Moving and relaxing in the outdoors
The alarm is going off but I don’t want to hear it. It’s dark, it’s raining and it feels cold above the blankets. But I have an appointment, gather my courage and step on the cold floor.
Weather
I check the weather before I’m going outside. The rain and wind will disappear. I collect the rowing gear and ride my bike to the rowing club. It stops raining and it gradually gets light.
Photocredits: Remo Huigsloot
Up mileage
Once on the water the clouds break and the wind sweeps the air clean. The wind is still solid. I try to concentrate on my rowing technique. Because I only started and learning to row when I was older, it is harder to automatically learn the right moves. I struggle regularly with the sense of balance in the boat, the correct sequence of movements, to steer on the winding Amstel and to keep my concentration. Sometimes I feel like I never learn. Fortunately I also know that pushing through, relax and make a lot of mileage really helps!
Alone in the world
I look around me and feel like I’m alone in the world so early in the morning. Some people cycle along the Amstel on their way to work or school, but it is mostly quiet. Gradually the sun rises as a large orange ball on the port side and puts the world in a golden glow. I stop rowing for a moment and enjoy.
Flow
As I continu, I manage to get rid of the tension and uncertainty, to just keep rowing, to ignore the wind and to keep the peace in the boat. And then all of a sudden I feel like I’m flying over the water. In a flow I sail back and forth from Amsterdam to Ouderkerk.
Mirjam van Klink rows since 5 years at Rowing Club RIC, of which the last three years intensively. She also takes part in skiff-competitions.
Photocredits: Mirjam van Klink