5.0mi, 48:22, 30 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Anberlin, “Readyfuels”
Anberlin, “We Dreamt in Heist”
Love Spit Love, “Am I Wrong”

WX at 0800: 55, DP 34, BP 30.05, 2 @ 120 smoke/haze

Odometer 3: 322.9mi

Z1-Z2.

Today was going to be some easy wogging after yesterday. The Love Spit Love song was induced by some idle thought about an ex-girlfriend, and the first thing she and I had done was to see the movie Angus while she was on temporary duty at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Checking relative pace, I was going about 10mpm on the way out, about 9mpm on the way in. For an easy day, that’s probably about right. I always have to discipline myself not to go too fast on my easy days, as it detracts from my fast days. Or something like that.

6.1+0.9mi, 51:34, 29 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

The 5,6,7,8’s, “Woo Hoo”

WX at 0800: 54, DP 34, BP 30.18, 1 @ 280

Odometer 4: 166.0mi

Z3.

Thought it was going to be easy, but it turned out faster than I expected. 8:24 overall pace was unexpected as I didn’t think I was going that speed.

182.0 on the scale this morning after some somewhat-painful ab work. But I need to do it, and I’d rather do it now than just trying to surge it later on.

No splits today.

5.0+1mi, 50:18, 27 NOV 05 , COB Speicher IZ

My short term memory has forgotten what was in the iThink today, although there was a lot of casual discussion that precluded iThink traffic.

WX at 0700: 48, DP 32, BP 30.14, 5 gusting 9kts @ 300, pcdy at 12K

Odometer 3: 317.9mi

Z2 start, Z3 finish.

What I thought was going to be some easy wogging actually turned into a nice easy tempo run. Starting pace was around 9mpm, finishing around 8mpm. I then did about 10 minutes of abdominal work and 10 pullups, then 6. I need to get back in the groove. Fortunately, the weight is starting to come off. I tapped in at 180 today, although I’m not sure how much of it was water weight rather than actual lard. Still, I’m on the road to recovery.

No splits today. It wasn’t the point!

3.1mi, 20:51, 26 NOV 05 , COB Speicher IZ

Journey, “Only The Young”
Juliana Hatfield, “Perfection”

WX at 0600: 46, DP 28, BP 30.18, 6kts variable, clear

Odometer 4: 159.0mi

Z5 race.

My coworkers told me they were going to run the Turkey Trot 5k. None of them showed up. I ran a surprisingly fast (for clock time) 20:51. Stopwatch time from start to finish was 21:22, so I assume the clock didn’t start until the last contestant crossed the line. This means one of three things:
1 – I’m in better shape than I thought.
2 – I really do run that much better when it’s almost 40 degrees outside.
3 – The course is short.
I don’t know, but the last time I ran a 21-minute 5K was when I was at Hopkins…

Approximately 5mi, 51:03, 25 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Juliana Hatfield, “Perfection”

WX at 1600: 52, DP 21, BP 30.19, 7kts @ 280, clear

Odometer 3: 311.9mi

Z2.

I woke up at 7:00am as my alarm was ringing. I turned my alarm off and promptly went back to sleep as I was tired. My run occurred in the afternoon, but I realized that after the gargantuan amount of chow I ate over Thanksgiving day in the chow halls for lunch and dinner had to get burned off or it would go to my fat ass real quick. Five minutes of wogging, as my running partner, the engineer planner, had convinced me to show up to the post-Thanksgiving Turkey Trot as a bandit. The plans section are all going to show up in tan Gopher (our informal mascot) shirts. I’m sure someone humorless wanker’s going to blow a gasket as we grossly violate whatever uniform policy is in effect, but in some cases, there’s safety in numbers.

5.0mi, 43:51, 24 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Belly, “Angel”
Belly, “Seal My Fate”
Tanya Donelly, “Human”

Odometer 4: 155.5mi

Z2 start, Z3 finish.

I have no idea what sparked the Festival of Tanya Donelly™ this morning. Today was supposed to be easy, and it was, especially with something along the lines of a 10 knot tailwind on the return leg. Hell of a way to spend Thanksgiving, hearing small arms fire as I got back to my particular part of the compound.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.40 03:24 03:24 08:30 08:30 0.40
0.31 05:43 02:19 07:28 08:03 0.71
1.39 18:35 12:52 09:13 08:50 2.11
1.55 32:50 14:15 09:12 08:59 3.66
1.39 43:51 11:01 07:54 08:41 5.05

47 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 23 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

A sampling of what was on the MP3 player:
The Cure, “Disintegration”
Hilary Duff, “Wake Up”
Chris Stamey, “On The Radio”
Liz Story, “Greensleeves”
Cooler Kids, “E Is For Everybody”

Z3-Z4.

I know better than to think I’ll go easy on an elliptical trainer. I didn’t kill myself, but it wasn’t wogging either. The level of resistance (12-13) ensured that.

Weight 182.

5.7mi, 51:59, 22 Nov 05, COB Speicher IZ

James Horner, “Never An Absolution”
Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers Suite 2 (curiously appropriate for where I am)
The Reputation, “Let It Rest”

Odometer 3: 312.4mi

Z2 start, Z3 finish.

I can blame my James Horner attack on watching Jennifer Shiman’s “Titanic in 30 seconds with bunnies” on www.angryalien.com. I didn’t really feel that ambitious today, but today was a day I could just as easily have slept in. I’m glad I went out and ran, though. I’m thinking I need to reassess my real level of fitness based on how much it sucked to go out and run. So, I guess I’m going to lay off long hard runs in the next two weeks based on overtraining and all that stuff.

4.7mi, 45:33, 20 Nov 05, COB Speicher IZ

None, really.

Odometer 3: 306.9mi

Z1-Z2.

45 minutes of wogging. That’s all I wanted to do. I spent the rest of today trying to stay awake as I think I’ve been overtraining. This is not so good. So, I guess I’ll be tapering the next week or so to see if I can get some more legitimate base, then try again. Maybe.

Relative distance for time doesn’t really matter, it was just a recovery run.

~8.8mi, 74:03, 19 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Terminal Velocity “Jester” theme
David Byrne, “Sex on the Docks”
Hilary Duff, “Wake Up”

Odometer 4: 150.5mi

Z3 start, Z4 finish.

I’m starting to get faster, I think. Today marked more deliberate effort, but I was running solo. I wanted to see what I could do as far as harder effort. I had a 9.8 course laid out, but that was defused as I passed a “NO RUNNING” sign on the perimeter road. Oops.

I also realized that I’d chumped myself about .12 miles on the start, and therefore on the finish. Oops. I guess that would explain some of the comparative slowness.

I might even be losing weight. That would be a welcome change…although I don’t expect real progress until at least mid-December on that front. I guess we’ll see.

Approximate pace 8:24. This is much better for running on dirt and sand and rocks and shit.

Too Long Between Showers?

Here we bear witness as Major Park's questionable hygiene begins to have a deleterious effect on those around him...

~5.0mi, 47:29, 18 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

None.

Odometer 4: 142.7mi

Z2. Another easy run, and probably the right decision. Almost to the point of wogging, but I probably need to work up to a certain point before I start turning on the jets again. Besides, LSD is the way to burn fat, too.

Approximate pace 9:30/mi. I guess I can live with that for a Z2 run. More detailed measurement to follow later.

5.5mi, 51:28, 17 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Belly, “Seal My Fate”

Odometer 3: 302.2mi

Z2 steady state.

I ran out with one of my coworkers. He and I run at about the same easy pace, so it was a good match. The gravel road in front of our housing trailers had been sprayed down with what smelled like port-o-shitter Smurf juice. It smelled fucking regal.

Today needed to be slow after yesterday’s relative effort. I’ll probably go longer tomorrow, how far, I’m not sure.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST Crackhouses
0.248 03:22 03:22 13:35 13:35 0.25 Hardball
0.310 05:56 02:34 08:17 10:38 0.56 Long Stretch
1.395 32:48 26:52 19:16 16:48 1.95 Crackhouses
1.550 45:55 13:07 08:28 13:06 3.50 Turn the Crackhouses
1.395 45:55 00:00 00:00 09:22 4.90 Back to Intersection
0.310 45:55 00:00 00:00 08:49 5.21 Dirtball
0.248 51:28 05:33 22:23 09:26 5.46 Start

7.7mi, 66:34, 16 Nov 05, COB Speicher IZ

Cruiserweight, “To Be Quite Honest”
AC/DC, “Shoot to Thrill”
Apollo 440, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” remix

Odometer 4: 137.7mi

Z3 start, Z4 finish.

I’m not so sanguine about the validity of these distances for the relative effort I’m expending. Either that, or everyone gets that slow when they get into theater.

I was hauling ass. Or so I thought. Maybe not, but I’m improving. I also tried a tad harder than in earlier evolutions, too.

Tomorrow entails some LSD.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST Pax Terminal Detour
0.248 02:59 02:59 12:02 12:02 0.25 Hardball
0.868 09:50 06:51 07:54 08:49 1.12 101 Hwy
1.240 20:55 11:05 08:56 08:53 2.36 Pax Turnoff
1.488 33:32 12:37 08:29 08:43 3.84 End of Pax Turnoff
1.488 46:35 13:03 08:46 08:44 5.33 Pax Turnoff
1.240 57:16 10:41 08:37 08:43 6.57 101 Hwy
0.868 63:46 06:30 07:29 08:34 7.44 Dirtball
0.248 66:34 02:48 11:17 08:40 7.69 Start

5.5mi, 53:53, 14 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

For Against, “Outside A Heart”
AC/DC, “Thunderstruck”

Odometer 4: 130.0mi

Z1-Z2.

Woggage. The extent of the woggage today is judged by the overall time and pace, but my legs are so fucking smoked from what I’ve been doing that I realized I’m in danger of overtraining, in spite of how much lard I need to shed, which is considerable.

Tomorrow’s a day off. My cousin is passing through and I’ll readily pass up a workout to get some more face time with family, especially in a combat zone.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST Crackhouses
N/A 53:53 N/A N/A 09:53 5.46 Start

50 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 13 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

I actually brought my MP3 player, so a variety of power-pop.

Z3-Z4.

I had planned on an easy day but I got carried away with getting in the groove. Big mistake, but it was therapeutic.
Weight 183, even after sweatage. Still.

7.7mi, 77:31, 12 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

The Dickies, “Banana Splits”
Tommy Keene, “Drowning”

Odometer 3: 296.7mi

Z3 start, Z4 finish.

Slow start, relatively fast finish. Or so I thought. The average pace and segment indicators are all off, if only because I think I’m going faster than I think I am.

I might have to go out with a GPS at some point and see what the distances really are. Maybe on a slow day. Maybe I’m really that slow. I don’t feel that way all the time, but I’m also running on uneven rock and gravel surfaces too.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST Pax Terminal Detour
0.248 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.25 Hardball
0.868 09:45 09:45 11:14 08:44 1.12 101 Hwy
1.240 20:59 11:14 09:04 08:54 2.36 Pax Turnoff
1.488 34:04 13:05 08:48 08:52 3.84 End of Pax Turnoff
1.488 46:47 12:43 08:33 08:46 5.33 Pax Turnoff
1.240 57:51 11:04 08:55 08:48 6.57 101 Hwy
0.868 57:51 00:00 00:00 07:47 7.44 Dirtball
0.248 67:31 09:40 38:59 08:47 7.69 Start

Day off, 11 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Nothing but eat...

45 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 10 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

I actually brought my MP3 player, so a variety of power-pop.

Z3 steady state.

Easy day but I didn’t feel like doing too much in case I decide I wanted to go harder today.
Weight 182 with water weight tapped in. Time to begin the road to recovery...

7.7mi, 70:00, 9 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

LMNT, “It’s Just You”
The Connells, “Fun and Games”
Sonny Rhodes, Theme song to Firefly

Odometer 4: 124.5mi

Z3.

Yes, the first one is from the TV show Kim Possible. I like redheads. I married one. Why redheads, I don’t know. But I like redheads. Well documented. If someone can tell me what the root cause of it is, I’d sure like to know. I’m pretty sure it’s not from watching Scooby-Doo as a kid and checking Daphne out. Yeah.

First time running this one, and it’s not a bad long run, although my times are alarming me at their slowness. I need to burn fat anyway, based on how much I’ve been eating, which is honestly too damn much.

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST Pax Terminal Detour
0.248 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.25 Hardball
0.868 10:28 10:28 12:04 09:23 1.12 101 Hwy
1.24 22:25 11:57 09:38 09:31 2.36 Pax Turnoff
1.488 35:45 13:20 08:58 09:18 3.84 End of Pax Turnoff
1.488 48:20 12:35 08:27 09:04 5.33 Pax Turnoff
1.24 59:42 11:22 09:10 09:05 6.57 101 Hwy
0.868 59:42 00:00 00:00 08:01 7.44 Dirtball
0.248 70:00 10:18 41:32 09:06 7.69 Start

Day off, 8 NOV 05, COB Speicher IZ

Nothing but eat!

~11mi, 97:14, 7 November 2005, COB Speicher IZ

Jennifer Trynin - If I Had Anything To Say (Don't You Think I Would Have Said It All)

Odometer 3: 289.0mi

Z3 steady state LSD.

Cool, dry. Cooler, but I didn’t drink enough water beforehand. This would come back to haunt me as I hit the turnaround point and realized that I’d have to cut across the unpaved part of my COB. I ran that looking at the ground hoping “it would sure suck to step on a UXO (unexpoded ordnance) and blow my fucking leg off and bleed out because I’m hundreds of meters away from damn anybody.” It was that or run the distance back, which was 7 miles. Uh-huh. Thus, I didn’t really count on a hour and a half run, although I probably could have benefited from it.

I was averaging about 9 minutes/mile. I think part of it is just trying to settle, and some of it is the fact that I have to dodge traffic and other stuff on roads and trails. I need to slough off fat before I can start concentrating on speed. This means more LSD. Tomorrow, however, is going to be a day off.

8.5mi, 75:22, 6 November 2005, COB Speicher IZ

Forgot what was in the iThink that day.

Odometer 4: 116.8mi

Z3 steady state.

This was a discovery run, so nothing ambitious. Just trying to see what’s out there. It’s a bad sign when “nothing ambitious” also equals “slow as shit.”

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.155 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.16
0.868 08:52 08:52 10:13 08:40 1.02
1.24 20:19 11:27 09:14 08:59 2.26
1.302 31:25 11:06 08:32 08:49 3.57
0.682 37:42 06:17 09:13 08:53 4.25
0.682 37:42 00:00 00:00 07:39 4.93
1.302 55:08 17:26 13:23 08:51 6.23
1.24 66:38 57:46 46:35 08:55 7.47
0.868 66:38 00:00 00:00 07:59 8.34
0.155 75:22 08:44 56:21 08:52 8.49

45 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 5 November 2005, COB Speicher IZ

Watched an episode of The Proud Family. Ironically, it’s the one about ethnic discrimination and features Muslims and highlights Ramadan. Damned irony that I’d be watching it in Iraq, of all places.

45 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the gym. I was hoping that they’d have a Concept2, but alas, no luck.

5.5mi, 58:10, 3 November 2005, COB Speicher IZ

AC/DC, “Shoot to Thrill”
The Story, “Grace in Gravity”

Odometer 4: 108.3mi

Z3 high to steady state.

Iraq is surprisingly cold. After running in Kuwait where it’s still warm and dry and extremely breezy, it’s cool to cold and dry and breezy. Reportedly, it changed about a week ago, although I’d much rather have this weather than the hot and shitty that normally characterizes the area.

The place where I’m staging is an old air base, and it’s amazingly large. I anticipate being able to get in some good long runs, although I’m still learning the place. The usual occupational hazards of being in a combat zone, whether death by small arms fire, mortars, rockets, or just plain misadventure still exist, but I’m thankful for being in a place with, well, concrete and some indoor plumbing, at least where I work.

Today’s running mantras contrast to make a weird cognitive dissonance for which I have no good explanation.

47:06 from start around Crackhouse Village down to Iron Eagle
2:22 from Iron Eagle to next road
7:09 to end of road
1:31 back to Tent City 2

5.25mi, 54:45, 1 November 2005, Camp Buehring KU

Kitchens of Distinction, "Smiling"
Juliana Hatfield, “Perfection”

Odometer 3: 278.0mi

Z3 high.

First run in the Kuwaiti Desert in over eight years. I might be a lot older, but I remember it like yesterday.

One of the notable things about being here is that the surface underlying the sand is mostly rock. There are some paved streets in the camp where I’m staging, but a lot of dirt roads. The air is, as to be expected, dry. I found that out the hard way when I was walking around yesterday feeling the heat and most notable, the 20-25mph wind that started drying my skin out.

Today started slow, about 9 minute pace, and by the end, I was averaging 8 minutes. Two contributors, perhaps: drinking a liter of Gatorade and eating a Hooah! Bar before starting. I won’t be doing that for the next one, though. I was burping up fruit punch and apple-cinnamon all the first half the run. Yay.

Some other songs that stick in my mind as I walk around:
- Cyndi Lauper, “True Colors.” I’m not sure why on this one, although I always really, really, really liked the lead guitar leitmotif on this song.
- Sonny Rhodes, Theme song to Firefly. Two reasons principally: I’m in a desert and the last movie I saw before deployment was Serenity. And yet, what the song says is an amazingly powerful message. “Burn the land and boil the sea, you can’t take the sky from me.”