Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Survival school

I signed up for survival school.  Since then, I have been running daily for pathetically short durations.  But even these uber short jogs are increasing my endurance.  I can feel it. 

I wouldn't have had the courage to sign up, except Jessica (googler friend who quit Google to teach at this survival school) said I'll do fine. 

I am becoming slightly obsessed about survival school, but am happy about this because it is making me live healthier.  I eat less sugar and exercise more.  How do people live healthily without a goal like survival school?  That is impressive.

12 comments:

Jeremy said...

Honestly, you'll have a hard time maintaining a healthful lifestyle unless you're self-motivated. A goal like survival school is all well and good, but what happens after you complete it?

Have you added in strength training to your workout regimen? Jogging is only going to help you get better at...jogging unless you fold in some interval training. It's a good idea to recruit more of your large muscles.

Anonymous said...

Good for you! I, too, think you will probably do fine in the course. You seem fairly reasonable, and more likely to analyze a situation in detail instead of becoming emotionally invested. You probably have a pretty good memory. Potential challenges might be: continuing to be a good, attentive listener when you're physically worn out, hungry, hot, uncomfortable, bug-bitten; staying focused on your objective; a quality I like to think of as suffering gracefully when you are utterly miserable, but still avoid whining or taking it out on others by being unnecessarily snippy (for most people, this only comes with experience--and we all have our limits, to be sure).

Anyway, best of luck! Let us know how it goes. :)

The SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman is an excellent read, if you'd like a broad, well-written review of general survival knowledge. As you may already know, each region and locale will likely have tailored techniques that are useful in exploiting the resources in that specific area, and make your job of surviving a bit easier.

Eater said...

You might like the Tracker School (http://trackerschool.com/). Tom Brown Jr. is the original gangsta of wilderness survival, and he still leads the classes in person.

Anonymous said...

The risk of death from various cardiovascular diseases should be a big enough goal in and of itself. Unfortunately, most people don't think of it that way.

Good luck on your training and survival school.

Yishan said...

I live healthily because my goal was vanity, specifically "increase the number of women who check me out." It has thus far sustained an unfailing motivation to eat healthily and work out diligently. We hope to hear stories about survival school!

Jess Lee said...

Wow. You never cease to amaze me, Niniane. I have a friend who we refer to as a "man of excellence" because whenever he picks up a new hobby, he makes sure he becomes excellent at it -- rock climbing, professional cooking, etc. You are a woman of excellence! I thought it was very cool that you got a singing teacher to become better at karaoke, and now you're not just learning how to make a fire, you're GOING TO BE IN THE WILD FOR A WEEK! Crazy! But very impressive : )

Anonymous said...

Come back alive and in one piece! Then you'll be a "minted" survivor.

Here's for some inspiration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFBrgeSjj-0

N said...

Jess Lee, is the man of excellence Charles Martin? Because he is the most "Man of Excellence" man that I know. I'm not even running the risk of offending other men by saying this, because they all agree with this.

I'm embarrassed that you included karaoke, because I am still bad at singing! I just went from terrible to mediocre.

But thank you very much. Your support is really wonderful.

N said...

Thanks Anonymous -- I like the trailer! The graphics look excellent, esp the scene with the big cruiser ship.

N said...

Is the trailer inspiration for me to come back alive so that I can play the game?

N said...

Thanks Perl Hacker. I do want to focus on being graceful and not whining. I figure that I'm almost certain to be the slowest member of the group (since many other students run triathlons and are super fit), so I can make up with my slowness by not being a whiner.

N said...

Jeremy, I can sign up for more survival school trips and other hiking adventures! i can do Alps and Everest base camp and other hikes!