Wednesday, November 24, 2004

7.6mi, 62:31

The Innocence Mission, "Mercy"
Anthrax, "I Am The Law"
The Northern Pikes, "Wait For Me"
Philip Glass, end titles to Hamburger Hill

WX at 0700: 62 (17), DP 62 (17), BP 29.91 (1012), winds SE 3, light drizzle; mist, RH 100%

Odometer 1: 188.5mi

Z3. Much harder effort from legs, but upper body was all Z3.

Today was slow. I realized that when I was hoofing it to get a pathetically slow 12:11 split at the 1.5 mark. My legs were tired-- really tired, which makes me wonder how much recovery time is really needed after a long run like 10. My lungs and heart felt fine. The hard part was getting effort going uphill in any way. I won't be doing anything in the next two days, so I'll have some enforced break. Whether that translates into rested legs remains to be seen. I realized I had actually had a lot for which to be thankful, hence the last running mantra. I don't have to carry 210 rounds of ball for a selective fire security blanket with extensible stock or have to wear Interceptor Body Armor when I go to work. There are a lot of my nominal coworkers who do. Today.

I probably need to slow down on the eating. I'm starting to get dumpy again, in spite of my mileage.

Splits
1.5 12:11 12:11 08:07
2.1 29:53 17:42 08:26
1.5 42:13 12:20 08:13
2.5 62:31 20:18 08:07 08:12

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

3.8mi, 32:15

Wire, "Come Back in Two Halves"
Nat King Cole, "L-O-V-E"
Jakaranda, "Never Let You Go"

WX at 0600: 59 (15), DP 59 (15), BP 29.97 (1014), winds ESE 2, light rain showers; mist, RH 100%

Odometer 1: 181mi

Z2 recovery run.

Normally a pretty good day to run, not too cold, not too hot. I was still probably feeling sorry for myself after not getting the nod from the school I wanted to attend (maybe an indicator of how much emotional energy I tied into that application), and my legs were still tired. In spite of this and expending little energy, I still appear to be getting faster on my recovery runs.

Then again, the other thing I was thinking of was the cruise I'm supposed to be going on in the next week. It's probably for that reason that I was thinking of the film The Parent Trap (the 1998 remake)...and that I probably would not kick Natasha Richardson out of bed. Or Lindsay Lohan (now, mind you), for that matter.

Splits
1.5 12:51 12:51 08:34
2.3 32:15 19:24 08:26 08:35

Monday, November 22, 2004

rejection, baby

I have applied for two military schools which start in the summer.

I received a notice that I was not selected for one of them today. What makes it more of a kick in the nuts is that it's the one I really wanted to attend. It's located at Quantico. Nice try, no joy, no regrets, though.

The other is at Fort Leavenworth. Fingers crossed on this one. If not, then I'll just apply again. And again. And again until I either get in or run out of eligibility.

10.1mi, 80:49

The Army Band (Pershing's Own), "Dress Blue"
R.E.M., "Driver 8"
Velocity Girl, "Labrador"
The Innocence Mission, "Mercy"
Body Count, "Cop Killer"

WX at 0600: 59 (15), DP 59 (15), BP 30.17 (1021), Variable 2, mist, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 157.5mi

Z3 throughout. Actually not that hard, almost Z2 in some places.

What a shitty run. I mean, what a unbelievably shitty run. I stopped no less than five times today. Three of those times were to readjust shoelaces. One time was to keep from shitting myself, and the fifth was the unbelievably serendipitous port-a-potty that was some 400 meters after the last stop.

I almost didn't go 10 today, but after a weekend of literally nothing but eating, my conscience was calling. And it was fucking pissed. Why else would I subject myself to a song by a Christian alternative band for literally over thirty minutes as my running mantra, regardless of its considerable artistic merits? Karmic redemption did come in the last four minutes of the run as the thought of "dusting someone" (I was closing fast on another runner further down the street) brought Body Count back into the picture.

In spite of this, I did at least run about 8 minute pace for what was actually not a very hard run. Then again, I did get a few breaks along the way and one big one when I had to conduct what almost turned into an in-stride Class I package download.

Splits
2.5 20:08 20:08 08:03
1.5 32:16 12:08 08:05
2.1 49:37 17:21 08:16
1.5 61:40 12:03 08:02
2.5 80:49 19:09 07:40 07:58

Friday, November 19, 2004

7.6mi, 61:01

Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, "I Want To Break Your Heart"
Let's Active, "Ornamental"
Wire, "Silk Skin Paws"
Wire, "Free Falling Divisions"
Journey, "Only The Young" (how's that for a transition, jwer?!)

WX at 0700: 53 (12), DP 48 (9), BP 30.16 (1021), Calm, RH 81%

Odometer 1: 177.5mi

Z3 steady state.

My legs, most specifically, my quadriceps, are totally smoked. (Smoked Pork, should I say?) Even after yesterday's slop-a-thon, today was a respectable training zone run. And nothing more. I had to put in marked (although not gargantuan) effort to get the first split that I did. The 2.1 split was just unpleasant, but it also marks the longest hills in the overall run.

Splits
1.5 12:11 12:11 08:07
2.1 29:37 17:26 08:18
1.5 41:37 12:00 08:00
2.5 61:01 19:24 07:46 08:00

Thursday, November 18, 2004

5.1mi, 44:49

snippets of Liz Story, "Escape of the Circus Ponies"
Sustained Airborne Training from the 82d Airborne Division Airborne Standard Operating Procedures, Edition VI. All four single-spaced pages of it. From memory. Most of it, at least.

WX at 0700: 50 (10), DP 41 (5), BP 30.29 (1025), Calm, RH 71%

Odometer 1: 170mi

Z1-2. Five miles of trash miles.

Insert "Getting Stronger" song from Rocky and substitute the words "Getting Weaker." I forgot to hit the split button at the last 1.5 start. Today was almost a non-running day. I decided to go out if for no reason than to burn fat. I think that's about all I got out of this run other than a break, but my legs were not responsive today.

Splits
1.5 12:54 12:54 08:36
3.6 44:49 31:55 08:52 08:42

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

7.6mi, 59:24

The Connells, "Upside-Down"
Anthrax, "I am The Law"
Liz Story, "Escape of the Circus Ponies"
For some reason, I felt inclined to dig up parts of my past and recite various running cadences in the back of my head in my last mile. In the interests of political incorrectness, here they are:

Tanker Cadence:
I want to be an armor crewman
Live a life that's almost human
In my tank I feel no danger
Run right over airborne rangers

Left, Right, Kill:
Running through the jungle
Where it's hot and it's wet
You can't stop running
'Cause you ain't there yet
Well, up jumps a snake
From behind a tree
He says "hey there trooper,
you gotta get by me"
So I reach on back
And pull out my steel
I cut the sucker up
And I have a meal
Singing left right, right your left right kill!
Left right, right you know I will!

Running through the desert
Where it's hot and it's dry
You can't stop running
'Cause you're going to die
Up jumps a scorpion
From behind a rock
He says "hey there trooper,
get off of my block"
So I reach on back
And pull out my steel
I cut the sucker up
And I have a meal
Singing left right, right your left right kill!
Left right, right you know I will!

Bill Fogarty cadence from James Webb's A Sense Of Honor:
I can run all night. And I can run all day.
And I can run all night. And I will feel all right.
I can run all day. And I will feel okay.
Sentry, on guard, bayonet, in the ribs, in the middle.
Blood. Guts. Blood and guts...

WX at 0600: 37 (3), DP 35 (2), BP 30.32 (1026), Winds NNW 3, RH 93%

Odometer 2: 147.5mi

Z3 throughout. Some additional effort in no man's land going uphills.

I briefly entertained the idea of going for 10.1 this morning, and I woke up early enough where I could have done it, but I'm probably running the risk of overtraining if I attempt to ramp up my mileage that much in one week. Physically I felt fine this morning, but my legs are still tired. This marks the first day in a while I've run positive splits, which is rare for my second 1.5 loop. I didn't take the big hill in that loop at normal effort, and it might have made the difference, since I felt fine on the return leg.

The fact that I ran the 2.5 loop markedly faster is in no small part due to the relative flatness of the first half of that course, and that the hills there are not that big with one exception at the end.

When I was running at St Christopher's, our home course at Roslyn had two small hills before the downhill portion of the course. Roslyn was known for its murderous hills, but to a tactically smart team, they could use the hills to their advantage. The two hills were nominally called "Little Rills," but had more historically been known as "tit rills" due to their similarity to a certain piece of anatomy. Most of the hills in the last mile of my 2.5 loop are tit rill-like in their slope, and if you get enough speed from the previous downhill you can get some return on your investment on the next hill.

Splits
1.5 11:39 11:39 07:46
2.1 28:33 16:54 08:03
1.5 40:25 11:52 07:55
2.5 59:24 18:59 07:36 07:48

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

5.1mi, 43:41

James Horner, "Operation Reciprocity"
The Innocence Mission, "Someday Coming" (And no, I'm still an atheist.)

WX at 0600: 33 (1), DP 32 (0), BP 30.46 (1031), Calm, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 165mi

Z3 start, Z2 finish.

I was for some reason thinking I'd be able to get in a reasonably quick 7.6 loop this morning, but my legs were tired. Part of its was the 10 miler two days ago and part of it was running back to the turn-in point yesterday because I didn't want to have to wait for the aircraft to cross before I could start shaking out my parachute.

Today's first split convinced me to take a recovery run, so today entailed about 5 miles of easy slop. Based on how I felt, that's probably the right thing to do.

Splits
1.5 12:42 12:42 08:28
2.1 30:58 18:16 08:42
1.5 43:41 12:43 08:29 08:29

Monday, November 15, 2004

Jump 57, Sicily DZ, A/NT

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "Toy Symphony"

Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1115

WX at 1100: 53 (12), DP 28 (-2), winds variable 2, unlimited vis, RH about 37%

New policy changes almost scratched this jump. Almost ran out of time trying to get enough jumpers done. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The guys running the jump did their best to get the jumpers up and done, and made it happen-- a credit to the jumpmaster teams that did it.

I can't seem to catch a break. I caught another gust today and landed sideways. I had enough presence of mind to steer clear of any trails, to include the one where I broke my leg in three places four years ago. I did have a fairly hard parachute landing fall. Feet, calf, left hip. Ouch. Either that, or I'm starting to get careless, which is bad, bad, bad.

I thought I had a fairly good textbook exit, but my risers were twisted about halfway up to the anti-inversion net. Consequently, I must have goofed somewhere, but I don't know where. It looked okay, felt okay, but wasn't okay. I recovered in due course, gained canopy control, and steered to my eventual landing spot. Eight more to go.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

10.1mi, 77:03

Peter Gabriel and Deep Forest, "As The Earth Sleeps"
The Reputation, "The Stars of Amateur Hour"
snippets of Corrosion of Conformity, "Holier"
snippets of Velocity Girl, "Labrador" and Velocity Girl, "The All-Consumer"
The Connells, "Carry My Picture"

This was the morning of assloads of alterna-retro, The Reputation excepted.

WX at 0800: 35 (2), DP 26 (-3), BP 30.71 (1039), winds NNE 7, RH 69%, wind chill 28 (-2)

Odometer 2: 140mi

Z3 on level ground, Z4 going uphill.

The goal today was to run 10 in under 80 minutes, which I achieved with a comfortable 3 minute margin. My legs were still tired from three days ago; I think it affected the relative constancy of the splits, particularly at the end. I like running in this weather (today's clothing was tights, shorts, long sleeve shirt, and gloves, and no issues of heat management); if I can train consistently this winter I'm thinking I might actually be able to drop the 1.5 split below 11 minutes. That's the goal, at least. In order to do that I need to be able to improve my mile time by about 7 seconds over the given distance. That entails a consistent 7:25 mile pace. I'm not there yet, but I think it's an achievable goal.

I think I should be able to get there if I can sustain the 7.5/10 weeks described earlier.

Nothing planned for tomorrow. I'm anticipating a jump tomorrow morning assuming the winds aren't too gusty. It'll be the first time I've jumped Sicily Drop Zone (where I broke my leg four years ago) since 2002. It's less vegetated than Ste Mêre Eglise DZ, so with luck my parachute won't land on a stickerbush the way it did the last time I bounced off the ground.

Splits
2.5 19:18 19:18 07:43
1.5 30:41 11:23 07:35
2.1 46:57 16:16 07:45
1.5 58:15 11:18 07:32
2.5 77:03 18:48 07:31 07:36

Friday, November 12, 2004

5.1mi, 42:14

The Connells, "Fun and Games"
The Corrs, "Summer Sunshine"

WX at 0800: 62 (17), DP 59 (15), BP 30.09 (1018), winds SSE 8, light rain, RH 88%

Odometer 2: 130mi

Z2 with Z3 finish.

Absolutely nothing ambitious after yesterday. Today was warm with rain, so it was nice weather for a recovery run. I consider it a good thing that my splits even on easy days continue to improve. I hesitate to make any goals that might seem too ambitious, but as the winter progresses and I settle back into some kind of rhythm, I want to try to lay out the goal of a 7.5/5/7.5/5/10/off week, followed by a week of nothing but 7.5 with a day of rest, with the eventual goal of trying to get to 7.5/10/7.5/10/7.5/10/off. This is of course, dependent on my jump schedule, but it tends to dry up in the winter anyway.

Splits
1.5 12:20 12:20 08:13
2.1 30:07 17:47 08:28
1.5 42:14 12:07 08:05 08:12

Thursday, November 11, 2004

10.1mi, 82:35

The Bats, "Courage"
Metallica, "Orion"
Beatallica, "And I'm Evil" (for about 45 minutes of this run)

WX at 1100: 55 (13), DP 39 (4), BP 30.37 (1028), winds Calm, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 160mi

Z2-3. My body was still pretty stiff from yesterday's jump. Nothing ambitious except distance. This is my first 10-mile training run in a few years.

It was too cold (around 34F) for me to seriously go running at my usual time, so I decided to wait a few hours since I didn't have to go to work. Today is Veteran's Day, so I decided to go ten for the veterans who were or are actually in combat instead of the ones that are farting around waiting to get their fat ass deployed.

With that said, today's running mantra was predominantly these lyrics:

My mother wuz a witch, burned alive-ooooh!
And if she ain't my bitch, you'd cry tearz too
I'm evil

Now of revenge I sing, most evilly
The shit on you I'll bring, most metally
And I'm evil

Vengeance like mine could never die
Az long az my metal'z in me

Black is my Misfits shirt, I've 20 Eyez
Sleeveless shirt full of fuckin' dirt sayz "Darling Die"
And I'm evil

And I'm evil-yes, I am
And I'm evil-I am man
And I'm evil-yes, I fuckin' am!
(Die die die! Die die die! Die die die...)

Not very scintillating running lore, but damn does it have a good tune. The iconoclast in me can't pass it up.

Or lyrics that go "Fucking Sandman," for that matter.

Splits:
2.5 21:09 21:09 08:28
1.5 33:19 12:10 08:07
2.1 50:38 17:19 08:15
1.5 62:36 11:58 07:59
2.5 82:35 19:59 08:00 08:09

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Jump 56, Ste Mêre Eglise DZ, A/NT and static J

Michael Kamen, "Parapluie"
Michael Kamen, "Boy Eats Chocolate"

Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1045
WX at 1100: 53 (12), DP 30 (-1), winds E 9, unlimited vis, RH 40%

Today marked the hardest landing I've ever done. Ever. While I was facing into the wind, I picked up a gust from my left to right approximately 50 feet off the ground and hit going approximately 7-8mph. Then my parachute landed in a thorn bush. Thank god I'm not jumping combat equipment!

That was offset by going up and doing another static jumpmaster duty, this time on the last lift of the jump. My unit saves most of the JMs for the last pass, sometimes going up to higher altitudes (as I did a few months ago). Today, owing to weather (it was about 35F this morning at manifest call), there was no altitude above and beyond the normal 1500' AGL.

I was able to cheat somewhat by making my spots the lift prior, and it paid off. All my jumpers landed safely on the ground in spite of significant winds at altitude, but my last jumper landed near the tail end of the DZ.

All in all, I'm thinking maybe I'm jumping too much, but the opportunities are there and the risk is low relative to other places I could be jumping. So I'm still in the hunt. Nine more and I have a master parachutist rating...

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

5.1mi, 39:20

Eric Idle, "FCC Song"
The Corrs, "Summer Sunshine"
Michael Kamen, "The Mission Begins"
"Jester" from the computer game Terminal Reality (to keep me from beating the Band of Brothers soundtrack to death any further)

WX at 0700: 37 (3) DP 28 (-2), BP 30.43 (1030), winds N 6, RH 69%

Odometer 2: 125mi

Z3-4 no man's land.

Today was fast because I didn't do anything yesterday. But I was tired, and cranky, and the first song reflects. What a great song. Today was also fast because of the rather nipply weather that this morning presented. But I do love running in the fall, especially in November. Not so cold that you slow down, not so hot that you spend energy dumping heat instead of running.

2.1 leg was slow, I think because I hadn't warmed up yet and my fast twitch muscles were probably expended by then. The 1.5 splits are more illustrative of what I think today's real pace should have been, but I started tired, which is generally not a good sign. Then again, if I can run 11:17 for a mile and a half being tired, that's not so bad.

Splits. Last time indicates mean pace for the entire run.
1.5 11:17 11:17 07:31
2.1 27:59 16:42 07:57
1.5 39:20 11:21 07:34 07:38

Monday, November 08, 2004

Jump 55, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT

Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers Suite 1 (rather than 2)

Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1200.
WX at 1200, 70/22, DP 44/7, winds N 12, unlimited vis. RH less than 40%

Great weather except for winds.

Today was wacky. Cold this morning, followed by gusty.

I ended up waiting about six hours to get on if for no reason than the plane had problems getting guys out the door, then broke the anchor line cable after the sixth lift (two before mine).

Winds today were unpredictable. I gained canopy control as the last man out (a.k.a. "stick-pusher"), and then dumped air to try to mitigate the winds at altitude. I had some bad oscillations and the winds were such that the canopy would bump steer in descent. I was oscillating at landing bad enough where I was afraid I'd have a hard landing, but had a pretty uneventful right rear parachute landing fall. Probably one of the diciest jumps I've ever done because of the shifting winds. The jumpmaster was looking out the OTHER side of the aircraft due to winds at altitude. The panel markings on the ground (for initiation) were so far off the actual personnel release point that it was literally that far off.

I like being the stick-pusher, though. I had about a 200 meter walk back to the assembly point. Nothing bad about that!

There were parachutes left; had I felt sufficiently froggy I might've asked for another, but today was probably not the day for it. Not after a jump like this one. A little healthy fear is good. It keeps you careful. Oh, and I did remember my six-thousand count today also. Also a good thing.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

5.1mi, 43:29

Randy Edelman, "Hancock & Kemper Are Shot" from Gettysburg: 5th Anniversary Collection, disk 2
Michael Kamen, From The Earth To The Moon closing credits

WX at 0800: 44 (7), DP 41 (5), BP 30.02 (1016), Calm, RH 87%

Odometer 1: 150mi

Z2-Z3 recovery run.

After a hard night of drinking (1 x Molson Golden, 2 x Michelob standard, 1 x glass of white wine) and eating, today's run wasn't going to be fast. When the first thing you smell coming off yourself in the latrine is metabolized shitty beer, you know it's going to be a bad one.

I took my mind off my basic shittiness by contemplating what I need to do for my wife's birthday tomorrow. Card, cake, and gift. I have no fucking imagination. I just have to go get it.

Not surprisingly, my legs were tired after yesterday's run, so I wasn't going to do anything remarkable either.

Other handicap: I dressed based on the temperature at 7:00am, which was 37. Had I known it was going to be 44, I probably would have jettisoned tights and gone to long-sleeve shirt. I don't think it really made that much of a difference, but I did sweat more. Then again, that might get the rest of the alcohol out of my pores.

I'm not planning on running tomorrow as I have another jump, but who knows?

Splits
1.5 12:42 12:42 08:28
2.1 30:52 18:10 08:39
1.5 43:29 12:37 08:25

Saturday, November 06, 2004

7.6mi, 57:58

Jerry Goldsmith, "Take Us Out" from the soundtrack to Rudy
The Bats, "Courage"
Chris Stamey, "14 Shades of Green"
Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers Suite 2 (again, and again, and again)

WX at 0700: 37 (3), DP 35 (2), BP 30.10 (1019), winds Calm, RH 93%

Odometer 2: 120mi

Z3 no man's land. I was trying to get some good oxygen debt going, although probably more on the aerobic than anaerobic side.

I don't want to make a habit of taking long breaks from runs, but with my Desert Storm paper complete (for a correspondence course I'm taking), it's time to make up the training I lost and the to lose the fat I inevitably gained.

This was almost a personal record, but unlike the earlier time on 16 October, I was wearing some winter weather gear (versus just skivvy shorts and a t-shirt). The times were also a clear progression, and the last split (the most important) was significantly faster than the standing PR. I think had I been wearing less than tights, a sweatshirt, gloves and a headgator, I might have run faster, but then I might be slathering Vaseline over my legs to cover cracked skin. It's all relative.

I don't know why I'm beating one particular track from the Band of Brothers soundtrack to death (apart from its excellence), but there is too much of a good thing.

Then again, there is one song guaranteed to stick in your head for days afterwards, and that's Daisy Chainsaw's "Love Your Money." I ripped that song to MP3 from disk, but there's a reason I don't listen to it much...

Splits
1.5 11:35 11:35 07:43
2.1 28:01 16:26 07:50
1.5 39:23 11:22 07:35
2.5 57:58 18:35 07:26

Friday, November 05, 2004

Jump 54, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT and static SAF

Very appropriately: Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers Suite 2

Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1045.
WX at 1100, 60/16, DP 37/3, winds NNW 9, unlimited vis. RH less than 40%.

A gloriously great day for a jump. Clear visibility, breezy but not gusting. I also caught a thermal, giving me a birds-eye view of the drop zone from the drop altitude of 2000 feet AGL.

Today also marked the first time in a long time that I've properly verbalized my six-thousand count upon exiting. All too often in the past I've thought that I'd say it, but keep forgetting until my parachute had already opened. This is something I want to keep doing. If I don't have a opening shock and start to gain canopy control by the end of that count, it's time to activate the reserve parachute.

I had enough time during descent that I could actively steer away from the FLS. This is important. I don't want to land on the FLS, having broken bones in the past landing on a comparably hard surface. I steered past it with the wind and buttonhooked my landing. Longer walk, but my ass is in one piece, and that's the preeminent consideration.

I realized some 200 feet above the ground that I was running (steering forward in the same direction as the wind) and turned, but hit remarkably lighter than I expected for such a late change in direction. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Relatively soft landing, uneventful return. Not a bad ride for 2000 feet AGL!

On the down side: I was witness to the most fucked up recitation of sustained airborne training I have witnessed in some four years of jump status. Holy mother of god was this guy ate the fuck up. I don't like to correct other jumpmasters in front of other jumpers, but this was so goddamn unsafe that I had to chime in. To add insult to injury, he was reading off a script. Too bad he didn't bother to check accuracy or currency of his fucking prejump script! This guy was also the JM on my static safety duty. Things that pissed me off:
1 - He didn't bother to check static lines of the jumpers near the front. Never mind that we had more than 10 jumpers (the norm). End result was that I didn't finish checking static lines until we were almost a minute out from kicking troops out the ramp. Never mind that he wasn't jumping, he's a fucking static jumpmaster and he could goddamn help.
2 - He released jumpers early. He either couldn't spot the panels (which is kind of a goddamn SAFETY prerequisite, among other procedural REQUIREMENTS) or he decided to hedge his bets and guess. The drop zone safety officer called up to the aircraft to ask pointed questions about whether this was a CARP (Computed Air Release Point) or GMRS (Ground Marking Release System) jump. This was the latter, it's the way all the jumps with my current unit are done. This guy was just not there.
3 - He was too busy staring out the windows looking at jumpers to bother with helping prepare the aircraft for the next lift.

Notes to self - don't get paired with this guy ever again if I'm safetying. Give the sustained airborne training brief myself rather than witness another public abortion.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

SCRATCH - Jump 54 attempt

Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers suite 2

This is actually the second scratch in a row.

Last time I was waiting for the ceiling to lift and it never did. I ended up waiting about five hours on the ground.

Today it was only two or three hours. We were hoping there wouldn't be rain. By the time I'd gotten chuted up a few drops started to fall. Then it started and I knew it would get called off.

I harbored the hope that it might be light enough where I could get a jump in the rain (which I've done a few times, but not often). Jumping in the rain is not that strange; the parachute doesn't handle any differently, although it has to be policed quickly because it has to be dried out (to prevent mildewing of the nylon) before being repacked. The wacky part of jumping in the rain is often not clearing the clouds until you're about to land.

I did that once at night where I jumped in fog with a ceiling of approximately 250 feet. I remember descending seeing shadowy figures of parachutes in the fog near me, then breaking through the clouds a little above the trees prior to my landing.

I'm hoping for tomorrow morning, since I'm supposed to pull a jumpmaster duty tomorrow. Got another jump scheduled for Monday morning as well.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Some election day rumination

I'm cliffing my statements from jwer's blog, but it's probably worth mention and theft here:

I voted early, courtesy of the Soldiers and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940.

In a universe where I swore I would never vote while on active duty, it was with a sense of foreboding that I sent my ballot in the mail two weeks ago.

It is doubly fitting that I voted for the first time in what is a battleground state.

I voted my conscience and it is clear. I have no regrets.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

5.1mi, 42:35

Michael Manring, "Sightings"
Scott Cossu and Eugene Friesen, "Sanibel"

WX at 0700: 64 (18), DP 64 (18), BP 30.16 (1021), winds SW 6 fog, RH 100%

Odometer 1: 145mi

Z3 mostly.

Today I had to work a little harder to get the splits I did, but coming off yesterday's (comparatively) fast run off a week off, discretion was the better part of valor. I'm not sure what was in my head to spark the Run of Windham Hill from 1986, though.

Splits
1.5 12:28 12:28 08:19
2.1 30:19 17:51 08:30
1.5 42:35 12:16 08:11

Monday, November 01, 2004

7.6mi, 60:48

Circle Jerks, "When The Shit Hits The Fan"
The Cure, "Disintegration" (live)
The Bats, "Courage"
Cheap Trick, "Mighty Wings"

WX at 0700: 62 (17), DP 62 (17), BP 30.12 (1019), SSW 2 mist, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 112.5mi

Z3 throughout. Some Z3-4 no man's land going uphill.

Today marked my first good run since the APFT, and first legitimate run in about 6 days. I think taking a taper of that magnitude was a really fucking stupid idea, especially given what I did the two days after the APFT.

Thursday: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Except I was Dilberting my ass off at work before going to Washington DC. By itself, this was not significant, except that I was driving. Alone. Starting at 6:00pm. This was exacerbated by probably the most fat pill-laden day in recent memory. Ingested that day: 9 cookies, 4 muffins, two sticks of gum, two pieces of white cake with heavy lard icing, and for dinner, a Big Mac meal with medium fries (formerly known as "large" some twenty years ago), and a Diet Coke. ('cos I'm watching my weight. Ha.) And a Coors light when I arrived because it was free. (Thank you, Holiday Inn Priority Rewards!)

The next day, after arrival and four hours of sleep, was followed by breakfast. This was corned beef hash, three sausages, scrambled eggs, potatoes, two cups of coffee, two cups of orange juice, a big glob of grits, and a cup of yogurt. Lunch was sushi, but punctuated by six dumplings of deep fried gyoza. In soy sauce. And more Diet Coke. And more coffee. And a liter of Mountain Dew. Dinner that day was a tortilla pizza at La Casita, a restaurant in north Richmond VA. And more coffee. And hanging on for the drive back. I slept like the dead that night. And the next morning. But there's always more coffee.

Halloween was marked by excessive consumption of refined sugar products.

After this run, I feel vaguely cleansed.

Splits:
1.5 12:07 12:07 08:05
2.1 29:15 17:08 08:10
1.5 41:12 11:57 07:58
2.5 60:48 19:36 07:50