I have officially signed up as an athlete for the 2008 Transplant Games. I, in theory, am competing in the 800 meter (1/2 mile) run, the 5K (3 mile) run and a 20 K (12.5 mile) bike race.

Training goes slowly, as the weather here continues to be well below normal and when it does get warm, it rains, so I have lots of excuses on any given day to not go out and walk. I can walk 5 K without taking a break. This happens to be the distance from my house to the temple. I have even lightly jogged a few hundred meters in total of the distance in 10 -30 meter chunks, but have a long way to go.

At this point, even an 800 meter would be a walk/trot deal. Sprinting still seems unattainable, but hopefully I will get better.

Vidya goes into a heated pool every day and swims a mile and a half (2.3 meters). I rode in with her and went over to the 12th Street Park. There is a paved loop around it about 1.3 miles (2 K) long. I put on my skates on and took a lap.

Normally, when I used to think about those things, I would consider that I would have to skate three miles to get the equivalent of a one mile run. However, the problem is that while I can vary a walk to any speed, skating by its nature requires a higher amount of minimum energy. Hence, after one lap I was huffing and puffing and heart was racing so I quit after that.

The other problem is that when I skate regularly, I develop callouses on the upper side of my smaller toes. As this was the first time I had strapped them on and skated in years, I should have taped them but neglected to so by the end of one lap I could tell I was raising a blister.

I wanted to test out the skates as my wife has updated my gourd costume and, after a hiatus of several years, Gourdman is returning to a gourd show. I skate around and clown it up as a mascot at those shows, but due to health had not done so for a while. We are going to the Indiana Gourd Show next weekend in South Bend, Indiana, so I wanted to see if I still had any balance left. I did. I may not be able to do any aerials or fancy skating (that takes regular practice), but basic movement is still there and that is sufficient for the purposes of sporting the costume.

If you want to visit Vidya at the show, click the link above to the show for all information, including the “Maps” section to find it (bigger maps here). I will only be there Friday morning as my aunt is coming to pick me up for a visit in Chicago. I ‘ll be back on Sunday. I don’t have the stamina to pull off being the show mascot for the whole weekend this time around. Next year.

Actually, if anyone is Chicago wants to visit the show Sunday, you could give me a ride back.