I run Cross Country and play in the Marching Band. However, when I say I run XC, I get the same response everytime-“Are you crazy?” No, I’m not crazy; I just enjoy “running around the woods”, as some people put it. Then when I say I’m in the Marching Band that usually ends the conversation. Regardless how other people view band, I can guarantee that it is more difficult than it looks. It requires thinking about a lot all at once: playing the music that you had to quickly memorize, correcting fingerings/positions and remembering style, posture, horn-snaps, marching, heels, toes, knees, dressing, etc.-and then doing it in tempo with 325 other people. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. It teaches you teamwork, communication and rhythm.

Oh rhythm. After nine years of experience with all sorts of bands you would think rhythm would not be a problem of mine. Well it’s not…if it’s written down. Now once you take the sheet music away from me that’s a different story. If you don’t know what I mean, then try rowing.

I have a friend who has been rowing for four years now, and there is a “Bring a friend to rowing” day. Well, I’ve always had either a band competition or a race, so I couldn’t go. This past Saturday, however, I was able to go to it, and it wasn’t a mistake. I loved it. So I gave it a shot this past week and went to practices. It was a lot of fun, almost as fun as band practices. And the one thing they kept telling me was that it was a rhythm. You have to put the oar in and move with everybody else. I mean I do that in Band everyday so I thought I could do that. Well, it turns out that it’s about ten times harder when you’re trying to match the other people in the boat, not just reading it off sheet music. It was an interesting experience although it didn’t stop there.

In Marching Band I march the trombone, and at band camp it’s exhausting carrying that thing around. That’s why I could never march Sousaphone, which is a type of tuba, because I can’t even lift it. Though that wouldn’t be a problem for Rowers. Before practice they lift a very, very heavy boat, which they call a “launch”, down to the river. It’s not a far distance that they carry this thing, but it feels like it’s a mile away, or at least to me it did. I mean this thing is really heavy, and they don’t put it down and take a break. They just carry it for the entire trip all at once. And it’s not just for one boat. By the end of it my arms were completely done and my back was in pain. I don’t see how they can do that everyday. Again, it didn’t stop there.

In Marching Band and XC we did warm-ups just like every other sport, and so does Rowing. Though in Rowing you warm-up and then you do more exercises. And they’re not easy. By the second set of them I was already tired. I run for hours at a time, and these sets of three exercises have me ready to call it a day. I don’t know how these people do it. It was truly impressive to see. But guess what it didn’t stop there.

At this point they start the actual practicing, and at this point my legs were shaking. Wait hold on, we still have to carry our boat down there. That really heavy one we carried earlier was for the coach. So we get the boat and lift it above our heads. My arms are shaking and all I’m thinking is that this boat was going to fall on me. Then we get to the dock and I was convinced I was going to fall in while carrying the boat. I mean what these people do everyday is incredible.

Then after all of that they go out and row. When I went out and rowed we did two minutes rowing with two minutes of rest. For at least a minute out of the two minutes, I was saying to myself that those were the longest two minutes of my life. My legs weren’t tired but my arms sure were, and pushing the oar through the water was not easy to do. That was only for a period of two minutes though. These people do it for a much longer amount of time. Once again, it’s incredible to see.

The point of this article is to give credit where credit is due. You see when I say I run or I run XC others are impressed. They think it’s incredible a person wants to go to XC practice and just run. Though after this past week I can safely say XC practice is nothing compared to rowing. So here’s to the rowers. Because even after 70 hours of band camp I have never been this sore before. From lifting boats, to the lunges, to the ab workouts, to the erg and everything else it’s nothing that I ever imagined rowing would be. It’s nowhere close to easy, but they continue to do it everyday. And it’s amazing.

If you haven’t rowed before I highly suggest trying it. You’ll meet some great people and enjoy doing it. Though if you don’t plan to try it, definitely don’t underestimate it.