Well, not really spanning the globe, but more like spanning the central U.S. Right now I’m in the Lansing Michigan regional airport, one of the few places where web access is truly free, and heading to McPherson Kansas to see my mother. Mom is 86 and lives alone there, so it’s always good to go check up on her, and to become a Kansan again for a few short days.

It’s great to be back in Kansas where the weather can be brutal, but the people are the best in the world. There’s no hurry there. No one tailgates you on the freeways, and people wave at you even if they don’t know you. They are always willing to help, and it’s just kind of like life the way it’s supposed to be.

How do I maintain exercise and diet while I travel like this? Well, I used to take it all with me. But the days of charging for extra bags, banning liquids in flight, and all that, make that less than ideal. So, what I do these days is to hit a Wal Mart as soon as I get in town, buy the RTDs I’ll need for my meals between “earth food meals” and that’s about it. If I’m in a muscle building phase, which I’m not at the moment, I take my creatine-based supplements in baggies and bring a shake cup with me. That shake cup is the Blender Bottle, which you can buy at better health food stores, GNC, and a few other places. Accept no substitutes. THe blender bottle is great! It has a stainless wisk in it; it does NOT leak or ooze. It’s almost indestructible. There are look a likes that are not that good, so be sure you get the real deal. It’s almost $10 but believe me you’ll go through five of the junk shake cups long before anything will happen to your blender bottle.

As for workouts, that’s no prob. I belong to the Y and that means you can work out free or very cheap at any YMCA in the world! My mom swims every day at her local Y so it just works out great.

I’m doing more running right now than weight training. I’m going to try to train up to a marathon, but we’ll see how it goes. A leg damaged due to nerve problems following a back surgery has created some weaknesses and structural issues in my left foot and ankle, so I’m going to get an evaluation to se if it is possible to use braces or orthotics to reach that goal. If not, then I’ll be on a bike or an elliptical again I guess.

Why a marathon? I don’t really know, except that it is a lofty goal for a 62 year old guy who really has never been a runner–and I’m big on “lofty goals!”

Leave some comments if you have time! God bless!  If you’re a runner and have never participated in running podcasts, here’s a website you should really check out!  www.steverunner.com