Guess I'm as ready as I will ever be!
The First Few Strides
That was easy, where's the beer?
Happiness is getting nice and muddy on a Sunday morning instead of laying in bed!!
Well as you can tell by the pictures the weather improved somewhat so I could get out there and hit the pavement and mud as I attempted to run the CIM. Right about 0745 there was a slight break in the weather so I figured it was the perfect chance to start. I was lucky to run into one of the guys who had no problem taking the first two photos. I no sooner got out the gate by our barracks and it started to rain but there was no lightening, the road for a little over one mile was nothing but mud and with the crown on the road I felt like Paul Simon's song "Slip Sliding Away" as I tried to maintain my running posture all the while my shoes were just one solid piece of mud which weighed about 2 extra pounds. As I tried my luck on the gravel I then started kicking up the gravel and a rocks and that wasn't an option either. I finally got on some harder packed road which was not covered in that much mud and that made my life a lot easier. At about 2 miles it stopped raining but the wind picked up and gusting about 20 mph from the southeast. I was lucky because to the south where the rest of the gang was running at in Baghdad had lots of black clouds and looked rather menacing.
As I headed towards the 3 mile mark I was surprised to see a jet airliner at about 2-3K feet in the air heading to BIAP. We never see airplanes so that was an interesting site. I hit the turnaround point for the course and headed back to the start. I was not looking forward to the muddy road that I had run on earlier and sure enough it was back to sliding all over the place. I finished the first lap 6.55 miles in 57:52 and my knee which up to that point had not bothered me started to let me know that it sore and that the 4 days rest although it helped had not cured the bruise. I kept on plugging away on lap two knowing that it was my last lap and trying to not think about the knee that much. A couple of advis seemed to work and it was on this lap that I was running and heard from behind me on a loudspeaker; "Sir, don't forget that the speed limit is 10 miles an hour"! It was one of the Soldiers from our Division who handles security and he was riding in his patrol pickup and using his PA system. After doing the last turnaround I started the final portion of the lap and except for the left knee felt rather strong, so I picked up the pace and a couple of other Soldiers I knew drove by and honked! As is the norm I popped a jolly rancher into my mouth with about 2+ miles to go and that sugar rush felt good as I headed for home. With the wind the road started to dry out a little bit but the mud was still there but not as slippery as before.
I finished up the final loop in our area and completed the run in 1:55:00 on the money, which gave me a negative split on the second leg of 57:08, hell I'll take that any day of the week. I did my cool down set up the camera to take a couple of photos and it was time to head back inside as it started getting cold. The temperature at the start was 61 with a 15 Mph wind, but at the finish it had droiped to 58 with 20 Mph. winds. As you could see I was caked in mud and that nice long hot shower hit the spot for me. I am disappointed in that I could not run the full marathon distance but based on the circumstances I am happy with what I accomplished and tomorrow is another day and I will have another opportunity to hit the roads and at least my knee is not screwed up too bad.
That's it for now I grabbed some lunch at the DFAC and am super tired so I think I will take a short power nap and that will make the rest of the day that much more relaxing.
A tired but happy Colonel!!
As I headed towards the 3 mile mark I was surprised to see a jet airliner at about 2-3K feet in the air heading to BIAP. We never see airplanes so that was an interesting site. I hit the turnaround point for the course and headed back to the start. I was not looking forward to the muddy road that I had run on earlier and sure enough it was back to sliding all over the place. I finished the first lap 6.55 miles in 57:52 and my knee which up to that point had not bothered me started to let me know that it sore and that the 4 days rest although it helped had not cured the bruise. I kept on plugging away on lap two knowing that it was my last lap and trying to not think about the knee that much. A couple of advis seemed to work and it was on this lap that I was running and heard from behind me on a loudspeaker; "Sir, don't forget that the speed limit is 10 miles an hour"! It was one of the Soldiers from our Division who handles security and he was riding in his patrol pickup and using his PA system. After doing the last turnaround I started the final portion of the lap and except for the left knee felt rather strong, so I picked up the pace and a couple of other Soldiers I knew drove by and honked! As is the norm I popped a jolly rancher into my mouth with about 2+ miles to go and that sugar rush felt good as I headed for home. With the wind the road started to dry out a little bit but the mud was still there but not as slippery as before.
I finished up the final loop in our area and completed the run in 1:55:00 on the money, which gave me a negative split on the second leg of 57:08, hell I'll take that any day of the week. I did my cool down set up the camera to take a couple of photos and it was time to head back inside as it started getting cold. The temperature at the start was 61 with a 15 Mph wind, but at the finish it had droiped to 58 with 20 Mph. winds. As you could see I was caked in mud and that nice long hot shower hit the spot for me. I am disappointed in that I could not run the full marathon distance but based on the circumstances I am happy with what I accomplished and tomorrow is another day and I will have another opportunity to hit the roads and at least my knee is not screwed up too bad.
That's it for now I grabbed some lunch at the DFAC and am super tired so I think I will take a short power nap and that will make the rest of the day that much more relaxing.
A tired but happy Colonel!!
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