Eddie Pinero

There are a few things that really stuck with me.

One of which is the number 712.

Let me explain.

One of the hardest things we had to do

was a 2,000-meter test on the rowing machine.

Kind of a requirement to see where you're at, a benchmark.

And the process, like I've explained before, it's not rocket science, right?

You sit on it, you set the rowing machine, or ERG as we called them, to 2,000 meters, and you pull as hard as you can and try and finish as quickly as you can.

There are, in my humble opinion, few devices on earth as torturous as that machine.

Still to this day, love-hate relationship with it.

And I remember on test day, just being in the middle of hell, right?

Doing my best to focus on the next stroke, the next five seconds, as everyone on the team was.

I always thought the middle thousand meters were the hardest.

First 500 meters, pure adrenaline, right?

You're just, your heart's racing.

You don't even feel it happening.

Last 500 meters, same, right?

Tougher, you're tired, but you can see the finish line.

And there's something magical about that, right?

There's something about seeing the end or feeling the end that takes the weight off.