It can be scary to look back...

So, if Dave wants to throw down some old photos, see if these two photos could possibly be of the same guy. Here's my college photo...full head of hair, dimples, even sideburns.

Here I am after a night of drinking and a long brunch at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Fortunately Kim and Laurie were there to keep the other folks from pushing us back in to the water.



Yes, it will be a really long walk!

Funny Before & After Photos

My wife was digging through old boxes today, trying to decide what stays in storage and what goes to Paris with us. Somewhere she came across a few photos of me from my Marine days. I thought it would be fun to do a little Nutra-Systems before & after comparison.


This is me, circa October 1990. Note, in addition to the cheesy 70's porn mustache, the noticeable lack of padding in the midsection. Note also the lovely accommodations we enjoyed while guests of the Saudi king.

Flash forward to my son's fifth birthday last month. Note the irony of the O'Douls resting on the beer gut - all the calories, none of the buzz.



Note also the fat guy lounging in the far left of the photo. Yup, that's Randy.

This is going to be a really long walk.

A Morning Walk

This is one of the times of the year that its most enjoyable to be outside in New Orleans. I just got back from a walk, watching the sunrise pop up over Lake Pontchartrain, with a cool breeze that made me say out loud, "Thank you for such a beautiful day!" No clouds, low humidity and temps in the 60s. Its the perfect "Chamber of Commerce" day.

How many mornings might be like today while walking across Spain? No matter how many, I'm sure we'll appreciate each one.

Getting in Shape?

Dang. Reading David's post was quite a wake-up call. Not because of how he's training for the walk, but by being reminded how good of shape he, and I, used to be in. We've known each other for a long time, so watching the increase in girth has been gradual and fairly inperceivable. The minimal daily changes sure can add up over time. To the point where I can confidently bet a beer that you can't pick me out of my high school yearbook. Double or nothing with my college photos.

Currently I'm 280 pounds, which is 80 pounds more than in college. Did you know that most folding lawn chairs are rated for only 225 pounds? Trampolines? No way. There are cars built today that David and I can't ride in at the same time. And if a shirt is a size large, than how big do you have to be to wear an "extra" large? I wear an XXL...

But I'm inspired by this challenge. I know the physical training will be harder than when I was younger. I trained for and climbed Mt. Whitney in a day in my 30's (tallest US mountain in the lower 48). I ran my first marathon at 40. But I sure haven't taken care of myself in the last ten years. Since moving to New Orleans seven years ago, I've gained and maintained forty new pounds. They've got to go. I've fallen in love with food with names I can't spell. I've forgotten what it's like to walk up a hill. My bike is covered with dust and sits on two flat tires. I drive to the market four blocks away to buy Blue Bell ice cream and Hubig Pies. But I know I can do it. It just might take a little more dedication than before. And maybe I can get David to carry some of my stuff...

Getting In Shape for the Trip

As you may have guessed by the name of the blog, Randy and I could stand to lose a few pounds. I'm tipping the scales around 230 these days, and at 5 feet 9 inches tall that simply won't do for a 500-mile walk.

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.

The Well Heeled Pilgrim

Silly me.

For better than 35 years now, I've been laboring under the mistaken notion that walking is free. I found out today how wrong I was.

Admittedly, I hadn't given much thought to the actual outfitting for this pilgrimage. Sure, I've had a list of gear in the back of my mind, at least vaguely. But beyond a backpack and some good boots, I really haven't given it a lot of thought.

In light of the fact that I'm moving to Paris in 47 days though, I've been forced to think about it more clearly for economic reasons. The fact is, buying my gear here in the U.S. will be much cheaper than buying it in Europe.

With that in mind, I headed over to Massey's Professional Outfitters today. Massey's is a local Louisiana outfit that has everything you'd ever need to conquer the great outdoors. When my travel has been extreme (-40 degrees in the Siberian Arctic in February, for example), it is where I've geared up. However, because their gear is top-of-the-line, it is easy to go broke in Massey's.

When I told the sales guy I was going to walk the Camino he gave me a knowing look and walked me over to the backpacks. There he displayed a dazzling array of the latest high-tech carrying equipment that could be relied upon to summit Everest.

No, dude. I'm going for a walk. A long walk, I'll grant you. But I'll never be more than ten clicks from the next town. He finally relented and showed me what he thought was the minimum acceptable pack for the job. It was beautiful. Internally framed with high-tensile strength lightweight aluminum rods, 60 liter capacity, integrated water system, a mesh/foam shield to wick the sweat from your back and keep you cool, this bag had everything. A far cry from the old-school ALICE pack I carried for years in the Marines. And bargain priced at $260.

To put this into perspective, I have basically spent the last 20 years of my life traveling. In that time, I've had my boots on the ground of four continents and dozens of countries. I've probably been thrown out of more countries than the average guy visits in his life. And I still haven't spent $260 on luggage. Total.

I tell him about a $60 pack I saw on Amazon and he almost falls over. He explains to me that $60 packs cause kidney stones, get you strip-searched by the cops, and often spontaneously combust on the trail, incinerating their wearer. I'm understandably skeptical. Sensing my resistance, he moves me to the next piece of essential equipment.

When it comes to underwear, I like to think I'm as exotic as the next guy. My underwear drawer boasts boxers and boxer/briefs. Some of them even have Homer Simpson on them! No tighty whities for this kid.

Imagine my surprise when I was presented with underwear the Space Program probably doesn't even have yet. I don't even really know how to describe these things, other than to say that they most closely resembled what you might see a fat German guy wearing at the beach. Minus the black socks and sandals.

The sales guy explained that at only $30 a pair (you can't make this stuff up), you were getting the ultimate in men's intimate apparel. Some kind of dry-weave technology kept the sweat off of you. You really only had to own two pair, one to wear and one to wash for the next day. There was even some kind of anti-odor technology. I really didn't want to pursue this line of explanation any further. The sales guy was on a roll, though. Plunging headlong into the territory of too much information, he volunteered that he was wearing a pair right now. Ughhh.

Boots, walking sticks, hydration equipment, the list went on and on. How early pilgrims made this journey with no money, begging the whole way, now sounded a lot more authentic to me. I could've easily dropped a grand in there today. It has inspired me to go swiftly in the opposite direction.

This walk is meant to be, among other things, a penance. Using $1,000 or more on gear to make the walk comfortable defeats the purpose. I have decided that my total gear budget will be $200. If the trek is more painful because of this decision, I'll be the better man for it. Besides, Catholic Relief Services could really use the extra $800 right now. I'll just take my chances with the exploding backpack.

Americano

Randy's last post reminded me of a great movie about the Camino Santiago. It is also the only movie I know of about the Camino Santiago.

The movie is Americano. It stars Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek fame (yawn), and tells the story of two young Americans in Spain for the running of the bulls. It is their last hurrah before entering the "real" world after college.

Jackson plays Chris McKinley, a recent college grad about to get on the career fast track. His buddy Ryan (played by Timm Sharp) is the stereotypical American - loud, obnoxious, whiney, and wholeheartedly convinced that a life of cubicle indenture is the promised land. Chris is more introspective and, when he meets a Spanish beauty who questions his life choices, he starts having second thoughts about the 40-40-40 plan (work 40 hours a week for 40 years so you can retire on 40% of what you already can't afford to live on). She introduces him to the Camino Santiago and gives him the perspective that there is more to life than money.

Along the way, the boys meet Riccardo (played superbly by Dennis Hopper), the archetypical expatriate bar owner (take it from me, I was one). He brings the kind of countercultural humor and experience that one would expect from an exiled barkeep. He swills absinthe with abandon and stages a politically incorrect reenactment of the running of the bulls inside his bar, using pit bulls and midgets. He's absolutely classic.

Watching Chris go through the decision process is what makes this film so compelling. Will he head back to Wall Street and make a buck? Or will he strap on a backpack and hit the Camino in search of an authentic life? The movie is well worth the price of admission to find out and the scenes of the Camino are beautiful.

If anyone knows of any other movies about the Camino, please let me know!