Best. Gift. Ever.

My students were paying attention this past year! Only they would grab onto one of the expressions I said while teaching joint operational art and turn it into the best damn gift ever.

My teaching partner said this class was "challenging" in many ways, and that was an apt moniker. I was glad when my students would take things head on and challenge me - it meant they had taken ownership of the coursework. As a teacher I could not ask for more.

Roll Call

Gone, but not forgotten:

2LT Tom Witt - Fort Hood, Texas, April 1995
CW2 Aaron Weaver - near Fallujah, al-Anbar governorate, Iraq, January 2004
SFC Don Eacho - Ramadi, al-Anbar governorate, Iraq, March 2005
CW4 Matt Lourey - Buhriz, Diyala governorate, Iraq, May 2005
MAJ Matt Worrell - Yusufiyah, Baghdad governorate, Iraq, May 2006
CW4 Bill Engeman - Baghdad, Baghdad governorate, Iraq, May 2006
SGT Jason Swiger - Baqubah, Diyala governorate, Iraq, March 2007
CPT Jon Grassbaugh - Zaganiyah, Diyala governorate, Iraq, April 2007
SGT Eric Holke - Tallil, Dhi Qar governorate, Iraq, July 2007
SFC Gary Vasquez - Yakchal, Helmand province, Afghanistan, September 2008
MAJ Brian Mescall - Qalat, Zabul province, Afghanistan, January 2009
CW4 Niall Lyons - Darreh-ye Bum, Baghdis province, Afghanistan, October 2009
CPT Dan Whitten - near Forward Operating Base Sweeney, Zabul province, Afghanistan, February 2010
LTC Rob Baldwin - Ayatalah, Zabul province, Afghanistan, September 2010

And while I've posted this one before, it warrants repetition:

If you are able, save for them a place inside of you
and save one backward glance when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say you loved them,
though you may or may not have always.
Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.

And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.

MAJ Michael Davis O'Donnell, "Remember Them"
1 January 1970, Dak To, Vietnam

A different kind of memorial

I'll post my thoughts on Memorial Day under separate correspondence, but I was, as is my custom, watching the final of the NCAA Division I lacrosse championship, this year between Maryland and Virginia.

I found myself, a diehard Johns Hopkins lacrosse fan, in the unusual spot of cheering for the Maryland Terrapins. The Terps' road was particularly difficult for one player, Ryan Young, whose mother died of pancreatic cancer this past season. While she had been memorialized by the purple shirts the coaching and support staff wore, as well as the MY (for Maria Young) stickers on their helmets, this particular tribute (left) was the most poignant for me. Ryan's twin brother and older brother before him both played for Duke, so they had skin in the game as well.

I was disappointed that Maryland didn't prevail - but one could also argue that Virginia had a bumpy ride to the championship as well. Between relieving two of their starting midfielders for violating team rules, as well as losing other key players along the way, there were few, if any, who predicted that Virginia would go all the way to the national championship. I find it particularly notable that Bray Malphrus, one of the captains of the Virginia team, specifically emphasized that Virginia lacrosse (especially after the incidents surrounding the death of Yeardley Love last year) needed to change its public image. Not too often you see that realization in public among players of a sport normally stereotyped as a sport of sons of privilege.

Congratulations to Virginia and Maryland for their achievements this year.

5.33mi, 48:57, 30 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: The Lemonheads, "Steve's Boy"

WX at 0900: 75.9 (24.4) DP 64.0 (17.8) BP 29.81 (1009) S 23 RH 66

Odometer 11A: 84.8mi

Z3 high.
Average/max heart rate = 156/177

Today was a slow run, partly because my legs are still tired, partly because I slept far too late last night. But today's Memorial Day, and I needed to run. I knew I'd start alongside the cemetery, where flags have been placed in front of the gravestones.

I'm preparing an old Win98 box for sale or recycle. I've had the computer 12 years now and it's time to let it go. I'd hung onto it for a while because I wanted something on which I could play Star Wars Episode I: Racer and Wing Commander: Secret Ops. I have an old laptop (a Dell Inspiron 5100) that is running XP and Racer finally works on it after some patching. Time to ditch the old box - not the least of which is that of the video recording capability that was on it I never really used it that much.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:56 08:56 08:56 08:56 1.00
1.00 18:15 09:19 09:19 09:07 2.00
1.00 27:32 09:17 09:17 09:11 3.00
1.00 36:46 09:14 09:14 09:11 4.00
1.00 45:51 09:05 09:05 09:10 5.00
0.33 48:57 03:06 09:24 09:11 5.33

The price of freedom...

...is not just eternal vigilance. (Hat tip to Doctrine Man.)

LTG(Ret) Hal Moore gives the other corollary of this one: "When your men die, and you don’t, you feel guilty. You’re the leader." Or, in my case, the campaign planner.

So say we all.

7.0mi, 63:26, 27 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Death Cab for Cutie, "Doors Unlocked and Open"

WX at 1000: 60.1 (15.6) DP 50.0 (10.0) BP 29.9 (1012) SE 15 RH 69

Odometer 11A: 79.4mi

Z3 high.
Average/max heart rate = 157/175

Endurance is fine, legs are very, very dead. Today was a rare day off, so I decided to go for a rare long run.

I may sleep in tomorrow. Or go for a really short one.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:38 08:38 08:38 08:38 1.00
1.00 17:24 08:46 08:46 08:42 2.00
1.00 26:34 09:10 09:10 08:51 3.00
1.00 35:31 08:57 08:57 08:53 4.00
1.00 44:32 09:01 09:01 08:54 5.00
1.00 54:06 09:34 09:34 09:01 6.00
1.00 63:26 09:20 09:20 09:04 7.00

More Dakka

One island, two villages, 50,000 handmade rockets.

Ed: corrected for wrong embed code.

(a.k.a. Macross Missile Massacre FTW.)

5.0mi, 44:20, 26 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
Tommy Keene, "Call On Me"
The Lemonheads, "Steve's Boy"

WX at 0700: 52.0 (11.1) DP 45.0 (7.2) BP 29.89 (1012) N 10 RH 76

Odometer 11A: 72.4mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 162/174

Today went faster, but it was cool after the last two days worth of torrential downpours and it was as good a day for running as I'll get in a while.

Taking the first mile over generally flatter terrain led to a faster run overall, I think. This was a reverse of yesterday's run, so the splits are different. I felt better about today's run for reasons unknown.

I've been binging out on Tommy Keene, one of my longtime musical pleasures, after discovering this post from someone who has been listening to TK a lot longer than I have.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:43 08:43 08:43 08:43 1.00
1.00 17:18 08:35 08:35 08:39 2.00
1.00 26:27 09:09 09:09 08:49 3.00
1.00 35:25 08:58 08:58 08:51 4.00
1.00 44:17 08:52 08:52 08:51 5.00

5.0mi, 46:28, 25 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: "Johnny Hopkins On To Victory" (why I was thinking of the fight song for my alma mater, I'm not sure why.)

WX at 0600: 61.0 (16.1) DP 61.0 (16.1) BP 29.48 (998) E 13 RH 100

Odometer 11A: 67.4mi

Z3 low.
Average/max heart rate = 151/175

The festival of Dead Legs continues. I am absolutely toast in the mornings, and today was no exception. As is the pattern, my legs seem to get more tired until about mile 3.

I felt better at the end, but horrible up front.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:08 09:08 09:08 09:08 1.00
1.00 18:36 09:28 09:28 09:18 2.00
1.00 28:03 09:27 09:27 09:21 3.00
1.00 37:50 09:47 09:47 09:28 4.00
1.00 46:28 08:38 08:38 09:18 5.00

5.34mi, 48:48, 23 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Drowning Pool, "Let the Bodies Hit The Floor"

WX at 0600: 62.1 (16.7) DP 60.1 (15.6) BP 29.7 (1005) S 10 RH 93

Odometer 11A: 62.4mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 153/172

I went to sleep too late last night. When I'm getting 5 hours of sleep before running, I'm going to be a little less inclined to want to wake up to get a run in.

That doesn't change the fact that I need to get my fat ass out there anyway.

Slow today, but not ridiculously so. Time to see if I can build my mileage base back up, so I'll start unambitiously. No long runs yet.

On the bright side, I was running progressively negative splits after mile 2, especially after a short detour for a pit stop. Whee.

I know the Wiggles and Drowning Pool don't usually go together, but I was thinking about the Big Red Car. To Drowning Pool. Oh yay.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:02 09:02 09:02 09:02 1.00
1.00 18:42 09:40 09:40 09:21 2.00
1.00 27:50 09:08 09:08 09:17 3.00
1.00 37:05 09:15 09:15 09:16 4.00
1.00 45:47 08:42 08:42 09:09 5.00
0.34 48:48 03:01 08:52 09:08 5.34

4.58mi, 45:11, 20 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
The Cars, "Stranger Eyes"
The Cure, "Primary" (in Orange)

WX at 0600: 62.1 (16.7) DP 57.9 (14.4) BP 29.81 (1009) SE 12 RH 86

Odometer 11A: 56.8mi

Z2.
Average/max heart rate = 150/169

I almost slept in today. Today was the most energy-less run I think I have ever done. Just a whole lot of suck.

The first iThink is a consequence of coming across some article about stuff on the film Top Gun, which I saw as an 8th grader, 25 years ago. Woo hoo, old age. At least now I know the name of the song that was stuck in the back of my mind after seeing the trailer.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:48 09:48 09:48 09:48 1.00
1.00 19:43 09:55 09:55 09:51 2.00
1.00 29:45 10:02 10:02 09:55 3.00
1.00 39:32 09:47 09:47 09:53 4.00
0.58 45:11 05:39 09:44 09:52 4.58

4.7mi, 43:32, 18 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
Belle and Sebastian, "Like Dylan at the Movies"
The Lemonheads, "Steve's Boy"

WX at 0600: 50.0 (10.0) DP 39.9 (4.4) BP 29.85 (1010) ESE 7 RH 68

Odometer 3: 222.0mi

Z2-Z3 low.
Average/max heart rate = 145/165

I am done for the semester. Woot. I am also done with trying to ramp up for a physical fitness test and I am starting to get some decent interval back in my life. Hrm.

Or some reasonable facsimile thereof.

All wogging today. I suspect my shoes, in spite of their low mileage, are pretty much toast. I felt some extra pain in the knees I don't get with my newer shoes.

Like many Belle and Sebastian songs, upbeat BritPop melody, dark foreboding lyrics. "Steve's Boy" is perhaps more apropos.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:12 09:12 09:12 09:12 1.00
1.00 18:24 09:12 09:12 09:12 2.00
1.00 27:52 09:28 09:28 09:17 3.00
1.00 37:21 09:29 09:29 09:20 4.00
0.70 43:32 06:11 08:50 09:16 4.70

Some interior and exterior remodeling

I decided to bite the bullet and actually do a template upgrade after what I think has been almost 6 years of running on the old template. I realized I couldn't see all of my invective over the years by category, so it was time to fix that.

I saved my old template just in case I decide to revert. I may let go of my descending paratroopers watermark since I just don't know CSS very well and it's been a while since I've had to reverse engineer someone else's code.

Record APFT, 284 points, 16 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Husker Du, "New Day Rising"

WX at 0700: 43.0 (6.1) DP 39.9 (4.4) BP 30.08 (1018) NNW 3 RH 88

Odometer 11A: 52.2mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = no reading.

I ran into the PT test, as is my custom, and got my 200 points on the first two events, as I usually do. I knew this run was going to suck but was surprisingly not my slowest.

I totally weighed in over cutoff, though. I had it coming.

The clear sky and sunrise made this morning's iThink utterly inevitable.

Splits
Pushups: 77
Situps: 76
Two-Mile Run: 15:27

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 07:33 07:33 07:33 07:33 1.00
1.00 15:27 07:54 07:54 07:44 2.00

The Coolest Thing Ever

As someone who teaches joint command and control relationships and has taught a history of the Unified Command Plan, I think this is funny as hell.

There's no denying it

Women who read Machiavelli make me hot.


And now I have a new Web comic guilty pleasure.

4.41mi, 39:31, 13 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
Dos Gringos, "Going in for Guns"
The Lemonheads, "Steve's Boy"

WX at 0700: 57.9 (14.4) DP 55.9 (13.3) BP 29.76 (1007) WNW 8 RH 93

Odometer 11A: 49.5mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 160/178

Time to see if my knees hurt all day like they do when I'm in my other shoes. If they do, time to retire the other shoes, regardless of how much mileage is on them.

The Lemonheads song is deceptive; Evan Dando may be on vocals, but other members of the band include Bill Stevenson on drums and Karl Alvarez on bass. Yes, the ones from the Descendents. Also J. Mascis on guitar. Yes, that J. Mascis.

"Steve's Boy" has been on single song repeat at my cubicle over the last day or so. It has some of the most brutally bitter lyrics I've heard in a long time, so it's consistent with my emotional debridement over the last few years. It also sounds like a Descendents song that happens to have J. Mascis on lead and Evan Dando on vocals, and I've been a pretty faithful Descendents fan since 1988.

Today's run sucked bad until mile 2.5. Easy run tomorrow, then taper for PT test on Monday.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:28 08:28 08:28 08:28 1.00
1.00 17:28 09:00 09:00 08:44 2.00
1.00 26:29 09:01 09:01 08:50 3.00
1.00 35:54 09:25 09:25 08:58 4.00
0.41 39:31 03:37 08:49 08:58 4.41

3.75mi, 33:35, 11 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: The Killers, "When You Were Young"

WX at 0700: 72.0 (22.2) DP 66.9 (19.4) BP 29.79 (1008) SE 7 haze rh 84

Odometer 11A: 45.1mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 160/174

Today was warm, and ergo, was going to suck. It did, but I didn't feel so bad as I did on Monday. My legs are tired. Time to rest a bit before taking my physical fitness test on Friday, I think, while the opportunity still permits. It's supposed to be in the 50s on Friday, so I might as well get it over with now rather than later.

The road to recovery keeps getting deferred, but maybe this summer.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:43 08:43 08:43 08:43 1.00
1.00 17:41 08:58 08:58 08:50 2.00
1.00 26:59 09:18 09:18 09:00 3.00
0.75 33:35 06:36 08:48 08:57 3.75

2.51mi, 23:56, 9 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Above and Beyond, "Can't Sleep"

WX at 0600: 71.1 (21.7) DP 66.0 (18.9) BP 29.61 (1002) SSE 13 RH 84

Odometer 11A: 41.4mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 151/167

OHJESUSTITTYFUCKINGCHRIST did today suck giant hairy monkey balls. I know it's going to be bad when I'm killing myself to run 9:00/mi.

On the other hand, pushups and situps are now at acceptable standards (80 and 80). I also ran today after doing aforementioned pushups and situps. I reap what I sow.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:45 09:45 09:45 09:45 1.00
1.00 19:12 09:27 09:27 09:36 2.00
0.51 23:56 04:44 09:17 09:32 2.51

An essential truth

I direct your attention to the penultimate frame: that "...you don't become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process."

(shout out to XKCD.)

p.s. I also realized that I hardcoded this link, and that as a graduate historian, that I shouldn't be able to remember the A HREF and IMG SRC tags in HTML from memory. Looooooooooooooooooser....

3.29mi, 29:28, 8 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink:
David Bowie, "Life on Mars"
The Cure, "One Hundred Years"

WX at 0800: 64.9 (18.3) DP 50.0 (10.0) BP 29.85 (1010) ESE 9 RH 58

Odometer 3: 217.3mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 152/174

The iThink had some peculiar tunes for Mother's Day. Oh well. It is what it is.

The average heart rate was deceptively slow - my legs were still tired from Friday's slug-a-thon. I was working very, very hard to maintain speed going uphill for a run I knew was going to be short. On the bright side, I could feel things starting to loosen up by mile 2, a little earlier than usual.

Or I could be deluding myself also.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:50 08:50 08:50 08:50 1.00
1.00 17:46 08:56 08:56 08:53 2.00
1.00 26:53 09:07 09:07 08:58 3.00
0.29 29:28 02:35 08:54 08:57 3.29

The best take on French philosophy ever

Having read Sartre's Huis Clos in my sophomore year of high school, I really appreciated the line at the end. Fucking awesome.

Heretics 'R Us

In Afghanistan, three years ago:
"You want my crucifix?" - a Marine, talking about his stand to hang his body armor and helmet
"Oh, fuck yeah." - me
"Isn‘t that contradictory, that combination?" - another one of my coworkers

SMBC strikes again!


Oh, fuck yeah.

7.78mi, 76:25 aggregate (13:56 ingress, 49:22 run, 13:07 return), 6 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Marilyn Manson, "The Beautiful People"

WX at 0700: 44.1 (6.7) DP 43.0 (6.1) BP 30 (1015) SSW 7 RH 95

Odometer 11A: 38.9mi

Z3 ingress, Z2 formation run, Z4 return.
Average/max heart rate = 147/176

Today was a Fort Leavenworth-wide formation run. It was of pedestrian pace, so I wasn't really concerned. I didn't want to try to find parking, nor did I want to screw with dodging pedestrian traffic on the way in, so I ran as a warmup to the slowest run I've done all year.

I'll credit today's iThink to one of my students, as we were discussing the same tired old tropes that get played every formation run, which include, but are not limited to:

Bill Conti's theme from Rocky
Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger"
AC/DC, "Thunderstruck"
2 Unlimited, "Are You Ready for This?"

So my student was mentioning Marilyn Manson, and he mentioned that song, which I found curiously apropos to my decidedly non-corporate Army mindset this morning. Gargantuan formation runs do that to me.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.56 13:56 13:56 08:56 08:56 1.56
1.00 24:48 10:52 10:52 09:41 2.56
1.00 34:52 10:04 10:04 09:48 3.56
1.00 45:22 10:30 10:30 09:57 4.56
1.00 56:03 10:41 10:41 10:05 5.56
0.71 63:18 07:15 10:13 10:06 6.27
1.51 76:25 13:07 08:41 09:49 7.78

3.54mi, 31:40, 5 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Michael Nyman, "The Heart Asks Pleasure First"

WX at 0700: 54.0 (12.2) DP 48.0 (8.9) BP 30.15 (1020) SW 8 light rain RH 80

Odometer 3: 214.0mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 158/171

I am somewhat dismayed at my lack of speed going uphill, but I think some of it is just the usual toughening that happens when a fatbody starts getting back into some kind of disciplined workout routine.

I was thinking about how much faster I used to be just five years ago, but I think some of that will come back when I have more time to devote to exercise rather than the fucking incessant grind that working on my doctorate sometimes is.

Pushups are ready. Situps need some work. Still, I guess I'm glad I can get back into sometime resembling form in a week or so.

Tomorrow will be a big-ass formation run of over 4 miles. It promises to be craptacular in a Keystone Kops kind of way.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:31 08:31 08:31 08:31 1.00
1.00 17:55 09:24 09:24 08:58 2.00
1.00 26:50 08:55 08:55 08:57 3.00
0.54 31:40 04:50 08:57 08:57 3.54

4.3mi, 39:05, 3 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: various sundry running cadences

WX at 0700: 36.0 (2.2) DP 28.9 (-1.7) BP 30.32 (1026) N 5 RH 75

Odometer 11A: 32.1mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 159/171

Pushups and situps are improving. Glad to know it takes about two weeks to get back into fighting trim - at least enough to get what I want out of the first two events of the PT test whenever I take it.

Run started out gritty as usual, but the weather was picture perfect. It doesn't get much better than this. I think I was warmed up just after the 3-mile mark, although the uphills seem more painful than usual lately.

My occasional syndrome of dead legs, particularly on uphills, seems to be at hand, although it is the first sustained period I've been back to exercising again.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:45 08:45 08:45 08:45 1.00
1.00 17:59 09:14 09:14 09:00 2.00
1.00 27:16 09:17 09:17 09:05 3.00
1.00 36:20 09:04 09:04 09:05 4.00
0.30 39:05 02:45 09:10 09:05 4.30

Yet another Downfall spoof

But all those variations on this scene from Downfall always make for good grist. This is about all I will comment on current events here, I suspect.

3.45mi, 33:03, 2 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Rush, "The Analog Kid"

WX at 0700: 39.9 (4.4) DP 28.0 (-2.2) BP 30.22 (1023) NE 3 RH 62

Odometer 3: 210.4mi

Z3.
Average/max heart rate = 155/168.

Today was slow and shitty. I also woke up tired, after a curiously lucid dream that was about being back at Fort Hood, a place I thought I'd never return.

My sentiments of the royal wedding and of children's sleep habits are emblematic of an incipient Case of the Ass that seems to be flaring up periodically. Kind of like hemorrhoids, but much less painful. For me, at least.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:16 09:16 09:16 09:16 1.00
1.00 19:21 10:05 10:05 09:41 2.00
1.00 28:39 09:18 09:18 09:33 3.00
0.45 33:03 04:24 09:47 09:35 3.45

My Anglophilia has reasonable limits...

When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how much interest I had in the royal wedding, my answer was always "zero."

The Coolest Thing Ever

I am so totally buying this book. I guess my inner Knight In Sour Armor is going in overdrive lately.

4.84mi, 43:03, 1 MAY 11, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

iThink: Hüsker Dü, "New Day Rising" (from The Living End)

WX at 0900: 50.0 (10.0) 23.0 (-5.0) 30.11 (1019) N 14 RH 34

Odometer 11A: 27.8mi

Z4.
Average/max heart rate = 158/180

Faster than usual, but I had a day off yesterday. Weather conditions were pretty good.

I was in an early Husker Du kind of mood. The live cut of "New Day Rising" off The Living End has a particularly evocative quality to it.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 09:05 09:05 09:05 09:05 1.00
1.00 18:48 09:43 09:43 09:24 2.00
1.00 27:18 08:30 08:30 09:06 3.00
1.00 35:50 08:32 08:32 08:58 4.00
0.84 43:03 07:13 08:35 08:54 4.84