Skip to main content

Can a 50 year old learn to paddle a dragon boat?

...We're going to find out!

I have never been a team sport chick. Okay, not never. When I worked for the provincial government, I joined a Corporate Challenge volleyball team that was extraordinary because the people were fun AND we'd win! Huzzah! But until now, I haven't really been part of any ongoing team.

Now I've joined a dragon boat paddling team! And I'm 50! Really, the only reason I considered it was because it is a team made up of breast cancer survivors. Different ages, shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. My age, shape, size, and fitness level had to fit in there somewhere!

Tonight was my first dry land training date. 45 minutes in weight/aerobics training, then 45 at the side of the pool just paddling. As if we think we can move the pool over a few feet if ten of us sit at the edge and put our backs into it. That being said: it was super fun to sit at the edge of the pool and just put our backs into it. I can't wait for May when we can get onto the Glenmore Reservoir and into the actual dragon boat!

The other great thing about this team is the fact that we are all breast cancer survivors. All these ladies have been where I've been. Some decades ago. Some a few years ago. One I think is still in the middle of chemo. (Bravo to her, by the way! I heard about this team a few months after I had finished chemo and radiation and that was still too early for me to have even heard about it!)

But the point isn't the breast cancer. We aren't sitting around talking about our experiences and our challenges and rehashing old temperature spikes and sweaty wigs. It's there in the background for all of us, but we're there to strengthen our bodies and train so we can win some races! Knowing we have that backstory in common makes us kindred spirits on an experiential level. If we want to share, there's a willing ear. But the point of our gathering is to work together for something that has nothing to do with any of that - when there was a time (not too long ago for me) where everything was about that. I wasn't expecting to feel such a connection with women I barely know because of something no one is necessarily talking about.

This bodes well for my joining this team, me thinks. I'll keeps you posted.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Picture Puzzler

A friend sent me another picture from the wrap party. As I looked at it, and recalled the good times, I was struck by something really unusual. See if you can spot it: I'll give you all some time to guess...

Batten down the hatches -- we're in it for the long haul!

Given that the weather reports for Edmonton this weekend are grim grim grim (lows of minus 33, highs of minus 25 -- with wind chills of around minus 35 to 40), I woke up early this morning to get all errands for the weekend out of the way in one fell swoop. I barely needed a coat this morning as I headed out to my car to embark on my mission. With each passing hour, the thermometer dipped a degree or twelve. By time I was done driving around (and paused to catch a movie at the neighbourhood googolplex), it was chill-lay outside. I am now snuggly boarded up in my apartment, with no plans to so much as peek my nose out my window until Tuesday (when the temps shall return to a balmy minus 15). Groceries? Check. Toiletries? Check. Magazines to curl up with? Check. Christmas Presents? Check. Lessee, I got my father what he's been asking for since I was old enough for him to give me his Christmas wish list: And I think my mother will enjoy her bungalow by the stream: For my sister and he...

TIFF: Day Five

Celebrities spotted: Three plus a bunch of horror movie chicks basically in their underwear and spiked heels (Hayden Christensen, Tandie Newton and Danielle Panabaker -- who technically was one of the horror movie chicks in her underwear and spiked heels, but she has done other things as well) Duties While Volunteering: Once again, stare at people from the front of the theatre while they are minding their own business watching a movie. Show people into an empty theatre that is standing in for a line-up, where you sit down in the order in which you arrive, thereby being "in line" but being able to sit down while you wait ... a concept that was not as welcome to others as it would have been to me if I were told that instead of standing in line I may sit in a cushy theatre seat. Hand out ballots for audience voting. Movies Watched By Me When Not Volunteering: One. ("The Ward" ... thus the horror movie chicks in their underwear) Something else you should know: The ...