The bones in my butt hurt, my left elbow is swelling, my thighs are a little tight and the muscles in my lower back are starting a dull ache.

It feels great!

This was my first time in a dragon boat in two years. At the start of the season, these aches and pains are all normal. The only difference this time is that it’s my left elbow rather than my right. This is because we were short a few left-handers today and since I’ve paddled before, I volunteered to switch sides. 

It was a different experience. It took me a minute to work out how to swap my legs into the opposite position and about five minutes before I felt comfortable on that side (I’m not the most coordinated person in the history of the world). It was made a bit easier since I was still in the front row so no need to adjust everything. The downside is that it’s the person on the right that controls the speed. Upside today, this is the first paddle of the season so the guy that was on the right, was paddling at a speed that I could keep up with. I relinquished control.

Each boat can take 20 (not including the steersman and coach or drummer), there were only eight of us today with three having paddling experience, including me. 

It can be tricky to get the boat moving when there’s so few people and those that are there are not yet power paddlers. For the two of us at the front, we’re catching the waves (I use that term very loosely as it’s not really a surfing beach), setting the pace and trying to keep good form since everyone else has to follow us. For those behind, they all have various roles as the training progresses. There’s typically the engine at the back, these are the power guys (sometimes women too though not often) and when they’re all paddling together, it’s great to be onboard as it helps us to set the pace even faster. Those in the middle tend to be the lighter people and their role is to keep the momentum and shout encouragement for those at the back and front. Some set their boats slightly differently to this though this seems to be the most common approach. Will be interesting to see where I end up on race day.

When all 18 paddle as one, perfectly synchronised, the feeling is amazing. The boat planes and the paddling becomes fairly effortless even when we’re paddling quickly. The paddles seem to dip in and glide out of the water with ease. The long, pull stroke encounters no resistance and the boat moves even faster. 

This is not what it was like today.

Today, we were laying the groundwork for race day. Given there were so few of us on board, it meant that we had individual attention from our coach to ensure we were performing our strokes correctly. It also meant that it was harder to get the boat moving.

With my spaghetti-like arms, it’s no wonder that I collected the side of the boat a few times as I pulled my paddle through the water. This happens every year while I rediscover my arm muscles. It happens when they get tired or when I’m trying to paddle too fast too soon. Normally it’s on my right side so at least I’m mixing it up this time. Maybe I should alternate the side of the boat I sit on to give each elbow a chance to recover. Maybe I should just start doing an arm workout…

Topping it all off was how great the weather was today. It was one of those Goldilocks days – not too hot, not too cold. After the rain and the cool of yesterday, it was a welcome relief and made paddling all the more enjoyable. I prefer it when it’s a little hotter and the water is glistening.

There’s still plenty of time to experience that.

* Thanks to alt-J for the title to this post. This song was Number 16 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 2014.