Bad Knees and the Amazing Trip to Asmat

Even the airlines are down with CanDoTujuh, implementing mandatory weigh-ins.

On Sunday, I traveled to the Asmat area of Papua, an area just to the east of the Freeport project area (traveling from black arrow to the blue arrow on map).











It is said that ‘getting there’ is part of the adventure, certainly in my experience no where in the world is that more true than Papua. Travel infrastructure in limited and the terrain incredibly difficult. This trip involved a 45-minute flight in a Twin Otter above dense jungle and a 30-minute boat ride through swamps known to have danger critters like crocs (video in post below). The Asmat area is famous for producing some of the most famous ‘traditional art’ - previously known by the less politically-correct ‘primitive art’ – and for being the point of disappearance for Michael Rockefeller and the associated speculation about cannibalism which was still practiced in the area at the time.

Recent airline accidents in Indonesia would have compounded my concerns about getting on a small plane like this - until the pilot flashed Hook 'Em Horns.

Yeah boat rides!

Checking out Saturday morning mass while the locals check out the big white guy. All the buildings here must be built on stilts because the entire area floods when the tide comes in. All the buildings are connected with wooden walkways (of varying quality and sturdiness). The church is pictured here is certainly one of the biggest structures in the village.

Quite strangely, despite its isolation - not only is there cellphone signal here, but also Goodlink/Blackberry 'push email' service works. This service doesn't even work in most of North Dakota, which I suppose says something. Unfortunately, both this trip and the last week of workouts have been impaired by tremendous knee pain. I played in a basketball tournament last Friday night and am still having problems even walking. I have been pushing through the pain for cardio workouts and stretching but have been skipping any lifting for the lower body. I will try to do some light leg lifting and BodyPump tomorrow, with the hopes that the tough love treatment won’t delay recovery significantly.

Video of boat ride to Asmat area

This video is actually from on the way back to meet the airplane again. The tide came and allowed us to take this "short cut" through this set of trees instead of looping out closer to the open sea where the waves were much rougher. Sadly, the combination of video quality from small digital camera and compression system of YouTube make it tough to see well - but, I assure you, it was a wild ride.

Shout out to Albania (how often do you see that?)

To the newly elected Albanian President Bamir Topi, I have two messages:

One, congratulations. Two, good work.

Another success story

The last story I linked to was about a crazy race that made a ‘normal marathon’ seem easy. This story is another success story about a couple who made lifestyle changes that led to remarkable success in their weight-loss.

Last night I burned through a solid 2000 calories, including 1000 during a tough spin class. Hope to repeat the same workout tonight. Tomorrow morning I depart for a quick trip to Papa, where I hope to get in at least one day of high-elevation hill work. Next week I will be back to Singapore and will have the results of a full body analysis test.

Like that weekend I read the Hobbit

Not exactly. This one was much more physically demanding. Mentally, I'm not sure - perhaps a draw. Between Friday and Sunday, I burned through nearly 7,000 calories including 6 aerobic classes. And, it didn't have nearly the fat intake of last weekend's deep-fried fiesta. Pictured below is the star attraction. The googles proved absolutely unnecessary, too bad those don’t make similar protective devices for the arteries. I reckon all my work from last weekends was really just about un-doing the damage from this event.

In addition to a healthier life, this program is about being able to do so many things that I have never been able to because of my weight, including run a race - hopefully a full marathon. Here’s a story that makes that seem like a less than ambitious goal, even considering my starting point. Considered differently, it makes my goal seem so much more easily attainable.

Back to work

Sure, the weekend in Bali was really amazing. Good weather, good friends, and good times. I have posted a couple photos below. You can see some online photo albums from Heather and Dave. After a wonderful long weekend in Bali (which – as the photos indicate – including a break from the beer ban that stopped just short of Jager-zone), it was time to get back to work in a serious way. Pictured above has been one of those recents mega-workouts - I have been targeting to burn at least 2,000 calories 5 days per week. This "Super Bike" class involved 200 people doing a 2-hour spin class session. It was alot of fun (though my feet were killing me and the wonderful Jakarta smog seems to have given me touch of respiratory infection) and I burned 3,500 calories.

So, what's the plan going forward? April was major lost time due to sickness and work issues. Much of May and June were distracted by wedding preparations. Based on the way my pants fit and a marginal decrease in weight, it does appear I kept the BMI going in the right direction. I did a lot of leg work, including many Body Pump classes, which has provided strong gains in leg strength. But, in terms of body weight, there is no doubt I am off the pace of my goals. Next week, I will travel Singapore and will use the Body Mass Analysis machine to get a better sense of where both body mass and BMI stand.

The ultimate goal is to run Standard Chartered Marathon in Hong Kong early next year (around March or so), which means a few things. One, I've got some serious catching up to do. Two, my commitment is being extended beyond "one year" - in part to reflect a penalty of lackluster performance in recent months and also to continue preparation for this major event.