Young and restless

They are still young and impulsive.

After the heroic effort in the race on Wednesday, Trevor fell victim to his love for fast engines on wheels. He signed up for a three-day 12-hour motorcycle training course (a good thing!). Clearly the Army emphasizes safety and training as a way of life.

He opted not to wear a pool helmet so he set out Thursday to buy one for himself. The plan was to buy a helmet, take the course and use his "cow" loan later in the year to buy a bike. He can't have wheels at West Point until next March.

He went to the dealer and got the helmet for free. Trouble is, it came free with a starter 600cc Honda street bike. Damn salesmen.

Now the bike will sit in my overcrowded garage for 4+ months waiting for him to come home at Thanksgiving to finally ride it (license still pending).

Running. I did 3.4 easy miles on Friday and 10 miles on Sunday in the heat. Sombody mentioned there were mosquitos out but they avoided me. I must have been too fast.

I have packed all the running gear I need for vacation and most of the other beach stuff I will want. The Narragansett Bless the Fleet 10 Miler is now on my dance card for July 26. I expect Billy J to join me and maybe AA will get down for the race that finishes with a seafood festival as the boat fleet bobs in the bay.

20 yards from the finish line, Army beats Navy (Marines) and Air Force by minutes.

Watermelon 5K

I saw him getting dressed. I watched him pack the ruck pack. I noted how he pulled straps down tight to reduce shifting weight. He grabbed his helmet, took the flag and headed for the car.

The four of us arrived at Mead Gardens for the Independence Day run about 7:05. A number of runners were doing warm ups on the street where we parked. Trevor started to pull out his ruck from the back of the car and the passing runners stopped chatting. They stared at this guy in a uniform pulling on his pack. I sensed they realized they were going to be running a different race today.

We posed for the running family picture before heading over to the start.

We stood around talking to a friend in the Navy and a mother with a daughter Trevor dated in high school and who now flies F18s for the Marines. Curious runners walked by as they saw the soldier with a race number pinned on his chest. Mrs. T took pictures on her camera.

The Race. There were 2,700 registered runners for the Watermelon 5K. They announced that it was the largest 5K race in the state today.

We started in the back, as much as I wanted to start in the front. I decided there might never be another chance to run with Trevor and Cole this way so we all stuck together. After our speedwork yesterday and getting a great massage from Hank (maybe more on that another time), taking it easy today was actually a good plan.

There were so many runners - so many one-time runners - that they had signs for pace miles. We started with the walkers and spent the first mile passing all of them and a good number of 10-minute pacers. Cole and I ran escort for the soldier although he hardly needed any assistance moving through the crowd.

We bobbed and weaved our way along to the first mile marker in 9:30. The people we passed were astonished to see somebody running in uniform, boots, kevlar helmet and full ruck and their comments reflected the same: "Holy crap," "He must be really fit," "Wow Dad; a Marine," "No son. He's Army," "Look at him," "That's why I'll never be in the military," "Thanks for your service," "Hoo-ah," Oooo-ah," "Good job brother," clapping, "Let's hear it for our soldiers" encouraging cheers, "Holy crap" more than once, etc.

The second mile lane ran aside the third mile return lane at one point and a friend/fan of Trevor spotted me and I pointed to Trevor. He hollered back, "Is that Trevor? Wow. Awesome. Go Trevor!" We passed an Air Force guy in uniform with a light ruck pack/no helmet. Then we spotted a US Marines guidon up ahead. We were gaining on it. The second mile took us 10:19.

In the third mile runners were quieter and you could hear the squeak of Trevor's ruck shifting slightly on his back. Several ladies sidled up to him and ran alongside just to feel his energy. Running 10 yards behind him allowed me to eavesdrop on comments from those who only spoke to each other. There was a whole lot of respect paid out there today.

We reeled in the Marine and saw that he was carrying the flag for a group of eight Marines running in formation but only wearing T-shirts, camo pants and boots. We passed them with a half mile to go. A band played military songs at the head of the final stretch before the finish.

Towards the end, the friend who called out T's name made his way back out on the course to run Trevor in the last 400 meters. He is a history and military buff of the highest order. Running with Trevor, he was smiling like he had just won the lottery. As they ran the last 100 yards Trevor turned on the turbos (he's always had a kick to ruin your day) and sprinted towards the line waving the American flag he pulled from his ruck, smiling like a champ.

We finished all together in 31:05.

In the shade of the park we washed down water and watermelon. We ran into a number of acquaintances and folks wanting to say hello. We took more photos and then headed for home.

The grill is fired up. Later - fireworks downtown from a high rise balcony over the park.

A fine day.

Turned a corner

Maybe it's because days are getting shorter now. We're heading towards the winter equinox. I can almost feel the chill in the air.

Training went well today. I went up to the track with Trevor at 5:30 a.m. There were no less than 50 people finishing their workouts. By the time we warmed up, the track was ours. Trevor did 8x400 and 1x800 with me at the end. He did pretty well for somebody who hasn't been training: 1:10 per lap; this from a guy who regularly dropped 2:03 800s in high school competition six years ago.

I did 5x800. No check that. I did 2x800 and 3x800 PERSONAL RECORD BREAKING repeats. Three of my five laps beat my previous best time of 3:37.9. The best lap and new PR is 3:36.

Coaching tip. After we finished Trevor gave me some coach talk. He observed my stride was short and my feet too tense. He told me to loosen up. Just like we should not run with tense shoulders and arms, he said to relax my ankles and throw them out there on each step. It'll save energy, lengthen my stride forward and promote more momentum moving forward. I tried it on the jog home and I found myself just motoring along. It was cool. I can't wait to try it in tomorrow's race.

Six months down. Six to go.

Son Trevor is home for nine days leave after spending three weeks at Air Assault School in Ft. Campbell. His report is that he has a new respect for those who wear their AA wings.

I asked him to come out for a run this morning with my usual crowd. Here they are on Park Avenue before we got all hot and sweaty.

Leave ends early next week as he goes back to West Point to take charge of a squad of incoming plebe cadets, some six years his junior. It will be his largest assignment of men so far.

The 10-mile run this morning was ever so slightly better than last week despite the ongoing oppressive summer heat. Maybe I am aclimating a little more.

Wednesday both boys and I will run the Watermelon 5K. We went by the Track Shack Saturday to sign up and Trevor got to run for free because he promised the race director he'd run in full battle dress uniform, combat boots, helmet and full ruck sack - with an American flag sticking out the top. He says it'll be a piece of cake. Maybe an 11 minute mile pace. He ran 12 miles in the hills of Kentucky last week in the same gear at Air Assault so this should be "easy."

I am looking forward to the short week (Wednesday holiday) and the 10-day countdown to our Rhode Island vacation. Possible RBF meetups with April Anne, Bill Jank and definitely a reunion with Susie.

Have a happy fourth!