The Wake-Up Call

As y'all probably figured out from previous posts and/or the Twazzler feed, I was on the road for work this past week, back in Idaho.

It was a decent rotation; being away working for eight or nine days as opposed to 28 or 29 days was quite agreeable to me. I even had an exceptional session of urban fishing on the Boise River (again) prior to flying out.

I did have a major wake-up call on this trip, however (one that doesn't involve how much I dislike casting with indicators).

On the third or fourth day, I had to make a visit to the project site to check up on processes and such, which involved a solid 15-20 minute hike uphill. No big deal, right?

Wrong.

Some of my friends and I have an expression: "I didn't know whether to shit or go blind." It's used to explain moments of mass confusion or anger. In this case, after walking three-quarters of the way up, I could have modified the saying: "I didn't know whether I was going to shit or die, or die while shitting and puking all over myself."

Anyway you cut it, that little hike didn't do anything to make me feel good about myself.

This was (is) a bitter pill for me to swallow. I mean, I still fit into pants with a 34" waist and as little as a few years ago I was mounting a comeback in rugby, getting in decent physical shape along the way.

Note #1: the rugby comeback ended when I realized I like to tackle with the same shoulder I cast with. It's hard to cast when you can't lift your arm. Priorities, you see...

I even tried to justify my near-death/near-shit experience with the difference in altitude: Fredericton is about 65' (20m) above sea level, while this project site is pushing 7500' (2285m).

Note #2: I only know these elevations because I looked it up while being dizzy and in denial about my physical fitness.

But reality bites. Once my heart rate and breathing returned to normal (about 2 days later, I'm sure), I came to a stark conclusion: I am horribly out of shape.

As I plan on having countless miles of rivers, streams, shorelines and flats to walk in my future, this is changing. Right now. I'm working on a leaner, fitter and possibly meaner, version of me.

Note #3: 'possibly meaner' due to increased crankiness from lack of cheeseburgers and Twizzlers.

Note #4: I won't be posting any before & after pics. Or spamming your twitter/facebook feeds with my RunKeeper stats or the health benefits of some paleo-bullshit diet. For what it's worth I'll probably still eat Twizzlers and cheeseburgers. In fact, I have no real idea why the hell I even wrote this post other than to say feeling completely winded & shitty (not literally) after that hike sucked ass, and I'm already doing something about it. So if you're in the same boat, maybe you should do something about it too. Just sayin'.

Note #5: Ignore this tweet from earlier today. I'm eating in moderation.