The lyrics to "What Ya Gonna Do PL?" (also known to some as the "RI Theme Song")

Because I can't get it out of my damn head, I figured I'd share it with the rest of the world...because it's just that catchy. I'm not a graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course or Ranger Course...but I spent enough time in the latter to witness a fair amount of this happening in front of my eyes...at least without the rubbing one out with a Maxim Magazine...

Correction: giving credit where credit's due: Sounds of SWC is the origin of the song. In the proper context, the song is about Phase II of the Special Forces Qualification Course, although I'm sure there are plenty of Rangers out there who can empathize as well.

What'cha gonna do, PL?
What'cha gonna do, PL?
When Murphy shows up and shit goes to hell,
What'cha gonna do, PL?

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
APL’s got us lost but you be the boss,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

Okay, PL. You and your team have an ambush 7 clicks from here in two hours.
You’ll have Claymores out, security set in, and I don’t want to see any fucking shortcuts.
I want a full op order in 20 minutes and I expect to hear a WARNO in 10.
What are your questions, PL?

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
8 clicks to go in the rain and snow,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
When Murphy shows up and shit goes to hell,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

What the fuck is going on, PL?!
Where’s your fucking security?
Your 240’s unmanned, the gunner’s off in the bushes dropping off a SEAL team,
Your SAW gunners are asleep and your Alpha Team Leader’s rubbing one out with a Maxim magazine and a white light behind that fucking tree.
Are you in charge of this gagglefuck?
What the fuck are you doing, PL?!

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
You got 5 cantaleens and no MREs,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
When Murphy shows up and shit goes to hell,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

Hey! Wake up!

Okay, stop, PL. Where the fuck do you think you are?
Show me on the map. No, point to it. Not with your finger, jackass!
Are you kidding? That’s where you think you are?
All right, PL. You got 20 minutes till hit time and you’re lost.
I’m going to help you out. You’re right here. See that? Good.
Set your compass to 270 degrees. Think you can cover 4 clicks in 20 minutes? Let’s find out.

(Incoming!)

All right, that’s it! You guys better get on the damn ground when one of those goes off or I’m going to start assessing casualties!
I said get on the damn ground!
You’re not flat when that fucker goes off, you’re dead, you hear me! Dead!
Now get them out of here, PL!

What'cha gonna do, PL?
What are you gonna do, PL?
All night on your feet and not a wink of sleep,
What'cha gonna do, PL?

What are you gonna do, PL?
What are you gonna do?
When your team freaks out and people start to shout,
What'cha gonna do, PL?

You’re going to freak…out. (x2)
You’re going to freak the fuck out. (x8)

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What are you going to do when you don’t know what to do,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)
When Murphy shows up and shit goes to hell,
What'cha gonna do, PL? (What'cha gonna do?)

WHAT'CHA GONNA DO?!

All right, all of you wake the fuck up!

WHAT'CHA GONNA DO?!

WHAT'CHA GONNA DO?!

I marched OPFOR up and down this road four times, right over your fucking objective and you all slept right through it!

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO?!

I’ve had it with you, PL! You’re a fucking moron!
You’re incompetent. Time for extra training!
(Incoming!)
You’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead!
Where’s the fucking RTO?
You’re the RTO? You’re dead, too!
You even know your nine-line, PL? You better figure it out real fast!
If I were you, I’d start getting your people outta here before more of them die!
Maybe you want to get a MEDEVAC enroute, what you do think, PL?
Do you even know where your patrol base is?
What direction are you fucking going, PL?
Where’s your fucking medic?
You’re the medic? You’re fucking dead, too! You’re fucking dead!
Keep going, PL! What in the hell are you going to do now, huh?
You know what, I’ve had it with you, PL! YOU'RE DEAD!
FUCKING NO-GO! Who’s next in charge?!

4.0mi, 31:18, 3 NOV 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

some unidentified guys from the 6th Ranger Training Battalion, "RI Theme Song"

WX at 0700: 30.0 (-1.1) DP 19.0 (-7.2) BP 30.39 (1029) S 9 clear RH 63%, WC 21 (-6)

Odometer 3: 33.7mi

Z4.

What'cha gonna do, PL?
What'cha gonna do, PL?
When Murphy shows up and shit goes to hell,
What'cha gonna do, PL?

What'cha gonna do, PL?
What'cha gonna do, PL?
Eight miles to go in the rain and snow,
What'cha gonna do, PL?

Fast run because I had little time...and it paid off in the initial start. When you're in a hurry, you're in a hurry. The "RI Theme Song" is pretty catchy too. Now it's stuck in the back of my head.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.86 06:09 06:09 07:11 07:11 0.86
0.73 12:01 05:52 08:02 07:35 1.59
0.98 19:54 07:53 08:01 07:45 2.57
0.78 26:05 06:11 07:55 07:47 3.35
0.65 31:18 05:13 08:02 07:50 4.00

4.0mi, 35:01, 2 NOV 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

opening to 82d Airborne Division chorus introduction, played every duty day morning at Fort Bragg at 0630
Silverstein, "Smile In Your Sleep"

WX at 0600: 32.0 (0.0) DP 17.1 (-8.3) BP 30.43 (1030) WSW 7 clear RH 53% WC 26 (-3)

Odometer 2: 207.0mi

Z2.

Wogging on the track wasn't really, because of the temperature. Good god was it cold this morning. First time I've gone full pants, sweatshirt, gloves, and hat for an entire run.

I have to debate the accuracy of my Timex GPS watch as it was reading wildly unrealistic split times for what I was running this morning. No way in hell was I running anything close to a 7:10 mile at ANY point this morning.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.01 09:11 09:11 09:07 09:07 1.01
0.99 17:56 08:45 08:48 08:57 2.00
1.01 26:44 08:48 08:45 08:53 3.01
1.00 35:01 08:17 08:17 08:44 4.01

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 43:05, 1 NOV 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Stabbing Westward, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

WX at 1700: 46.9 (8.3) 15.1 (-9.4) 30.32 (1026) NNW 7 clear RH 27%

Odometer 2: 202.6mi N/A

Z4.

Today was a textbook example of how NOT to spin. I decided to start, and felt fine enough to spin at 2:00/500m. No shit. I cleared my first 1000m in 4:01 and my first 2000m split was 8:09. I think this was a Big Mistake, as I was just spent for the rest of the workout. I was barely pulling 2:09 and there were parts where I was barely holding down 2:15.

On the other hand, I think this drag factor is about right for this distance. I just have to be lot more disciplined to not flame out the start like I did today. I was able to finish fairly strong, at about 2:00/500m for the last 500m, but that was driven by desperate desire to finish within 43 minutes, which, of course, didn't happen. I was spinning 1:53/500m at the end.

My legs are tired; my right quadricep is surprisingly tired, or it might be the onset of some other cold-related ache, as it was ungodly cold this morning, causing me to chicken out.

Splits
Distance: 10000
Time: 0:43:05
Per 500m: 02:09
Drag Factor 133
Per Mile 0:06:56

6.8mi, 57:44, 31 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Death Cab for Cutie, "The Sound of Settling"
Death Cab for Cutie, "We Looked Like Giants"
Guns & Roses, "Sweet Child of Mine"

WX at 0500: 35.1 (1.7) DP 21.9 (-5.6) BP 30.12 (1019) N 12 clear RH 58%

Odometer 3: 29.7mi

Z3.

The G&R only showed up because I chanced across this footage of Kelly Clarkson, trashed, at a G&R show, still outsinging everyone else in the show...This is what I get for reading the Washington Post story on how Youtube is regarded differently by some media firms. Sigh.

First run since Thursday. I was playing single parent this weekend and was just too busy to get someone to watch the Princess (Household6 and the Sledgehammer were away this weekend). That was probably a good enforced rest, though., which I really needed.

I felt like I was slowing down as I ran progressively more negative splits, but I could tell I was getting tired. I also have the beginnings of a cold which I need to kick.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:24 02:24 08:55 08:55 0.27
2.09 20:18 17:54 08:34 08:36 2.36
2.09 37:54 17:36 08:25 08:31 4.45
2.09 55:21 17:27 08:21 08:28 6.54
0.27 57:44 02:23 08:50 08:29 6.81

computers are evil, but so are standardized tests

I had occasion to take, on Thursday, the Graduate Record Exam for the first time in over a decade. When I took it in 1996, I remember it to be one of the more punishing, harrowing tests I've taken in a while.

The GRE is, for all intents and purposes, a version of the SAT on steroids and crystal meth. I would've thought, that as an Army officer, that I'd have a reasonable grasp on how to answer the critical reasoning questions on the GRE. Oh, hell, no.

This new one is the first ETS test I've taken that was done as a Computer Adaptive Test. I was too busy trying to figure out how to answer some of the questions to realize that feeling like I was getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly by the test was actually a good indicator. I was more concerned about not finishing the test in time, as unlike the old SAT, there is no penalty for answering questions wrong on the GRE. I can't speak for the current SAT.

I routinely do a lot better on the verbal than I do on the math portions of standardized tests, but I was gratified to know that my GRE scores this time were higher than any other standardized test I've taken, if the unofficial scores are any indicator.

I did actually study up for the GRE this time, unlike the grand total of 1 day's preparation I did for the GRE the last time. I think my improved performance has a lot to do with actually practicing on the test this time around.

There is something to be said for UI, and while the one for the GRE sucks, it's the same as the one that they distribute for free on their PowerPrep software off their website. Practicing on their software beforehand seriously saved my bacon.

I hope I never have to take another standardized test from the Educational Testing Service again, though.

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 42:57, 26 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Kim-Lian, "Kids in America"

WX at 0600: 53.1 (11.7) DP 50.0 (10.0) BP 29.82 (1009) NE 5 fog RH 89%

Odometer 2: 202.6mi

Z4.

First time on the erg in a while. It was that much more painful as I've been doing physical therapy on my right ankle, which was presenting for arthritis a few weeks ago. I think, now that it's gotten cold and the barometric pressure has for the most part changed, that it shouldn't be problematic, but given this morning's weather, spinning was fine, also.

Splits
Distance: 10000
Time: 0:42:57
Per 500m: 02:09
Drag Factor 148
Per Mile 0:06:55

4.1mi, 35:28, 24 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Corrosion of Conformity, "What (?)"
The Cure, "A Forest"

WX at 0600: 34.0 (1.1) DP 25.0 (-3.9) BP 30.22 (1023) SE 8 fog RH 69% WC 26 (-3)

Odometer 2: 202.6mi

Z3 high start, last 2 miles Z2.

The 2.13 at the start was to get to the start of a run which would be intended as wogging, and for the most part was. The start was fast since I started late and didn't want to stand the guy up. I didn't, not for long.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
2.13 16:47 16:47 07:53 07:53 2.13
1.00 26:26 09:39 09:39 08:27 3.13
1.00 35:28 09:02 09:02 08:35 4.13

6.8mi, 56:08, 22 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

"Jester" from the DOS computer game Terminal Velocity

WX at 0800: 34.0 (1.1) DP 27.0 (-2.8) BP 30.2 (1022) W 7 mostly cloudy RH 75% WC 28 (-2)

Odometer 3: 22.9mi

Z3 high.

Good god was today a cold one. I had double gloves and a hat. Polypro gloves and the hat came off after the first 2.09 lap.

It's gratifying, though, to run nothing but negative splits, and today was a textbook example.

I could tell a definite acceleration at the 36-37 minute mark, as I fully warmed up. If this is what I can expect going into the winter, this is pretty good news.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:17 02:17 08:29 08:29 0.27
2.09 19:53 17:36 08:25 08:26 2.36
2.09 37:11 17:18 08:17 08:21 4.45
2.09 53:58 16:47 08:02 08:15 6.54
0.27 56:08 02:10 08:01 08:15 6.81

8,000m on Concept2 Model C, 34:20, 20 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

David Bergeaud, opening credits to Earth2
Michael Kamen, closing credits to From The Earth To The Moon

WX at 0600: 36.0 (2.2) DP 30.9 (-0.6) BP 29.85 (1010) SSW 9 clear RH 81%

Odometer 2: 198.5mi N/A

Z3.

For a day I was planning on doing something different, I was singularly out of gas. The 2:09/500m average pace is deceptive; I was dragging ass, as I was rowing a signficant segment at 2:12 with some parts as slow as 2:15.

It could be that my legs are tired...just maybe. Tomorrow is a Do Nothing But Eat day.

Splits
Distance: 8000
Time: 0:34:20
Per 500m: 02:09
Drag Factor 182
Per Mile 0:06:54

5.1mi, 44:01, 19 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Michael Kamen, opening credits to From The Earth To The Moon

WX at 0600: 41.0 (5.0) DP 30.0 (-1.1) BP 30.04 (1017) NNW 7 overcast RH 64%

Odometer 3: 14.1mi

Z3.

Today started fast and inconsistent. Then we started hitting hills and we slowed down considerably. Still, today was productive, but inconsistency is bad. I'll need a more disciplined approach later on.

I wore some snivel gear, which is kind of unusual for only 41 degrees, but I was glad I did at the end. It was chilly...

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:07 02:07 07:50 07:50 0.27
2.09 20:22 18:15 08:44 08:38 2.36
2.09 37:53 17:31 08:23 08:31 4.45
0.67 44:01 06:08 09:09 08:36 5.12

4.0mi, 35:20, 18 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Nothing in the iThink.

WX at 0600: 52.0 (11.1) DP 45.0 (7.2) BP 29.84 (1010) N 13 overcast drizzle RH 77%

Odometer 2: 198.5mi

Z2.

Today was a recovery run. GPS on the track, target time 9:00mpm. I can live with 35:20, though. What I didn't count on was it being as cold as it was. 52 degrees was chillier - and I think the relative humidity and wind speed didn't help either. I needed to do some wogging, though, so today was productive. I have to avoid the temptation of overtraining, particularly in weather like this.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:44 08:44 08:42 08:42 1.00
1.00 17:32 08:48 08:46 08:44 2.01
0.99 26:17 08:45 08:48 08:45 3.00
1.00 35:20 09:03 09:01 08:49 4.01

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 42:53, 17 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Moonbabies, "Sun A.M."
Moonbabies, "War on Sound"

WX at 0600: 55.9 (13.3) DP 52.0 (11.1) BP 29.56 (1001) SSW 8 mist RH 87%

Odometer 3: 9.0mi

Z3-4.

Today was a day of tired legs. My legs weren't feeling so hot after all the running in the last few days. Tomorrow needs to be wogging. Plan is four miles on the track going no faster than 9 minute pace.

In spite of it all, though, I was pretty pleased to spin under 43 minutes regardless of how tired my legs were. My hamstrings were pretty well smoked today.

Splits
Distance: 10000
Time: 0:42:53
Per 500m: 02:09
Drag Factor 140
Per Mile 0:06:54

4.7mi, 41:05, 16 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Trey Parker, "America, Fuck Yeah"

WX at 0700: 57.9 (14.4) DP 48.9 (9.4) BP 29.74 (1007) SE 12 overcast RH 72%

Odometer 2: 194.0mi

Z3-Z4.

This morning's iThink stemmed from a discussion of North Korea and the recent tensions over nukes. My running partner was watching Fox News (which I try really hard not to watch) last night and he was telling me about how they described a second Korean War happening.

Herroo, Mister Brix!

Today's run was a textbook case on starting too fast and blowing it. The first split wasn't actually at 7:41/mi pace but wasn't much slower than 8:00/mi pace. After the fast start, we backed it off, then

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:04 02:04 07:41 07:41 0.27
2.09 20:27 18:23 09:04 08:40 2.36
1.24 31:19 10:52 08:46 08:42 3.60
0.85 38:40 07:21 08:39 08:41 4.45
0.27 41:05 02:25 08:57 08:42 4.72

9.0mi, 75:12, 14 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Scott Cossu, "Demeter/Rejoicing"

WX at 0800: 36.0 (2.2) DP 21.0 (-6.1) BP 30.12 (1019) W 6 clear RH 54%

Odometer 3: 9.0mi

Z3.

First run in the new shoes and it was good. The weather conditions were just about perfect, although my hands were cold by the end, even in spite of my gloves.

Still, it was cold. This underscores why summer is just a holding effort while winter is where I make my real progress.

This breaks my old PR by about six minutes. Yes! I was gratified to run an average pace of 8:23/mi, although holding 8:05/mi in the last 1.4 was definitely worth it.

Splits
SGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.32 0:02:47 0:02:47 08:44 08:44 0.32
3.19 0:29:12 0:26:25 08:18 08:20 3.50
3.82 1:01:20 0:32:08 08:25 08:22 7.32
0.28 1:04:08 0:02:48 10:08 08:26 7.60
1.37 1:15:12 0:11:04 08:05 08:23 8.97

Iraqi patriots

I was respectful of my Iraqi Security Forces counterparts, but this is a tragedy indeed.

Sectarian violence will be the undoing of the Iraqi state. In a country composed of such wildly different demographics, I have to wonder why we didn't study our history and maybe consider a federation after all.

That said, I did not know about the Scorpions; but the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force (ICTF), the élite Iraqi military special operations unit, was very, very good indeed. I don't dish out the descriptor of élite much - but the ICTF's professional competence - tied to their strong nonsectarian identity. They weren't Shia, they weren't Sunni, they weren't Kurds - but they were definitely Iraqi patriots, as was COL Mamuri.

These Iraqi patriots are our best chance to prevent Iraq from tanking.

3.7mi, 33:41 11 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up" (Ultimix)

WX at 0600: 46.0 (7.8) DP 42.1 (5.6) BP 29.72 (1006) W 8 clear RH 85%

Odometer 2: 189.3mi

Z2.

I desperately need to find a different default mantra. Much of the reason is because of the tempo of the song - which fits. I just need more variety than teeny-bop.

Today was a zone 2 wogging recovery run, in spite of the disproportionately fast start. My legs were tired and today was a prime candidate for sleeping in. Tomorrow I think I'll row, as the forecast calls for temperatures right around freezing.

Weather like this, though is dangerous. I tend to overtrain in conditions like this because the weather is good and I perceive a lost window of opportunity if I don't train hard. Then I end up training too hard.

My new shoes should come in sometime today, I hope. 200 mile overlap between shoes seems to be about the going crossover point for shoes.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.86 07:12 07:12 08:25 08:25 0.86
0.73 14:19 07:07 09:45 09:02 1.59
0.98 23:18 08:59 09:08 09:04 2.57
0.86 31:08 07:50 09:07 09:05 3.43
0.28 33:41 02:33 09:04 09:05 3.71

4.7mi, 40:09, 10 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"
Corrosion of Conformity, "Negative Outlook"
Hilary Duff, "Wake Up" (Ultimix) [yes, no shit, it keeps coming back.]

WX at 0700: 51.1 (10.6) DP 41.0 (5.0) BP 30.14 (1020) NNE 9 overcast RH 68%

Odometer 2: 185.6mi

Z3.

Today was the first real run back after going on profile. My profile states "run at own pace." I ran a time that indicates I could have passed the physical fitness test with comparatively little effort. I'm not in shape to get my usual 290 points or so, but that's not important right now. The sad thing is that I'm prohibited from running two miles for time. Lame.

My ankle didn't bother me much so long as I didn't turn on it. I was watching that pretty closely.

What I didn't realize was that I was faster at the end than when I started - I certainly didn't feel that way when I finished. The general inconsistencies of speed come from hills.

Yay.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:23 02:23 08:52 08:52 0.27
1.24 12:45 10:22 08:21 08:27 1.51
0.85 20:14 07:29 08:48 08:34 2.36
1.24 30:36 10:22 08:22 08:30 3.60
0.85 37:53 07:17 08:34 08:31 4.45
0.27 40:09 02:16 08:24 08:30 4.72

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 42:19, 9 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Public Image Limited, "Rise" (right ethos, wrong tempo - too slow)
Asobi Seksu, "I'm Happy But You Don't Like Me" (right tempo, wrong tone)

WX at 0800: 51.1 (10.6) DP 41.0 (5.0) BP 30.22 (1023) N 9 pcdy RH 68%

Odometer 2: N/A.

Z4-Z5.

Today ended up being a personal record at 10,000m. Not sure how, not sure why, but I was able to hold 2:05/500m for the first 2000m cut. After that, it was just a matter of not slowing down much. Much of the last 2000m was done at paces ranging from 1:58-2:04/500m. That was a nice change of pace.

It also underscores the basic disparity of speed. I was spinning at 6:49/mile pace. Encouraging, but depressing at the same time. I don't remember the last time I ran 6:49/mile for 10km, but I think it was 1998.

Splits
Distance: 10000
Time: 0:42:19
Per 500m: 02:07
Drag Factor 140

The source of my discontent

The last week here at the School of Advanced Military Heresy was spent doing some futures work. Futures work normally involves development of concepts and identification of the requisite capbilities to achieve those concepts.

What made it that much more suspect was the involvement of contractors, in this case, contractors attempting to demonstrate proof of some principle.

I invariably feel leery of concepts work when they show up half-baked because the basis of those concepts will often steer billions of dollars of future procurements. When it's someone attempting to sell a particular piece of hardware and the recurrent ad pitch is that "we need warfighters to validate this!" Causation and intellectual rigor are necessary components of concepts development as a result. More prosaically, weak shit will cost more lives in the future as every validated concept for futures work shapes how we will expend our spirit, blood, and treasure in the pursuit of national objectives.

There were two things that drove me nuts.

1. The scenarios to describe the future environment were written like a can of spilled fuck. I'm not saying that we'll never fight against a near-peer competitor and fight the Clash of the Titans in (insert name of desert). But it's fucking unimaginative to think that we'll be fighting someone who looks like the goddamn Soviet Army with its bevy of indirect fire gun and rocket artillery.
As a framework, the National Defense Strategy outlines four types of threats (called challenges in this case): traditional, irregular, disruptive, and catastrophic. No less a document than the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review says the US military needs to get away from fighting traditional threats and concentrate on irregular, disruptive, and catastrophic.
So when guys raised on fighting the Soviets in the Cold War are pushing a certain genre of toys as a fundamental element of how we will conduct operations in the future, I get skittish when our enemy looks almost exactly like someone we vanquished through primarily nonkinetic means almost two decades ago. Too bad they are having a much harder problem with grasping that the basic nature of the threat is probably not going to be very traditional, and will require us to do the same kind of hard, but noncontiguous campaigning that has been a basic fact of life for us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. It is what it is. It's not the goddamn Warsaw Pact.

2. The school I'm in is supposed to create officers capable of thinking at the high operational art. So, as I found myself doing staffwork to plan out an infantry battalion tactical attack, it's hard for me, as a strategist, to avoid the overpowering urge to say What A Fucking Waste Of Time (WAFWOT). If I was still interested in being tactical, I guess I would've stayed a shooter. I no longer have any aspirations or pretense to that level of war. If I have to drill someone with 5.56mm green tip at my workplace (and for a guy who hasn't had to fire a rifle for most of his career, I shot 37 out of 40 on advanced infantry optics at my last range) then I have seriously Boned The Pooch and I will presently have much bigger problems than strategy.

The long and skinny is that I don't think I could work for a contractor in good conscience after retirement. Maybe I won't think that way when I'm no longer on active duty, but the long and skinny is that every day I got done working with these contractors on their pet project, I felt like Lady Macbeth inasmuch as I felt the need to keep scrubbing because the blood just wouldn't come off my hands at the end of the day.

2.9mi, 25:54, 8 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

For Against, "sabres"

WX at 0700: 51.1 (10.6) DP 41.0 (5.0) BP 30.17 (1021) S 9 pcdy RH 68%

Odometer 2: 180.9mi

Z3.

First run in a while. I was being careful about where I stepped, but I'm going to have to be more judicious about training regardless.

I've felt worse - but I've felt better.

2.94 miles before turning back because I was starting to work too hard is fucking pathetic.

A possibly mitigating factor is that I was pulling 120lbs. worth of kids yesterday over the Weston (Missouri) Applefest. This event highlighted some basic disparities between myself and Household6:
- my radio is on NPR (when I listen to the radio, which is almost never), her radio is on Radio Disney (yes, Kansas City has a Radio Disney affiliate).
- My normal walking speed is geared towards rucking heavy loads and being in the city, two mostly disparate activities - except for their speed. Being trapped in a crowd of aimlessly milling-around slow-moving people drives me fucking bananas. Household6's walking pace, is well, lugubrious.

On the flip side, I did get in probably about 2 1/2 miles worth of running as I staged vehicles back and forth from where we'd originally parked to a more forward location. That running was almost all hills.

Any presumptions of the Midwest being flat are fake and must be dispelled immediately. Note the not-inconsiderable Missouri River valley, which is flat. Everything else, however, is not particularly flat.

I realized I now row faster (even when I max out drag factor) than I run. Much, much faster than I run.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.91 08:07 08:07 08:53 08:53 0.91
1.45 19:58 11:51 08:12 08:28 2.36
0.58 25:54 05:56 10:14 08:49 2.94

15,000m on Concept2 Model C, 66:50, 6 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

iThink was drowned out by the Jazzercise class going on less than 50m away from me. On the other hand, it did provide whatever the class was listening to as background music. Sometimes ok, sometimes regrettable.

WX at 1000: 60.1 (15.6), DP 45.0 (7.2) BP 30.39 (1029) SE 14 clear RH 57%

Odometer 1: N/A.

Z3-4.

Today would have been a pretty ideal day to run if my ankle wasn't hosed. After eating something that put me in the gastric hurt box, I had to go get it on the Concept. First time I've done 15km, a running event at which I used to be somewhat competitive, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to hold a 2:14 overall. The actual time was 69:50, but I had to stop about 1600m before the finish for an emergency latrine stop.

Otherwise, it was a good session. A 140 drag factor may work well, although I'll see if I can find one that works best for me for time trialing.

Splits
Distance: 15000
Time: 1:06:50
Per 500m: 02:14
Drag Factor 140

How we're going to lose the war

I do like the proposal of centrists running two years from now.

Ideology is not an acceptable substitute for competence!

8,000m on Concept2 Model C, 35:30, 4 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Ray (last name unknown), "A Song to Help You Keep Your Job" {This is fucking brilliant.}

WX at 0700: 66.9 (19.4) DP 55.0 (12.8) BP 30.07 (1018) NW 12 mostly cloudy RH 65%

Odometer 1: 421.0mi, but really N/A

Z3.

Today was going to be an easy day. Nothing hard, nothing particularly ambitious.

"A Song To Help You Keep Your Job" is courtesy of my professor from the Army War College, who is in many ways one of the sustaining influences of my particularly specialty.

What should be outlawed: spinning on the erg and having three not unatrractive women in spandex walk behind me and trail their perfume, thus, distracting me incessantly without the recourse of being able to see.

This caused me to deviate slightly faster than the 2:12-2:15/500m I intended, as I realized I was cranking 2:09/500m as a result. Discipline, discipline, discipline!

Still, when my ankle (which I broke in 3 places a few years ago) is acting up and flares in distinctly unpleasant ways when I attempt to change direction quickly, rowing is my recourse since I've been officially disallowed from running because of what in my profession is known as a temporary profile.

More to follow on why I want to "whip somebody's ass" later, unrelated to profiles, perfume, or spandex.

Splits
8000m on Concept2 Model C: 35:30.5
Average split 2:13.2/500m
Drag Factor 183

8,000m on Concept2 Model C, 34:44, 1 OCT 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Depeche Mode, "Everything Counts" (live off the 101 dual disk set)

WX at 1200: 84.0 (28.9) 53.1 (11.7) 30 (1015) SSE 17 RH 35%

Odometer: N/A

Z3 high.

Nothing fancy. I should probably back off in the next few days or so given that I have a physical fitness test this week. However, I won't be running it as I'm on a profile. The ankle I broke seven years ago is acting up again. I realized I'm no longer around killers for a living when the nurse practitioner here wrote me a profile that says "no running." My reaction was something along the lines of "are you fucking crazy?"

Unfortunately, disobeying a profile is probably a dumb move in a schoolhouse where the students are only transients and the hospital doesn't normally serve units that, well, fucking KILL for a living.

Today's spin is what I'm doing to avoid tapping out any higher than the 186 pounds I hit today. Obligatory sound of pig squealing will ensue at weigh-in this week.

Splits
8,000m on Concept2 Model C: 34:44.3
Average pace: 2:10/500m
Drag Factor 165

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 44:12.1, 29 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up" (not a particularly good erg mantra)

WX at 0600: 48.9 (9.4) DP 37.9 (3.3) BP 29.92 (1013) S 12 clear 66%

Odometer 2: 178.0mi

Z4.

My running partner chickened out on me this morning, opening up an alternative hard workout, and this delivered.

I obviously didn't drink enough water if I had to stop midway to hit the water fountain. This resulted in a fairly slow overall pace of 2:12.6/500M. 44:12 is not particularly horrible, but it isn't particularly good either. Then again, it factored in about a minute lost to the water break.

Drag factors started at 180, then dropped to 149, then settled back to max at 185 as I realized I'd probably be better off trying for power rather than for lighter effort as I was trying to work abs and upper body as well.

I like spinning at lower resistances, but I go faster at higher drag factors. Not sure why, though.

2.9mi, 28:27, 28 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Nothing in the iThink.

WX at 0600: 50.0 (10.0) DP 43.0 (6.1) BP 30.11 (1019) NW 12 clear RH 76%

Odometer 1: 421.0mi

Z2.

Man, did I feel like ass today. Lack of sleep is starting to accumulate again. Household6 has bronchitis, too. Yay.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.28 28:27 05:31 19:42 09:41 2.94

2.8mi + 6,000m on Concept2 Model C, 25:33, 26 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Cruiserweight, "To Be Quite Honest"

WX at 0600: 54.0 (12.2) DP 46.0 (7.8) BP 30.06 (1017) W 5 clear RH 74%

Odometer 1: 418.1mi

Z3.

Fast run to gym, even faster row. I was holding about 2:09/500m in the first 2000m, then accelerated to about 2:06-2:07/500m, and started my last 2000m at around 2:05/500m, finishing my last 500m at 2:00/500m.

Economies of form combined with some rest were probably contributors, but form matters. I honestly don't think I'd row what I did today without it. Strokes were initially slow (26 spm) but by the end were averaging around 30-31 spm in the last 500m.

Resistance knob was maxed out today. It might be time to start experimenting with different drag factors, but it had to be somewhere around 178 or so - which makes today's erg session that much more significant.

Slow run back, but the run back was important mostly just to loosen up.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 11:51 11:51 08:32 08:32 1.39
1.39 25:21 13:30 09:43 09:07 2.78

6000m on Concept2 Model C: 25:33
Average pace 2:07.8/500m
Drag Factor not recorded today

4.7mi, 43:22, 25 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

nothing in the iThink today. Just conversation.

WX at 0600: 48.0 (8.9) DP 42.1 (5.6) BP 30.11 (1019) SW 7 clear RH 80%

Odometer 2: 178.0mi

Z3 mid.

I felt like ass today. My legs are just too tired to sustain the pace I want, so it's time to back off some. I find this maddening if only because I don't think I'm working all that hard.

Something's wrong with the splits this morning, but I don't care. The end product was accurate, so I'm not too concerned with split 2 or 3.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:15 02:15 08:22 08:22 0.27
0.96 13:39 11:24 11:52 11:06 1.23
2.00 21:47 08:08 04:04 06:45 3.23
1.22 40:49 19:02 15:36 09:10 4.45
0.27 43:22 02:33 09:27 09:11 4.72

6.0mi, 48:12, 23 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up"
Aram Khatchaturian, Adagio from Gayane ballet suite

WX at 0800: 57.9 (14.4) DP 52.0 (11.1) BP 29.72 (1006) SSW 7 rain; mist RH 80%

Odometer 2: 173.3mi

Z3.

The intent was to run six today at fairly decent pace. I don't own enough blaze orange to consider running on back roads infested with hunters, so I went to the track and ran laps. Thank god for GPS.

Initial mile was at about 8:09 and that set the pace. That actually didn't feel so bad. However, when I kicked it up to 7:52/mile in the last mile, relative effort got markedly harder. Admittedly, it was about 12 seconds faster per mile than before. Still, I thought I should be running better than that.

Problematic is my desire to stuff my face versus my need to shave weight. The problem is that I don't know offhand how much is lard and how much is muscle. My increased work on the Concept2 may have changed the balance towards muscle in the short term - which in this case warrants continued effort because the muscle will eventually start eliminating fat. Similarly, whatever fat I really had after coming back from Iraq really was reduced as I was converting so much energy - resulting in a muscle mass big enough to offset any loss of lard. Shit.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:06 08:06 08:05 08:05 1.00
1.00 16:15 08:09 08:09 08:07 2.00
1.00 24:17 08:02 08:03 08:06 3.00
1.01 32:23 08:06 08:03 08:05 4.01
1.00 40:21 07:58 07:59 08:04 5.00
1.00 48:12 07:51 07:50 08:02 6.01

2.8mi + 6,000m on Concept2 Model C, 25:50, 21 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Tchaikovsky, "1812" Overture
Also, Brief snippets of:
- Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"
- The Lemonheads, "Tenderfoot"

WX at 0500: 64.9 (18.3) DP 52.0 (11.1) BP 29.77 (1008) S 17 light rain RH 63%

Odometer 1: 415.3mi

Z3 high.

Something other than running. As an experiment, I decided to crank the resistance all the way up on the Concept2 this morning just to see how things might be different.

Interestingly, there was little discernible difference in pace and I think I worked my upper body a little more, which was the goal. I was holding mostly 2:12/500m in the first 1000m, then shifted to 2:06/500m for another 1000m and settled around 2:08-2:10 for the remainder. My finish was pretty strong, finishing closer to about 2:00/500m.

The significant difference here was one of tempo. I was spinning closer to about 27-28 spm rather than the usual 30-32 spm I normally clock at lower drag factors (for example, 34 spm when I rowed earlier this week with a drag factor around 100-105.)

I need to do a little more examination to see where I really get the best results; whether it's sustained speed and high spm versus a slower, more deliberate pace. I think I'll experiment with higher drag factors to see where else I get improvement.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 13:25 13:25 09:39 09:39 1.39
1.39 26:33 13:08 09:27 09:33 2.78

6,000m on Concept2 Model C: 25:50
Drag Factor 182, average speed 2:09.5/500m

4.0mi, 35:52, 20 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Nothing in the iThink today.

WX at 0600: 51.1 (10.6) 39.9 (4.4) 30.11 (1019) E 7 clear RH 65%

Odometer 1: 412.5mi

Z2-Z1.

4 miles of wogging. My ankle is starting to ache some. I suspect it could be a touch of arthritis, which makes sense since I broke it in three places six years ago.

I rigidly held at 9:00 pace as a recovery run. I needed it after yesterday.

Splits

SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.01 09:04 09:04 09:00 09:00 1.01
1.00 17:50 08:46 08:48 08:54 2.00
1.00 26:53 09:03 09:04 08:57 3.00
1.00 35:52 08:59 09:00 08:58 4.00

9.7mi, 82:43, 19 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Limp Bizkit, "Rollin'
Juliana Hatfield, "You Are The Camera"
Juliana Hatfield, "Perfection"
that dog., "Being With You"

WX at 0600: 48.0 (8.9) DP 41.0 (5.0) BP 30.08 (1018) WNW 8 clear RH 76%
WX at 0500: 48.0 (8.9) DP 39.9 (4.4) BP 30.06 (1017) W 7 clear RH 73%

Odometer 2: 166.8mi

Z4.

This was supposed to be a long run - and it was until I for the most part hit the wall coming around the last two miles.

Still, it was well worth it. This is the first time since returning from theater that I've tried multileg runs, and I might do that since the overall distances here at Fort Leavenworth don't really warrant single runs beyond about 8 miles short of going over some extremely unpleasant hills, which I did anyway today.

I will need to be pretty damn judicious after this day's run, which was hard by any standard.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 02:48 02:48 08:18 08:18 0.34
0.87 10:59 08:11 09:26 09:07 1.21
0.68 16:03 05:04 07:26 08:30 1.89
0.67 21:33 05:30 08:15 08:26 2.55
2.24 42:25 20:52 09:18 08:51 4.80
0.86 48:36 06:11 07:09 08:35 5.66
0.34 51:10 02:34 07:28 08:31 6.00
0.85 58:42 07:32 08:51 08:34 6.86
0.73 64:20 05:38 07:40 08:29 7.59
0.98 72:52 08:32 08:42 08:30 8.57
0.86 80:22 07:30 08:43 08:31 9.43
0.28 82:43 02:21 08:24 08:31 9.71

6,000m on Concept2 Model C, 26:17, 18 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

W.G. Snuffy Walden, closing credits to My So-Called Life

WX at 0600: 51.1 (10.6), DP 46.0 (7.8), BP 29.91 (1012), W 6 clear, RH 83%

Odometer 2: 157.1mi

Z3.

I attribute today's iThink to watching My So-Called Life for the first time since in, oh, about a decade. Do I ever miss that show.

A comparatively easy day. I woke up too late to go for the preparatory run, but was able to spin mostly at 2:15 in the first 2000m, then to 2:10 for the next 3000m, then for mostly around 2:05 in the last 1000m. Not bad for the stated drag factor, a little higher than usual intentionally.

With today's weather it's almost criminal not to go out running, but I'm saving that for tomorrow.

Splits
2:11/500m average split
Drag Factor 137

2.8mi + 10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 44:00, 17 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up"

WX at 0900: 64.0 (17.8), DP 57.9 (14.4), BP 29.77 (1008), NNW 21 overcast, RH 80%

Odometer 1: 408.5mi

Z4 intervals.

The run to the gym was unexpectedly fast - and today's workout on the Concept was 2000m intervals, initially with a 1000m break, then with two 500m breaks in between.

I deliberately did not check splits, but was able to hold sub-2:09/500m pace. My strongest interval was right after the 5500m mark, where I was holding right around 2:05-2:06/500m.

Drag factor was around 112. Screwing around with drag factor, and knowing how to use it, I can train a bit smarter. I realized that when the drag lever was set to 4 rather than the 7 at which I normally set it. My other intervals were around the 2:07-2:10/500m mark with my breaks as high as 2:30/500m to as fast as 2:16/500m.

My hamstrings were burning today...but I need to do a more deliberate 10,000m time trial rather than just doing intervals. The short-term standard is to be able to spin under 2:10/500m for a 10,000m time trial - consistently. I think this is doable; I even think it could get as good as 2:05/500m...so long as I work on it. I may shift my training focus to spinning this fall just to see what happens...particularly since I have a physical fitness test coming up in about three weeks.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 12:09 12:09 08:44 08:44 1.39
1.39 25:28 13:19 09:35 09:10 2.78

10,000m on Concept2 Model C: 44:00

6.1mi, 55:53, 15 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

W.G. Snuffy Walden, opening credits to My So-Called Life

WX at 0600: 61.0 (16.1), DP 52.0 (11.1), BP 29.97 (1014), SSE 12 clear, RH 72%

Odometer 2: 157.1mi

Z3.

Beware the Ides of September. Man, did I feel like ass this morning. Some of this was a deliberate effort to moderate pace, and some of it was running with someone who doesn't like to run distance.

Still, it was god for a deliberate pace run. Not too easy, not too hard.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 03:47 03:47 11:00 11:00 0.34
0.90 12:25 08:38 09:36 09:59 1.24
0.71 18:26 06:01 08:30 09:27 1.95
0.69 24:25 05:59 08:40 09:15 2.64
2.28 45:50 21:25 09:23 09:19 4.92
0.87 53:03 07:13 08:18 09:10 5.79
0.35 55:53 02:50 08:11 09:06 6.14

4.1mi, 38:21, 14 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

nothing in the iThink.

WX at 0600: 57.0 (13.9), DP 51.1 (10.6), BP 29.97 (1014), SE 9 clear, RH 80%

Odometer 1: 405.7mi

Z3.

Nothing ambitious as I'm still trying to get caught up on rest from this week's travel and workouts.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 07:37 07:37 09:09 09:09 0.83
0.73 14:24 06:47 09:16 09:12 1.56
1.00 23:25 09:01 09:04 09:09 2.56
0.87 31:10 07:45 08:57 09:06 3.43
0.72 38:21 07:11 10:03 09:16 4.14

10,076m in two legs on Concept2 Model D, 44:31, 12 SEP 06, Carlisle Barracks PA

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up"
Basil Poledouris, "Directive IV"

WX at 0600: 59.0 (15.0), DP 48.9 (9.4), BP 30.3 (1026), Calm overcast, RH 69%

Odometer 1: 401.6mi

Z4 spin.

I know it seems pretty damned incongruous to mix Hilary Duff and a particularly reflective track from Basil Poledouris' soundtrack to RoboCop.

On the other hand, it's been almost a year since I've been to Carlisle Barracks. It's an installation that, if someone offered me orders, I'd take in about a split second. After my experience there last summer (which I'd casually, but undeniably call the best Army school I ever attended), I'm wistful. No regrets.

That being said, I'm trying to figure out why I was killing myself just to hold 2:10/500m pace. On my second 5000m leg, after about a break of about a minute and a half, I went through a rhythm where I was resting at about 2:18-2:20 pace doing palm-up pull-ups in the seat for about 500m, then more deliberate effort for 1000m. It might've been the amount of beer I drank last night, or relative lack of sleep (8 hours in the last two days), but it's also a basic fact that the Concept2 Model D here at Carlisle is in a hell of a lot better shape than the Model C at Leavenworth. The rail on the one at Leavenworth tends to skip if I stroke at any angle. The action on the ones here at Carlisle is rock-solid...but the Model D is also built differently than the Model C.

I'd say I was running a drag factor of about 100-105. I started at a drag factor of 117 and it wasn't working for me - but in this case, I was shooting for speed, not for raw power like I was last year, when I'd crank the resistance to 10 rather than the 5.5 I had it on this morning. Still, drag factor varies among machines by settings; hence the use of drag factor to set the resistance.

I'll be playing with lower drag factors to see where it takes me when I get back to Leavenworth.

I still want a Model D of my own...eventually.

Splits
5076m: 22:24
5000m: 22:07

2.8mi + 5,000m on Concept Model C, 21:26, 11 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Michael Kamen, Opening Credits from From the Earth to the Moon

WX at 0600: 64.9 (18.3), DP 63.0 (17.2), BP 29.95 (1014), SW 5 mist, RH 93%

Odometer 2: 151.0mi

Z2 run, Z3 spin.

It's hard not to think about what I was doing five years ago. I remember at the end of the day wondering if I was going to get The Call launching us to deploy, as I was a cavalry troop commander in a certain airborne division at the time. That was a while ago.

Nothing special for the run, but a passable spin. I'm encouraged that my starting average speed is around 2:05/500m to 2:08/500m - and I was able to hold about a 2:08 average spin time based on the computer...although more realistically, it should be more like 2:10 as I was spinning 2:00-2:05/500m by the last 400m.

My legs have been tired - and I'm surprised how much some of these workouts are taking out of me. Yesterday's run wiped me out all day. That's pretty weak.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 13:25 13:25 09:39 09:39 1.39
1.39 26:23 12:58 09:20 09:29 2.78

5,000m on Concept C: 21:26

6.8mi, 61:10, 10 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Reputation, "Let It Rest"
Jakaranda, "Never Let You Go" (the Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap was on last night on Disney Channel on the Glass Tit)
The Smiths, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

WX at 0800: 66.0 (18.9), DP 62.1 (16.7), BP 29.98 (1015), E 10 mist, RH 87%

Odometer 2: 148.2mi

Z3.

Slow and painful eventually transitioned to more relaxed. I was frankly surprised after two days of NOTHING the level of effort it took to get running again. Especially after doing nothing but eating during those two days. The last run probably didn't help by itself; running full tilt rarely does much when it's less than 3 miles.

It was almost to the point where I'd probably have chickened out otherwise.

Still, it's never a bad thing to run negative splits on a moderate effort day.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:33 02:33 09:29 09:29 0.27
2.09 21:35 19:02 09:06 09:09 2.36
2.09 40:24 18:49 09:00 09:05 4.45
2.09 58:49 18:25 08:49 09:00 6.54
0.27 61:10 02:21 08:42 08:59 6.81

2.6mi, 20:57, 7 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Corrosion of Conformity, "What(?)"
Corrosion of Conformity, "Negative Outlook"

WX at 0700: 63.0 (17.2), DP 52.0 (11.1), BP 30.07 (1018), Calm heavy fog, RH 67%

Odometer 1: 401.2mi

Z3-4.

I still had homework to do, but I wasn't going to turn this into a Do Nothing But Eat day. If I didn't run, that's what would've happened.

Today was pleasantly fast. Of course, the need to get back in time to get ready to go to class was also a factor.

This is what happens when you start at 6:50am with a class time of 8:30am. The weather was also a good factor as well.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.91 07:03 07:03 07:43 07:43 0.91
1.45 18:53 11:50 08:11 08:00 2.36
0.27 20:57 02:04 07:39 07:58 2.63

4.0mi, 31:50 6 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Smoosh, "She's Right"

WX at 0600: 60.1 (15.6), DP 54.0 (12.2), BP 30.17 (1021), WNW 6, RH 80%

Odometer 1: 398.6mi

Z2-3.

This wasn't really a recovery run, but it didn't really need to be it either. This was marked by what felt like inconsistent pacing, but I think that's more a function of hills throughout the course.

The good thing about meeting someone to go run in the mornings is that the desire not to stand someone up almost always trumps sleeping in. If I didn't have to meet with someone for this morning's run, I definitely would've slept in.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 07:23 07:23 08:53 08:53 0.83
0.73 13:33 06:10 08:25 08:40 1.56
1.00 22:11 08:38 08:41 08:40 2.56
0.83 29:39 07:28 08:59 08:45 3.39
0.60 31:50 02:11 03:38 07:59 3.99

6.0mi, 52:55, 5 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Michael Manring, "Homeward"

WX at 0600: 55.9 (13.3), DP 53.1 (11.7), BP 30.19 (1022), WNW 8 clear, RH 90%

Odometer 2: 141.4mi

Z3

Today would've been great weather for a PR. Too bad my legs weren't going to deliver. Today marked the best running weather yet since my arrival. It sure doesn't feel like the beginning of September given temperatures like this. It feels like the beginning of November the way it's going.

While the Teardrop of Suck is always a humorlessly painful run, today wasn't a particularly bad run. On the other hand, it wasn't particularly a stellar one either. On the other hand, I'm just glad I can hold the comparative paces that I do, particularly given what I was running beforehand. Then again, the weather was a lot hotter then too.

Today's run was a particularly reflective one. I was going to figure out some of the logic for one of my graduation requirements for SAMS, a 40-60 monograph. Interfering was a late-breaking missive from a strategic planner in Afghanistan, who writes about the vicissitudes of life in a division headquarters. I can definitely emphathize.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 02:51 02:51 08:27 08:27 0.34
0.87 11:17 08:26 09:43 09:22 1.21
0.68 16:44 05:27 07:59 08:52 1.89
0.67 22:27 05:43 08:35 08:48 2.55
2.24 43:50 21:23 09:32 09:08 4.80
0.86 50:44 06:54 07:59 08:58 5.66
0.34 52:55 02:11 06:21 08:49 6.00

4.39mi, 38:02, 3 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Cure, "A Forest" (from Play Out)
The Cure, "A Forest" (from Mixed Up)
The Cure, "A Forest" (from Concert)

WX at 0800: 61.0 (16.1), DP 55.9 (13.3), BP 30.18 (1022), NNW 5 partly cloudy, RH 83%

Odometer 1: 394.6mi

Z2.

After yesterday's long run, I decided on something easy. That something easy was faster than expected, albeit with two significant caveats.

1. I ran these miles on a tartan track this morning, so the murderous hills I normally associate with Fort Leavenworth were not an issue.
2. I was running based on relative feel - I had no idea of mile splits until after I stopped and started checking the watch. Running negative or positive splits today was incidental to the effect, which was to work off some of the residual lactic acid in my legs.

It is fast approaching time to replace my Asics GT-2110s as they are starting to approach 400 miles, and will probably run over on my next run in them.

The iThink stems from my second Army Physical Fitness test, where I remember running on the track at Johns Hopkins in about 40-degree weather, in the dark, under the lights, in drizzle. I ran a 12:18 that day and was disappointed, not realizing that I envy being able to run 12:18 today.

Splits
SGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.01 0:08:57 0:08:57 08:53 08:53 1.01
0.99 0:17:31 0:08:34 08:37 08:45 2.00
1.00 0:26:11 0:08:40 08:40 08:43 3.00
1.01 0:34:24 0:08:13 08:10 08:35 4.01
0.39 0:38:02 0:03:38 09:26 08:39 4.39

9.0mi, 81:29, 2 SEP 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Saxon Shore, "Amber, Ember, Glow"
that dog., "minneapolis"
The Connells, "Fun & Games"

WX at 0800: 64.9 (18.3), DP 62.1 (16.7), BP 30.16 (1021), WNW 5 mist, RH 90%

Odometer 2: 135.4mi

Z3 mid.

Today was another long run in the same week, which was unusual, but I decided to mitigate it by going at a deliberately moderate pace. This was also partly to burn off some of the gargantuan dinner I ate last night as well.

What I find interesting is that although I deliberately slowed the pace, my time actually wasn't that much off what I ran earlier this week.

This begs the question of what I could do if I'm running this at race or time trial effort. But I probably won't answer that until late October.

Splits
SGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.32 0:03:06 0:03:06 09:43 09:43 0.32
0.89 0:11:53 0:08:47 09:51 09:49 1.21
2.29 0:32:17 0:20:24 08:54 09:13 3.50
3.82 1:06:53 0:34:36 09:03 09:08 7.32
0.28 1:09:51 0:02:58 10:44 09:11 7.60
1.37 1:21:29 0:11:38 08:30 09:05 8.97

4.45mi, 40:38, 31 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Baby Rock Records, "One" (as in the Metallica Cover)

WX at 0600: 64.0 (17.8), DP 59.0 (15.0), BP 30.08 (1018), ESE 6 partly cloudy, RH 84%

Odometer 2: 126.4mi

Z3.

Today was supposed to be a fairly painless day, but I think we started too fast. Consequently, we ran positive splits. We finished smooth, but I didn't think it was a productive run because we went too fast at the start. I should preface that by saying that my running partner doesn't traditionally run much and that he doesn't like to run more than 4 miles, my usual recovery run distance.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
2.36 21:19 18:51 09:01 09:02 2.36
0.87 29:19 08:00 09:12 09:05 3.23
1.22 40:38 11:19 09:17 09:08 4.45

The Coolest Thing Ever

To quote the Washington Post article: "And the Cradle Will Rock to Metallica"

Baby Rock Records has a page on Myspace as well.

3.4mi, 32:11, 30 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Juliana Hatfield, "You Are The Camera"

WX at 0600: 62.1 (16.7), DP 59.0 (15.0), BP 30.04 (1017), WNW 5 partly cloudy mist, RH 90%

Odometer 1: 390.2mi

Z2.

I was running this mornign with someone who traditionally does not like to run, so this was even more relaxed than a normal recovery run. What kept this run from being a Z1 run was some of the changes in pacing and in terrain.

Every time I think of the Juliana Hatfield song in question, I'm reminded my 7th grade Latin and "camera" being one of the words I had to learn for vocabulary. It means "room," by the way. The other phrase that comes to mind is "camera obscura," in the lighting sense.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 07:59 07:59 09:36 09:36 0.83
0.73 14:56 06:57 09:29 09:33 1.56
1.00 24:00 09:04 09:07 09:23 2.56
0.83 32:11 08:11 09:51 09:30 3.39

9.0mi, 78:00, 29 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Rush, "The Analog Kid"
The Connells, "Fun & Games"
Neil Young, "Keep On Rockin' The Free World"
50 Foot Wave, "Hot, Pink, Distorted"

WX at 0600: 62.1 (16.7), DP 59.0 (15.0), BP 30.01 (1016), NW 8 overcast, RH 88%

Odometer 2: 121.9mi

Z3 high.

Today was an opportunity to put in my hardest run course against what I'd normally think to be the second most permissive conditions I've run since I've gotten here.

The weather worked great, as did my brief taper. This is a PR for this course and I didn't particularly try to kill myself. On an even more positive note, this was a straight run - no walking involved, even on the one hill in this course that normally wipes me out.

My homework from last night involved reading Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire, and as I was running uphill, I was thinking of what kind of shape the men had to be in when they were trying to outrun a fire and they had to sustain an over 9-minute mile going up an over-60 degree slope. I guess I added Mann Gulch, near Helena MT, to the list of places I eventually want to see.

Splits
SGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.32 0:02:51 0:02:51 08:56 08:56 0.32
3.19 0:30:37 0:27:46 08:43 08:44 3.50
3.82 1:03:40 0:33:03 08:39 08:42 7.32
0.28 1:06:31 0:02:51 10:19 08:45 7.60
1.37 1:18:00 0:11:29 08:24 08:42 8.97

4.7mi, 41:25, 28 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Fuga from J.S. Bach, Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005
Craig Safan, "Into the Starscape"

WX at 0700: 70.0 (21.1), DP 66.0 (18.9), BP 29.89 (1012), W 8 overcast, RH 87%

Odometer 1: 386.8mi

Z2.

Easy recovery run with negative splits, which is a prep for tomorrow, which should be cool and consequently an opportunity for a Z4 tempo/max VO2 run.

I would've gone the 4.16mi route had it not been for Rain of Biblical Proportions in the last 36 hours and I didn't want to go mudbogging.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:28 02:28 09:10 09:10 0.27
2.09 20:45 18:17 08:45 08:48 2.36
0.87 28:21 07:36 08:44 08:47 3.23
1.22 39:01 10:40 08:45 08:46 4.45
0.27 41:25 02:24 08:53 08:46 4.72

10,000m on Concept Model C, 43:49, 27 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Scott Cossu, "Demeter/Rejoicing"

WX at 0800: 71 (22), DP 69 (21), BP 29.97 (1014), S 7 rain; patches of fog; mist, RH 93%

Odometer 2: 112.9mi

Z4.

Today was a surprisingly fast day - although maybe not as I'd taken two days off consecutively, which is rare, and probably should be rare.

Today's time factored in two stops to retighten foot straps. The Concept2 here at Fort Leavenworth has footstraps that won't hold for sustained rowing.

On the bright side, after about 30 minutes, I was holding about 2:05/500m for about a 1200-1500m stretch. Even after a fair amount of spinning at that speed, I was still able to finish spinning under 2:00/500m, at what amounted to a Z5 sprint finish.

Although I've entertained the thought of shifting my training to 2000m sprints, I don't see myself a dedicated enough indoor rower to really contemplate that thought - and it also doesn't work for what I'm rowing for in the first place (an alternative aerobic workout that also works other body parts).

After an extremely hard night of drinking Friday night, which left Household6 in a predictably irate mood all weekend, I didn't do shit yesterday.

I'm glad I went this morning to do what I did. It was horizontal rain for most of the rest of the day. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind running in that - except that I normally budget those for days when I have literally nothing else going on.

I realize that the last time I had those kind of days I was on temporary duty without dependents or single. Some idle food for thought.

And in a bizarre flashback to a decade past...

Juliana Hatfield takes some of her ire and directs it to an editorial letter!

Now I feel like pulling out my Juliana Hatfield "CD maxi-single of I See You and playing her old song "Rider."

Of course, I realize that song's 14 years old.

I feel old.

Unbefuckinglievable

A show I ordinarily couldn't care less about has piqued my attention for its sheer fucking stupidity.

White, black, Hispanic, Asian?

Why don't we just call it Teams Honky, Spook, Wetback, Slope?

Unbefuckinglievable.

4.1mi, 38:32, 24 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Wake Up"

WX at 0600: 72.0 (22.2) 68.0 (20.0) 29.9 (1012) SSE 9, RH

Odometer 2: 112.9mi

Z2.

Good god did I feel tired today. Today almost turned into a "do nothing but eat" day, although getting 5 1/2 hours of sleep on the average is probably one of the contributing factors.

My legs were feeling yesterday's erg session most of yesterday and still through this morning, so today was intentionally a recovery run. And probably rightly so.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 08:17 08:17 09:58 09:58 0.83
0.73 15:20 07:03 09:38 09:48 1.56
1.00 24:57 09:37 09:40 09:45 2.56
0.87 32:11 07:14 08:21 09:24 3.43
0.72 38:32 06:21 08:53 09:18 4.14

2.8mi + 10,000m on Concept Model C, 44:48, 23 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Rush, "The Analog Kid"
Rush, "La Villa Strangiato"
Mike Oldfield, "Moonlight Shadow"

WX at 0700: 70.0 (21.1), DP 60.1 (15.6), BP 30.08 (1018), SE 10, RH 70%

Odometer 1: 382.1mi

Z3.

It was a lot harder to spin at 2:15 pace for 10,000m than I thought. It's been a little while since I've rowed 10k, so maybe it points to the need to get back in the saddle and start rowing again.

The run times were faster overall than previous, but I attribute a lot of that to the weather.

I have no idea why yesterday's listing blanked. No big deal, though.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 12:13 12:13 08:47 08:47 1.39
1.39 24:30 12:17 08:50 08:49 2.78

10,000m on Concept C: 44:48

3.3mi, 28:31, 22 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Some idle thoughts from a self-proclaimed political realist

I was paging through the Washington Post's story on the Bush 43 speech defending the policy on staying the course in Iraq. I don't usually get fired up on political topics, but this is a notable exception. Flame on...

I feel reasonably qualified to speak, having spent a combat tour actually interpreting policy to be accomplished by troops out on the streets of Iraq, and it just amazes me about the logic behind cutting and running.

My thoughts on cutting and running don't stem from wanting to honor the memory of those who have died or been wounded (and I knew/know a few of them personally), although I think that's admirable. From a more bluntly utilitarian view, it goes from what happens should the United States leave.

One might say there's a civil war already in progress, if sectarian killings are a recurrent danger, especially for those in places like Baghdad. I've had friends tell me their presence (as advisors to an Iraqi national police unit) saved civilians from what would, in America, be considered a hate crime, to kill someone based on their religion.

I shudder to think what would happen were the United States not there - should we leave with work unfinished, to leave the Iraqi government incapable of standing on its own because its own government institutions aren't ready yet. While the circumstances aren't exactly the same, it's worth noting that it took the United States some eleven years after its independence to come up with a functional constitution because the Articles of Confederation weren't cutting it.

I'm sure in my belief that if there was no coalition force to help rebuild Iraq, then it would have become a failed state...and the cost of a failed state is normally military intervention and high-intensity combat operations. While Afghanistan under the Taliban is a recent example of a failed state, Somalia circa 1993 comes to mind instead.

Never mind the fait accompli that would be handed to Al Qaeda and its associated movements, who have been more than willing to take any conceded initiative and then take the fight to the United States anywhere it can - should we lack the fortitude to finish what we started.

I always found Richard Armitage's "Pottery Barn Rule" pointedly appropriate - "you break it, you buy it" - which translates to "we end conflicts on terms of our own choosing." I'd rather that be genuinely the case rather than "because we're a nation of quitters."

While I don't agree with everything this administration does, and think that disbanding the Iraqi Army was one of the most fucking stupid things we ever did in a litany of dumb shit, it's a shame that I don't think the American public can detach itself from the Glass Tit of American Idol or The Real World and understand why perseverance is still, last time I checked, a value.

Oh, and about Hezbollah disarming...that won't happen without someone to compel them to disarm. The Israelis may have lost big in their inability to exterminate Hezbollah in its current campaign, but they don't harbor any illusions about what will happen.

Flame off...

6.0mi, 53:37, 21 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Mike Oldfield, "Moonlight Shadow"
Cobalt 60, "Darwin Was Right"
Dope, "Die Motherfucker Die"
Rush, "Analog Kid"

WX at 0700: 70.0 (21.1), DP 66.0 (18.9), BP 30.10 (1019), ESE 8 mist, RH 87.29

Odometer 2: 103.5mi

Z3.

Nothing like last week's blistering run. This was intended to be much more deliberately controlled, and it was. I was unable to settle on a running mantra today, which would explain the general lack of coherency of choices. I mean, Mike Oldfield, Cobalt 60, Rush, and Dope? That's cognitive dissonance if I ever thought of it.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 02:57 02:57 08:45 08:45 0.34
0.87 11:19 08:22 09:39 09:23 1.21
0.68 16:50 05:31 08:05 08:55 1.89
0.67 22:43 05:53 08:50 08:54 2.55
2.24 44:27 21:44 09:41 09:16 4.80
0.86 51:20 06:53 07:58 09:04 5.66
0.34 53:37 02:17 06:39 08:56 6.00

4.0mi, 38:20, 18 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Scott Cossu, "Demeter/Rejoicing" (an unusual choice, I'll grant)

WX at 0600: 77.0 (25.0), DP 69.1 (20.6), BP 29.99 (1015), WSW 7 overcast transitioning to thunderstorm, RH 76%

Odometer 1: 379.3mi

Z2 relative wog.

Today was a textbook case of dead legs. I'm thinking my row intervals combined with my Z4 fast run earlier this week trashed the rest of the week. I could not believe how little energy I had this morning. I could make an excuse about the weather (overcast, humid, but not quite wet rainy) but I just might be overtrained because of putting two hard workouts within three days of each other. Unfortunately, the road to recovery doesn't mean Do Nothing But Eat days. I did that yesterday and I still felt like ass.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 07:51 07:51 09:26 09:26 0.83
0.73 14:54 07:03 09:38 09:32 1.56
1.00 24:36 09:42 09:45 09:37 2.56
0.83 31:59 07:23 08:53 09:26 3.39
0.60 38:20 06:21 10:35 09:36 3.99

2.8mi + 6000m in intervals on Concept C, 16 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Replacements, "Someone Take The Wheel"

WX at 0700: 70.0 (21.1), DP 57.9 (14.4), BP 30.09 (1018), SE 9 clear, RH 65%

Odometer 1: 375.3mi

Z2 run, Z4 erg.

Intervals, 2000, then 1000, then 500, then 600. Total distance was 6000m. My rest speeds were around 2:19-2:20/500m, although I wanted to sustain 2:15/500m. My interval speeds, on the other hand, were more encouraging; they settled around 2:04-2:05, with some stretches as fast ast 2:00/500m.

There is a very noticeable change in erg speed in the last month. That's always encouraging. I attribute some of that to improved fitness, but also some of that to much-improved form and technique.

The Replacements song is from picking out an old t-shirt I got when they played at Johns Hopkins in 1991. A pretty good show, although I didn't realize it was their swan song. I was glad I saw them, now that I think about it.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.39 13:12 13:12 09:30 09:30 1.39
1.39 25:46 12:34 09:02 09:16 2.78

6.0mi, 50:11, 15 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Mark Isham, "Cars and Helicopters" from The Hitcher

WX at 0700: 62.1 (16.7), DP 57.0 (13.9), BP 30.12 (1019), NE 3 clear, RH 83%

Odometer 2: 97.5mi

Z4 time trial pace.

Fastest run in a while - and the fastest I've done any speed for a while, particularly on the last leg. All downhill, hard finish, and it all fell together. Of course, it could be also because it's about 25-30 degrees lower right now than it's been in the last few weeks.

While it could've been cooler for my tastes, it really doesn't get much better than this. It's a rare occurrence that I absolutely hammer a training run in time trial-like fashion.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 02:44 02:44 08:06 08:06 0.34
0.87 10:44 08:00 09:13 08:54 1.21
0.68 15:53 05:09 07:33 08:25 1.89
0.67 21:31 05:38 08:28 08:26 2.55
2.24 41:51 20:20 09:04 08:43 4.80
0.86 48:12 06:21 07:21 08:31 5.66
0.34 50:11 01:59 05:46 08:21 6.00

2.8mi + about 6200m on Concept C, 13 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Michael Manring, "Homeward"

WX at 0900: 82.0 (27.8), DP 69.1 (20.6), BP 29.94 (1013), S 16 haze, RH 64%

Odometer 1: 374.5mi

Z1 run coming in, Z4 erg, Z2 run coming back.

After doing some reading on Strokecycles at the Inverness Rowing Club (as in Scotland) site , I decided to do some more critical review on stroke technique to make sure I was doing the right thing. I realized I'd been practicing some baaaaaaaaad habits in the past in the vain attempt to gain more power.

That was homework well spent. I got more efficient times although the muscle groups I worked were a bit different. Then again, I realized I was doing something wrong beforehand when I came away with no lower back tension after this morning's session.

Unfortunately, it was cut short. The Concept C here at Fort Leavenworth doesn't get much maintenance. Because it doesn't get much, it had started rocking off its pedestal as the Allen head screws started working their way out. Some were significantly out - as in, out enough to hand tighten about 6 or 7 turns before I realized I was gambling with this morning's session - although the rocking noise I heard gave me the "something is wrong" feeling. I should've looked at it more critically - but then again, it's not technically my job.

On the other hand, I'm probably one of less than ten people on this post who use the Concept C, so there's not much incentive for the gym staff to maintain it.

No times on the Concept C, but I was averaging about 2:05-2:08/500m. Problem is that even with greatly improved technique, I was still anaerobic enough to start changing my blood pH. I realized this as I started to get the feeling of wanting to throw up...something I haven't felt since, oh, running the 600 in high school indoor track.

The goal is to try to consistently row 2:00/500m over 10km, but that's a distant goal if today was any indicator.

I may experiment with greatly reduced effort for a rest week to see if I can get some return the week afterwards.

Splits
1.4 in: 13:22
1.4 out: 13:14

4.0mi, 36:57, 11 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Hilary Duff, "Getaway"
Hilary Duff, "Wake Up"

WX at 0700: 73.9 (23.3), DP 70.0 (21.1), BP 29.94 (1013), NNE 7 mostly cloudy, RH 87%

Odometer 2: 91.5mi

Z2.

Another recovery run. I'm going to try two easy days after a hard run like Wednesday's and see where that gets me. Nothing ambitious, although I did notice some general loosening up after the first 25 minutes, so today was useful.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.83 07:38 07:38 09:11 09:11 0.83
0.73 14:21 06:43 09:10 09:11 1.56
1.00 23:39 09:18 09:21 09:15 2.56
0.83 30:54 07:15 08:43 09:07 3.39
0.60 36:57 06:03 10:05 09:16 3.99

2.3mi, 22:46, 10 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Replacements, "Fuck School"

WX at 0700: 82.0 (27.8), DP 64.9 (18.3), BP 29.86 (1011), W 6, RH 56%

Odometer 1: 371.7mi

Z1.

Nothing but wogging, even if I hadn't been crunched for time. Probably not long enough, but I didn't think I could in good conscience sleep in today no matter how shitty I felt.

Hence, today's mantra.

Splits
2.34mi = 9:43/mi pace.

9.0mi, 83:31, 9 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Tommy Keene, "We'll Always Remain Just The Same"
Limp Bizkit and DMX, "Rollin'" (rap remix)

WX at 0800: 75.0 (23.9), DP 71.1 (21.7), BP 29.99 (1015), SE 6 mist, RH 88%
WX at 0700: 77.0 (25.0), DP 71.1 (21.7), BP 29.99 (1015), E 6 RH 82%

Odometer 2: 87.5mi.

Z3 high.

Today really was as humid as I thought it was once I checked the WX records.

As usual, the killer aspect of running here is sunlight. I was dying out in the open. Surprisingly, I started stronger than I thought. I'm not sure why, unless it's a function of the inconsistent training I've done over the last few days.

The killer is mostly heat and lack of water by the time I finish block 3, which is mostly in the open, with little shade, in a river plain.

I'm not sure why the Tommy Keene song refused to dislodge. Every time I do this it turns into a "you can't kill me" kind of run. That has strange effects on pacing and tempo.

Splits
SGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.32 0:03:13 0:03:13 10:05 10:05 0.32
3.19 0:31:49 0:28:36 08:59 09:05 3.50
3.82 1:07:13 0:35:24 09:16 09:11 7.32
0.28 1:10:10 0:02:57 10:40 09:14 7.60
1.37 1:23:31 0:13:21 09:46 09:19 8.97

2.8mi + 5,000m on Concept Model C, 21:12, 7 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Bats, "Land o' Lakes"
Michael Kamen, Band of Brothers suite 2

WX at 0700: 75.9 (24.4), DP 66.9 (19.4), BP 30.13 (1020), NE 10 clear, RH 73%

Odometer 1: 369.4mi

Z2 run, Z4 erg

After yesterday's wogging, I figured I could afford something a little faster. So, I did 5000m, rather than 10,000m. I clocked an average 2:07/500m for the spin, so I am improving...which is never a bad sign. I ws good enough to finish my last 750m at about 2:00/500m pace, although I had to slow to about 2:15 about midway through.

I have noticed my back has gotten bigger. I don't think I'd have rubbed part of my left side raw had I not been rowing, so some of this increased speed is coming with increased bulk.

Given that I don't face a weigh-in for at least another six months, I have some time. In the meantime, I'm going to concentrate a little more on rowing to see where this gets me.

The finishing time was appropriate enough being the Rush fan I am.

Splits
1.4mi: 13:01
5000m on Concept C: 21:12.5
1.4mi: 12:55

Still going strong after all these years

The usual fate of most bands to which I religiously listen is oblivion. Members of that list include that dog., Letters to Cleo, The Delphines, Suddenly, Tammy!, Cub, Velocity Girl, all kaput. Never mind that literally all of them are fronted by chicks.

It's comforting to know The Bats are still hacking away at it after all this time. I've been listening to them since late 1994. They are one of the few bands that fall in the category of "will buy immediately without vetting it." That list has gotten shorter as of late: Throwing Muses (and incidentally, 50 Foot Wave), Tommy Keene, and For Against.

If I hadn't been in a combat zone this past March, it sure would've been nice to have seen them in concert.

Of course, I could just as easily say that about Hilary Duff playing for Fort Bragg, NC, my old duty station. Never mind I used to work within grenade launcher distance of the place at which she performed...

3.1mi, 28:36, 6 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

Moonbabies, "Take Me To The Ballroom"

WX at 1000: 86.0 (30.0), DP 69.1 (20.6), BP 30.01 (1016), W 6 clear, RH 57%

Odometer 2: 78.5mi

Z1-2.

I needed to do some wogging, so wogging I did. I may just concentrate on staying at steady state until it starts cooling off. Nothing special, nor was it intended to be. For 3 miles in this kind of heat (I started late) is acceptable...for now, at least.

Splits
3.1mi, 28:36, 9:13 average pace.

2.8mi + 10,000m on Concept Model C, 44:49, 5 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

some song by Smoosh

WX at 0900: 75.9 (24.4), DP 66.0 (18.9), BP 30.01 (1016), SE 12 clear, RH 71%

Odometer 2: 75.4mi

Z3.

Today wasn't intended to be particularly hard, but I was coopted by wanting to finish the erg in under 45 minutes. I was spinning at almost 2:00/500m for the last 400m, and pretty steadily 2:09-2:10/500m for the 2000m prior to that. I had something to prove, although I'm not sure what.

I think part of the difficulty in finding a running mantra is the basic difficulty of trying to find something tempoed at around 60bpm. I spin going about 30 strokes per minute, so that tends to exclude a lot of songs. Very little would stick while I'm on the erg.

I was pretty well and verily fried on the run back, though. No power going uphill.

Splits
1.4: 11:33
10,000 on Concept C: 44:49
1.4: 13:00

2.8mi + 10,000m on Concept Model C, 44:15, 2 AUG 06, Fort Leavenworth KS

No iThink mantra this morning. Amazing.
Brief snippets of Tommy Keene, "Lives Become Lies"

WX at 0700: 81.0 (27.2), DP 62.1 (16.7), BP 29.86 (1011), S 13 mostly cloudy, RH 53%

Odometer 1: 366.6mi

Z2 run. Z3 high erg.

I found that on the Concept, when I concentrate on form, I actually row faster than if I'm concentrating on the clock and trying to row hard.

I found that in my first 5000 meters, I was averaging about 2:09/500m, which is quicker than usual for me. Once I tired, I was leveling off to about 2:15/500m, which is my usual pace. Not a bad sign...

Splits
1.4: 12:17
1.4: 12:22
10,000m on Concept: 44:15