Glutton for punishment

I get seasick. I know this. It’s unfortunate, but very manageable. The only reason I mention this is because it prompted a visit to the doctor for some meds. What I wasn’t ready for was stepping on the scale in his office. I am by no means obese, but for the fist time in my life I topped 200 lbs. Not out of the ordinary considering I am 6’1, but still about 15lbs more than I carry at my target weight of 185.

I’ve also notices I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything I need to do to prepare for this trip, including making the money to pay for it. It sounds crazy, but the only thing I could think of to deal with it was to do more. It sounds counter intuitive, but I know I am out of shape right now. I figure if I can spend 45 minutes to an hour every day getting back in shape I’ll be much more productive than I currently am with the rest of the hours in a day.

Of course I signed up for a race. Only the fear of public humiliation can force me to put running shoes on in the morning. Plus, combine that with a chance to spend some time with good friends in Dallas and this is a sure winner. So, April 6th I’ll be heading up to D-town for the Big D Challenge. http://www.texasmarathon.com/ It also seemed somewhat serendipitous that this race is exactly 5 weeks away and Marathonrookie.com proposes a 5 week training schedule to go from non-runner to 5K ready. That’s three miles. Yeah, I had to look it up too.

On a totally unrelated note, I love me some pork chunks. I tell you what, I was incredibly skeptical about this canned meat idea, but they are actually very good. This wouldn’t have been discovered if I had followed my first instinct to though them all away after taking the lid off the pork chunks. The picture below doesn’t even do justice to how disgusting this tin of meat looked. It almost appeared cancerous with the little white specs of fat clinging onto it. Nevertheless, I put it in a pan with garlic, onion, a can of stewed tomatoes, salt, pepper and served it on top of a bed of couscous. Outstanding. It was really good. I’ve already gone through the beef chunks and boneless chicken and I can seriously give this stuff a good recommendation.

On another front, I’ve been thinking about how I want to document my trip. The blog was the primary outlet for relaying my experiences, but I keep thinking about the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. I agree with this when the photographer is competent. I am not a competent photographer. I also shelled out a few more dollars than I was expecting for a good digital SLR camera. This will let me take some professional quality pictures along the way. To make sure I didn’t just buy a really expensive point and shoot camera I enrolled in three classes at the Houston Center for Photography. First up, camera basics. Followed a month later with basics of composition. Hopefully this will let me bring you, dear reader, a story that is aesthetically pleasing as well.

Now, I am off to hoist myself up the mizzen mast to try and install my new 16 mile radar. Wish me luck. I’ll leave you with a quote from Francis Chichester. Chichester sailed round the world making only one single stop in Australia.

Nobody, I am sure, can be more aware than I am that my time is limited. I don’t think I can escape ageing, buy why beef about it? Our only purpose in life, if we are able to say such a thing, is to put up the best performance we can – in anything, and only in doing so lies satisfaction in living. – Sir Francis Chichester Gipsy Moth Circles the World