Waiting for a Ride....

Well my trip to Afghanistan is almost over. I am sitting in Qatar (pronounced Cutter) waiting for my ride to Bagram. Nobody has a clue to when this could happen but everyone seems to think it will be within the next 5 days.......they hope. At least I had a chance to get off an airplane for more than a couple of hours. The trip started off on the wrong foot when we arrived in Tokyo and our flight to Chicago was cancelled. I guess they didn't feel like flying that day. So on the 20th of April, we finally got our flight to Chicago and after a little sweet talking a flight attendant we got bumped up to Business class for the long flight over the Pacific. The flight from Chicago to St. Louis was uneventful and I was excited because we should have had a day there to rest up. That didn't happen!! As soon as we checked in at the USO in St. Louis, they told us that we needed to be at the terminal at by 1500 (or 3PM for you civilians). The military charter we were supposed to catch on the 21st was bumped up to the 20th. So, long story short, there we were preparing for yet another flight without a day of rest. We flew from St. Louis to McGuire AFB, NJ; then we flew to Leipzig, Germany, birth place of Johann Sebastian Bach, and from there we flew into Al Udeid, Qatar. And here we sit waiting for yet another flight into Bagram. I hope that we will not be here too long because I am ready to get to Bagram and get to work. The next time I post I hope we will FINALLY be at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Until next time...

Headed Off to Bagram AB Very Soon

We are a week away before I have to leave for Afghanistan and I finally got around to setting up this blog to track my running and keep everyone up-to-date on what is going on in my life while I am over there and after I return. I hope that I can duplicate my fitness results from Kuwait (I dropped almost 60 lbs. while I was there) and this time keep the weight off for good. Along with the exercise, I really need to focus on changing my eating habits which will help me keep the weight off for good. It sucks leaving my family for 4 months but this will be an excellent opportunity for me to get back on track with my fitness goals and bring back newly formed "healthy" habits.

This TDY should be very different from most I have been on. It is going to SUCK carrying an M-16 & wearing body armor every where I go. I have never been to Afghanistan before so I am looking forward to this experience. I hope that this blog can help me stay motivated in reaching my fitness goals and that it won't bore everyone to death while reading it!!

Heather and I have a bet going on at the moment which started on her birthday 28 Mar 09 and will end on her birthday 1 year later. If I win the bet then I can look into getting a new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. If I lose, I have to go with Heather to a day spa and do girly things!! Needless to say I do not want to lose this bet!!

-THE BET: Run 1,000 miles and weigh 220 lbs. or less.

-MY ULTIMATE GOALS: Run the Naha Marathon in December, weigh 200 lbs. and have under 15% body fat.

Well there you have it, my first official post!! I hope that I will become more effective at this blogging stuff and have a good time while I am doing it. I don't think I will ever be at the level Heather is with blogging but I will try to do my best.

Ciao!!