Conditioning for a 27 month, cross-country foot race

Almost two years ago, I got back on the workout wagon again pretty hardcore (for me).  I started running almost five days a week and hitting the gym pretty hard also.  My motivation, you ask?  Probably the best money can buy: my wedding.

Me admiring my wife's guns on our wedding day after months of hard workouts and very few ice cream runs. 

I don't think at that point I was out of shape, but I certainly was not of a shape I wished to be.  It felt like I was on that border land of fitness where, if apathetically left unchecked for another year or two, I would start to take on something in between a solid and liquid state.  That was not the person I felt I was.  I love to be outdoors, hike, swim, and just generally be physically capable.

After about eight months of diligent workouts and after work runs, I felt that I was in the best shape of my life.  I was running several miles a day with ease and even ran a race with a pretty respectable performance.  My general health improved and I was a happier person.

Over the past month or two, I have certainly slipped off the wagon a bit.  Warmer weather, daylight savings time and the fact that I am (good lord) four months away from my Peace Corps deployment date, have given me a renewed desire to hit the gym and my favorite running path.  The good news is that I have been running sporadically and still have maintained a bit of my endurance, but I have some work to do to get back to the wedding version of myself.

My question is this, what kind of conditioning do current PCVs and RPCVs recommend for entering service?  I mean this more from a general health standpoint rather than a workout guru approach.

The drastic change in lifestyle that the Peace Corps often necessitates has the potential to unleash the fury on the soft American's body.  While foreign foods, water, and bugs are really out of my control, there are ways to approach pre-PST conditioning in a way that I think will have a beneficial impact on my body's ability to not only adjust, but to endure.

From what I have read, the majority of people, unsurprisingly, loose weight while in the Peace Corps.  This is probably due to the increase in physical activity, lack of processed foods and constant ability to snack or overindulge and, of course, the diarrhea diet (I know that I sound like I know what I am talking about on this last one, but I know that I really have no concept of its decimating effects).  Malnutrition can certainly be an issue over time as well.

My basic workout philosophy has not really been to bulk up or focus too much on building a ridiculous amount of muscle so I look like this:


Rather, I try to find a balance of strength and cardio workouts that suits my body best, which is usually weighted in cardio over strength so I don't look like this:


With the Peace Corps now in sight, I am wondering if I should look to bulk up a bit more than my usual regimen.  I know some volunteers have expressed concerns over losing muscle mass due to lower protein diets and an inability to workout as much.  Perhaps getting a bit more beefcake beforehand would help curtail this?

Kate and I have also talked about getting into yoga and pilates a bit more in case our living situation in Cambodia would not really allow for daily workouts.

Do PCVs out there find themselves loosing too much weight or feeling like they wish that they had been a bit healthier when they were initially deployed?  Also, do host families and locals seem to find it really weird when you exercise or go for a run to the point that it makes you want to not exercise at site?

What I will miss most (#7)

Number seven on the list of what I will miss most while in the PC is my pup: Boomer.

For those of you who have been redirected from my wife's various blogs, you know all about Boomer and her...idiosyncrasies.  Boomer is a small, timid (putting it lightly - think a terrified soldier about to invade the beaches of Normandy) and adorable dog that Kate and I rescued about two years ago.

Boomer tolerating her Mrs. Clause outfit at Christmas - she almost seems normal here. 

Boomer is probably one of the best, and punny cases, of an underdog.  She is dopey, scared and a Disney-level archetype of a dog who is constantly checking around each corner and barking at nothing.  We are approximately her fifth family after her first home where she was born, the home where she was likely beaten and abused (goodness help the person who did this if they ever meet me or Kate), the pound where she was taken next (they were about three days away from euthanizing all the dogs there because the sick bastards needed to paint), the rescue family (a part of a FANTASTIC DC-based organization that ships dogs away from high-kill shelters to areas of "high pet need"), and finally to us.

First a rant: we got Boomer when she was about four months old and about about ten pounds soaking wet.  This means that whoever did these terrible things to her did them when she was even younger and smaller than that.  Few people can understand the motives of pet abusers, but I find this case particularly disturbing.  Boomer has not a violent bone in her body - at her most rambunctious she will jump up in your lap and with great subtlety (read: unabashed and overt head to hand butting) will ask for you to pet her.

Her biggest downfalls are her obvious and chronic nervousness: quick movements, noises, and aggressive human behavior make her very scared.  To me, these are the obvious signs of a young dog who was abused at a young age.  This endears Boomer to me most days and makes me want to spoil her, other days it makes me wish that my dog was the dog that she could and should have been without human violence.

Other days, Boomer does things to annoy me to the point where I consider a Dexter-styled doggie murder where I leave no evidence and have some witty line as I make the death blow (disclaimer: I would never hurt Boomer, its just a sick fantasy I have when cleaning up her "gifts.")

Just this week, Boomer decided to have three separate accidents indoors.  I truly thought we were past all this.  She is typically fantastic with regard to self control.  Kate and I work normal hours at our jobs for the most part, and she very rarely has accidents while we are at work.  However, just as I am knee deep in what is surely a condemning silent treatment to her while giving her a bath (again) after she just soiled herself out of fear, she does something cute like get bubbles in her nose and sneeze uncontrollably for about 30 seconds while shaking her head like its being attacked by ants.  Of course, the excessive noise she makes while doing this scares her even more and she growls for the next 30 seconds.

I don't know why some days, but I will miss this Charlie Brown Christmas Tree of a dog very much while we are away.  We are so fortunate that Kate's folks are willing and able to care for her while we are gone and continue to give her the second chance at life she really deserves.

I know I have been post-aloof lately, but I will try to keep it rolling again now.  Lots of research and video watching on Cambodia has inspired me with some new thoughts and ideas on approaching our new lives there.  Never before have I been this excited and ready for an adventure.

What I will miss most (#8)

Number eight on the list of things I will miss most while in the Peace Corps is actually a potpourri of three things - brewing and drinking beer, playing video games, and watching copious amounts of hockey - what I will hence refer to as my manfecta.

In the past year or so, I have taken up the hobby of brewing beer at home.  It began with a Christmas gift and has since exploded (sometimes literally) into a honest to goodness passion for me.  I love feeling like a mad scientist in my basement while I boil, ferment, and bottle up to five gallons of testosterone extract at a time.  The ability to add one type of hops over another or a different kind of grain here and there to totally change the flavor profile is exciting.  It makes me feel like anything in the world is possible...perhaps not, but I've made some really tasty brew.

A real good oatmeal stout: the reason we all have lips.  

Its a great hobby for me because, as you might have guessed, I also like to drink beer.  I am not what you might call an over-indulger, I just enjoy different kinds of beer (usually dark) and the cacophony of flavor promised by a great brew.  Kind of like a low class wine connoisseur.

I think I will miss the process of brewing beer - lining up the ingredients and tasting the progression of my beer - more than actually drinking it.  Its remarkable how satisfyingly stress relieving it is.

The second leg of my manfecta is video games.  I can't really sugar-coat this one to the rest of upstanding and decent society.  Let me preface this next part by saying that, I have undergraduate and graduate degrees that both focus on peace and conflict resolution.  However, I really really enjoy slaughtering zombies, robots, and anyone else who gets in my way when I am zoned out on my Xbox.  Listen, some people knit, some people enjoy collecting shot glasses and baby spoons, or emulating Martha Stewart...I kill zombies.


My thumbs will certainly miss my Xbox while I am in the PC.  And is it just pathetic that I am kind of bummed that I will miss some of the cool games that come out while I am gone?

The last element that makes up my holy manfecta is hockey.  There are a few reasons for this one.  First, professional sports teams in my area are not exactly in their prime.  Holding it down for us of late are the Washington Capitals - my team.  I love watching them play, they get me excited when they win, and I am bummed when they lose.  I love the physicality of the sport and how intensely the players work at each game, and the limitless strategies and tactics a coach can use to win a game.  The rivalries are great too.  The (usually) peaceful displays of team loyalty at games are exhilarating.  Goodness help the unsuspecting Cambodian who tells me they are a Pittsburgh Penguins fan - I will need to use all of my conflict resolution training on that one.

For all the uninitiated hockey fans out there - Ovechkin (on the right in RED) is way better than Crosby (left, in the urine colored jersey, also he is the one about to fall face-first onto the ice).  

My younger brother got me into hockey, and it continues to be a fun way for us to bond and get together.  I think missing hockey is also an extension of knowing how much I will miss my brother.  One positive there is that we will always have something to talk about through emails and phone calls, as I will want play-by-play updates of recent games and otherworldly Ovechkin goals.

Ok Cambodian PCVs - I need some alternatives to beer, video games and hockey while in country.  Whatcha got?

What I will miss most (#9)

Number nine on the list of things I will miss most while in the PC is my home turf.  By this, I mean my amazing home and current state of Maryland (with a silent nod to DC as well).

As so many Marylanders will attest to, the Chesapeake Bay is a part of us, we by and large live in diversity, seafood is our bread and water, and we bleed Old Bay.  Maryland is my home state, but I don't think that is the reason I love it.  I have seen many other parts of the US, and many other parts of the world for that matter, but I think Maryland is something special.

I will miss blue crabs like I will miss toilet paper, but I am OK with giving the Redskins a few seasons to get their act together without me...

Of course there is a downside, there always is.  The traffic really really sucks - but that is only because so many folks like living in this tiny state.  We freak out in the snow - probably symptomatic of our North State/South State schizophrenia.  

Beltway traffic suuhuhuhuhcks...this is a typical evening commute for me...

I love that I know all the back roads (though Kate would probably tell you I know substantially fewer than I think I know), all the best places for virtually any cuisine, the weather (like 10 months out of the year), and the ability to get to either the city, mountains, beach, or beautiful countryside in about 1-2 hours.  The other day we had a beautiful 75 degree weekend day in February that is the kind of day that promises of Spring, lingering days outdoors, and a general feeling of freshness and happiness.  When we were thinking about all the things we could do with such a gift of a day, the possibilities were pretty much limitless - hiking at the mountain near our house (about 20 minutes away), down to the inner harbors of Annapolis or Baltimore (each about an hour away), into the beautiful town of Frederick where Kate and I got married and where we now often go for a great meal and beautiful walks (45 minutes away), or into downtown DC for some culture, shopping and some of the best restaurants on the East Coast (30 minutes away).  This is not an exhaustive list by any means, just a select few of some of our favorite activities.  

From what I know about the Peace Corps, having a basic routine seems like an essential part of life.  Knowing where to go in the mornings, taking the same route to work, eating many of the same types of food (rice) ad nauseam.  In many ways, these routines will mirror the lives of those we are helping and serving.  While the life I live in the PC will be totally different than my day-to-day in Maryland, there will be some parts of my life there that will seem repetitive after some time.

When those days come, I know that I will be longing for a hike up Sugarloaf,

or a huge plate of BBQ from Black Hog,

or a movie at the Silver Theater,

or sushi at one of my all-time favorite restaurants followed by a walk around the Annapolis Inner Harbor.


I am overwhelmingly excited for the HUGE change that the PC will be, but I also know that I will always miss home.

Missing "home" is kind of a no-brainer, but I am wondering what current and past volunteers missed about home that really surprised them?

Need vs. Want: What I will miss most (#10)

I am grateful to many people in my life, and am firmly aware that I would not be the person I am today without so much help, love, and support from my family and friends. 

In particular, I want to thank my Uncle John for something: the desire to earn the things I need, the passion to enjoy the things I want, and the ability to tell the difference between the two.  My life has indeed been privileged in comparison to the majority of my fellow man - I have never known true hunger or thirst, never been want for shelter or safety, and have always had an abundance of love.  I don't presume to stand on any high horse and dictate what ideals people should and should not hold dear, but I would argue that knowing the difference between want and need, and honoring both respectively, is of utmost importance to true happiness. 

This is not just preachy blog filler - I have a point, roundabout though it may be. 

When I think of the things, people, places, and experiences I will miss most throughout 27 months in the PC, I realize that even having these things to miss, is a fortune.  I do not worry that any of my basic needs will not be met in the PC despite that this may not be the case for those I am trying to help.  I know that so many of the wants and frivolities of my life will in al likelihood return quickly once my service is complete. 

Given all this, I want to make a list of the top ten things I (think) will miss during my service.  It would be far too easy to simply list these things in this post, and if I count down this top ten then it will be really suspenseful to see what my number one is, so I am artfully extending this idea throughout ten posts for your benefit.

Ill give you a taste though...

Number ten on the list of things I will miss most is my DVD collection.  I am a serious movie guy - I can watch virtually any genre and enjoy it on some level.  Of course, I happen to think my personal collection to be of primo caliber, which is why I will miss it.  I mean where else can you find a copy of Caddyshack, Beverly Hills Ninja, Jaws, virtually every sci-fi film worth mentioning, AND You've Got Mail in one place?  You'd probably need to go to a Blockbuster (do they still exist?) to find this kind of awesome variety. 

For me, movies call up much deeper emotions and memories in much the same way certain smells can conjure up thoughts and feelings out of the blue.  Movies for me are a way to bond with friends and family, provide a window through which to examine how things are and how they could be, and provide a means to put your brain in neutral and shirk the bonds of real life for a brief moment.

While I have many others methods of relieving stress that will hopefully be able to practice in the PC, reading, writing, running, and studying do not sound nearly as rejuvenating and ideal as popping in a favorite flick and feasting on cinematic glory. 

While my personal movie collection is number ten on the list of things I will miss most while in the PC, an honorable mention should certainly go to catching a new movie at the theater.  Kate and I are really great spouses to each other in this department.  We are really fair with our movie selections, and even if she or I disagree on the movie selection (which really does not happen too often), we each enjoy each-others' selections with full vigor. 

Going to catch the latest film is one of my favorite things to do.  Beyond that, movies are so culturally defining.  We embrace and reflect movies as we embrace and reflect food or music.  Missing out on two years of movie-going is like missing out on a chance to observe and take part in the history of one's own culture.  This thought is almost scary to me. 

A great solace however, is that while part of my own American culture may escape me while I am away, I will gain an understanding, and hopefully passion for, an entirely new one to me.  Will a dubbed Sino-Cambodian flick serve to calm my nerves as much as the experience of the Big Lebowski?  Will I get the same rush from non-stop kung-fu movies as I do from Empire Strikes Back (the whole Darth Vader as Luke's father scene still makes my knuckles white every time...)? 

Any PCVs or RPCVs out there miss movies while they are/were gone?  How did you cope?!

Cooking in Cambodia (I hope...)

If I have not made it known yet, one thing about me that you should know is that I really enjoy cooking.  Fortunately for me, I was instructed by some pretty competent chefs in my youth which contributed to my love of cooking and skill level in the kitchen.

By no means would I say I am a great cook, but I think I am a good one.  My cooking philosophy resolutely rests on the premise that you do not need a recipe and failure breeds success.  I wouldn't say that I never use recipes, but I seldom rely on them beyond an initial glance at ingredients and cooking times.  This helps me to really learn about making the dish I am making, kind of like learning a foreign vocabulary word.  Rote memorization only goes so far, it is the practice of recalling the word in random but appropriate contexts that helps solidify the brain's reliance on a new word-idea-pronunciation.  

I have a similar attitude towards travel - the best finds (restaurants, beaches, people, foods) for me are often the ones I find while lost (or pretending I know where I am going).  For the most part, I have a pretty high tolerance for uncertainty, so this outlook suits me.

With cooking, I love the idea that cooking is art, and art is unrestrained.  Some of the best things I have made have been by gut instinct decisions counter to the recipe's directions or a serendipitous mistake made without the ability to rectify.  More often than not, my dishes or concoctions, seem to just work out.  I am not trying to give myself a pat of the back here or say that I am constantly reinventing a better wheel than has even existed before, I am just saying what works well for me.

A note of trepidation I have about serving in Cambodia is the prevalence of host family living situations, over the option of finding and renting your own accommodations.  There are certain advantages to each. With a host family you are NEVER alone, which can be simultaneously great and terrible (especially for a young married couple); your language tends to improve dramatically as you have constant language partners who can correct your pronunciation, grammar, etc; there is a certain degree of safety associated with most host families as well as a bond that tends to be very strong.

My main concern here is not a deal breaker, only one of personal preference that I believe is an essential part of learning, and really enjoying, and new culture: if we live exclusively with a host family for the duration of our service, I may not have many chances to cook as a local.  It is exciting to me to think that I could learn a totally different style of cooking with ingredients that I may never have at my disposal again.

Curious to know if any PCVs who have only lived with host families in the PC have found the experience frustrating because they weren't able to cook.  Has anyone cooked for their home families?  How did that go?

Where are we going? Does it matter? It shouldn't.

Kate and my application to the Peace Corps timeline has been fairly unique from what I have read in other PC blogs.  We are serving as a married couple so we knew it was bound to have some differences than most others (only about 10% of PCVs are married).  I have already mentioned in previous posts that Kate has a blog that details, much better than I could, our precise timeline and the victories and challenges we have had along the way.  But, its worth talking about some of these points here for the sake of my post topic.

Right now you could probably, technically define us as either invitees or nominees.  Our respective online portals have been updated to show that Kate and I have indeed been invited, yet our actual invitation has been delayed at the PC office for about a week with no end in sight.  C'est la vie.  I flip-flop between feelings of relief that we are invited and the inner foot-stomping child in me that just wants it now.

Earlier in February we were actually given a choice of deployment dates when we were officially cleared to serve by our Placement Officer - to make a long and boring story short, we decided upon July 19th, 2011 and the region was Asia.  Now, if you are an applicant, I would buy you a beer and shake your hand if you could look me in the eye and tell me that once the application process started really rolling, you didn't do some serious Internet-sleuthing to try and figure out what country your nomination date and region might equate to.  I will admit that I did (do).  Therefore, if you take the date we are supposed (don't jinx us) to be deployed, and factor in that Asia is our region, then you come up with Cambodia (which has been July 19th for a few years now).

Its not a secret to my friends and family that I preferred an Asia post - I focused on Asian studies in college, speak (very basic) Chinese and lived in Beijing during a semester abroad.

A confession: Until recently, I thought it really mattered where we were going to be deployed in the PC, and I'll admit that I was hoping for some countries over others.  I don't feel that way anymore, and I haven't for some time.  To be cliche (and quote Aerosmith), "Life's a journey, not a destination."  I think that has always really been my mentality about the whole experience.  I trust in the wisdom of the bureaucratically laced Peace Corps to send Kate and I to an area of the world in which we can be the most helpful.  My temporary preference for some countries over others was really just a symptom of the world traveler in me making its preferences known.  I started envisioning myself more in some parts of the world over others.  This is a dangerous game to play.

Those that join the PC will likely be the kind of people who love to travel.  To a large extent, this will serve volunteers well.  Seasoned travelers have tricks and routines to help keep travel efficient and exciting.  But the PC is not a trip, its not merely a way to indulge your inner restless soul, and its certainly not a vacation.  The PC is a job that needs gettin' done, and a whole bunch of people have decided that you are the person to do it.  That is really awesome.  I don't take it lightly.

It turns out that I am a believer.  All those corny slogans and goose-bump inducing stories of success and service resonate with me.  What's more, they enthuse me.  For the most part, I am a pretty mellow person and it takes a bit to get through my fog of cynicism.  As a PCV I get an opportunity to help others that so many other Americans will never know.  A privilege of the privileged.  I complain a lot, if not aloud then internally, about the world as it is and how it could be a much better place.  The chance to put my money where my mouth is, is incredibly appealing to me.  In a really great way, I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.  I didn't think it was possible to feel this way after four years of undergrad and two solemn year of Master's work studying international relations broke my spirit.  Am I giddy?  

All this being said, I think there is a balance to be found between serving in an area of the world that you may have some knowledge of or experience in and realizing that the reason that you are there at all is not to just collect another stamp in your passport, but to actually make a difference.    

What's your take?  Are you a believer or is the PC just an avenue to finally having your dream come true of sleeping under mosquito netting?  Is there room for both?