We are in California. And it is Awesome.

Hello again from Chula Vista. It’s been just a week and a half since we all recollected ourselves from across the country for our Christmas vacation, and we’re back at the training full bore. The holidays flew by for me, with just a few days at home in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area with my family before turning around and heading back to the OTC.

I was extremely fortunate this year to once again be the guest of the University of Minnesota rowing program during my time at home, and got to make use of their gorgeous brand new boathouse. Joining me on a few of the days was Left Arm Tan (do I have to call him that?), but we ended up not spending too much time erging together since I couldn’t share his enthusiasm for the Jock Jams Remix CD he kept bringing by. Regardless of Matt’s musical preferences, workouts at the Gopher boathouse weren’t too painful, since I spent them spinning away looking out at the snow falling onto the banks of the Mississippi. On a related note, I am happy to report that I am not the only Kalmoe that will be enjoying that particular view, as my little sister is signing on with the Gopher novice crew for spring semester. A big thank you goes out to the coaching staff at Minnesota for their gracious hospitality over this holiday season, and best of luck keeping the youngest of the Kalmoes in line! The good news: she’s already a starboard.

Moving on, we’re here now, and as expected I am delighted to be back in the Pacific time zone. The training center is essentially how we left it, sans a few choice (read: “delicious”) items in the cafeteria. Reportedly the kitchen staff is now to adhere to a “performance based diet” which disallows us from having fat or sugar of any kind, and which leaves past favorites like Frito pie and churros as nothing more than distant memories. Fortunately there is a new Trader Joe’s store not far from the center which stocks a steady supply of lots of things that have both sugar and fat in them so we are making due smuggling in contraband Joe-Joes and peppermint marshmallows.

Training is going well. We have yet to get the whole gang back together yet, since we are still missing Jen Kaido and Ala Piotrowski (whereabouts last reported to be in Vermont), but for all intensive purposes the whole of the women’s team is here, including Ms. Guerette and the lightweight duo of Jen Goldsack and Renee Hykel. And while we haven’t seen much of our kayak friends lately, we are sharing the lake with the men’s sculling group, the men’s lightweight group, and a small (“select”??) group of men’s open sweepers. The weather and the lake have been great for getting in lots of Ks, and the Otay cross-wind has been pretty mellow and manifesting itself more as a classic Carnegie head-tail, instead. We’ve been trying to focus most of our energy on making the small boats go, so practices have been long and really great for our tans. Elsewhere on site, we’ve started a new weightlifting regimen that has done away with old favorite, pull ups, in favor of new darlings box jumps, pile drivers and dumbbell pushups…among other things.

Nothing, however, can match up to the excitement of our newest other-favorite-thing-to-do-when-not-rowing: Pass the Pigs. Who knew that two tiny rubber pigs could provide so much entertainment? Even Malcos joined in for some of the ovine frivolity at one point, and I am almost certain it was after the commonly accepted bedtime for people her age. Whew! I have to admit that it is a more economically-friendly way for me to spend time with my friends since I've nearly broken the bank attending movies at the Otay Ranch AMC 12 (tally is five and counting).

We’ve got a few more weeks of training before our first bout with winter erg testing, so here’s to more 9 am practices and flat water; bunnies; proper sunrises over the mountains and sunsets over the ocean; a fleet of brand new Empachers; and a green weight room (no more plastic cups, hooray!).

See you out there,

--MK