I failed..

17 miles in (right around "The Awakening" at Haines Point) I knew I was in trouble (up til then I was doing well, 10 minute pace, on track to finish in 4:30). I made it a point to drink several glasses of water at each water point along the route, had a pot of tea in the morning before I went to the race. But it wasn't enough. The headache came first, throbbing and intense that caused me to remove my headphones. Then came the nausea, followed by cramping in the legs.. Given that I have had experience with this before (down in Alabama this summer) I knew that I was in trouble.
Stopped in the aid station just before mile 19. Medics (good Navy Corpsmen) looked at me, got my BP and then started the IV. Took the trailer bus back to Pentagon City, Metro'd back home (so wasn't going to go to Rosslyn, I didn't earn anything and I was frustrated and hurting), and showered, slept and sulked a little (yeah, not big on the whole failure thing, particularly since I was so close). Started planning modifications for next year (yep, I will be one of those people with a camelback on for the race next time). My marathon dream, at least for this year, is over.

Gotta Love self-inflicted sick leave..

Just placed on my schedule the plan for not showing up on Monday... Because, y'know, of the silly 26.2 miles I plan to run on Sunday. I must be insane...
I half think my anxiety is related to the run... I really hope that its like a lot of things, where the worry is worse than the actual event. then I remember that I am going to run 26.2 miles and am pretty sure that the event will be worse than the anticipation.
My knees are so going to hate me at the end... Big boys like me are meant to stroll, not run those sort of distances.

Though I have to say I like this taper period... after so much running its like I got some of my life back.

So this was an "off" weekend?

One all too fun HH (many thanks to the great hosts, particularily Arjewtino and I Now Pronounce You)... I think I was fine until I mistakely took the offer of a shot from the lovely jess of what? the curtains? Loved the shot, not the effects (which involved getting on the wrong direction orange line traing, then missing my stop by one when I finally got turned around).



After slowly waking up the next morning, a quick lunch with my ex (not sure I have had the chance to use that term before), then off to the DC United game where I chilled with my nephew. An early bed (or couch), a mid-sleep wake-up and movement due to the loud return of my roommate and then a late morning. Then 2 (yes, 2) dates on Sunday. Apparently I deal with a breakup by throwing myself back out there... everyone has their own way of recovering I guess. I did get to see Gone, Baby, Gone and LOVED it. really depressing.. really made me appreciate my life....

Blogging and Dating Ethics

So lets say that I read a bunch of blogs... a looot of blogs... I have too much free time at work at times.

And as noted I am now single and looking around (browsing through Match and other big dating sites).

I see a picture that seems familiar. A quick click over to Bloglines to confirm my thought after I read her profile (which seems very familiar... everyone has a writing signature that when writing personal stuff is readily detectible after reading a few paragraphs). So I confirm that she is blogger that I have enjoyed reading.

Whats the ethics here? I know that it would make a poor opener when I send the email but assuming of course that my email doesn't disappear into the ether and I actually get a date, when would this come up? Just idle speculation at this point but...

blog action day

Wow, greener than I thought...
So I took a poll that I saw over on love is blonde and was kind of surprised... That I came far below my fellow Americans. I guess that since I live close to the city in a multi-story condo, walk to work, eat healthy local food, make sure my electronic toys are off when they need to be that I come out ok (though I lost point for my love of meat....). Even though I skew toward the conservative side I really do think about my actions.. The smaller footprint that I have the less we need to import oil (and the less reason that my boys, the US Army, needs to be is Arabic hellholes.). That and on some level it lets me feel a little superior to all those unthinking liberals that spout what should happen and don't actually walk the walk. An awesome amount of irony can be found on a big SUV with the following 2 bumper stickers that I saw the other day: "Save the Planet" and "Clinton 2008".


IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.2 PLANETS.

An Army Weekend

Have I commented much about how much more I like Army stuff now that I am finished with that awful OCS stuff? No? Well suffice it to say that though this weekend was long (starting on Thursday and running until 2PM-ish on Sunday) it was successful. Most of the soldiers in my unit got Qual'd (including myself... 28/40. Not too shabby considering I have awful eyesight and great when you consider how long it took to get this result in Basic), we ran the ranges, no one got hurt and we got a congrats message later on Sunday evening. Not that I noticed as I was sacked out on the couch by then.


Long hours, expensive meals ($9 for the dinner? Are you kidding me!?), MRE's and a rough bed (slept in tents, rocky ground, with 40 people in earshot...), and of course the heady weight of command. No wonder I was pooped by the time we drove home.

A nipply problem.

Alright... So for whatever reason my last 3 GF's have been quick to point out that I have very hard nipples (and pretty sensitive.. at least for a guys)... Normally not a problem(maybe even an advantage at times), just something that has been noted on a consistent basis for quite some time.

Now to the crux of the problem... I remember when I was younger and noted that one or 2 fellows who finished their marathons (I grew up in Arlington so I have seen a few ends of the Marine Corp Marathon a couple of times when family have run it) had unfortunate spots of red on their shirts at the end of the race. I calmly filed that away under the "that’s weird category" and promptly forgot about it... until the past month or so.
See lately I have been clocking my longest runs ever (like the one last week that almost killed me). And um... all of a sudden I have a newfound respect for the above problem. It seems that even though I use really expensive, nice shirts (underarmor or Nike primarily) that is not soft enough. About a month ago I was definitely bleeding and it took a couple of days to heal. So I have now taken to wearing Band-Aids as I run (one fell off last week.... ouch). So now it looks like I am wearing pasties for my run... I forgot to take them off after a run 2 weeks ago and didn't notice until I was in the gym locker room... I so need to try some different solutions (Vaseline was just purchased to go with the Band-Aids so as to offer a redundant solution).

So god help me, I have a newfound respect of the steps that you ladies out there do to protect your breasts (damn, nipples getting rubbed raw hurts!).

I have a sickness...

Above is the Squished in version of my TV schedule.... I normally keep it on seperate worksheets but this shows up better.....

I know the first stage of dealing with addiction is to admit a problem.... but.... I really have no urge to correct my problem....

BTW, anyone want to take odds on who will win the cancellation lottery? My money is on Cavemen.....

Running will be the death of me

So I did my longest run on Tuesday (I know this since Lance Armstrong told me so in my earphones (Nike+ iPod pedometer... cool and useful toy)). 15.2 miles!@ I did walk the last mile or so (the infamous runners trot made it painful to run).

Then I stopped in at my parents (they are on my way home to my condo). Then the nausea hit, followed by the headache.... then I felt too hot.... then I shifted to intensely cold (like teeth chattering cold....) My parents (mom is an RN) were really concerned. I was able to shove a little food down (strawberries and cookies plus some tea) and then spent the next 2 hours curled up on the couch at my parents shivering even though I had a heavy sweatshirt on and a blanket covering me.

I then got home at around 1130, took a shower, let work know that it was unlikely that they would see me tomorrow and then curled up in bed with the sheets around me..

And I am already planning on running further next Tuesday.... I think I am insane..... And to think in a little over a month I intend to do 11 more miles than I just did in the Marine Corp Marathon....

Recharging

A free weekend. What a novel thing. After having things scheduled for the past 3 weekends without end, and my schedule is starting to look full in the future it was refreshing to finally have a weekend to enjoy.

I started it off by heading to Continental after the Gym to enjoy their happy hour with my GF (though the beers were up to par the food wasn’t as good as it has been). An early evening then off to bed.

GF took off early to go volunteer. Then I slept in, laid around for quite some time (read, watch some TV, played Bioshock). Then a nice afternoon run, popped over to the parents for dinner (burgers) the off to see a movie over at AMC Hoffman. The computers were down there again (do they ever work?) so we just barely made it inside for the show. Though it was worth it…. “Superbad” was awesome. One of the best teen movies that I have seen, period. I think that it helped that all of the cast were much more typical and less glossy than some of the normal teen fare and that the writing was excellent and really captures kids at that age.

After a lazy startup we went to Alexandria for brunch on Sunday. We went to Pat Troys for the food (I had a really good Irish breakfast). Then we spent several hours strolling around, checking out shops and just enjoying the fantastic day.

After a quick recharge (nap for GF, visit to the gym for me) we then headed over to Talula’s Eat Bar to check out a showing of one of the best movies ever… “Goonies”. I liked a lot of what they had there and the popcorn and other treats were a nice touch. Will definitely have to hit it again in the future.
A little bit of Emmy’s and then bed. A very fine weekend.

So glad I live in this country...

For all the claims of free speech being repressed in this country, you have stories such as this:

BBC News (oddly you get the most unbiased coverage from the BBC... when you pull up the story from other sources, such as ABC you get items tossed in such as "far right" and "shaved heads"). Though I did get the most shudder inducing quote from the ABC article:

"It is very important to remember that the freedom of assembly and
expression can be restricted to protect the rights and freedoms of others,
including the freedom of thought, conscience and religion," secretary general Terry Davis said. "

Yeah, we have problems in this country. But we still believe that people have the right to assemble, heck we even offer security if its going to be controversial (like anything involving that vile KKK). Whereas "The mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans, banned the protest last month for fear it would cause problems with the city's immigrant population."

Its stories like this that make me sick when people continue to point at Europe as the bright and shining light that all others would do well to follow.. Please, give it a rest.

And BTW people.... it says freedom of speech.... it doesn't mean freedom of responsibility. If you say something then everyone (other than the government which should stay out of it) has the right to make you pay for it in their own way... (ie, you say something stupid about the Irish then I wouldn't expect my business would be heading to you again).

Fall TV shows its head early

I was excited to learn on Monday that via my Tivo and Amazon Unbox I would be able to get a sneak peek at some of the new shows (unfortunately I am still unable to get Journeyman (aka Quantum Leap from its descriptions) but I will try again tomorrow probably).

• Chuck - Of the batch this was the one that I was the most excited about. And I wasnt let down. Very quirky and fun. Does have flaws but it looks to be a good cast and fun little show... Kinda reminds me still of Jake 2.0
• Life - Wasn't sure on this one. But it grew on my during the show. Life hadn't made my initial cut of shows to watch and now will get a reprieve and a chance to prove itself.
• Bionic Woman - I am intrigued.... Pretty dark show but has a lot of possiblities. Jumps right into the action and drags you into the show. Seeing this episode solidified that this show would be on my list in the next few weeks.

Interestingly I was very impressed with the video quality provided from Unbox, it was one of the best SD signals that I had seen...

6 Years ago.

Even now I can remember the events of 6 years ago with perfect clarity.

I was unemployed at the time (though I had just done an interview that would lead to a job in a few short weeks with the government). So I slept in until around 0800. Then I just remember the panic, the desperate attempts to get in touch with family. The fear that I couldn't. The absolute horrors of seeing one, then the other tower of the WTC go down. Hearing about the strike on the Pentagon and seeing smoke in the distance. The further panic of reports of another aircraft headed for DC.

It all still resonates strongly with me and remains a powerful motivator for my actions today. Every time that I put on my uniform I have that strong desire to make sure that what happened 6 years ago never happens again and, heaven forbid, that something happened again that I could provide more assistance than sitting at home desperately seeking more information about that safety of my family.

Though I dodged a bullet in that no one from my extended or immediate family was hurt (though my uncle and cousin will probably forever have the images of the jumpers burned in their mind as they were working in the vicinity) my heart still aches for the people that lost their lives to this cowardly attack and for their families that continue to mourn their loss. It saddens me that the scum that ochestrated this event still continue to breathe and still offer some sort of further threat to this country.

Somehow its appropriate that on a day commemorating such a grim event even the weather seemed sad.

So worth it.

So I had my first drill as a 2nd Lieutenant this weekend. I like my CO, XO and fellow LT. As I was wandering the firing line acting as a safety and offering assistance it really made me feel that the 2 years of work to get to this place was worth it. Though I went to bed tired Saturday night I knew that I was satisfied and proud of my work. For the first time in 2 years I am looking forward to my next drill and the additional responsibility that I will have then.

Embarassed for others....

never lend your GF a computer that has had many more users than yourself for prolonged periods of time without wiping it first. It cuts down on the awkward emails that come in when she is sick and using it out of boredom.. Particularly when she thinks that you have been the sole user of said machine...

And then emailing back and desperately asking not to be told the specifics because then you will be pondering which of the potential users did access those sites…

Living in a bubble

Every so often you come to realize that you live in a bubble. Particularly when you step outside it for a while.

Today was my first day of classes at GMU for the semester. I have decided to continue taking classes there and get another degree (in Information Systems Security and Assurance). Since I work in the government with everyone I deal with having a security clearance you sometimes really forget the makeup up the IT world. Boy did I get a reminder today. Of the 36 people in my class there were 3 white guys, one Asian, and EVERYONE else was from India.... Before I joined the government (almost 6 years now.. wow...) I used to work commercial clients and I guess I didn't notice and forgot. Its just jarring to pop out the norm that you get so used to..

Its pretty sad that there aren't more American Citizens in the class. I don't remember the numbers but the participation of AmCits in higher education (in particular the useful ones like engineering and science) is dreadfully low. I get scared for our future sometimes, since it seems that entertainment and education are one of our main exports, but eventually that will be produced elsewhere.

Awesome weekend! (I am a Lieutenant now)

Before I say anything else, here I am as the end result of 22 months of hard work!

So I had the pleasure of starting my weekend early, with Thursday night spent at the Zoo (at the very drinky event of Brew at the Zoo).

Then a WAY too early morning drive down for an 0800 report time down at Ft. Pickett.

Lots of inspections of the uniforms, practice for the graduation and the minutia that is required for these events. And very quickly it was Saturday Morning.

At 1230 I met with my parents and GF, went to the chapel and signed my life away for the next 6 years. I was very lucky in that my father, a retired LCDR from the Navy, was permitted to swear me in.

Then a little more dead time, then the ceremony, which was really nice. I actually won an award (Academic Leader) and then had the pleasure of having both my parents pin my 2nd Lieutenant bars onto my shoulder. Then a nice dinner in downtown Blackstone and a ride home.

Believe it or not I went for a 12.5 mile run Sunday morning (still training for the MCM). We also had a great dinner with 2 of the other 2LTs and their family's over at Ft. McNair in the evening. Lots of fun to be had by all!

And down they went!

3-1. Atlantic Cup... Moreno's 109th goal (now the holder of the most goals scored in MLS).... What a great game..

And the fingers were fun since my nephew LOVED them.... to see him wander into my parents place with one on both hands and him chanting d....c..... united! was awesome!

NY is going down

There are few teams I passionately dislike (in particular outside of the college realm.... yeah, I am looking at you Wahoo's as example). Somehow 2 of the them, the NY Yankees and the NY/NJ Metrostars (I mean Red Bulls) are from NY. So I am definately looking forward to this evening when I can sit back and let the boys in Black and Red take on the Metroscum... I mean Full of Bull... this evening....


T-minus 3 days until I become a comissioned officer....

So using contractors when I get married.....

So I just got a touch of what it feels like to arrange a wedding (at least that’s how it feels to me).

In the past couple of days I have had to get my fellow Officer Candidates to set up the reception for our graduation while I took on the daunting (to me at least) task of getting the invites out. Quite a task, something that I will go far to avoid in the future. 61 invitations to basically every general and field grade officer in the Virginia Army National Guard. Selecting and getting the wording of the invite, reply card and map approved, prying the invite list from the people who are providing the list, getting the cards (reply and main invite made up), generating and printing the labels (given the timeframe there was no way this was going to be hand labeled as protocol implies it should), getting Kinko’s to print the cards (and dealing with my the 3 phone calls and one visit from my GF to get things right) and then finally stuffing, labeling and stamping everything. All in 3 days... Thank god my GF was willing to help and could spare the time to help this hapless male through this crap.

T-Minus 8 days until I become 2nd Lieutenant Media Addict..... My uniform is almost completely ready and I am so stoked to move on to my next task (and to get this OCS stuff behind me).