Maine Thing

A few months back I had the opportunity to go to Maine for work.  I had been there once before but it was a very quick visit and I didn't get to see anything.  This time I figured I would correct that and stay for the weekend and do some exploring.  I have never really done much exploring on my own, especially this far from home, not because I haven't wanted to but it just always worked out to go exploring with friends and family.  To say solo travel was a bit outside of my comfort zone would be a fair statement, but when in Maine! Since it was the National Park Services 100th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of Acadia National Park I knew that I had to visit, it was just meant to be. Plus it was only a 3 hour drive from where I was in Portland and who knows when I would be back, so that just made my decision even easier.

Before heading north to Acadia I was told my numerous co-workers that I needed to check out the Portland Headlamp in Cape Elizabeth.  It is probably one of the most photographed lighthouses on the east coast and it really didn't disappoint but maybe not for the reasons you think. I got to the lighthouse fairly early on a Saturday morning before most of the crowds would show up, remember I still had a 3 hour drive ahead of me. The place was pretty much deserted except for a few locals that were walking the cliffs with their dogs and a few other brave tourists like myself.  I took this opportunity to enjoy the sounds of the water crashing on the rocks and listen to the birds sing in the early morning light. After taking a walk along the cliffs and a little jaunt down to the rocks below I headed back to the parking lot ready to make my way up the coast.

More on that in the days to come...

 

Preamble

Backstory. A very literal back story in this case.

In 2012 I did something to my back that caused a disc to slip and get stuck in my nerve bundle causing a great deal of pain in my back and my left leg. It also resulted in my putting on a bit of weight.  I say a bit because I had already put on some weight before the back pain started so I won't blame all the weight gain on that. After a year of shots and pills and more shots and more pills and that bit of weight gain I mentioned previously I decided enough was enough.  I mean you can only have so many giant needles shoved into your spine before you decide you don't want any more needles anywhere near you or your nerves.  You could say my nerves were shot at that point! In the summer of 2013 I decided that surgery was the way to go.  I was still hiking up till a few days before my surgery and I was asked many times how I could be hiking with a bad back.  My answer was simple, it hurt either way so I might as well enjoy the scenery and be in pain versus sitting around focusing on just the pain. At this point I was tipping the scales at a whopping 240 pounds, so clearly I had been sitting around focusing on the pain more than I was out hiking but I tired to get out as much as I physically could.

After the surgery, that was pretty successful, my doctor recommend walking and general exercise to tighten up my core and hold those pesky back discs in place. It was by no means a speedy recovery and I honestly admit I didn't really give it my all that first year. Sure, I would try to hike every so often and go for walks but I had only dropped 10 pounds over that first year. Then one random Wednesday in June of 2014 I came to the realization that no one was going to do this for me and if I wanted to avoid having another back surgery I had to do something and I had to do it now.  I started by heading down to a local trail that runs along a river and I started jogging.  I only lasted maybe a quarter of a mile before I had to stop and walk but I had made up my mind, I was going to do a 5k until I could do one running the whole way.  It took me a while to reach that goal but I kept doing that 5k route, 3 times a week, slowly adding onto the distance I could run without taking a walking break. By the end of the summer I was running the whole route, it wasn't fast but I didn't care about time.  I was doing this for me and I only had to compete with myself.

When winter came around I switched to an indoor exercise program and I plateaued at around 220 pounds but I stuck to my exercise plan and would make sure I fit in a least 3 nights a week and an hike on the weekend when I could.  At this point the hikes in the mountains were good for my soul and my overall well being that I knew I would never be able to give them up.  But at the same time I wanted to get into better shape so I could explore more of the mountains and not feel limited by my overweight status. It was time I joined a gym with a trainer to show me how to  do things properly and get better results. Plus I am one of those people who likes to get what they pay for and I was paying a chunk of change for this so that would be good motivation.  That was in September of last year and its has almost been a full year since I started going to the gym and I am happy to report that I am now at a healthy 185 pounds, give or take a cheeseburger!

What is the point of all this rambling you might ask?  It is this: You have to do things for yourself, no one else is going to do it for you.  Sure you might have a great support system of family and friends that will encourage you along the way but they can't get out there and get healthy for you.  You have to put in the effort, the sweat, the pain and more sweat, all on your own.  But you know what else I found out during this whole process? I can do hard things and I can do them on my own. Now I am not saying I was alone for all of this and I have had a great support system in place but when it comes down to it I made the decision to change and no one could do it for me and I could only hold myself accountable, good or bad.  I chose the good and am glad I did.  It has opened up a whole new world of adventure and opportunity and that is what I will be blogging about from here on out.

-e  

Allow me to introduce myself

Hello. Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Eric and this is my blog.  I have attempted this whole blog thing before but kind of let it go by the wayside. But this time will be different, I promise. Since that first go around I have joined Instagram at the urging of my good friend Caity after many protests on my part fearing that it was all too hipster and I am anything but hip. That was 2 years ago and I have to admit I was very wrong about the whole Instagram thing and found myself addicted to it.  I loved finding new places to explore be it in real life or even just virtually, and have met some incredible people through the little photo sharing app. But I struggle with the insta part of Instagram.  I want to tell a deeper story, one that will serve as a journal of sorts of my adventures and the things that I have learned along the way.  Be it about myself or a certain trail or people I have met along the way. Hopefully you find this entertaining or beneficial in some way or another, it is my goal to try to uplift and inspire or perhaps just show you a new place to explore. I would love to hear your feedback along the way as well so please don't hesitate to comment.  I may not be quick to reply but I promise I will read each comment.

As I get this blog up and running feel free to take a gander through my excessive Instagram posts @e2the3. (I even put a little hyper link up above for your convenience.) But before you do that let my explain my username as people always ask me what it means.  Its simple really.  I have a very common name and as indicated above I was late to the Instagram party so any variation of my name was taken long ago, probably on day one of Instagram if we are being honest. When it came time to pick a username I figured my name was a nonstarter and quickly realized that any nickname was out as well, not that they were any more original than my name! So what was I to do? I didn't want some long bulky name with underscores and 15 digits worth of special characters. I wanted something simple that would also be unique and still be close to my name, which is how I came up with e2the3.  It is basically my own shorthand version of my name. The first letter is E, for Eric; 2 represents the second letter and 3 represents the letter C since I am Eric with a C not a K as I am asked all the time. That is it, no greater meaning just my way of trying to be creative with my very common name.

See you on the flip side! -e