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.

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

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

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

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...

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

record APFT, 298 points

What I listened to on the way in:
Hybrid, "High Life"
Hybrid, "Accelerator"

The eventual two-mile run mantra:
The Reputation, "The Stars of Amateur Hour." So I was wrong about The Reputation.

WX at 0700: 50/10, DP 48/9, BP 30.18/1022, calm, mist, RH around 93%. Conditions were excellent, although I would've liked it just a few degrees cooler. But that's just me.

Raw scores:
80 pushups. I wasn't quite thinking straight since I did five more than I needed for a max.
78 situps. I guess I'm glad I went over - the max was 76, not 77 as I thought.
13:27 run. This was pretty good. I didn't feel as bad as I normally do after a 2-mile run and finished very strong...which makes me think I might not have gone as hard as I should've. My estimated mile split was around 6:45. This probably validates the need to do some speedwork if I'm really going to be serious about getting the 13:18 I need to max the run. It would be super-nice to max a PT test, though. It's been a long while, about 5 years, since I've last done that.

Unexpected part of this was the initial weigh-in. I ended up jettisoning some three pounds in water weight between sweating and latrine stops between arrival and completion. I was 1.75 pounds over allowable weight, which required me to get taped for body fat percentage. After all was complete, I decided on another two miles of trash mileage to burn more water, and stepped on the scale two pounds under tape cutoff.

Now I can get back to running distance to try to continue working mileage and tempo as I've been doing in the past. I should probably run on sand more, but I have to figure out how to do that at work, since there aren't too many good places to run on sand around my house.

Go choke yourself

Some later fixes for orthography.

A little bit of GIS mapping on my part using USAPhotoMaps has enlightened me about one major issue about my run routes:

I have misjudged distances on my routes, and consequently, my splits are not what I thought they were. This is actually to my benefit.

What I thought was 1.4 is 1.5.
What I thought was 2.0 is 2.1.
What I thought was 2.4 is 2.5.

The aggregate mileage for my abbreviated short loop is not 3.8 as previously thought, but actually 3.76 (for all intents and purposes, my guesstimate was about right, within 0.04mi).

What I thought was 4.8mi actually is 5.1mi for my short loop, and my long loop turns into 7.62 ("...millimeter, full metal jacket" - a fairly easy number for me to remember) from what I thought was 7.2.

So...based on split recalculation, personal record splits for the long loop:
1.5 11:13 11:13 07:29
2.1 27:34 16:21 07:47
1.5 38:49 11:15 07:30
2.5 57:33 18:44 07:30

This is pretty encouraging!

7.2mi, 61:05

Michael Kamen, opening credits to Band of Brothers
Randy Edelman, "Hancock & Kemper Are Shot" from Gettysburg: 5th Anniversary Collection, disk 2
Randy Edelman, "Armistead Is Hit" from Gettysburg: 5th Anniversary Collection, disk 2

WX at 0800: 46 (8), 46 (8), 30.17 (1021), Calm, mist, RH 100%

Odometer 1: 140mi

Z3. Some Z3 no man's land on a climb, but otherwise unremarkable.

I was wanting to be more ambitious, but my legs probably didn't want to cooperate after yesterday. A casual analysis of the splits tell me I was a tad slower across the board, but there was less effect on the hillier parts of the course. I found that in spite of having done my second 7-miler in two days, I was climbing hills markedly better.

This run was preceded by 80 pushups, 90 situps. The pushups have improved quickly enough where I don't feel that concerned about them any more. The situps may take some more work to get me in the comfort zone. To put things in perspective, I have to do 75 pushups to max, 76 situps to get 100 points in the respective events. For the run, which I haven't gotten 100 points on in, oh, an eternity, I need to run 13:18 or faster for two miles. I don't think I'll run that (although I'd be pretty happy if I did) but traditionally I've been a 14:00 two-miler. I think I might be able to beat that based on the level of conditioning I've been able to turn out in the last month...and if the conditions next week are the same as they were today (about perfect).

I'm getting older. My required standards are lowering, as with many things in my life...

Splits
1.4 12:01 12:01 08:35
2.0 29:25 17:24 08:42
1.4 41:17 11:52 08:29
2.4 61:05 19:48 08:15

7.2mi, 59:02

Chris Stamey, "Insomnia"
AC/DC, "Thunderstruck"
The Smiths, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

WX at 0600: 57 (14), 55 (13), 30.10R (1019), NNE 3, 93%

Odometer 2: 105mi

Z3 most of the way, which is kind of misleading given the splits involved. I also haven't done this run in a while. In spite only doing a Z3 run, today marks my third fastest time on this course and I wasn't particularly trying to kill myself on this run either.

Today was a run to make up for not running distance in the last few days. I decided to try to grind out about 80 pushups and 80 situps beforehand, but that was largely transparent by the end of mile 3. That's fine, but I need to figure out how to try to get around that in less than ten minutes (part of the conditions of the physical fitness test, which I take Wednesday).

I keep thinking I should probably have done some speedwork before then, but I doubt I'll do it tomorrow and any later than Sunday is probably too late. Just my guess.

Splits
1.4 11:36 11:36 08:17
2.0 28:24 16:48 08:24
1.4 39:58 11:34 08:16
2.4 59:02 19:04 07:57

~3.8mi, 31:21

Starflyer 59, "I Drive A Lot"
Theme song to Clifford's Puppy Days (since it airs Wednesday mornings on our local PBS station)

WX at 0700:66 (19), DP 64 (18), BP 29.92 (1013), winds Calm, RH 93

Odometer 1: 133mi

Z2-Z3 most of the way. My legs were tired.

Today was a little off for a variety of reasons.
1. This morning I decided to precede the run with pushups and situps. The amount of effort it took me to get to the required 75 I want next week indicates that I've fucked up my training plan for the physical fitness test. I was able to get 77 situps out but it took some work, more than I probably should expend.
2. Elizabeth was up early this morning. One of the reasons my alarm is set for 5:50am is that I'm the only one awake in the house (aside from our dog Thor, who is perpetually wanting to go outside, in spite of his age (12). She wanted to watch me "go out," as she said, albeit from the outside. The one thing I did NOT want was to have her sitting outside waiting in pajamas for 40 minute while I ran back, so I sent her inside.
3. WX, WX, WX. Warmest morning in a while, combined with...
4. Bad hair day. It's been two weeks since I got a haircut and it is now bothering me so much that I voluntarily turned back my run early today to get in for a haircut before I have to go to work. I think I'll have to revisit my two week interval between haircuts. It'll probably have to go back to being a weekly affair. Call me a weenie, but heat management is a big deal for me. An important part of that is having clean whitewalls to facilitate that process.

Splits
1.4: 12:36. No other splits recorded.

4.8mi, 39:37

I had a tough time settling on this morning's mantras.
I'd guess I went through about 15 different songs before settling on these:
Husker Du, "In A Free land"
New Order, "Dream Attack"
R.E.M., "Pretty Persuasion"

WX at 0600: 55 (13), DP 51 (11), BP 30.08 (1018), winds Variable 1, RH 87%

Odometer 2: 98mi. Yes, I repeated a set of shoes at home, which I ordinarily try to avoid.

Z4 most of the way. I wanted to do this one at tempo to try to sharpen off my existing mileage base.

Today was warmer, noticeably, by about 10 F. That might have affected performance somewhat, but made for a much more comfortable run. My last 1.4 split was at about 80% full effort most of the way back (at least after the first 0.5km) and included a good hill climb. I was very well warmed and limbered up; the split shows.

I might have to pay attention to form later on. I noticed my stride is a little abrupt when I'm hitting oxygen debt at the start. That might have some repercussions later for my knees.

Splits:
1.4 11:44 11:44 08:23
2.0 28:23 16:39 08:20
1.4 39:37 11:14 08:01

4.8mi, 43:54

Michael Kamen, opening credits to Band of Brothers
James Horner, "Battle in the Mutara Nebula"
"Maybe" from the Broadway musical Annie

WX at 0700: 42 (6), DP 41 (5), BP 30.01 (1016), winds Calm, RH 93%

Odometer 2: 93mi

Z1-Z2 recovery run.

After yesterday's time trial I decided to go easy. I'm also going to do some ab and upper body work incident to this, and a long run would have been counterproductive.

Splits:
1.4 12:56 12:56 09:14
2.0 31:15 18:19 09:10
1.4 43:54 12:39 09:02

7.2mi, 57:33

The Cure, "Lament"
Tanya Donnelly, "Human"
Tanya Donnelly, "Pretty Deep"
New Order, "Regret"

WX at 0700:44 (7), DP 42 (6), BP 29.82 (1009), winds SW 8, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 129mi

Z4-Z5. This was sparked by it being a tad nipply this morning and my only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I think below 40 degrees is where I decide to wear more than just that.

Personal record on this course by about a minute and a half. I didn't do anything yesterday; the jump got rained out. Today's first split turned into speedwork because I didn't anticipate it being less than 45 F at the start!

Splits
1.4 11:13 11:13 08:01
2.0 27:34 16:21 08:10
1.4 38:49 11:15 08:02
2.4 57:33 18:44 07:48

7.2mi, 61:03

Descendents, "Coolidge"
50 Foot Wave, "Lavender"
Throwing Muses, "Mania"
Descendents, "Ace"

WX at 0700: 60 (16), DP 57 (14), BP 29.61 (1002), winds NW 5, RH 87%

Odometer 2: 88mi

Z3 most of the way. Some Z4 climbs.

Paired off yesterday's afternoon dash, my legs were tired. Once I was warmed up, progress was actually good in spite of tired legs. The second 1.4 split is illustrative if for no other reason than that leg has a fairly major climb portion to it.

Splits
1.4 12:27 12:27 08:54
2.0 29:50 17:23 08:41
1.4 41:43 11:53 08:29
2.4 61:03 19:20 08:03

4.0mi, 34:31

The Cure, "Burn"
Descendents, "Thank You"
The Reputation, 'The Stars of Amateur Hour"

WX at 1700: 80(27), DP 62(17), BP 29.53(1000), winds SW 6, RH estimated 55%

Z3 on easy parts, Z4 when I got my breath back. Z5 short climb in one part. No HRM.

This was supposed to be a tempo run, or something fast enough to get through before I hjad to go home. I'm finding that running during the lunch hour is a hell of a lot harder than I thought, because there's always something else that's going on. On the other hand, it's been taking a lot more effort trying to get up early enough to get morning runs in.

Two exacerbating factors today behind time versus effort, one being that it was mostly on sand, and two, that the course is almost all hills. I'm sure the times were misleading based on it being mostly on hills. The distance back was overall downhill, which would explain the 81 second negative split. The Z5 climb was near the midpoint going out before the turnaround.

There are no really good places to do speedwork around work or home, but I probably should do at least ONE speed workout before taking the physical fitness test.

Splits:
2.0mi out 17:56 [8:58]
2.0mi back 34:31 (16:35) [8:18]

7.2mi, 61:17

AC/DC, "Shoot to Thrill"
Rage Against The Machine, remix of John Williams' "Imperial March" from The Empire Strikes Back.
Emerson Hart, "Generation" (Yeah, so I watched American Dreams last night.)

WX at 0700: 53(12), DP 48(9), BP 30.11(1019), winds NE 6, RH 81%

Odometer 2: 81mi

Z3 throughout. Start was more likely Z2.

I find it amusing (slightly) that I ran ten seconds faster on markedly less effort this morning than I did yesterday. I did run much earlier in the day (no sunlight = no heat radiation). Weather was about as good as it gets this morning.

Splits
1.4 12:18 12:18 08:47
2.0 29:22 17:04 08:32
1.4 41:25 12:03 08:36
2.4 61:17 19:52 08:17

7.2mi, 61:27

R.E.M., "Driver 8"
Mark Darnell, "In The Age Of Steam" (from the Windham Hill Soul of the Machine sampler)
Beatallica, "Blackened the U.S.S.R."
Mannheim Steamroller, "Pass the Keg (Lia)"

WX at 1000: 69(21), DP 60(16), BP 30.06(1017), winds WSW 3, RH 73%

Odometer 1: 122mi

Z3 most of the way, in spite of heart rate monitor readings in excess of 175 for most of the last 2 miles of the run.

The benefit to easy days with a HRM is that you supposedly don't go too hard, but the I felt fine (although my legs were a little tired) in spite of the high HRM reading.

Today was not supposed to be hard. This is the dichotomy of how I feel versus the heart rate monitor. Of course, I haven't changed the transmitter in the HRM since 2000 when I bought it, so that might be a tad suspect. Ordinarily, I only get glitches when there isn't enough sweat to act as a conductor between the chest and my skin.

My second 1.4 split is disproportionately slow since I actually walked about 50m uphill when my HRM started ringing over 175.

Splits were remarkably fast in spite of perceived effort. What differentiates this from earlier runs is that my times are getting faster for less effort, but the improvement is greater than the norm. It's also much cooler and that counts for a hell of a lot.
1.4: 12:00(12:00)[08:34]
2.0: 29:05(17:05)[08:32]
1.4: 41:11(12:06)[08:39]
2.4: 61:27(20:16)[08:27]

4.8mi, 37:43

Hilary Duff, "Come Clean"
AC/DC, "Shoot to Thrill"

WX at 0700: 50(10), DP 50(10), RH 30.21(1023), winds Calm, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 74mi

Z4 mostly, some stretches where I caught myself going Z3, and a Z5 finish.

I took a day off from running yesterday after doing my combined 10K + airborne operation Thursday. I'd have to say that the race Thursday was probably the hardest run I'd done in a long, long time. It also provided me a benchmark to gauge real effort, and consequently, I may have been training in the 80% zone when I'd thought I was going harder and really wasn't.

Today was a personal best for this course. 7:51/mi overall. Tomorrow needs to be an easy day for running. I need to concentrate on the other two events for my physical fitness test, though.

Today is unusual that I didn't run a negative split for the second 1.4 mile loop. That probably means I gauged my effort right today, although I have yet to see whether I can do better running negative or positive splits into a run.

Splits
1.4: 10:43 (10:43)[07:40]
2.0: 26:44 (16:01)[08:00]
1.4: 37:43 (10:59)[07:51]

Jump 53, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT and static J

Drop altitude 1500 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1425.
WX at 1500, 71/22, DP 48/9, winds E 10, unlimited vis. RH less than 60%.

And by the way, today's soundtrack coming off the drop zone:
Chris Stamey, "Insomnia"
R.E.M., "Driver 8"

What a beautiful day for a jump! Too bad I wasn't on the manifest before the jump started. Thankfully, today is the day before a 4-day weekend, so a lot of people who were on the manifest scratched (i.e., no-showed). This is where being on the jumpmaster team for the line really saved my ass. Generally, even if you're not on the manifest, if you're on the jumpmaster team, you stand a better chance of getting a parachute for scratches. The jumpmaster team (and the S3 air folks) tend to take care of their own. If you're willing to be current and put out jumpers, there is some benefit to be had.

Not a bad exit, but I had some bad oscillations at exit. As I gained canopy control, I literally was swinging 45 degrees off the vertical. I'm thinking the exit might have something to do with it, but I didn't notice anything particularly untoward in the exit. Descent was pretty straightforward with a rear landing. I didn't do anything particularly special; I just remained facing into the wind. In spite of proper orientation into the wind, I still landed going backwards about 4-5 knots. I attempted to flare my landing; I gave the toggles on my MC1-1D parachute a brief pull around 20-25 feet off the ground. I'm thinking this may have actually accelerated the landing or induced oscillation that might have accounted for my rear parachute landing fall.

I was a static jumpmaster five lifts later. Total composition of the lift was 12 jumpers, one of which was jumping combat equipment (ALICE pack). He was the first out. I always have a bad gut feeling about pulling duties in the event that I accidentally miss the panels (we jump Ground Marking Release System, so I manually initiate the jumpers' exits based on the positions of orange panels I see). Thankfully, I haven't missed the panels yet. They're actually not that hard to see. I still consider myself a relatively inexperienced jumpmaster under this system; when I went to the Jumpmaster course five years ago, the only method of delivery taught was the Computed Air Release Point, where the pilots control initiation of jumper exits. Today marked my third duty under GMRS.

Two notes about the lift.

First, I probably gave an early 1-minute time warning. Too early is not necessarily a bad thing, but it bothers me not to be able to ascertain the real position. I probably should do the math on the map and figure out what I really should be looking at a minute out. The thirty second time warning was on, but that's the western edge of the DZ. You have to be blind to miss that one since it's swamps and forest off the western edge and most of the DZ is grass and sand.

Second, and perhaps much more gratifying, one of my jumpers told me that I had a very accurate initial spot for the jumpers I exited. My first jumper landed within 150m of the personnel point of impact for this drop zone. The remainder of my jumpers landed on track, fairly close to the assembly point. It's always nice to know that I accurately spotted the jumpers for whom I was responsible. Of course, no injuries, and good coordination between myself and my safety (the other jumpmaster checking jumpers going out) made it even better.

All things being equal, this was a good jump and a great way to start the weekend, particularly coming off unexpectedly being on the overall champion team in the post cross-country race.

6.2mi, 44:00

The Ocean Blue, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

WX at 0700: 50(10), DP 50(10), BP 30.44(1030), winds calm, mist, RH 100%

No odometer. Today was done in Nike Air Streak Ekiden racing flats.

Z4 most of the way, Z5 finish. No heart rate monitor.

This morning's weather was excellent conditions, for a race. To add to the bonus factor, the team I was running for took the post championship. I will say up front that I took the first mile way too fast. Apart from that jackrabbit start, I would think that my unusually fast split at the 5 mile mark was because I was running mostly level ground that part of the race and it was on hard packed dirt rather than on loose sand, which was the case for parts of the race. Running on loose sand is a damn killer even if you're wearing racing shoes. Even wearing cross-country shoes (which I wasn't today) wouldn't help much on that surface. Thus, all the more reason to run on it in training.

Oddity: seeing a woman wearing a Middlebury lacrosse shirt. That was unusual if for no other reason than that's one of the last schools (Macalester, Smith, Oberlin also come to mind) I'd expect to see represented on a shirt at Fort Bragg, home of the Airborne and Special Operations, blah, blah, blah... That'd be about as incongruous as walking around in SoHo with one of these shirts on. I would not be so presumptuous as to actually get one.

I came to peace with not being a shooter a long time ago.

Splits:
1.0: 6:50 (6:50)
2.0: 14:11 (7:20)
3.0: 21:39 (7:27)
4.0: 28:49 (7:10)
5.0: 35:45 (6:56)
6.0: 42:54 (7:09)
6.2: 44:00 (1.05)

4.8mi, 43:05

Suicidal Tendencies, "Possessed to Skate"

WX at 0600: 62(17), DP 59(15), BP 30.16(1021), winds N 2 mist, RH 88%

Odometer 2: 69mi

Z1 to Z2, as befits a taper. No heart rate monitor today.

The last split was faster than exepcted, but after the first split, I was fully warmed up and it reflects. Nothing hard from now to Thursday.

I was going to get a jump in yesterday but the ceilings didn't meet minimum required altitude and we never got off the ground. It's a shame too- I was on the first lift (which never happens) and would've been done early. I'll see if I can get one on Thursday after the post cross-country race.

Splits
1.4: 13:07 (13:07) [09:22]
2.0: 31:05 (17:58) [08:59]
1.4: 43:05 (12:00) [08:34]

7.2mi, 63:35

Ministry, "N.W.O."
Husker Du, "New Day Rising" (live) off The Living End
Ministry, "Flashback"

WX at 0700: 69(21), DP 69(21), BP 30.17(1021), winds NE 3 fog, RH 100%

Odometer 1: 115mi

Z3 start, Z2 finish. No heart monitor. That wasn't really the object of the run, so that opens a debate about whether this would have constituted trash mileage or not. The high humidity in this run would've obviated any significant effort to get a PB (or for that matter, anything even remotely close to it).

I don't know how much we'll be doing at the zoo since there are supposed to be afternoon thunderstorms there. The prognosis for the subsequent Thomas the Tank Engine junket the next day looks good.

Catharsis run #2 in three days. I had no ambitions about times today. Today just offered an opportunity to get out and think about shit for a while, like undeclared domestic states of war in the household. Today was probably the most pointed example of unbridled shitty karma. I'm not really a believer in that concept, but just in case, it's in the negative digits today.

That, and I've gotta get around to my newest Scattergun (CD mix), which is tentatively titled "Music for Fucking People Up To." Yeah, dangling preposition. Whatever.

Splits:
1.4: 12:41 (12:41) [9:04]
2.0: 30:31 (17:50) [8:55]
1.4: 42:56 (12:25) [8:52]
2.4: 63:35 (20:39) [8:36]

4.8mi, 46:06

Beatallica, "Blackened the USSR"
Cheap Trick, "Mighty Wings"
Michael Manring, "Homeward"

WX at 0600: 71(22), DP 71(22), BP 30.10(1019), winds E 7 mist, RH 100%
No wonder I felt like fucking shit! Note RH.

Odometer 2: 64mi

Z1 most of the way. Z2 finish. The first thing I noticed was relative humidity. I knew the first mile and a half would consequently suck ass. It's weather like today's that deters me from running. I'd rather run in torrential downpour (and have) than still air (due to cover at ground level) and high humidity. Heart rate didn't exceed 150 for the first 3 miles. Didn't exceed 160 at the end either.

I was also deliberately going easy after yesterday's hard run. This run was to loosen the legs and burn fat.

Splits were slow, as to be expected. Really, really, really slow.
1.4: 14:02 (14:02.0)[10:01]
2.0: 33:11 (19:09.0)[09:34]
1.4: 46:06 (12:55.0)[09:13]

Kafkaesque TV viewing choices

The Presidential Debate
Escape from L.A.
Whale Rider

I'm going to have some obscenely mind-bending dreams tonight.

It was interesting to bounce between Whale Rider and Escape from L.A.

Escape from L.A. got the most airtime. Of course, I could probably watch A.J. Langer in skin-tight leather and spandex all day long. Blame it on My So-Called Life.

7.2mi, 60:56

Ministry, "Jesus Built My Hotrod"

WX at 0600: 66(19), DP 64(18), BP 29.99(1015), winds N 2 mist, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 108mi

Z3-Z4 most of the way. I decided to leave my heart monitor at home. I'm not sure I would've gotten much more out of instrumenting the run since I was going about as hard as I thought I could short of having real competition.

Shitty mood = catharsis run. My goal was to break 60, which didn't happen, but I didn't miss it by that much. I would have had to run about 8 seconds/mile faster to do it. This will probably be my penultimate hard run before the Fort Bragg post cross-country meet next week. I know I'll get at least a day off during the weekend, but that'll be at least partly offset by the expectation that I'll be carting my kids in their Radio Flyer wagon up and down all over the hills of the North Carolina Zoo.

I usually step up for races anyway - running next to people gives me that much more incentive to run harder. I also tend to use things like energy gel packets for races as well. I'm debating whether I want to do that or not for just a 10K, but I probably will.

Splits:
1.4: 11:51 (11:51)[08:28]
2.0: 29:14 (17:23)[08:42]
1.4: 41:06 (11:52)[08:29]
2.4: 60:56 (19:50)[08:16]

~5.0mi, 44:01

The Ocean Blue, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

WX at 1300: 71(22), DP 69(21), BP 29.64(1003), winds SSW 12 light rain showers, RH 100% for all intents and purposes

Odometer 2: 59mi

Z2 first half, Z3 second half. Heart rate not to exceed 160, which was mostly the case. There were small segments, not more than 30 seconds worth, where HR topped out around 164. Today was supposed to be an easy day, so I stacked it by not running any sand.

No significant splits today. First 4km was done around 22 minutes. I think an easy (and I mean "intended as recovery" easy) run at what amounts to 8:48 pace, to include some sluggitude going up hill to keep the max heart rate from going over, is a good sign.

~6 mi, 60:45

The Smiths, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
Ministry, "Jesus Built My Hotrod"
Cookie Monster, "C Is For Cookie" (yes, the one from Sesame Street)
Lemonheads, "Tenderfoot"

WX at 1200: 75/24, DP 71/22, BP 30.00/1015, winds ENE 7, mist, RH 88%

Odometer 1: 101mi

Z2-3 most of the time.

Today was supposed to be an easy run. I'm not sure if today was easy enough. Running on sand is always hard work, regardless of pace. I may end up taking another "easy" day tomorrow, based on how my legs feel.

7.2mi, 58:51

The Ocean Blue, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
The Smiths, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
Death Cab For Cutie, "This Charming Man"

WX at 0800: 60(16), DP 60(16), BP 30.06(1017), winds NNE 2 mist, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 54mi

Z3-4 throughout. Average HR 165 in first three miles and around 173 for the remainder.

Damn, today was another unintended personal best! Today didn't feel like it was going to be fast. Today started later than usual. Prep for today included drinking a Young's Oatmeal Stout the night prior. I don't think I'll repeat the stout (I'm a wheat beer kind of guy - as in Hoegaarden and its ilk). Today's start was "just slightly uncomfortable." When that pace netted me my first split, I decided to turn on the jets. Today marks an accurate description of what I think it might feel like to go at race pace. I would definitely consider this a time trial for training purposes.

Splits
1.4: 11:50 [8:27]
2.0: 28:36 (16:46) [8:23]
1.4: 39:56 (11:20) [8:05]
2.4: 58:51 (18:55) [7:52]

7.75mi, 65:23 (corrected)

I'm revising this figure, because I finally did the correct arithmetic on what the real run distance was, and I was off by about a mile. Based on that, average mile/time was 8:26. This is not particularly shabby considering the monster fucking hills on this particular course.

The Cure, "Taking Off"
The Cure, "2 Late"
Antonin Dvorak, Symphony No 9 in e minor, "From The New World." All of it.

WX at 1400: 77(25), DP 64(18), BP 30.14(1020), winds ENE 8, RH 65%

old shoes, so no odometer figure.

Z3 most of the way. Average HR about 170. A little higher on hills.

Today was rough. Two factors. I was running in the middle of the day when I've been used to running while it's still dark and about 65 degrees (or less). The other is that the location I ran was mostly sand. Smoother finish, but I find that the first 20-25 minutes of the run just hurt while I'm waiting to soak my T-shirt through enough to get the heat exchange process really going.

7.2mi, 61:24

Metallica, "Orion"
Juliana Hatfield, "Perfection"
J.S. Bach, some random organ prelude whose name I don't remember
General Public, "Tenderness"

WX at 0500: 57(14), DP 53(12), BP 30.24(1024), winds N 2, RH 87%

Odometer 1: 95mi

Z3 most of the way. Average HR about 170.

I woke up in a shitty mood this morning, so rather than boot the run (which I felt mildly tempted to do), I went out hard. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel as hard as it might have. Tomorrow needs to be easy, and maybe short.

Splits were fine but nothing exceptional. I wouldn't expect it now that I'm on my third consecutive long run this week.
1.4: 12:09 [8:40]
2.0: 29:26 (17:16) [8:38]
1.4: 41:20 (11:54) [8:30]
2.4: 61:24 (20:03) [8:21]

7.2mi, 65:53

Marilyn Manson, "The Beautiful People" (Full Metal Jacket Remix)
The Smiths, "Rusholme Ruffians"
The Police, "Truth Hits Everybody"
The Police, "Synchronicity I"

WX at time:53(12), DP 50(10), BP 30.27(1025), winds N 2, RH 87%

Odometer 2: 47mi

Z1 throughout. Average heart rate was about 150 throughout, which was the goal. A nice, slow, fat-burning run.

I realized the reason why my 2.4 splits are disproportionately faster today when I realized there is a huge straightaway on pavement that happens to be very slightly downhill. I may do this again tomorrow before going hard on Thursday instead of doing a straight on-off cycle.

Splits
1.4: 13:21 [9:32]
2.0: 31:48 (18:26) [9:13]
1.4: 44:50 (13:02) [9:18]
2.4: 65:53 (21:03) [8:46]

7.2mi, 60:44

Hilary Duff, "Come Clean"
Metallica, "Orion"

WX at 0500: 51(11), DP 48(9), RH 30.22(1023), winds N 7, RH 87%

Odometer 1: 88mi

Z3 most of the way. Average heartrate about 160 in the first 4 miles, averaging 165-170 in the last three.

Today was the first of at least four 7.2 mile runs. This should be a last surge week before I start to do some more sharpening runs in preparation for the Fort Bragg post cross-country meet (10km), which my boss managed to cajole me into running, and my semiannual physical fitness test (which includes a two mile run).

Obviously, the 2 mile is a very different race than 10,000m, but I'm not that concerned. Yet. I traditionally race better at longer distances since I have very little raw speed. I should probably resolve that partly by hitting the weights, but I'm too lazy to leave my building during the lunch hour and do so. Maybe that'll change in the next few weeks.

Splits were quick as befitted the weather and sleeping in for the last two days:
1.4: 12:00 [8:34]
2.0: 29:01 (17:01) [8:30]
1.4: 40:52 (11:51) [8:27]
2.4: 60:44 (19:51) [8:16]

This is my fastest time on this particular loop; this tops my earlier best of 60:56 back in August, which was done in very similar WX conditions. This begs the question of whether I could've tried harder, although I'm not sure how much more work I'd have done today. The other possibility is that I'm not getting any faster regardless how much I work on distance work and I need to try something else. Tomorrow needs to be an easy day, so I'll shoot for a max of 160 heartrate and see if that works for an easy day at the same distance. The WX should be about the same.

The Master Plan In The Wake of Ivan

This is a week for yet another ambitious GFI (Good Fucking Idea).

Time to rehash the idea of running 7.2 consecutively all week. I plan to get at least four iterations in. Friday is iffy, mostly because I'm trying to swing getting on a jump that day. If I can pull it off, it'll trump any run I attempt to do that day. If that happens, it'll be a day off.

Now that my heart monitor is back up and running, I'll be checking relative effort in conjunction with split times.

This week's weather promises to be good. Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for low 50s, low humidity. It can't get much better than that.

Given that I slept in the last two days, I'm hoping I'm rested enough to attempt to do such a stupid fucking thing as the one upon which I'm about to embark.

3.8mi, 35:48

The Cure, "Lament"
Hilary Duff, "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" (something I attribute to my wife's most recent CD purchase)
various songs from the PBS cartoon Dragon Tales

WX at 0700:77/25, RH 75/24, BP 29.84/1010, winds SE 9, RH 94%

Odometer 1: 81mi

Z1 in intent, Z1 in execution, Z1 in feeling.

I'm sure two consecutive gangbuster days were going to come to roost, and it did today. Slow, slow, slow. On the other hand, I've put a new battery in my Polar heart monitor (which I hadn't used in about 3 years) and I knew I wasn't overexerting myself.

Also particularly notable was today's temperature, which was about 10 degrees higher than yesterday. That's probably another reason why today was an exercise in suck. Typically my best speeds are during the late fall when the temperature sits around 50 degrees. My fastest long run ever was the 1990 Charlottesville Ten Miler, which was at 38 degrees with residual ice and slush on the ground. I don't like running in high humidity and heat.

I've found a heart monitor particularly useful in two ways:
1. When you have easy days, if you don't go over a certain heart rate, you're doing the right thing and not going too hard on an easy day. If you're actually disciplined and run easy/hard the right way (unlike what I've been doing lately) then it works.
2. There have been times that I felt like a complete weenie and thought I was working a lot harder than I actually was. I remember one particular run I did where I was doing fartlek intervals with a friend. I thought I was killing myself, but the 180 heart rate said otherwise. I wasn't working THAT hard if the heart rate during those intervals was only 180.

Only split today was at the 1.4: 14:15

7.2mi, 62:11

Billy Idol, "Rebel Yell"
Chris Stamey, "14 Shades of Green"
Antonin Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 in e minor, Op. 95 ("From The New World"), Adagio - Allegro molto

WX at 0700: 68/20, DP 68/20, BP 30.10/1019, winds ENE 2 mist, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 40mi

Z2 most of the way. Some Z3 but remarkably, not much.

Today was not intended to be a particularly quick run. If there's any indicator that's starting to emerge, it's that I'm getting progressively faster times for less effort. This is a great sign, particularly when the weather was not necessarily the best for such an effort.

Of particular note is the relatively slow starting split. That was definitely done at Z2, almost Z1, but for whatever reason or another, I ran it under 13 minutes, which is significant. When put in the light of yesterday's fairly hard 4.8 run, splits 2 and 3 are particularly significant. It's not that unusual for me to run negative splits all the way to the end on long runs, but what is perhaps more instructive is the difference in splits.

Throw in the hilly nature of the course that I normally run, and that illustrates real progress in the last few months.

Or as jwer has been known to say, "That's really bold."

Or, should I say, "STAAAAAAAAUNCHHH!"

Splits:
1.4: 12:49 [9:09/mi]
2.0: 30:10 (17:21) [8:40/mi]
1.4: 42:02 (11:52) [8:28/mi]
2.4: 62:11 (20:09) [8:23/mi]

4.8mi, 40:43

Chris Stamey, "Stupid Pop-Rock Song"
Velocity Girl, "The All-Consumer"
The Connells, "All Sinks In"

WX at 0700: 64/18, DP 64/18, BP 30.16/1021, winds N 3, mist, RH 100%

Odometer 2: 33mi

Z3 for the most part with some stretches of Z4.

I almost slept in this morning. I certainly didn't expect to run the fastest short loop I have in a while instead, which was a pleasant surprise. It was cool, which helped, and while it was humid, it was humid and cool, not humid and warm. I firmly believe weather has a lot to do with today, since I did run 7 yesterday.

Splits:
1.4: 12:08
2.0: 29:16 (17:08)
1.4: 40:43 (11:26)

7.2mi, 63:45

Beatallica, "...And Justice For All My Loving"
Joseph Conlan, opening and closing credits to Tour Of Duty
The Bats, "Courage"

Yes, Beatallica. www.beatallica.org.

WX at 0600: 66/19, DP 64/18, BP 30.16/1021, winds NE 5, light rain, mist, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 77mi

Z1-Z2.

Today was a "get back in the saddle" kind of run; I've either felt too tired or too lazy to get up early and actually run. Waking up at 5:00am to get out the door is rough, but provides a useful gut check. The other benefit to being up this early is that after running for over an hour, I'm definitely awake. I also have a little more latitude to eat fat pills at work should I so desire.

Splits:
1.4: 12:53
2.0: 30:55 (18:01)
1.4: 43:23 (12:28)
2.4: 63:45 (20:21)

Jump 52, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT

Drop altitude 1250 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1030.
WX at 1100, 75/24, DP 60/16, winds NE 12, clear. RH about 70%.

Today was supposed to be a jump from a Black Hawk helicopter, but it was being repaired. Thus, it turned into the usual Casa 212 kind of jump. No problem.

Harbinger O' Bad Juju: Two days prior to the jump, I had a dream of watching two jumpers come out of an airplane and have cigarette rolls. For the uninitiated, a cigarette roll occurs when the canopy fails to open combined with a spin, causing the parachute to not inflate and instead, rotate along itself, making it look like a giant joint. Couple that with the usual result of the parachute actually catching on fire (from wind-induced friction on nylon) and you have a very short margin of error to deploy your reserve before you "streamer into the ground," as the expression goes. It's not quite "burning in," which is to impact at terminal velocity because you have nothing but your fat ass to retard your downward flight, but it might as well be.

In Reality: Today was a goddamn windy jump! I stutter-stepped on the ramp going out because I didn't want to catch the preceding jumper's static line, but in doing so, I bumped off the side of the tailgate and spun out the plane, causing me to have twists in my suspension lines. It took me a little longer to get canopy control than some of the others, though.
I knew something was going to be up when I saw guys noticeably drifting in the air at altitude. This is a baaaaaaaaaaad sign, although the true determinant is winds at surface level. Initially, there were almost none, but that was not to be for my particular chalk.

As I descended towards the ground, at a very noticeably faster speed than last time, same drop zone, same type parachute, I passed over the flight landing strip (FLS). This was probably a good thing. If there's something I didn't want to land on, it was hard-packed dirt capable of taking the stresses of a plane. The upshot is that if I was going to drift to my rear in spite of the forward penetration of 9 knots by a MC1-1 series parachute, there was still enough wind to send me backwards at about 2-3 knots). The last thing that came to mind as I was about to hit was "damn, the ground is coming up fast."

I knew it was going to be bad when I had to activate my canopy release assembly to recover from the drag. I landed hard and started getting dragged along the pack tray by my reinflating parachute. I wouldn't have guessed 12 knots from the NE. I'm wondering if there was a gust right before we hit. Either way, one thing is certain - properly executed, parachute landing falls work. Correct execution of one saved my ass at Charleston AFB on jump 32, some four years ago, when I landed on asphalt rigged with a rifle and assault pack. I was trying to get away from the runway and landed on the white stripe. Literally.

The one good thing about today is that I landed in open ground and took very little time getting my parachute stuffed in its aviator's kit bag. I then ran across the FLS as fast as I could get with 68 pounds of parachute over my back, which leads me into the next point:

Dufus Patrol: Apparently some dudes thought it might be easier to get back to the assembly point by walking on the FLS. That's fine, but when an airplane with its two turboprop-driven spinning food processors is attempting to land, the first thing that came to mind was "move your ass, you stupid motherfucker." The airplane did three very visible climbs on final approach to avoid Cuisinarting guys who had just landed and were rolling the dice (by walking on the live FLS) with any potential contributions to the gene pool.

estimate 5.7mi, 53:19

Hans Zimmer, "Gortoz A Ran J'Attends"

WX at 0600: 68/20, DP 66/19, BP 30.16/1021, winds NNE 2 mist, RH 93%

Odometer 1: 70mi

Z1 until the last 1.4 split, which I clocked in 12:21.

For a run where I felt like utter and complete shit, that's a quicker-than-expected final split. I'm almost wondering whether it's because I went out so easy. About 36-38 minutes into the run, I started picking up my second wind, so I was either burning fat (possible, but probably not), or I had finally warmed up. The last part of the 1.4 split was done probably at Z4 starting uphill, leveling back to Z3 on the approach back to my start point. Chances are if I'd caught my relative pace before 8:30 into the split that I probably would've made it under 12:30.

7.2mi, 61:12

Chris Stamey, "Stupid Pop-Rock Song"
Inspiral Carpets, "Gimme Shelter"
Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, "I Want To Break Your Heart"

Odometer 2: 28mi

WX at 0700: 73/23, DP 71/22, BP 29.88/1011, winds SSW 6, RH ~94%

Z3-Z4. I hadn't run since Sunday, and it showed - taking the last few days off not running (or for that matter, not doing anything physical) allowed me to run the fastest splits I've run in a while...until the end.

The word that comes to mind is "craptacular," because it damn near was--to the point where I almost turned back to take care of business. The last split is misleading because I had to stop to walk on two instances.

First time in a while I've run positive splits, though:
1.4: 11:58 [8:32/mi]
2.0: 29:00 (17:02) [8:31/mi]
1.4: 41:08 (12:08) [8:40/mi]
2.4: 61:12 (20:03) [8:21/mi]

approximate 9 miles, 71:46

Descendents, "My Dad Sucks"
Descendents, "Coolidge"
G.F. Handel, Alla Hornpipe from Water Music
Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"
Corrosion of Conformity, "Negative Outlook"

I have no idea what sparked my outbreak of Descendents songs!

Odometer 1: 64mi

WX at 0700 in Calabash NC: 72/23, DP 70/21, BP 30.05/?, winds N 5, RH 94%.
Overcast at start with clearing by the end.

Z3 throughout. Relatively steady-state run at the limit of oxygen debt with one hell of a kick at the end. I would conservatively estimate I was going about 7:00 or below in my last mile. Today's course was very flat, but I'm currently in the coastal plain, so that might have something to do with it. No hills equates to no drag going uphill, so today's run was going to be fast. Why I was able to kick with as much speed as I did at the end, I'm not sure. I think that energy would've been better spent up front since I only need those kind of finishing kicks at the end of races...and I haven't raced in a while.

4.8mi, 48:26

Goo Goo Dolls, "Just The Same Old Reason"
Goo Goo Dolls, "Hate This Place"
James Horner, "Hymn"
R.E.M., "Driver 8"

Odometer 1: 55mi

WX at 0700: 62/17, DP 62/17, BP 30.16/1021, winds NNE 5, RH 100% but it sure didn't feel like it today. Weather was just about perfect. It doesn't get much better than it did today.

Z1 throughout. I very nearly slept in. There were two factors at work in today's abbreviated run. The first was that most nights this week I was getting around 4-6 hours of sleep. Normally this is not a big deal. I routinely go off 5 hours without a hitch. I routinely don't go 7.2 miles for four days in a row getting that kind of rest, however. The other, of course, is mileage. I think I might've come close to overtraining and probably would have had I attempted to grind out a 7.2mi at what I thought should've been an appropriate pace.

The lesson here is to listen to your body. I have a heart monitor, but I need to get the batteries replaced in it before I can start using it again. That might not be a half-bad idea in the coming weeks.

Splits were slow as to be expected from a Z1 run.
1.4: 14:08
2.0: 34:16 (20:08)
1.4: 48:26 (14:09)

Jump 51, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT

I realized that there's one other thing I attempt to do frequently, and that's falling out of planes. When I think of the huge folklore that exists in the airborne community of fucked-up jump stories, I realized this afternoon that maybe I should start logging mine as well. I'm pretty sure I'll never jump into combat, so I don't have to worry too much about that one.

With that introduction out of the way, my goal is to get to 65 jumps before I leave my current job so I can get master parachutist rated. I'd really like to get them out of the way before the end of the calendar year but I don't think I'll make it quite that quickly. In the interests of operational security, I'm leaving unit identities out of these narratives.

I am including in my title the type of jump as it gets entered in my jump log.
A/NT = administrative, nontactical
CE = combat equipment
MT = mass tactical
T = tactical
N = night
J = jumpmaster

Drop altitude 1250 feet AGL, time of drop approximately 1430.
WX at 1400, 80/27, DP 60/16, winds NE 10, clear. RH about 70%.

What makes today's jump stand out was my discussion before boarding the plane about how I always fall like a rock. Today I ended up catching a temperature inversion and watched most of the rest of my stick land as I undertook the slowest descent I've ever had in any parachute, ever.

As an indicator of just how slowly I was descending, I watched the guy who had exited in front of me land as I continued to descend, some six hundred feet above him. I've never had occasion to pull both toggles of my main at once until today. Normally, that's not a very good idea; most of the time the last thing I need to do is to reduce the size of the canopy and its attendant drag. Doing so is called "dumping air" for a reason - it makes you fall faster. While I had a slow descent, I hit harder than I usually do for an MC1-1D parachute.

7.2mi, 65:46

W.A. Mozart, Symphony No. 41 in C major, Molto allegro
W.A. Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in d minor, Andante
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Overture
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Scherzo, Allegro molto

Odometer 2: 21 mi

WX at 0700: 66/19, DP 64/18, BP 30.16/1020, winds ENE 3 mist, RH 93%

Z2 throughout. This is a goddamn recovery run! Splits follow:
1.4: 13:20
2.0: 32:08 (18:48)
1.4: 44:50 (12:42)
2.4: 65:46 (20:55)

Based on these times, my body is starting to break down (gradually). This is okay so long as I don't do anything really ambitious or dumb. I think in a week or two there will be a more significant turnaround, so I may continue this experiment into next week...after taking a day off at minimum. If my body were really starting to break down I don't think times would be what I got today on relatively moderate effort.

I think my work over the last month has given me enough foundation where I can now sustain this without worry of really overtraining. The aggregate mileage this week would've been problematic had I not had a solid mileage base to work from.

This still doesn't address my general lack of raw speed. That'll take speedwork, which I don't relish. That'd make me white meat, not dark.

7.2mi, 62:44

Journey, "Only The Young" (jwer, this one's for YOU!)
Goo Goo Dolls, "Hate This Place"
Cub, "Voracious"

Racing shoes today for time trial...which wasn't much of one. Estimated racing shoe odometer is around 20.

WX at 0500: 73/23, DP 71/22, BP 30.10/1019, winds variable 2, drizzle. RH 100%.

Z3-Z4 mostly. I think three days of 7.2 back to back is starting to take its toll, but on the bright side, I dropped below 179 for the first time in over a year. This is significant as the weight at which I don't have to get taped for body fat percentage.

I always like to have a few extra pounds below just as insurance, but the intense pain of trying to get down to that weight (the last time I weighed 170 was after four months in Kuwait of running 35 miles a week, seven years ago) implies industriousness that I sometimes just don't have.

Today reiterates the philosophy that racing shoes are almost as much mental as physical. They are lighter, at the cost of foot protection (although I have pretty normal biomechanics). The mental boost I get just from wearing them is significant in itself. There's some value to feeling faster because of wearing a pair of funky fresh shoes that weigh less than 7 ounces. The most insane shoe I ever wore in that regard was the Nike Duellist, which I wore for a season of indoor and outdoor track in 1989. The Duellist weighed 5.1 ounces. They were also completely trashed and for all intents and purposes, squashed flat by the middle of spring track. I had transitioned back to cross-country spikes by the end of that season, which may have paid off when I got tapped to run the 4x800m relay and ran a 2:23 PR. Yeah, I'm that slow. Bite me.

On the other hand, if I can sustain running 7.2 regularly, versus the 7.2/4.8 on-off cycle I've been doing, I may realize that goal with comparatively easy effort.

Tomorrow needs to be a day of intense sluggitude, much like yesterday.

Splits:
1.4: 12:14
2.0: 29:40 (17:25)
1.4: 42:11 (12:31)
2.4: 62:44 (20:32)

7.2mi, 70:52

Bel Canto, "Unicorn"
The Delphines, "I Want You The Way I Want You (Not How You Are)"
The Reputation, "The Stars of Amateur Hour"
Jay Semko, "Due South Theme '97"

Odometer 1: 50mi

WX at 0600: 71/22, DP 69/21, BP 30.02/1016, winds W 1 fog, RH 94%

Today was easy, easy, easy. Z1 almost throughout. Day two of the 7x5 experiment continues.

Splits:
1.4: 14:06
2.0: 35:46 (21:39)
1.4: missed the split
2.4: 70:52 (22:33)

7.2mi, 63:21

New Model Army, "Running in the Rain"
Throwing Muses, "Mania"
New Order, "Dream Attack"
The Go-Go's, "Vacation"

shoe odometer 2: 14mi

WX at 0700: 73/23, DP 71/22, BP 29.70/1005, winds WSW 21, light rain showers, RH 94%
Actual winds were attenuated by surface cover.

Z3 throughout. I waited too long in the morning to start, but nonetheless caught the tail end of Tropical Depression Gaston. I like running in the rain, but the winds were deceptively low at ground level. Stronger maybe than usual since I took a day off between runs, but I think this coming week will mark an increase in mileage to see if I can sustain a week of 7 milers back-to-back. We'll see. With a physical fitness test coming in a month or so, I need to start doing some more deliberate speed work, which I of course, eschew because, well, it hurts.

My usual trend of progressively negative splits continue:
1.4: 12:46
2.0: 30:53(18:07)
1.4: 43:34 (12:41)
2.4: 63:21 (19:48)

7.2mi, 63:51

Some Girls, "Just Like The First Time"
"Jester" from the computer game Terminal Velocity
Juliana Hatfield, "My Enemy"

New shoes to alternate. Asics Gel-Cumulus V, last of the model year. Odometer 2: 7mi

WX at 0700: 68/20, DP 66/19, BP 30.06(1017), winds calm, RH 93%.

Relatively indistinguished run with one key observation-- which is that I suffer greatly on hills unless I have some momentum from going downhill or from sustained level ground.

Doing some hip-pocket analysis, it would imply that I need to do more strength training since I don't seem to have a lot of issues with endurance beyond that indicator.

Whether I'll get off my fat ass and actually hit the weight room is debatable, of course.

4.8mi, 46:14

The Lemonheads, "Tenderfoot"
Corrosion of Conformity, "Holier"
Velocity Girl, "One Word"
Little Red Rocket, "Back to Where I Started"

WX at 0700: 71/22, DP 69/21, BP 30.15/1020, winds NNE 2, RH 94%

shoe odometer: 43mi

After yesterday's run, I guess I should've expected to feel as utterly shitty as I did this morning. I very nearly slept in, but I need to actively break myself of that habit. I haven't ever felt as slow as I did today, and the splits reflect:

1.4: 14:01 (14:01)
2.0: 32:54 (18:52)
1.4: 46:14(13:20)

Of course, it's one thing to cognitively know you're going slower than 9 min/mi, and yet another to realize it at the gut level.

7.8mi, 68:30

Throwing Muses, "Drive"
Throwing Muses, "Saving Grace"
theme music to Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
The Connells, "Fun and Games"

WX at 1300: 80/27, DP 69/21, BP 30.19/1022, wind NNE 8, haze, RH 69%.

Z2-3 no man's land with some walking. I'm inclined to discount the 7.8mi measurement because I don't think I could go almost 8:30 pace for almost 8 miles and still feel as goddamn slow as I did.

Almost entirely hills and sand, which is why I'm even more leery of saying 8:30 pace.

I've been more or less tapering (not for any good reason) since I jumped yesterday and decided to not work out later.

4.1mi, 35:03

Stabbing Westward, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
Inspiral Carpets, "Gimme Shelter"
The Cure, "Lament"

WX at 1300: 82/28, DP 64/18, BP 30.13/1020, winds ENE 6. RH unavailable at the time, but it was probably in excess of 85%. First afternoon run in a while. While I wasn't tight from just having woken up, the heat more than compensated.

Z2+ combined with heat, dirt, and some sizeable hills made for a run that felt faster than it actually was.

No projected run tomorrow since I have yet another parachute jump in the morning.

estimate 10 mi, 1:29.53

Morrissey "Irish Blood, English Heart"
Morrissey, "Suedehead"
Theme music to the (ancient) computer game M.U.L.E
The Bats, "Courage"
Mike Oldfield, "Moonlight Shadow"
Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"

WX in Richmond VA at 0600: 61, DP 61, BP 30.10r, winds calm, RH 100%

Shoe odometer: 38mi

Slow start at Z2, Z3 finish. I ended up breaking some brush unintentionally but based on perceived effort and time, my best guess is 10 or so.

Jump 50, Ste Mere Eglise DZ, A/NT

No run today.

I did get a nice view of Raeford, NC before doing my first-ever jumpmaster pass exit from 3,000 feet above ground level with a MC1-1D parachute.

Literally every other jump I've done is from 1500, 1250, or most commonly, 800 feet AGL.

Jumping from any of those altitudes just doesn't prepare you for a descent measured in minutes (rather than a minute or two if you're lucky), in a steerable parachute.

There are times I feel apprehensive about jumping out of planes. That apprehension almost always goes away as soon as I'm out of the plane. There are times I think I might miss this, and maybe doing colossally fucking stupid, yet intensely entertaining activities like static line parachuting shouldn't be part of my job description, but it sure is fun, and by god, I even get paid extra to do it.

4.8mi, 45:48

The Goo Goo Dolls, "Naked"
The Goo Goo Dolls, "Girl Right Next to Me"
The Goo Goo Dolls, "Another Second Time Around"
BT, "Somnambulist"

WX at 0600: 71/22, DP 71/22, BP 30.07(1018), winds SW 6 mist, RH 100%

Shoe odometer: 28mi

There are days for recovery runs, and today was it. I felt like crap, mostly because of sore hip flexors from yesterday's trail run. Most of the lactate was worked off by the end of the run by my legs were still smoked. Z1 continuous. No regrets.

Splits:
1.4: 13:37 (13:37)
2.0: 32:38 (19:01)
1.4: 45:48(13:09)

potential relook of times

According to MrSID and imagery of the area, my 4.8 route is actually more like 5.2. If that's the case, the times aren't nearly so glum as they might entail, for competition.

This is probably worth a GPS trace to see how far off the computer's estimate really was.

estimate 7.2mi, 69:01

William Ackerman, "New England Morning"
Michael Manring, "Hopeful"
Chris Stamey, "14 Shades of Green"

WX at 0600: 68/20, DP 68/20, BP 30.07/1018, winds NNE 3 fog. RH 100%

The big difference between yesterday's and today's 100% relative humidity was the killing fog. Today's start was slower and more sluggish than usual.

This is a deceptive time if only because I spent about 6 minutes thrashing through the woods trying to find a bypass to a pond that's not really bypassable. I wasn't dressed to go cutting through heavy forest, so I decided to cut it back.

The majority of this run (about the middle 4mi of it) was over dirt and sand. While this slows me down a lot, my knees feel better and I still got a lot of work in due to the conditions. My form tends to be efficient to make up for lack of raw power (which might reflect itself in my abject lack of leg speed), so if I'm not running on pavement, I suck.

5.0mi, 44:52

Antonio Vivaldi, Allegro from Violin Concerto in A minor
Body Count, "Bowels of the Devil"
Juliana Hatfield, "Get Off Your Knees"
Background music to start menu of the computer game MechCommander

WX at 0600: 62/17, DP 62/17, BP 30.16/1021, calm, mist. RH 100% supposedly but I didn't feel that way.

Shoe odometer: 23mi

Generally easy run, but getting markedly faster toward the end.

Splits:
1.4: 13:06
2.0: 30:58 (17:51)
1.4: 42:57 (11:59) (note a 1:07 negative split!)
.2: 44:52 (1:55)

6.0mi, estimate 53:12

The Cure, "A Forest" from Concert
The Cure, "A Forest" from In Orange
The Chiffons, "Sweet Talking Guy"
The Cure, "All I Want"

WX at 0645: 68/20, DP 68/20, BP 30.17/1021, winds NW 3 light drizzle and lots of mist. RH 100% of course.

Z3 aerobic. Had to walk one or two times since I damn had to take a pit stop during the run. In spite of that, having taken 3 days off beforehand led to a fairly good, painless run, even on the uphills. After the first 25 minutes, it was definitely a good run.

estimate 7mi, 65:40

Corrosion of Conformity, "Indifferent"
Georg Friedrich Handel, Water Music

WX at 0600: 71.1(21.7), DP 66.9(19.4), BP 29.92(1013), winds SSE6 mist. Best guess RH was about 80%.

Shoe odometer: 18mi

I need to sit down with a map and paper and map distances old school style. I don't have any SID imagery of the DC area, and I don't have the ability to map with FalconLite (as far as I know). I do have a 1:50,000 CADRG of the area so there's a good start.

Hills were difficult again. After hitching up on the trail that handrails the George Washington Parkway from the Key Bridge, (near Theodore Roosevelt Island) I realized that it was just like driving. You take a wrong turn, you're stuck with it! By the end, I was hoping I'd be able to Zen my way back to the hotel before I hit the wall. Lots of Z3, some Z4 going uphill. Z2 mostly downhill.

The hills in Arlington are officially no joke. Neither is the traffic. The trail is the place to go, but I need to print out the guide at www.rundc.com (which unfortunately requires Java) so I have something to work with.

There were a lot of curvy Beautiful People in form-fitting technical garb on the trail, though. There were some bikes, but they were pretty good about signaling so they didn't run me down.

Not fast due to the extensive hills near the end. Some parts of the run were quicker, but they were also downhill!

estimate 4.0mi, estimate 32:40

I don't remember what was stuck in my head.

No WX report.

Shoe odometer: 11mi

I didn't log time and since I was picking some unbelievably bad places to run in Arlington, Virginia.

Arlington is a difficult place to run for a number of reasons. I never cued on the large number of high-grade hills in the Arlington area. There are very few areas that are actually flat. Most of the running I did was a credible up or down.

Couple this with all sorts of major roads converging in the same place (US 50, I-66, George Washington Parkway) and you really need to do some good scouting of the route before you decide to try to play chicken with traffic as I did this morning.

Followed by 10 universal machine lat pulldown @ 120#, 10 universal machine bench press @ 120#, and more significantly, 15 universal machine leg press @ 300-600lb. The latter is significant; I think I'll start working on those in some attempt to build fighting load speed and more leg speed.

4.8mi, 42:38

Juliana Hatfield, "My Enemy"
Little Red Rocket, "Back to Where I Started"
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Overture
unnamed 75th Ranger Regiment running cadence (I guarantee you won't find this one in print or on tape)

Z2 continuous. Today started with ambitions of 7 and dropped to 5 when I realized that hard days back-to-back repeatedly are a dumb idea, regardless of how you might initially feel.

I think that's the most difficult part of a training plan - trying to balance listening to your body versus the grand plan. I also think most people tend to train too hard on the days they need to go easy.

WX remains good. I don't know how long this will last:
At 0700: 66(19), DP 64(18), BP 30.1 (1019), winds N 2. RH 93%. It was noticeable more humid this morning, although there was some altocumulus cloud cover.

6.1mi, 56:27

Corrosion of Conformity, "Holier"
Michael Nyman, "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" from The Piano
The Cure, "All I Want"
Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"
Hilary Duff, "Come Clean"
Michael Nyman, "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" from The Piano (again)

Very slow start, Z1, 13:09.
Initial 1.4mi split, 13:00.
2.0mi split, 18:29.
Final 1.4mi split, 11:48.

WX was good once again. It'll pass later this week, but I'll enjoy it while I still can:
At 0700: 60(16), DP 59(15), BP 30.18(1022), Calm. RH 93% but I'd never guess it.

What's the meaning behind all these negative splits?
1 - I did absolutely NOTHING yesterday in terms of running.
2 - The first 3 miles of this run was all burning off lactic acid and unlimbering. (Didn't stretch this morning.)
3 - With that gone, the last 3 miles or so was totally unhindered. The last 1.4mi split is significant.

And yeah, I run to Hilary Duff. I really need to be going faster to sustain the right tempo for "Come Clean." (The other song I like as running background that requires the same speed is "The Stars of Amateur Hour" by The Reputation.) That's why most of the run was punctuated by Michael Nyman.

7.2mi, 60:56

The Cure, "A Forest" from Concert
The Vapors, "Turning Japanese"
Blank and Jones with Robert Smith, "A Forest" (radio mix)

Shoe odometer: 7.2mi

The fastest 7.2 loop I have done in recent memory, by splits:
1.4mi: 11:55 (8:30/mi)
2.0mi: 17:09 (8:34/mi)
1.4mi: 11:55 (8:30/mi)
2.4mi: 19:56 (8:18/mi)
(Mean 8:28/mi).

This doesn't sound particularly fast relative to what I posted yesterday, but there are a lot of hills in this particular course.

Contributing factors to today's run: tired legs (some), new shoes (Asics GT-2090), and weather, weather, weather.
This was the coolest morning I've seen in the summer, even cooler than yesterday, and it was good.

WX at run time of 0600: 53(12), DP 51(11), BP 30.01(1016), winds WSW 5.

Tomorrow needs to be a light easy day, though.

6.57mi (10,600m), 50:48 race

Stabbing Westward, cover of "Bizarre Love Triangle"
The Connells, "Fun and Games"

It was supposed to be a 10K. 10K my ass! Where did the other .37mi come from?
Slow start. Indeed, probably one of the most relaxed, slowest starts of any race I've run. By mile 3 I had worked off most of the kinks and by mile 4 I was running at race pace, probably just under 7:30/mi.

Doing the math, the aggregate pace per mile ended up being 7:41. I can live with that, no problem. Given that most of my training runs I'm not coming close to that perceived speed, that's definitely a good sign.

Two contributing factors:

1. I ate a Powerbar and a Powergel an hour before start time. They should have hit about the time the race started. I've used both in 10mi races in the past to good effect.
2. Another piece to this was the uncharacteristically cool weather this morning:
At 0700: T 66(19), DP 64(18), BP 29.83(1010), winds variable 5.
This is literally the coolest day I've ever seen in Fayetteville this (or for that matter, any) summer.

Tomorrow's supposed to be more the same. Looks like I'll be putting in a long run tomorrow!

And, incidentally...

I read Inferno when I was a scout platoon leader in 1996, on the gunnery range, learning how to break things and kill people...

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	Very High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

~5.0mi, 42:05

Episode 2, Level 1 background music to Doom
Bond, "Allegretto"

Z2 start quickly transitioning to Z3. 1.4mi split 12:37.
Z2-high through next two miles with probable split at 18:13.
Z2 recovery to complete.

Tomorrow is a 10K race, so I'll see what the taper-off does, since I didn't do any exercise yesterday. Tonight should entail some starch-loading.

4.8mi, 44:51

Love Spit Love, "Am I Wrong"
The Cure, "Taking Off"
The Cure, "Too Late"
Morrissey, "Irish Blood, English Heart" (or in my case, should it be "Korean Blood, Japanese Heart")

Z2 almost continuous. Today was supposed to be a recovery day and it was a light easy run. Slow, but that's okay.

WX at 0700: 75(24), DP 73(23) [not in my neighborhood], 29.79(1008), N 7, mist.

It might have been two degrees above dewpoint, but I don't buy that with the monster fog in my neighborhood. Suddenly I think to myself about eventual retirement places, and Arizona suddenly comes to mind...

~7.0mi, 60:16 approximate

Episode 3, Level 1 background music to Doom
Episode 1, Level 1 background music to Doom
Antonio Vivaldi, "Winter" from The Four Seasons
Chris Stamey, "14 Shades of Green"

Z2 start for the first 2 miles, 17:51. Painful, but it always is.
Z3, felt much better (heart rate up and dumping heat as I finally start sweating) for remainder.
Brief stretch of Z4 for about a mile. This was on dirt, which is good since the shoes I had today are the most worn out of the ones I use.

WX at 0700: T 75(24), DP 75(24), BP 29.94(1013), winds NNE 5, mist.

Stretched this morning. Might actually decide to keep doing so, in spite of myself.

4.8mi, 42:58

Juliana Hatfield, "My Enemy"
Michael Kamen, "Main Titles" to Band of Brothers
The Smiths, "What Difference Does It Make?"

Z3 most of the way, excepting uphill segments, the last of which I did at Z4.
I woke up envisioning this as "5 miles of slop," a.k.a, junk miles. Not quite as junk as I thought it might end up.

WX at 0700: temp 75(24), DP 75(24), BP 30.02(1016), winds NNE 8 (heavily attenuated by trees), mist.

One significant difference this morning was stretching before departure. I've eschewed stretching the last few years, thinking I didn't really need it. While there was some study I heard about on NPR's All Things Considered that mentioned how stretching didn't help prevent injury, it does allow for easier running. I hadn't thought about that until recently.
The stretches I did are located at http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/Stretch.htm for those who are interested.