{GETTING PERSONAL} PROJECT "GET FIT FOR ALASKA"

With our trip to Alaska booked, it's time to think about getting in shape for said trip. This will be the most physical trip we've ever taken (unless you count the agonizing process of lifting Guinness after Guinness to my mouth while in Ireland), and I'm in the worst condition I've ever been in. It's a combination of loving food & drink, being a bit lazy, having a body that's been broken since my days of dance & basketball, and having no energy whatsoever from my thyroid condition. Alas, we spent good money to go on a trip that will center on hiking and kayaking and I'm going to participate, dammnit!

So with that in mind, we've begun a somewhat low impact fitness regime that should help me build stamina, strength, and muscle. Basically, this involves walking a couple of miles each day, building up to longer, more strenuous walks that will really test my endurance and strength. With jacked up knees, and now a bum foot (I tore something while running through Heathrow in May in flip flops - not a lot to be done for it), we have to start small, but at least it's something ... and we have months before I really need to be in good physical health.

We also purchased me a new pair of killer shoes since the ones that I have aggravated my foot injury even moreso than it is normally. These shoes are not cheap, but so far my foot hurts less after our walks than it did before, so that seems to be a step in the right direction.

To keep track of this endeavor, I'm going to be photographing the process and posting to Instagram and Twitter. I've even created a hashtag: #getfitalaska. People in Alaska might start to think it's some local program for school children, but I was trying to keep the number of characters down. Oh well.

Here are two pictures from our hike in Joaquin Miller Park on Sunday.

I'd love it if one result of all of this newfound exercise was a reduction in the mass around my gut, thighs, and ass. I can only imagine that these areas will benefit from going from a completely static state to an active one. I don't know yet what I can do about my back. I've always had the back of a communist-era East German swimmer and I just need to accept that it's never going to be thin or lithe. In high school, when I was on the tall flags team, my wings (not sure what they're actually called) were awesome.

So there it is, a personal look at what I'm doing to get fit. We'll see how this goes. Wish me luck.