As I mentioned above, I was not the most prepared to start but off I went. By about 200m in, my shoulders were sore, which is unusual. My form was a bit off so I concentrated on extention and rotation. Swim seemed long and tedious...moreso than usual. Didn't feel my best. Time showed it.

Navy guy started a minute behind me but probably exited the pool only 20 seconds behind me. Shoot.

I should have warmed up instead of kibbutzing so much. That and be ready for an earlier start wave.

Got out of the pool and made my way to the lounger that held my transition stuff. Mistake #1: I sat down to put on socks and shoes. Problems with shoe laces, race belt, and Garmin all slowed me down.

PRACTICE TRANSITIONS! I have become good at leaning against the wall in the locker room and putting on socks and shoes. I should have gone with my first instinct and done this instead of the new outdoor transition.

Get out of the transition area/ locker room and I see that Navy guy is ahead of me. I think about trying to match his pace, look at my Garmin and see that I'm sub-7:30 and decide to skip it. My goal is to run this at Ranger School standard, which is 5 miles in 40 minutes. Instead I settle in and find a cruise speed. Maybe he'll come back to me.

First mile or so is great, smooth, fast. Until we turn to start running toward the north. There was a heckuva head wind from the north, which was causing the dusty conditions. I think about keeping the hammer down but then realize that I'll get to run with the wind because the course is a bit of an out-and-back. I run a full mile + against the wind at about 8:15 and my legs are whining a bit.

When I make the turn, I am able get back down to 8's and keep going. Quarter of a mile later, I make the turn to head with the wind and try to drop the hammer but my legs are burning a bit. I may have expended too much energy going into the wind. I decide to cruise and gather for a late kick.

I'm starting to look for Navy guy but he's increased his lead to 200+ meters. He ain't coming back and I don't feel like going after him. Looks like Navy's gonna win today.

My Garmin chirps at mile 4 shwoing 32:15; I need a 7:45 to meet my goal. The only bad part is that I have to do it going into the wind. "Well," I think to myself, "what do I have to lose?" I do my best to drop what's left and head out. My legs are starting to feel like they're pumping concrete and not blood. Push, push, push. I turn out of the wind for the final lap around the track. As I'm heading into the track Navy's coming out of the track. He's got 100m left, I have 600. Navy wins today. I move around the track as fast as possible and into the finish to the cheers of 20th QM officers and NCO's, one of my down-trace companies. I get across the line and check my watch. 39:44. Just barely passing but passing nonetheless.

Not much. This is about where my fitness is right now. I think I ran a pretty smart race and I accomplished a fairly challenging goal.

Walked over to 20th QM and thanked them for their support. Dropped the "if an old, fat man can do this so can you" challenge and talked with "Roll Tide" RT used to swim for the Univ. of Alabama but his run's a bit slow. He beat me by over 4 minutes on the swim; I beat him by 10 minutes on the run.

Walked over to my XO and kibbutzed with him, too. Drank some Gatorade and looked at the time. 90 min. from link up with my Chaplain Assistant for worship. Gotta move. Changed in the locker room and then biked the short ride to my hooch for a shower and change. Wish I could have hung around the finish and seen P and B come in.

Looking at the results, P whooped me by two minutes. A 34:30 run will do that.


TRANSITIONS, TRANSITIONS, TRANSITIONS! Still 2 minutes to put on shoes, socks, reflective belt, and sunglasses. I can find at least 30 seconds here.

Warm up before the swim would have helped me settle in better.

I feel like I've lost a bit of speed since I have shifted to this half-mary training and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet.

Of course, the extra weight is part of it, too but I was a bit lighter today than I was for my last biathlon. It's coming off slowly.

The dust and wind was horrendous.

These all being said, the maximum effective range of an excuse is 0 meters. I've just got to practice to get better.