Training Log Archive: PG

Early start for the drive home from DC, with two stops. First was at Arlington National Cemetery to visit the grave of Gail's dad. And then also the graves of her grandfather and grandmother. Beautiful peaceful early morning.

And then to Litchfield, managed to avoid the worst of the traffic. Mom is weaker than ever, though still somewhat alert. Don't think this will go on too much longer, but of course there is no way of knowing. Keeping our fingers crossed that the final journey, relatively smooth so far, will continue that way.

And then finally home. A wonderful trip.

Very nice outing. Snuck onto Ft. Belvoir to do a little tour of the golf course I used to frequent about 45 years ago. Brought back a few good memories. And then snuck back off again. :-)

Having a great time at my reunion.

Loop around Reston, staying on the major roads just to make sure I wouldn't get lost. Pleasant morning, breezy and cool for Virginia in May, but still had sweat pouring off me.

Route.

C • Hotel 8

Seems like we are on again for next Wednesday evening.

One of the nice things about doing this is the simplicity. Just one course. Don't worry about punching. Makes it easy.

On the other hand, the locals who are coming out are all athletic, so they seem to both be taking it seriously and having a good time. Thanks to Amy Lane for being our primary recruiter.

It also seems like many of them already have their weekends full with races of some sort, so it's easier for them to come midweek. Which can be done this time of year.

And they haven't yet learned how to complain. :-)

Short outing, all I had time for. Then the dentist (no cavities, for once), then drive to Virginia, stopping at a very nice restaurant in Havre de Grace for a quick dinner.

C • Havre de Grace 1

Event: Western Mass training #4
 

Getting back into the habit of running. Around both Sugarloafs from the S. Sugarloaf parking lot. Legs feeling little better.

Hanging controls for Wednesday training #4, this time at Earl's Trails. Just one course, 3.4 km, called "intermediate," nice not to have to live up to any predefined standards associated with the color scheme. And it seemed that everyone was just glad to be able to do some orienteering. And not at all concerned whether the course was too easy or too hard or maybe just right compared to what it might supposed to be.

Liberating…. :-)

Had about a dozen people. Very nice. And then Ken Sr., arriving late, picked them all up, so didn't have to go back out. Thanks!

And one of the guys beat Phil, much to his dismay. :-) Beat me too, though I have the slight excuse I was hanging them.

Legs were not so bad.

And then a very pleasant dinner afterwards with Phil and Steve and Gail. Makes it a proper training.

Roads in town. Felt like I hadn't run in a long time and not sure how the legs would feel. A bit of a struggle, but not as bad as I feared.

There will be another Wednesday evening O' training, this time at Earl's Trails, starting from the end of Chmura Road.

Meant to go longer but seemed to be lacking in energy, enthusiasm. So cut it short. See, I'm not always stupid. :-)

Not really sore after yesterday, just tired. Heel is still tender, but no worse. So time to start running again, at least modestly. And then hope for cool weather on the 25th.

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And in the meantime, a trip to DC for my OCS (Officer Candidate School in combat engineering) reunion, 46 years after the fact. In relation to which, I got a small package in the mail a while ago, thought it was some token with regard to the reunion so I didn't open it right away. Finally opened it a couple of days ago, had a note and a rather small container inside.

Opened the latter first. It was an old-fashined compass contained in a circular brass case, unscrew the case and a compass inside. And engraved on the outside was "To: Lt. P. Gagarin. Best 1Sgt ever. Lt. R. Harris."

A bit of the back story. At OCS part of the training was in leadership, and so we each got a turn, or several turns, at the various positions. So for our platoon of about 40 there was a platoon leader, the one in charge, and a first sergeant, second in command, and four squad leaders.

I got named first sergeant for the second week there. They do everything they can to pile on the stress. You try to keep your head above water. I remember being glad to be chosen rather early in the process, a chance to stand out a bit. And I remember doing what I thought was a pretty good job for the week.

The problem is, for the life of me I don't remember R (Roger) Harris. Was he platoon leader that same week? Did I save his butt a few times?

Getting the compass seems to be both a wonderful thing, a memory on his part that way back in my early 20s, when I had little self-confidence and in general a poor self-image, that to someone else I seemed to have my act together so much that all these years later he has gone to such trouble to thank me.

And yet it is also such a sad thing, because I do not remember. Not at all. Not a clue who Roger is, or any memory of him at OCS, nor any memory of most everyone else there. It is just gone.

You want to hug the guy for the gesture. You also want to cry.

I expect it to be an interesting weekend.