My biggest obstacle to maintaining a reasonable weight is my age (39). A lot of you might think it has more to do with where I live and all the great food and booze here. That is certainly a factor but, since becoming a dad, I mostly eat at home and I haven't had a single drink in 3 months. Also, like most people, when I was younger I could eat and drink anything I wanted and I wouldn't gain weight. These days, not so much.
It's not like I lead a totally sedentary lifestyle, either. I chase 2 young boys around all day, and I walk 2 miles with my dogs at least 5 times a week. That probably doesn't sound like much exercise, but here in New Orleans it practically makes me a tri-athlete.
To be honest, I'm at a total loss for what to do to get in shape for this trip. Everything I've read says that it is more grueling than you think, and when you add a 30-pound backpack it's like carrying a small child on your back the whole way.
According to the accepted body mass charts, my ideal weight is 165 pounds. This is hard for me to believe because that is what I weighed my senior year in high school. When I came home from the Gulf War, I weighed 152 pounds and I looked like a refugee. I did not look or feel healthy at that weight. Frankly, if I could get down to 200 pounds before the trip I'd be tickled pink. If I managed to see 180, I'd dance a jig.
Looking back to the time in my life when I was in the best shape, it would have to be when I graduated Marine Corps boot camp. Fortunately, those results were also the easiest to measure, as every Marine must pass a physical fitness test (PFT) in order to graduate.
The PFT was broken into 3 parts, each worth 100 points. Obviously a perfect score was 300, and any Marine that achieved a perfect score was recognized by the President of the United States. In other words, it was a pretty big deal. I never got a perfect score, but I came pretty close.
The 3 requirements were:
- 20 pull-ups
- 80 sit-ups in 2 minutes or less
- 3-mile run in 18 minutes or less
I got the 20 and 80 no problem, but my best time on the run was 18:50, thus earning me a PFT score of 295. Now, when I think about being in the best possible shape for this journey, I think that I might have to adopt my old Marine Corps methods and just gut it out.
I'm pretty confident that I can crank out 80 sit-ups in 2 minutes with a little practice. The 20 pull-ups will be a little tougher these days because my shoulders are pretty much shot, but I think I can achieve this one as well, given enough time. The run is going to be the bear.
It really is a pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later kind of deal. If I don't put in the time before the trip, I probably won't last on the trail. If I can get back to that 295 PFT though, I'll be able to do it with no problem.
Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted.
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