The following is reprinted from Row As One's Newsletter, Reach.

Zen Rowing
Sometimes the damn key won't even get into the lock. You know the feeling? FROZEN OUT! STOPPED IN YOUR TRACKS! IMMOBILIZED!

Time to break through, but the mind and body are tough enough to get out of bed in the morning, let alone crank the starter over to commit to a hard workout. After all, it's dark and cold and we're sick of the slush here when Bryant, Katie and Willard are wearing Hawaiian shirts. Time to try some Zen techniques to shake off those winter blues and get onto the mode of operating in a fluid environment again.

The first thing to crack is the guilt. We all have practiced icing down aspects of our souls and psyches that are prone to disappointment. Sometimes it's another person's voice, mom, dad, coach, teammate...but mostly, when we are masters, it is our own HABITS that need to be changed. As you prepare to make the shift from the dark to the light, here are a few items which may be productive to fighting the entropy of life in the north...or in the sloth.

A Whack on the Side of the Head. Really...but it's a book, by a fellow of the last name of von Ech. Creativity can be refreshing. Zen masters hit their pupils with a small switch. The emphasis here should be on SWITCH...not hit or small. Think about things backwards. Stand on your head. Yell, when you should be silent. Try one handed pushups. Create a set of pranks to play on your teammates. Buy some watercolors or felt markers and draw the stroke cycle and all your desires for the season. As Thoreau said, "foundations under your dreams."

From the Brandeis women's program comes this gaming suggestion for incentives for the team to push themselves:
THE YELLOW JERSEY: Taking a cue from our French cousins, the Brandeis crew has instituted a "jersey" system. Points are allocated for best erg times, best stadium performances, situps, pullups and benchpulls. At the end of each week, the yellow jersey is awarded to the current leader. Much hoopla and energy accompanies this presentation. Note well --- the productive energy and juices are rewarded, exactly the goal of the mental work that needs to accompany the fight against lethargy and sluggishness of the winter season.

But...we're not all collegians anymore, living in clusters, seeing each other every day. Mary Drennan of the Greater Columbus Rowing Association feels that masters women are "more self-motivated." She puts it like this: "team gets the RESULTS, but the individual has to put the time in ON HER OWN."

For fun and productivity, the buddy system has worked well for Drennan and her team. "The buddy system can work for people with the same work schedules, though most of us are mature enough to work out on our own." Columbus has benefited from talking to some of the friendly competitors from Marin Rowing Club at Master's Nationals. "We found out that they were working really hard all winter, we realized that we had to go up the next step to stay competitive. Time management became even more important, because we realized we had to work on the certain things that will really help on the water." Additionally, they found that they accrued great benefits from all belonging to the same gym.

Another point to remember about throwing off lassitude --- the phrase GOOD ENOUGH. Sometimes we are perfectionists and procrastinators based on desires to be the best --- or do nothing, don't even start. If we can learn bit by bit to do something GOOD ENOUGH... then we will likely do it more often. The practice is what frees the locks and the icy fragments in our souls, not the ideal of perfection that we hold clenched in our forebrains. Become an animal and START to move again. It's spring! All saps to rise!