Well, my legs are in a decent amount of discomfort and my voice is raspy. Why, you ask? I competed in the The Club Sportif MAA Indoor Rowing Challenge for Children's Literacy. It brought together rowers from the greater Montreal area representing both universities and individual clubs, with all the benefits going to the The Gingerbread Guild, a worthy cause indeed.

The categories were M, W: 15-25; 25-50; 50+, and were open to rowers of all levels of ability. I'm pleased to report a first place finish in my category (earning me a classy pewter tankard), and a second place finish overall. What's even better is that I surpassed my goal (6:30), beat my original 2km erg time by 25 seconds and finished with a personal best 6:25.4, only two-tenths of a second ahead of second place. This also meant that I was only nine seconds behind the first place finisher who pulled an impressive 6:16, earning himself a ticket to Paris for the World Indoor Rowing Championships in December.

Not only could I barely stand up, but I felt like I was going to vomit for a solid fifteen minutes after my race, as my muscles were being consumed by a degree of pain I hadn't yet had the pleasure of experiencing until that point. And that's what it's supposed to feel like! Gotta love rowing.

Other news of note from the competition is that one of our crew members won the biggest door prize on the table: a brand new Concept 2 Ergo machine! It even has a memory card and heart-rate sensors on the grips! She's in a state of disbelief at the moment. Other prizes up for grabs included Canadians hockey tickets, nights in a hotel at Mont Tremblant and Quebec City, and a gingerbread house.

On to bigger, better, and even more painful endeavours.