One more summer in the office..

 Summer is now here! This past weekend was the Memorial day holiday which is traditionally the start of Summer (here in Texas at least). I hate summer weather. I usually just dread the arrival of it. The only bright spot in it, is that morning traffic is so much lighter that I don't have to leave as early for work. This year though I am really feeling a bit excited though as it will be my final summer to have to get up and go to work. Next year if I get sick of the heat, I'll just throw my camping gear in my car and head to the mountains for a break. But I still have to get through this one. I am feeling though that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. I've just over seven months to go until I will be retired! Once I get through this summer I will be in the home-stretch.

I enjoyed this past holiday weekend. I worked on a few DIY projects around the house. I drove to the big HEB store in Waco to do a good grocery shopping trip. They have a much better variety of vegan options there. The Gym was also open all three days so I got 3 good workouts in. Stairmaster (1200 -1800 steps) treadmill (45- 60 minutes) and rowing machine (15 - 20 minutes) My total workout time on Sunday was 1 hour 55 minutes. I am really enjoying the rower. It is a total body workout. I had initially thought I would just max it at 20 minutes each session, but I feel it is so beneficial that I will take it to 30 minutes. So I think for the summer I will aim to workout Saturday, Sunday & Wednesday evening.

Saturday and Sunday :

• Stairmaster - 1500-1800 steps
• Treadmill - 60 Minutes (3 miles) 5 minute warm-up, 30 minute 15% incline, 20 minute -3% downhill, 5 minute cool down.
• Rowing Machine - 30 minutes

Wednesday evening:

• Stairmaster or Treadmill - 30 minutes
• Rowing Machine - 30 minutes

I've a trip to Corpus Christi in July for a few days. Myself and my kids all renting a house near the beach. This will hopefully break up the summer with a bit of fun and sun... oh and lots of seafood!

Vegetariana/Shahakari/Vegitarian

 With the commitment to volunteer in both Peru and Nepal confirmed I now have to get serious about getting ready both mentally and physically for both of these trips. Yes I have been prepping for the past two years, and I have recently stepped up my workouts to a new level. This past Sunday I did 1300 steps on the stair-master , 3 miles on the treadmill with 2 of those miles at 15% incline. I also did 15 minutes on the rower. My total workout time was one hour and forty minutes. I am also still doing my daily yoga first thing every morning. 

I think though the hardest thing I am doing is trying to learn two languages at once. I don't expect to be conversational in either, but would like to know enough to communicate some basic needs or ideas. The Spanish lessons aren't too bad, but having been in Texas for most of my life I have been exposed to Spanish for most of it. Learning Nepali though is on a whole different level as the sentence structure is different along with the lack of exposure to hearing it spoken makes it quite the challenge. I am focusing on some key phrases right now - Ma angrezi bolchu (I speak English), ma USA bata hun ( I am from the USA). Dhanybhad ( thank-you) Vegetariana (sp) - Shahakari (np) (vegetarian) and learning to recognize numbers so I can read prices on items. It really is harder to learn a new language when older. 

I did have a mild panic attack this past weekend... wondering what the hell am I thinking traveling to Peru all alone. I really should just stay in my nice comfy home all safe, snug and cozy. But then I stop and think about the exhilaration of a new adventure, one where I step out of my comfort zone. I know I will love the volunteer work, I will love the trekking and I will love the culture of both Peru and Nepal. 

It's going to be great - I just have to step out of my box.

 

I guess I'm going to Peru!

 I did it! I committed to a volunteer position in Cusco, Peru in the early Spring ( Autumn there) of 2026. I'll be at one of three animal programs. Most likely it will be a dog/cat rescue center, but it could be at a wildlife rescue/rehab run by the University of Peru or at a Alpaca & Llama sanctuary a short distance from Cusco. 

My stay will run through the Holy Week celebrations before Easter and will be an amazing cultural experience. I'll also be able to plan a trip to Rainbow Mountain and then of course trek the Inca Trail. I will look into booking it in a few more months. It is also too early to book any flights, but that time of year the prices look to be quite affordable. 

Making this commitment really gives me the motivation I need to take my workouts up another notch.   

I am excited and happy to have finally made this commitment to go to Cusco! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Level Up!

 For the past few weeks it has been a struggle to just do my weekend cardio at the fitness center as I am usually exhausted from all the yard work I have been doing. Well I still had plenty of yard work to do this weekend, but I had made up my mind to step up the workouts. Saturday I started off with 1065 steps on the stair-master (this takes about 20 minutes to do). I then moved on to the treadmill. 5 minute warm-up then 35 minutes (1.5 miles) at 15% incline, then 20 minutes at -3%, then  5 minute cooldown. My final stop was the rowing machine. I did 12 minutes on it. Sunday was pretty much a repeat but with just over 13 minutes on the rower. So I have taken my workouts from 60 minutes to 90 minutes in a very short time.

 I'm feeling really good about it as I had worked for over 2 hours in the garden both Saturday and Sunday mornings plus cleaned house. I even played with my power-pole saw and chainsaw on Sunday and did a major prune job on one of my trees that had limbs hanging over and on my roof. Once I got them all pruned off I had to cut them up into smaller pieces so I can dispose of them. Several of the limbs were over 12 feet with numerous branches. Looking at them all I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the job, but I got stuck in and completed in under two hours. 

Just a few years ago I took on a similar job. I ended up calling in help before I got the limbs cut-up. It feels great to be in so much better shape that I can easily tackle these challenging physical tasks and then still go to the gym. I will admit my shoulders are a bit sore today, but that is to be expected when using a power-pole saw. 

I was chatting with one of the Inca Trail trekking companies about the possibility of joining a 5- day trek next Spring. They said they aren't that popular so it would be hard to book if solo. I would really need to plan on doing the four day. So after a bit more research I feel pretty confident that it is within my ability to complete. I've eleven months to get prepared and with the improvements I am making, I'll be ready!

Second Anniversary - Look at how far I have come!

 Two years ago I started this blog to document my journey to get healthy and fit enough to trek to Everest Base camp in Nepal. I also had the goal of volunteering there for at least a month. I was not in the best of shape and hadn't hiked more than 2 miles on easy trails in years. I wanted to get fit enough to take on an 64.2 mile hike with altitude gains of almost 21000 feet. Oh and I was 64 years old and I would be 67 by the time I travel to Nepal. Totally nuts right?

It has been a journey with physical and mental challenges. Overcoming self-doubt, knee pain, and stamina has been at times harder than I imagined. But I have stuck with it and have never given up. In fact I added the additional challenge of traveling to Peru six months before Nepal to do some volunteer work in Cusco and then hike the Inca trail. It is 26 miles with an altitude gain of 8225 feet. It will be extremely challenging as the altitude gains are much steeper than EBC. I am more nervous about it than I am EBC.

So what was my plan to get fit? I started with Yoga and breathing exercises. I also started meditating and studying Buddhism. Getting mentally fit is as important as physically fit. I then added a mini Stair-stepper to my morning routine. I went hiking once or twice a month. Started with two mile hikes and quickly worked up to four mile hikes the first few months. Late that first Summer my daughter and I traveled to Alaska. I had a hike up Mount Healy at Denali NP planned. I didn't even get halfway up. I knew I had a long way to go in my journey. I kept up with the workouts and eventually got up to 500 steps on the stair-stepper. That felt good as I struggled to do 50 when I bought it. For my 65th birthday I headed to Enchanted Rock and Lost Maples State Parks, I had  two days of some great hikes and they were getting easier and more challenging. A year into this I went to Cloudcroft NM. Hiking at 9000 feet on hills and doing distances of four to five miles. I did well, but I felt like I still had a ways to go. When I returned home I joined the fitness center. I concentrated on the treadmill at inclines of 3% to 15% and the Stairmaster. By Autumn I was up to 2000 steps and was ready to do some harder hikes in Colorado, including the famed Manitou Incline. Success! I was slow, but I did it along with several five to six mile hikes in the mountains. I was beginning to see a big improvement. 

I have continued my workouts at the fitness center. I gradually spent more time on the treadmill at a 15% incline. My birthday hikes to Enchanted Rock and Lost Maples were so much better than the year before. My time improved and I they had become easier. My Spring hiking trip was more of a Winter trip as Big Bend warms up very early in the year. I went solo and hiked 5- 8 miles a day with some challenging elevation gains. I was still slow, but I was successful at completing all my hikes. I was feeling stronger. 

Since returning from Big Bend I have completed full hour workouts on the Stairmaster. Fifty-five minutes on the treadmill at 15% with an additional twenty minutes at 6% to -3% . I have also added some time on the rowing machine and am increasing the time spent on it by 1-2 minutes each time. I haven't had much opportunity to go hiking as the weather has been lousy on the weekends. I also just don't get enough of a challenge on the trails around here so I just spend my time at the gym. 

Changes I have made includes not eating any meat, cutting back on dairy, and I rarely eat any processed foods. I do still eat fish, some eggs and some cheese. Just not as much as I used to. This change in my diet has really helped how I feel. I lost a few more pounds, my digestive system is much healthier and I just feel better. I consciously do my best to live mindfully and in the present. I am so much happier with my life. I still do a daily Yoga routine, meditate and read Buddhist lessons and wisdoms. I am slowly learning the Nepali language, and hope to have enough basics by the time I go to get by. I have already committed to teaching English for 8 weeks at a Buddhist monastery in Salleri, a village in the Everest region of the Himalayas. I will be committing to do Volunteer work in Cusco Peru probably within the next month. I plan on working with one of the Animal rescue centers there for two weeks.

I've just over eight months now until retirement. I will keep on the path I am currently on until then. Once I retire I will have about three months to really prepare for Peru. I will hit the gym daily with some intense workouts. I also plan on some multi-day mountain camping/hiking trips. I am so looking forward to retirement. The weeks are flying and I will need each one of them to be successful in fulfilling my goals.

Pictures from some of my adventures the past two years.

Switchback Trail - Cloudcroft NM

    

Manitou Incline with my daughter

Lost Maples State Park

Colorado Bend State Park

Enchanted Rock

Last Maples State Park

Denali Nat. Park

Big Bend Nat Park

Boquilas Canyon

Big Bend Windows Trail

Big Bend Lost Mines Trail