What's This All About?

This blog will be a journal of my preparation and training to make a summit attempt on Mera Peak, Nepal in October 2009.

I think it's a pretty common lament to say, "I was more physically active when I was younger. As I got older and started a career and a family, physical fitness fell by the wayside." A lot of people do something to change that aspect of their life. Whole industries exist to help people do just that. There are many health and longevity reasons to do so and quality of life reasons as well. Over the years, I've made my own few attempts at getting back in shape. I think one of the reasons I've failed in the past is that I didn't have an immediate and concrete reason to do so and instead had a vague feeling of, "Hey, I really ought to do something about that."

Now, after a 10 year physical fitness hiatus (marred by a few failed attempts to reverse the trend), I find myself with an immediate and concrete reason to get back into good physical condition. For the second time in my life I have the opportunity to make a summit attempt on a Himalayan mountain peak! Unfortunately, this time around I am not in nearly the physical condition I was in the first time I trained for such an endeavor.

I write computer software for a living and spend a lot of my free time reading, playing Go, or chilling out on the couch. Despite wishing otherwise, sitting behind a desk eight hours a day, eating whatever I want whenever I want it, and being a lazy slug for most of the evening hasn't prepared me well for a serious mountaineering expedition. Climbing the three flights of stairs to my cube on the third floor of my office building leaves me slightly out of breath. I think my current physical condition is accurately described by the cheery little voice I hear whenever I step on the balance board to play Wii Fit, "That's obese!" It's been a while since I played that game.

I have a year to prepare though. I believe that if I truly want to do this, I can. It won't be easy, and I have a long way to go.

So, if you're of a mind to follow the preparation and training of a decade long couch potato as he gears up for an attempt on a Himalayan mountain peak, you're in the right place.