Army Ten Miler

Song of note - "Somehow, Someday" by Ryan Adams. I got up really early and went to Fort Rucker for the Army Ten Miler. I sat around the starting line making small talk with the other racers and before I knew it, it was time to go! At first I was going really fast, but it felt really slow. I was trying to stick with the plan, so I slowed down more. I stayed on pace throughout the first half of the race. After the turnaround, it was harder going. Mostly uphill the second half, could not keep up with my marks. I told the guy at the 8 mile water point to "HIT ME". I wanted him to douse me with one cup (ICE COLD) water, and hand me the other cup. Unfortunately, I didn't verbalize this plan, and when I said (HIT ME!) He threw both cups at me. The water was so cold I almost went into shock, but I didn't. I came up on the 9.75 mile mark and there saw Stephanie and my Father-in-law. I said hi, and finished the race. 1:21:05, but the official time is slow, I estimate I was actually about 30 seconds faster. I finished 29th out of 93, and won my age group. Unfortunately, they were not giving awards for age groups, not mine anyway. They awarded the top 11 men and top 11 women trophies, along with fastest team, top men and women Masters and Grandmasters. I was not in the top 11 men, I was in the top 23 men. We came home and now I'm going to get a haircut. Have a nice day.

Just killing time

It's been truly awful this week. I am full of energy and am not running so as to conserve energy for the race tomorrow. On the bright side, it's Caramia's birthday, and she wants iHOP for dinner. My bosses name is Jay Edgar Hoover. No, he is not a direct descendant. His (my bosses) dad was trying to be funny. Sergeant Hoover has a surprisingly good sense of humor, but not many good things to say about his dad. I'm trying to waste time and it's standing still. Maybe I should stop drinking all these cups of strong coffee. The only song I heard today (so far) of note is the sublime "Hate it Here" by Wilco. It's about a man who has been left by his woman, and the things he does to occupy his time. Mostly chores, by the way. Have a good day.

Coasting 4 mile run

It's been awhile since I last posted. Life has gotten busy. We recently found out Stephanie is pregnant. It will be her third, my third, and our fifth altogether. You read it here first, 3+3=5. This morning I arrived at PT early and listed to iPOD. Songs of note today: "Cumin' Atcha Live" and "Seasons of Wither" by Tesla, "Lady of Avenue A" by the Black Crowes, and "I Don't Want to Know (If You Don't Want Me)" by the Donnas. Anyway, I fell asleep and woke up to a congregation of 4 or 5 NCO's standing by my car (with the volume all the way up blasting Tesla). They were just talking to each other, not paying me any attention. I turned the car off and got out and they were like, "Hello, what's up?" Um....hi..... SO, PT started and I realized they wanted to play football. I'm really pumped up for the Army ten miler on Saturday and I needed a short taper run. So, I took off and ran 4 in just over 36 minutes. Not bad. So, my goal for the 10 mile run is 1:19:20. I think that I'm going to employ a subtle strategy to achieve my goal with a negative split. I'll run each mile four seconds faster than the prior mile, starting with an 8:12 mile pace. Hit the road!