Kraynak in Kabul: Run Forrest, Run!

There’s a lot of food here. They have four formal feedings a day. For the sake of the buttons on my pants, I only partake in three. The fourth is a midnight chow and I’m usually in bed by then, except for the occasional Saturday when I have to stay up late to watch college football. So I’ve had a couple midnight meals but they are the exception.

I treat every meal as if it is the last time I will see all the food available. You never know when somebody is going to take out one of the food delivery trucks or if Pakistan will close the border again. So In my mind, if I don’t get a taste of everything good they have to offer, I may not get the chance again. Who knows if jambalaya will ever make a return to the menu? And what if the ocean runs out of crab legs? I’d kick myself for not getting one last taste. And my favorite meal of the day, breakfast, features a made-to-order omelet station. It’s my responsibility to keep the host nation griddle master employed so he doesn’t turn into an insurgent.

If that wasn’t enough, they have a snack shelf. It’s full of potato chips from Dubai, Pop-Tarts from Battle Creek, and Beef Jerky from wherever Jack Links is manufactured. So you grab these and stuff them strategically in your office and in your room. Then my Mom and sister, Karen, send me a box of cookies and snack mix, and I ask them for more, and receive more. Then my coworkers get Tasty Cakes and they share. Then some random middle school sends care packages full of Girl Scout cookies, homemade cookies, candy and crackers. With a surge in troops came a surge in calories.

So after about a month, I was 8 pounds heavier. At first I thought the gravity was stronger on this side of the planet, and it was throwing off the scale. It turns out that wasn’t the case because of something stupid called physics. I then blamed the mandatory malaria pills for making me bloated. It turns out crazy dreams are the side effects of malaria pills and not bloating, and we’ll save that topic for a future post.

I’ve acknowledged there is an imbalance between calories in and calories out. So to compensate, I’ve started hitting the gym more, and running, lots of running. The perimeter road, in fact the only road, on base is about a kilometer once around. I try to do at least 3 or 4 laps each run. It turns out I’m not the only one who likes to run. Besides seeing many others out there for a jog, we’ve had a couple 5K races that I’ve participated in.

The first one celebrated the U.S. Air Force’s 63^rd birthday. Some Navy guy won it.

The second was for Hispanic Heritage month. Some white guy won it. In fact, the same guy who won the Air Force 5K. Apparently Navy submarines are great training grounds for distance runners.

The base has decided to suspend all future 5K’s until that Navy guy goes back home.

Below are some pics of Air Force Birthday event, my official 5K t-shirt, and the Hispanic Heritage month 5K run.