I left San Antonio around noon, had a layover in Dallas and left there around 2:15 in the afternoon. As soon as we got to altitude the pilot came on the radio and said some bad weather was moving in to Oklahoma city and we were going to head out West and try to come in from that direction.
The flight was supposed to be 26 minutes long and this extra distance was supposed to add about thirty more minutes on to the trip. Once we got out west the pilot came back on and said the storm was right over the city and we were now in a holding pattern waiting for it to blow out to the east then we could land.
After about another hour the pilot informed us that things weren't any better and we were now being re routed to Amarillo to get more fuel and wait for further instructions. By this point it was nearing 5pm.
We landed and immediately people found out about the tornado and started calling home. Jesse called me stressing since she hadn't heard from me in much longer than anticipated. After telling her where we were she relaxed a little and then told me about the tornado. It was unreal.
We sat on the runway for about another hour then got clearance to head to OKC.
The airport was pretty empty and the TSA agent I talked with said they could see the tornado out of the windows. I guess it was only a few miles south of them. I was very grateful I hadn't left any earlier in the day.
Naturally the damage was all that was being talked about everywhere we went and by the time we checked into where we were staying, I was thinking about asking if we could go help hand out water or something. Surely there was a job a bunch of blind people could do right?
Well not long after, the news was saying that they had so much help that they were just telling people to go back home. They were even sending first responders back because they just had so many. It's amazing how something terrible can bring people together.
Fortunately for everyone involved with the camp that was the last of the really bad weather. We had one day get rained out so they just gave us a really good workout at the boathouse.
This place is awesome! They have a huge indoor gym that we got to use frequently and a concrete shell of a boat, with ores, inside with those pools with the current on either side of it.
The first two days we spend there and on the rowing machines learning technique and how to row. The first day we did a 1000 meter timed test to see how fast we were and the sort of shape we were in. Most people there were in good shape and some had been rowing and had some experience. Most of us though, were brand new and I guess it was pretty obvious.
The only rowing I had ever done was at the CrossFit gym I used to work out at but I was a quick student and picked it up pretty fast. The hardest part is getting everyone to row in sync with each other. We had every sort of person. From 5 foot tall women to 6' 8" tall men so you can imagine it was a little hard to get everyone on the same page.
Our first day on the water was in what they call the barges. These sit 8 people and are very stable so we could just work on form and try to work together. Slowly but surely people started getting it together and on the next day we got to take out the real rowing boats which are around 60 feet long and again hold 8 people.
It was amazing how those things can tip. Half the boat would row and those who weren't were responsible for holding the boat level with their ores on the water. This turned out to be one of the biggest challenges for everyone.
If that boat wasn't level people would either miss the water on their strokes entirely or would hardly be able to get their ores out of the water. So much attention to detail and focus was required the entire time. Physically and mentally exhausting. I loved it!
As the week went on, we all got better and before long were moving at a good clip through the water. It's easy to tell, even without sight, when people were in sync or not. It either felt smooth and fast or rough and choppy. Turns out that as long as we blind people aren't driving we're usually pretty good at it.
On the last day we did the 1000 meter test again. If we finished in 3 minutes and 35 seconds we could be eligible for a VA stipend to train and work toward actual competition. By this point I wanted to do it but was totally exhausted!
I finished in 3 minutes and 38 seconds…barely missed the mark.
They offered me the option to try again that afternoon but I knew I was wiped out and wouldn't do any better. I gave it my all. I was kicking myself for not working harder than I did before the camp.
We found out that Austin has some good rowing programs and now I'm trying to reach them and work out transportation so I can can continue to train and take the test in a month or so.
Throughout the camp I was approached by a few of the coaches and was told I had a really good natural ability an if I wanted to get into it I should really pursue it. This of course encouraged me to do just that. Hopefully I will be hearing from Austin soon and can start training in a few weeks. Funny how something I've never tried can become something I want to do so bad!
It's always nice to be around other disabled veterans. The jokes we all make at the expense of others would not be ok anywhere else. There's a special bond there that doesn't exist anywhere else.
I took a handful of pictures and once I get help to figure out which ones they are we will be posting them for you all. There are short stories about some of the happenings during the camp that I will be writing about later but family is coming in to town right now and I just don't have the time. They will be coming soon though.
I want to thank the United States Association of Blind Athletes and everyone involved with the rowing program in Oklahoma for hosting such an awesome camp! Its' been a while since I've been worked so hard and man do I miss it!
Thanks to you all for reading and check back soon for more stories!
God bless!
Mike you rocked and rowed the Oklahoma! Way to go and amazing posting!
ReplyDeleteSound like so much fun! I am glad you got to go!
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