What does your drain rack look like?

This is what my drain rack looks like right now. What do you think my two favorite beveragesare? This was too funny and I had to post!!






Today I rode in the Tour d' Temple.
It was more around the country roads and a State Park there near Temple, TX. It was a pretty day, ended up hot at the end, but started off great. However, about half-way through we hit some of the worst road I've ridden on--not just bad TX chip seal, but chip seal and 100% bumpy, not a flat spot on it. It was actually kind of painful. Add the headwind that seemed to be in our face nearly the whole time and it was a pretty tough ride, but I think was a strong ride for me. I did all 100k's without stopping. I should have drank more water and would've been good if I had remembered the straw for me aerobottle. Since I didn't I just had two water bottles and one bottle of 3 concentrated servings of Infinit. It worked well as my nutrition, but I really needed another bottle of water. As soon as I finished the ride I embarked on a 30 minute run...yeah, at noon, in TX. It was okay, but the thought of running 10 more miles, like I will have to for Buffalo Springs 70.3 in less than a month is a little intimidating. I'm sure with proper hydration, good sleep the week of, and a taper from workouts it'll be better. Plus, I have to remember that this is to gauge what I need to focus on for Longhorn in August. Anyhow, good morning workout. Headed to HEB afterward for fruit, veggies, and food for the poodle...while there, I was, as usual, appalled at some of the things people, of all shapes and sizes, are putting in their baskets. It is truly sad...our unhealthy society of America is eating itself to death. You know how your Mom used to tell you to eat all your food because poor kids in China are starving....well, apparently America listened and is eating everything and it's apparent we aren't poor people, instead our society is obese and dying of diseases of affluence, not poverty. Even many of what we call "impoverished" American's are dying of these things, and sometimes at higher rates. I find it truly disturbing, and it is going to be significantly evident as to the problem when health insurance continues to rise and death rates go up while ages go down....and more kids start having adult diseases related to poor diets, not malnutrition, just poor diets. It IS a problem, and it will only get worse. Eat well people, exercise...make your drain rack look like mine. It truly does the body good.

Shooting things, and doing it well!

Another early morning, but today was an AWESOME day at the shooting range. It was not your typical range, we wore our Law Enforcement gear, we did some scenario shooting at paper targets with a partner (mine was the other CPT and he and I were putting it dead center and in the head just like we were supposed to do), then we did a tactical lane as individuals with some specific shots on ballistic steel reactionary targets (they go down when they are hit and you hear it and see it on the spray painted surface), and then we did a "duel" where two of us rushed to a set of targets, had to get down the dummy steel targets, and then hit paddles on a "tree" (6 total, when you hit it, it flips to the other side so you can shoot it again). Whomever got the dummies down, did a magazine change, and then got all 6 paddle targets on the other persons side won. It was single elimnation, and out of 18 I was #2...had a good final round duel with a SSG. Seemed like there were several Soldiers suprised this female CPT could hold her own as well with the pistol as she did. Today was truly a total blast. It was good precision shooting, gave all of us, but especially the young new Soldiers, significant confidence in the ability to draw the weapon and successfully engage targets with a well placed round with proper trigger squeeze (poor trigger squeeze is the root of most folks shooting problems). So, getting to put a couple of hundred rounds down range today was a complete blast. We really should shoot like this much more often for both working law enforcement duty and combat prep. I think we all learned and practice more worthy skills than any other time I've shot the 9mm in the Army.

Now I need to gather up the bike ride stuff: bike, nutrition, water, helmet, outfit, etc. so I can get ready for the "Tour de Temple" 100k (62 mi.) ride tomorrow morning. Plan is to brick it, so I will probably do an immediate 5 mile run along the course as soon as I finish riding. This is necessary in that my first Half-Ironman is less than a month away (29 June) and I have not done the run off the bike after a ride this long. Should be good, hot (very hot) fun. Then, it is of course housework/yardwork weekend. I do need to hit Wally World on the way home from Temple to get some more fresh fruit and some food for my doggy. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Umm, what format

Okay, I know I had a "format" for different things I was going to cover, but I don't think life is going to let me keep with that, so I will just post what I can when I am inspired to do so. Today there is not so much inspiration. Class was fairly simple today and mostly just use of force and introductory stuff. Tomorrow we do some drills with the PR-24 and then to a range on Friday for some shooting. Besides that, I'm just ready to get to the weekend. I am riding the Tour de Temple 100K on Saturday and plenty of work to do around the casa. Trying to plan out the time I'm going to be on vacation this summer. I will do some traveling, but also a lot of house projects that should get done. Mom got me some tiles that I can use for at least my guest bathroom, so that's a lesson to be learned, and I also have lots of serious yard work to do in that time frame. Between that, the GMAT, and some personal preparation to take company command in Sept. I should fill up my time well.

Longest swim to record on tap tomorrow morning--4000m...holy smokes.

I need one of these signs!

So I truly thought these cartoons were totally hilarious today. Some co-workers and I have decided we need to have these signs made! If you haven’t noticed, I am a fan of this comic strip.

The AC was broken at work still and it was NASTY on the top floor of the building. With humidity factored in, the weather guys said it would feel near 100 today! I guess it is fair to say that summer has quickly descended upon Texas. However, in the typical Texas weather fashion, right as I was leaving work to head home and go to my Tuesday night swim class the winds and dark storm clouds descended upon Central Texas. It played nasty for about 2 hours, and then actually cleared up. But, not before the pool was closed for ligthening...though, thankfully I determined that would happen prior to driving and wasting gas to Temple. I guess the pool isn't grounded and that's why that have to do that. Anyhow, I already rode my bike for 1.5 hours this morning but considering I had at least a week of no bike riding, I did another hour on it this evening. I did strength intervals (big ring, hard gear) this morning, and high RPM intervals this evening. I did get some ab/core work in this morning and that needs to happen more. I was close to a six pack a few months ago, and not quite there now. Must get that back. Tomorrow morning I'll swim. I really hope I get some speed here in the swimming. I don't expect anything phenomenal, and thankfully the swim truly is the warm up for the other two events. So long as my run stays strong and my bike gets strong, then an "okay" swim will be alright.

Tomorrow police officer course starts. Looks like I'll get to a range this week, get to do some driving simulators and weapon simulators next week (and get OC sprayed...yuck), and some self-defense classes. I will be learning field sobriety tests and other handy skills. I doubt I'll be using the skills much, but they will be helpful to know and help me know more of what my Soldiers have to do.

I'm pondering either a.) a cheap, good gas mileage beater car for my in and around driving or b.) a commuter bike. The bike is obviously much cheaper, but I would have to figure out a safe way to get to work--can't say I trust the drivers around here. We'll see. Stupid gas prices, I need to use one of those signs in the comic strip to hit whomever is responsible for driving these gas prices up with no reason....

Plenty to Catch Up With

So, I'm finally back to Killeen after plenty of fun with Muddy Buddy, a most incredible wedding, and some time at my folks place. I will get back into the swing of things here in the next couple of days and get my posts back up. This week will be a different one, not just in that it is a 4-day work week (YAY!) but in that I will move from the office to the classroom to start a 3-week police office certification course that I am taking so I am more prepared to understand what my Soldiers are doing on a day-in and day-out basis once I take command of the Law Enforcement Detachment. It is interesting because I used to say that I never wanted that for a command, then I ended up asking for it. I used to think everything was the line combat support unit...but that is all I have done for 6 years and I honestly wanted a change in jobs and knowledge. Command at every level requires leadership of Soldiers, dealing with maintenance, supply, and most importantly training and taking care of Soldiers. I will do that regardless of what type of command, and I feel this one will diversify me with more knowledge that I do not have. So, I'll be excited come September.

The wedding was incredible. My friend that got married is one of the most generous, full of life, and incredible woman I know. I was so honored to be a bridesmaid and I am more excited to support her and her new husband in their new journey of marriage. Not only was the wedding day just perfect, to include the weather, but the whole week was great. I got to meet up with friends I had not seen in a long time, and meet new friends. It was truly evident what wonderful people these two friends of mine are that got married as friends from literally all over the country--Hawaii included--traveled all the way to Seattle to participate and enjoy the wedding. It was just great...truly great. I will post some pics later this week.

Okay, briefly back to Muddy Buddy--here are some of the truly "dirty" pictures! :)