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August 22, 2006
Longest run
Christin is training for a marathon right now and it made me think of something I did a LONG time ago...like, uh 14 YEARS AGO. I was going through the EIB test in the Army and I was all the way to the final task which was the 12 mile road march. Sounds easy enough right? The catch is, you do it in full combat gear, carrying your M16, wearing your rucksack with 50# in it and enough other weight to simulate a full load of ammunition. Oh, and you have 3 hours to do it. The deal is, you can't walk it, you just won't make it in 3 hours. So you have to run. Yeah, run, with this behemoth on your back and this rifle in your hand. So I'm figuring, I'll just use the strap on the rifle and carry it on my back right? Well, it wants to bounce around everytime I pick 'em up and put 'em down. It gets caught underneath the back of my helmet and pummels me on the back of the neck...enough! I go back to carrying it. Okay, back to running. We got up at 0400 so we could be running by 0530 to miss the heat of the day. Everything, aside from the rifle attacking me, goes smoothly until 0630 when the sun decides to get involved. Wow, I had no idea the sun could be that hot at that time of the morning. But everything is still okay, there is only one soldier in front of me, Sergeant Adam McGary(he wound up finishing in 2 hours and change, GOOD TIME) and I can still see him up ahead. Just keep running and drinking water. Well, about 0700 I ran out of water in both canteens and I threw them to a soldier that was refilling them at mile 9. Another soldier ran to catch up with me and hand the full canteens off to me(I'm feeling a little cocky right about now...9 miles in an hour and a half...I can still see McGary...yeah, I'm going to smoke this thing) and I decide to turn and run backwards to receive the canteens. BAD IDEA. I got the canteens cleanly enough, got them into their holders easy enough, but when I turned to run forward...well, the laws of physics fought me and tried to pull me to the ground. I'd have been okay if I'd just fallen, but I didn't...nosirreeee...I put my leg way out and caught myself and kept running, looking like one of those Russian dancers out of "Fiddler on the Roof". That's when I felt it. My groin muscle. Does anyone know that they have a groin muscle? I didn't until RIGHT THEN. It announced it's presence loudly and with fervor...and a SNAP. "Bad word, nasty word, followed by some standard vulgarities"...oh sure, all too low for anybody else but me and GOD to hear them, but believe me, I said them. So what now? Quit? NO WAY. I figured I'd just be slower but I'd make the 12 miles...after all, I can walk 3 miles in 45 minutes while stopping to talk to neighbors, this will be a cinch. It wasn't the cinch I thought. It was tough and it really hurt. A lieutenant was right there when the "SNAP" happened and he was a medic. We didn't stop but he assessed that I could make it if I just didn't stop. Would you believe that he walked/ran with me the remaining three miles? I got passed by everybody else doing the march(only 4 of us were still in contention for the EIB Badge), but I made it. Time? 2 hours 59 minutes and 52 seconds. After crossing the line, it still hurt, but for the rest of the day, it didn't hurt as bad. To this day, it's probably the award that I'm the most proud of from the military.
So, Christin, throw a pack on your back while you're training and the real deal will be a cinch.
Let me know how that goes. Oh, and don't run backwards.
Posted by james at August 22, 2006 07:08 PM
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Comments
Thanks for the encouragement! I've got a slight injury in my right foot that I'm trying to nurse back to health so it doesn't plague me for the next 16 weeks. Even though the task is intimidating, just the idea of crossing that finish line is thrilling!
Posted by: Christin at August 23, 2006 09:52 AM