on DB and running

dragonboat is a deceiving sport. Seemingly simple, you just row. 1) Getting each stroke right is the fundamental thing every rower has to do. 2) Then comes the strength of your strokes, and 3) how long you can maintain that strength for every correct stroke. That is about all I care for, for an amateur like me. Things like starts and getting the boat the glide etc etc, come later. Like what I thought before, getting 20 people to accomplish all 1), 2) and 3) is a great feat, but if possible, a great team can be formed.

Physique naturally plays a great part in this, and I must say my understanding of dragonboating has changed tremendously after 9 plus months of rowing. The constant reminder that not being able to pull your own weight in the boat equals a burden to the rest is also a useful way to tell myself to become stronger.

The thing about dragonboat is that everything you do (for training) get used in a race. Weights you lift in the gym are used as strength in a race. Runs that you go for translates to endurance to last the entire distance in the race. (If the entire team does this, then of course the race will be easier, and timing will be better.) Simple translation. It's not like badminton where you do all kinds of drills, the defenses, the attacks, the smashes, lobs, nets, drops, pushes, the feigns, fancy and non-fancy shots. But not all get used in a match. But of course I appreciate badminton for its burst, adrenaline and different types of gameplay that makes the game so endearing. But yet the simplicity of dragonboat can be addictive, that's why I say it is deceiving.

A friend passed me Haruki Murakami's What I talk about when I talk about running. Many quotable lines in time which I will post soon.