Week One Done Down South

All 15 of us are alive and well after the first week down South. We have a few guests as well that are also in good shape, including but not limited to Peter Graves and Jamie’s mom. For the most part, we’ve been doing steady state and some cross-training in order to manage the adjustment to more sport specific training. However, yesterday afternoon, we all had the pleasure of pulling some hard strokes. Why does the adjustment back to more frequent rowing need to be managed?  Well, although it is only one of several reasons, I will let a picture of Charlie’s hands speak for itself:

Charlie’s Hurtin’ Hands

It also happens to be Clemson’s first home race today. While it doesn’t directly have anything to do with our training, it’s still good to witness a collegiate season being underway and cycle through those racing thoughts in your head. Additionally, we were able to chip in and provide some volunteers so that the regatta could go off without a hitch.

Clemson’s Varsity W8+ Headed to the Start

Now, I said everyone’s living and living well down here, and that’s true. Both houses have cooked some very respectable meals. One invention was the cornbread waffles pictured below to go along with Phil G.’s sweet potato chili. Despite our self-sufficiencies, we were still very happy to have two meals prepared by Craftsbury’s one and only Jon Flis! He and Annie Rowell, a friend and Craftsbury native, pit-stopped at our houses on their way down South. Their company and cooking was welcomed with open arms and aggressive bellies (respectively).

Cornbread Waffles

Everything has its equal reaction, so all this talk of visitors lends itself to a talk of departures. Three of our lightweights with their targets potentially set on sweep rowing now and in the future will be headed out this week for Oklahoma where there is a lightweight camp to start building a straight four for this year. The straight four (LM4-) is one of only two Olympic boat classes the lightweights have, so it’s in their best interest to keep in touch with these camps when they can. Consequently, both Phils and Kyle are headed out to OKC next Wednesday. As a result, they’ll miss Savannah style St. Patty’s Day, chitlins, my birthday, and other things that inconsequential to making boats move! While housing will become more spacious and roomy, I’m sure we will undoubtedly look forward to their return.