[CQ-Contest] Physical conditioning and contesting

[Dave N2NL]

     Beginning this past July, I made lifestyle changes in the way I
ate and exercized.  I never considered myself obese, since I always
made the Coast
Guard's weight requirements, but I was carrying quite a few extra pounds.  I 
often had knee, ankle, and lower back problems, the latter causing 
difficulties during contests after being seated for long stretches.
     Since then, I've taken bicycling back up, and so far have lost more than 
40 pounds.  When I'm not at sea, I've been averaging between 130 and 150 
miles a week on the bike.  I've noticed a massive improvement in the way I 
feel.  During this past weekend's CQWW CW contest, I felt absolutely no 
discomfort after relatively long operating stretches.  This suprised me, 
considering I was using a 5 gallon pail as a chair!  In addition, I felt much 
less fatigue at the end of the weekend, even though I'd slept only 3 hours 
since Friday AM.  
     This was the first contest I've participated in since I began exercising.  
Some may say contesting is not a physically demanding sport, but I beg to 
differ.  I felt dramatically better this time around, and it's great to see 
yet another benefit of my increased activity level.  This is certainly 
another advantage I can utilize during competition.
     While we're looking for any advantage to improve our score - new antennas, 
SO2R, ETC -  most people seem to ignore the most important thing, the 
operator.  When you look around at the next club meeting, you can tell 
there's lots of impovement possible when it comes to physical conditioning.
     My decision to make these changes was inspired in part by Bill, W4AN.  
Bill was an avid cyclist and someone I looked up to as a contester.  It 
really sucks not being able to share my story with him, nor ever have the 
opportunity to ride with him.

73, Dave N2NL/MM
Main Propulsion Chief, USCGC Thetis
Currently deployed at sea