Row, Row, Row Your Boat

At the end of last year, I signed up for a rowing challenge at the YMCA.  The challenge was to row across the state of Kansas.  That is 680,753 meters, or 425 miles.  I decided to do this.  I enjoy rowing and thought it would be a fun challenge.  For those that aren't aware, rowing is a great exercise.  It uses your entire body, but it is exhausting.  I averaged an 8:30 minute mile, doing 4 miles per day.  I initially thought this would take me about 7 months.  I was also doing zumba when I started rowing, so I would row about 3-4 days/week.  By the time June came I really wanted to get the rowing done, so I quit zumba and rowed every day.  That month I rowed 100,000 meters.  My goal was to finish by the end of August.  But then vacations happened, blisters formed, and the two rowing machines were constantly broken.  August passed and I still had 90 miles to go.  The two machines then dwindled to one, because one was beyond repair.  By the middle of October I had only 40 miles to go.  We decided to end our Y membership at the end of November.  I figured I could easily finish 40 miles in a month.  However, the very next day I broke my big toe.  I took two weeks off from rowing because of it.  I was beginning to question if I would be able to finish in time.  I went back to the Y and the darn machine was broken...for 8 days.  I rowed as much as I could that last week of November.  My toe still really hurt, but after 20 minutes of rowing it would go numb, so I just had to get through the first 20 minutes and then I was okay.  On the last day of our membership I still had 19 miles (31,000 meters) to go.  I knew I needed 4 days to finish that.  Lots of people told me to not worry about it, that I had just about completed it, but I was determined to finish it.  It was a ton of work and I wasn't going to quit that close to completing it.  Last week my friend was able to get me a guest pass for a week--5 days.  That meant I had to do 4-5 miles a day, as long as the machine didn't break and nobody else was using it.  The first two days were fine.  I did 4.5 miles and 5 miles, leaving me 9.5 miles to go.  On the third day I walked in and saw the chain and handle lying on the floor.  The machine was broken.  I really thought I wasn't going to be able to complete it.  Later that evening I decided to drive by the Y and look in the window.  The rower is right by the window.  I saw a guy using it.  I couldn't believe it.  In the past when the machine was broken it always took at least a week to repair it.  I prayed it would be working in the morning.  Hallelujah!--it was.  I then did a 10K.  That left me 3.5 miles to complete on Monday.  I again prayed the rower would be working Monday morning.  Thank goodness it was.  It was my last day of the guest pass.  It felt so good to only do 5700 meters and to finally have this goal completed.  The picture below is after I got home Monday morning. I'm holding a map of Kansas I had taped to the wall a year ago, charting my progress.  I've never been so excited to reach Missouri.  As a side note--about 12 people signed up for this rowing challenge.  Only two of us completed it.