I have completed the first leg of my journey to South Africa: a trip by automobile from Memphis to Atlanta. I'm staying with a cousin of mine in Atlanta, and tomorrow I will fly from here to Washington, DC; from DC to Johannesburg; and from Johannesburg to Cape Town. I'm scheduled to depart Atlanta at 2:35 PM EST and arrive in Cape Town at 9:00 PM SAT on Friday. Lots of things can go wrong during air travel and I have my fingers crossed that none will on this trip.
For me, leaving home is tough. I'm really very much a homebody. As I said goodbye to my cats and drove out of my neighborhood this dreary overcast morning, I was overcome with melancholy. I do believe that ultimately the trip will prove worth it, but I've got several days of long flights and subsequent jet lag to get through first.
Last night I got a text message from Dawid Mocke telling me that the wind forecast looks good this weekend, but calms down for much of next week. So we're going to double up on my coached sessions Saturday and Sunday to take full advantage of the good conditions out on Miller's Run. I was sort of hoping I might ease into this program a bit more, but you can't pick the weather. I've never been very good at sleeping on airplanes, but tomorrow would be a good time to learn how. I do have a couple of benign sleep aids at my disposal (Melatonin, Tylenol PM).
Yesterday morning I did one last paddle at home: an easy 40 minutes. I'm feeling some soreness in my right oblique abdominal area, and it's sometimes hard to distinguish that from the rib pain. That's another reason I hope I can get at least a little rest on the planes and in the airports.
It could be a few days before I manage another post here. Hopefully the good times will be winning out by then. Thanks to everybody who's checking!
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