2.8mi+lift, 24:29, 28 APR 09, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Bear McCreary, "One Year Later"

WX at 1300: 59.0 (15.0) DP 45.0 (7.2) BP 30.33 (1027) NE 3 RH 60

Odometer 4: 193.4mi

Z3-4 run.
Average/max heart rate = no reading.

It's not usually my nature to spend long hours in the weight room. I was raised running cross-country, where weights and running distance were seen as mutually exclusive. In retrospect, I would have benefitted from some weight training at very low weights to improve strength and complement the endurance base I already had from distance running (I was running 40-55 miles a week at that point in my life and I was pretty thin, rather than the somewhat rounder shape I have now).

So, to give an indicator of what weight work entails lately:
3x25 Flat Bench Press w/ Olympic Bar
3x25 Incline Bench Press w/ Olympic Bar
3x15 Machine Row
3x15 Machine Military Press
3x15 Machine Pull Down
3x15 Machine Shoulder Raises (one arm at a time) (a.k.a. the Chicken Wing)
3x20 Machine Chest Flys
3x15 Machine Reverse Flys
3x15 Machine Preacher Bench Curls
3x15 Triceps Cable Pull Downs
3x25 Triceps Straight Arm Pull Downs (one arm at a time, elbow locked, wrist bent back)

Whether I can sustain this when I go back to work remains to be seen, as this weight work normally takes me the better part of an hour and a half. This may have to be an afternoon workout, which may also hold some benefits to actually doing this in a timely manner so I can get back and get the Princess and Sledgehammer from school at the end of their academic day.

I was pleasantly surprised at the run paces, although the temperature and winds were infinitely better than before, and maybe I'm getting into better shape if I'm holding an average pace of 8:48 for the return leg after killing myself on weights.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 11:36 11:36 08:21 08:21 1.39
1.39 24:29 12:53 09:16 08:48 2.78

6.8mi, 57:08, 27 APR 09, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
New Model Army, "Bloodsports"
Jimi Hendrix, "All Along The Watchtower"

WX at 1500: 50.0 (10.0) DP 48.0 (8.9) BP 30.09 (1018) N 18 light rain RH 92

Odometer 4: 190.6mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 169/180

I'd done my previously mentioned 12+4 ab work earlier today, but went out for lunch. I came back an hour and a half later as I was hell-bent on running the golf course block here at Fort Leavenworth three times (just shy of 7 miles), and today was a particularly good day as it was cold and rainy, my preferred conditions for long runs.

I found my fingers hurt a bit as it was colder than I anticipated, but after the middle of the second lap, I was warmed up enough where there was enough warm blood going into my hands to offset, mostly, the heat loss through exposed hands and fingers.

I probably should've worn gloves, though.

I was pleasantly surprised that I ran as steadily as I did once started - although these miles varied, they weren't off by much, which is encouraging. The average pace, once out the door, reflects this consistency.

Goddamn am I glad I'm actually doing PT more than once every two days...

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 07:59 07:59 07:59 07:59 1.00
1.00 16:35 08:36 08:36 08:17 2.00
1.00 24:56 08:21 08:21 08:19 3.00
1.00 33:21 08:25 08:25 08:20 4.00
1.00 41:40 08:19 08:19 08:20 5.00
1.00 50:05 08:25 08:25 08:21 6.00
0.83 57:08 07:03 08:30 08:22 6.83

3.1mi, 27:34, 26 APR 09, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Bear McCreary, "Roslin and Adama"

WX at 1000: 73 (23) DP 62 (17) BP 29.86 (1011) S 28G38 RH 68

Odometer 4: 183.8mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 158/175

As Roman Catholics, Household6, the Princess, and the Sledgehammer went to church this morning. As an atheist, I did not. I thought about a variety of things, but I also thought about my expanding spare tire and the fact that I'm about 7 pounds over allowable weight for my height, so I went for a short run.

Man, did that suck cock. Some of this could be attributed to the fact that it's 73F (rather than the 40-50F I'd been used to running at Fort Campbell or in Afghanistan). Some could also be attributed to the influence of increased lard, some of this could be that I just haven't worked out much and I'm out of shape.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:39 08:39 08:39 08:39 1.00
1.00 17:27 08:48 08:48 08:43 2.00
1.00 26:35 09:08 09:08 08:52 3.00
0.11 27:34 00:59 08:56 08:52 3.11

2.8mi + 6,000m on Concept2 Model D, time, 24 APR 09, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Dos Gringos, "Jeremiah Weed"

WX at 1000: 71.1 (21.7) DP 60.1 (15.6) BP 29.78 (1008) S 18 RH 68

Odometer 4: 180.7mi

Z4 on spinner.
Average/max heart rate = no reading

I forced myself to get out the door and do something, so I got on the Concept Model D (of which there are two at Fort Leavenworth, albeit one being broken) in addition to the Model C which had been there for, well, forever.

Getting on the Concept sucked, and was painful (especially given what I'd cranked out two years ago) but it's part of the road to recovery. Certainly it's an improvement over what I had back in Afghanistan.

I didn't expect drag factors that high, either, but I'll take them.

Splits
Total run time: 24:49

Distance: 6000
Time: 00:25:58
Per 500m: 02:10
Drag Factor : 195
Per Mile: 00:06:58

2.4mi, 23:46, 23 APR 09, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: some of Bear McCreary's background music to Caprica

WX at 1100: 64.0 (17.8) DP 59.0 (15.0) BP 29.79 (1008) NNE 6 RH 83

Odometer 4: 174.2mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = no reading

I decided to do the workout that Gunny sent me. It took about two hours to complete and you know it was a good one when you're too beat up to run fast (and get passed by someone who's not working very hard).

Still, it was a good chance of pace and something I probably need to sustain doing.

And yes, I went out and bought Caprica yesterday. Aside from the inveterate fanboyness of being a BSG fan, it delivered on the quality of writing I expected from the Ron Moore and David Eick crew. It is, however, a fundamentally different show. I'll be very curious to see how it gets trimmed for viewing on prime time TV.

No Splits.

I am home.

Last day of the campaign, 17 April 2009, day 430.

It's been a long trip.

7.1mi, 61:50, 16 APR 09, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Day 429 of the campaign.

iThink:
Tommy Keene, "Eyes of Youth"
The Cure, "A Forest"

WX at 0700: 45.7 (7.6) DP 41.9 (5.5) BP 30.29 (1025) NNE 5 RH 86

Odometer 4: 171.8mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 158/171

Today was the first long run in a while. I decided to see if I could go 7 or so, and while the start was ugly (partly because my hip flexors were sore) I was fully warmed up by about mile 5 and I was running substantially faster than I thought - in some segments, as fast as 8:00/mi, which is a major achievement after the last few months. It's been a while since I've run negative splits of that size.

Today also was punctuated by a chance encounter with one of my old bosses this morning, who is the current division director of operations, plans, training, and mobilization here.

Running is a little more difficult because of the lifting and ab work, but if I can sustain it, the returns will be there for certain.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:46 08:46 08:46 08:46 1.00
1.00 17:47 09:01 09:01 08:54 2.00
1.00 26:47 09:00 09:00 08:56 3.00
1.00 35:52 09:05 09:05 08:58 4.00
1.00 44:32 08:40 08:40 08:54 5.00
1.00 52:55 08:23 08:23 08:49 6.00
1.00 61:07 08:12 08:12 08:44 7.00
0.08 61:50 00:43 08:57 08:44 7.08

4.8mi, 46:58, 15 APR 09, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Day 428 of the campaign.

iThink: none.

WX at 0600: no reading.

Odometer 4: 164.7mi

Z2.
Average/max heart rate = no reading.

I was out doing PT for the first time in a while with a guy who had the moniker of Gunny, as the oldest guy in our plans section - from the last deployment, not this past one. He's been letting me live out of his place for the last few days as I get ready to boogie out of Fortress Campbell.

He runs pretty slowly, but that's a result more of extensive surgery on his back and shoulder more than being big. He cracked his back (I believe through a stress fracture) and then also had some work done on his right shoulder from an old football injury from a unit PT event a few years ago.

He doesn't run much (once every few months or so) but he's still out there bringing heat, which isn't bad for the amount of reconstructive work he's done.

Gunny also punishes me through a fairly disciplined lifting and core strength program that he's refined through his evolutions through physical therapy. He did three years ago in Iraq - no better opportunity than now to get back on the stick. This is something I need to sustain when I get back home.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
4.80 46:58 46:58 09:47 09:47 4.80

Some thoughts on my thirty-seventh birthday

A correction: I've been back in the United States ten days now. I was not in the close combat business, but I wrote plans that would ultimately have to be executed by those who were. One of the things I've never been able to completely reconcile is now I might have written better plans that might have made a difference for those who did not come back home.

Into sunlight they marched,
into dog day, into no saints day,
and were cut down.
They marched without knowing
how the air would be sucked from their lungs,
how their lungs would collapse,
how the world would twist itself, would
bend into the cruel angles.

Into the black understanding they marched
until the angels came
calling their names,
until they rose, one by one from the blood.
The light blasted down on them.
The bullets sliced through the razor grass
so there was not even time to speak.
The words would not let themselves be spoken.
Some of them died.
Some of them were not allowed to.

Bruce Weigl, "Elegy"

3.4mi, 28:56, 9 APR 09, Fort Campbell, KY

Day 422 of the campaign.

iThink: Bear McCreary, "One Year Later"

WX at : 53.2 (11.8) DP 34.5 (1.4) BP 29.92 (1013) SE 8 RH 48

Odometer 4: 159.8mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 159/177

Something shorter from yesterday. My legs are starting to feel it, but I need to get back out there and hit the road. This is the road to recovery...

So I did. The clearing quest continues at Fortress Campbell.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:31 08:31 08:31 08:31 1.00
1.00 16:52 08:21 08:21 08:26 2.00
1.00 25:40 08:48 08:48 08:33 3.00
0.40 28:54 03:14 08:05 08:30 3.40

6.6mi, 55:57, 8 APR 09, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Day 421 of the campaign.

iThink: Dos Gringos, "Heat Loves The Cock"

WX at 1200: 57.9 (14.4) DP 32.0 (0.0) BP 29.82 (1009) SW 7 RH 37

Odometer 4: 156.3mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 159.174

First run in a few days. Although there's plenty of time for scheduling a run, because there's not much to do during reintegration days, I also find that once I'm back from said activities, I need to force myself to do something other than just goof off. I got back from this morning's festivities (dental exam) and took a nap, which is downright unheard-of.

One of the great things about having a Garmin Forerunner is that I can run randomly around almost anywhere and still get real-time track to what I'm doing, so this was productive. Certainly, I need to get back on the stick, so this was a useful chance to shake things out. I think once reintegration is complete I'll get back to something approximating a normal workout rhythm. I hope.

The other thing that made today's run not too bad (once I was warmed up after the first two miles) was that today was about as nice as I've seen Fort Campbell in a while. It would have been criminal not to go out and run.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:56 08:56 08:56 08:56 1.00
1.00 17:34 08:38 08:38 08:47 2.00
1.00 26:09 08:35 08:35 08:43 3.00
1.00 34:28 08:19 08:19 08:37 4.00
1.00 42:48 08:20 08:20 08:34 5.00
1.00 51:07 08:19 08:19 08:31 6.00
0.60 55:57 04:50 08:03 08:29 6.60

Adios White Sled

I sold my daily driver of the last six years, a VW Passat station wagon. It had a number of names, not the least of which was the Kubelwagen, in homage to the German squad car of World War II, but my old classmate Mike Ripley is responsible for the moniker that really stuck, which was "The White Sled," in no small part because the car really looked like a wedge that might sort of resemble a sled.

I traded the White Sled in for a car which I've at least nominally monikered "the SVBIED." This was a running joke, inasmuch as the most common Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) in Afghanistan is a white Toyota Corolla. I briefly entertained the thought of a Corolla, but relented when the OPFOR Commander (also known as Household6) mandated that I get a larger car because a rinky-dink econobox was probably too small for what we really needed from it.

I'd joked about how I'd wear a headdress, drive the new vehicle in (a 2009 Honda Accord LX-P), and hold a cell phone like it was a detonator, and to top it all off, I'd do this from a car that had a vanity plate that said "SVBIED." Then I could count on getting tasered a few times for good measure.

Seriously, though, I won't get the license plate. I'm not sure how many people who haven't been to Iraq or Afghanistan will get that one. I also remembered how much I hate haggling for, and then buying, cars from an auto dealer.

5.1mi, 44:50, 5 APR 09, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Day 418 of the campaign.

iThink: Bear McCreary, "Diaspora Oratorio"

WX at 0500: 49.5 (9.7) DP 40.1 (4.5) BP 29.8 (1009) ESE 5 RH 70

Odometer 4: 149.7mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 146/167

The campaign counter is still running, because I am not home. I may be back at Fort Campbell, but I am emphatically not home.

This is literally the first PT (aside from some desultory lifting I did while I was in Kyrgyzstan) I've done in over a week. I was thinking about sleeping in, but I knew I needed to get back on the wagon. Quickly. While the opportunity permits. At least the run wasn't too bad. I was working on basic pacing and not running too hard - I need to build back up to mileage base once again, I think.

Kristin Hersh writes, "Jet Lag is a bitch goddess" and I have to agree with her. I was prescribed sleep aids and didn't use them two nights ago - which led to my waking up at 2:00am, wide awake.

I didn't make that mistake last night, and I got six blissful hours of rack.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:22 09:22 09:22 09:22 1.00
1.00 18:02 08:40 08:40 09:01 2.00
1.00 26:53 08:51 08:51 08:58 3.00
1.00 35:50 08:57 08:57 08:58 4.00
1.00 44:26 08:36 08:36 08:53 5.00
0.05 44:50 00:24 08:00 08:53 5.05