of rowing, around 10 minutes each session, and on the 3rd set, I just gave up. I rested around 2 minutes in that set, and to think that I considered myself fit. I still did better than Obet and Mhinx though, so that's a relief. It's too bad I wasn't able to take pictures of the training, but I will surely try next week. Yes, yes, I plan to do this week after week.

My arms and calves were sore after the training, to the point that I couldn't grip my car's steering wheel properly. By afternoon, my lower back and shoulders were also sore, and by evening I couldn't bend properly. Sigh. No pain, no gain.

***

This morning, as wifey and I were on our way to work, the right rear tyre just burst. It was a good thing that the speed limit on Al Khail Road was 100km (I was travelling at 80km/h), else something bad might have happened. So I went to the right most lane and decided to change the tyre right then and there. But man, my back was still killing me, and what normally I would have completed in 5 mins took around 15 mins. It streched my muscles though, and I guess it's a good thing since I'm suppose to do my stretching anyway. Oh well.

***

Short plug: If anyone from Dubai is interested to join me in Dragon Boat paddling every Saturday, please call me.