It’s Official…I’m a Dragon Buster!!!

I am no longer a newbie. Wooo-hooo! Yesterday I paddled in my first regatta; am now officially a Dragon Buster; and earned the coveted sticker for my paddle.  :)  

For those who do not know me in real life, exercise has never been high on my list of ummm “likes”. I have never been a fan of the great outdoors (due to my bug phobia) and will willingly admit if put in a situation I am a fair-weather sports player.

So you can imagine the reaction I received when announcing I was going to become a dragon boat paddler. Everything from encouragement and the thumbs up to shock and stunned silence. Ha!

I will even admit…I was sceptical…and afraid…very, very afraid. What if I couldn’t do it? Have you ever seen a dragon boat race???  Well…me neither. BUT…what I had heard about it was quite daunting. It was a team sport where timing and working as a unit were required until the boat crossed the finish line. Eeep!  What was I thinking!?!?

After the first couple of practices I was hooked! I find a real sense of calm being out on the water. Even in the pouring rain. Trust me no one is more shocked about this than I am.

I know what has made my experience so awesome has been my teammates. They are an amazing group of women. We are all breast cancer survivors and more importantly we all look good in pink…thank goodness for THAT! 

In case you were wondering what Dragon Boating is…here is a clip (~3 minutes) from the Breast Cancer Challenge race yesterday. There were 2 heats; 9 boats in total. We were in the second heat with 5 boats racing. We finished 2^nd overall!!!  Our boat is the one with the black paddles. 

I don't know about you but I was exhausted watching that!  *wink*