new beginnings in the middle....

So it is always interesting to get a new job in the middle of a deployment... it shakes things up a bit to say the least. I left Kandahar Airfield a little under a month ago- leaving the crazy dust and the poo ponds and stinky smell for Forward Operating Base Pasab. An old Canadian outpost enlarged by 100 times and now a flurry of American and Afghan Army activities... living shona-ba-shona (or shoulder to shoulder) definitely has its draw backs... like it limits my ability to run by myself at night and well as a woman you get stared at... a lot...
Although, the Mullah for the 5th Kandak or our Afghan partners and I had an interesting discussion through our interpreter during our partnership dinner- religion and politics in Iraq and Afghanistan... I am pretty sure neither are supposed to be discussed with a woman- so I felt pretty confident that it was a good sign... well until the interpreter told me that the Commander told him that he was going to send a picture to his wife! Apparently he only has one, and the commander has a couple and like 10 kids... crazy right...

 but my job is a little different than the last and it definitely keeps me on my toes- I now have the opportunity to make things simpler, easy and better for the Soldiers in the Spartan Brigade.

Living conditions have definitely changed- I live in a tent now- I got a memory foam mattress pad- that is definitely improving things- and well oddly enough I have commercial internet- yeah- so my blogs will be a little more frequent I hope- as will my running- the last month has been crazy with change! went from running 9 miles to not running- and now to the treadmill... not so much fun especially when I drop my ipod and it hits the treadmill and goes careening into the elliptical machine behind and cracks the screen- but god love it- that may be the best ipod ever- it has survived being submerged in ice water for hours- and now a giant dent- and it is still working fine (as long as you don't want to watch a movie).... I will just have to wait until it cools down  so I can run in the middle of the day.

The food here is a lot better- I can make a wrap sandwich... the little things in life make us happy- that and mail- we like getting mail- even if we send it to ourselves- that is how I get coffee for my Keurig- which I am now addicted to! and a travel mug- because my last one got stolen... it would be nice to have one again- easier to put in the vehicles than a real coffee mug- or styrofoam... note I am still waiting on it to come- and well I might be happy about it tomorrow- we are getting three containers of mail in tonight! Yea!

I have been out on patrol a couple of times since being here at Pasab- going to some interesting places. We are in the Zharay District of Kandahar Province , in the Arghandab River Valley- the river is pretty much dry right now and the locals use it as a thoroughfare for the most part- it is kinda neat that I have seen it.  We try to find the humor in things like the other day- some guys were on patrol and saw a Donkey-Borne- Improvised-Explosive-Device; luckily they saved the Donkey- we of course named it the Ass-Borne IED- maybe humor that some of you may not get- but it just furthers my theory that hell is actually being a donkey in a third world/developing nation...

I put a couple of pictures in just so you could see what I look like when I head out- lots o' Armor on this girl- and weapons of course- an M4 Rifle and a M9 Berretta. The last one is one of the bomb-sniffing dogs that comes in to visit us every once and while- they definitely cheer me up and everyone else too...

Well I am off to the gym to get on the treadmill.... arrgghhh... hoping for cooler days ahead...

Dust Sun and Ponds, of the Poo variety... (July 2011)

Okay- so it has been about a month since my last effort was put forth to the blog… I am happy to say that my running has been about as steady as it can be here… despite the ceremonies for fallen Soldiers, purple heart awards presentations, and well a whole other litany of random events that have interrupted the nightly run…  But things here are starting to settle into a rhythm which makes it easier and easier to break away during the day to get a good 6 miles in or so.

So I left you guys back in late May,  I think my longest run had been a 5K or 4 miles… and really with no one else but me… but a Captain, Caitlin Hall, who came in from the FOB, and she wanted to run… so we did and we went by the most famous of land features here on Kandahar Airfield, the Poo Pond.  It was about 100+ degrees out that day- Caitlin was kicking my ass after we had both done intervals the day prior… My legs were a little heavy, and well we went about 3.5 and that I think was the longest run up to that point…  As you can see we are really afforded the opportunity to run in about the most uncomfortable running clothes ever… the Army Physical Fitness Uniform… the shorts are super scratchy and the t-shirts are usually huge and don’t forget the mandatory reflective belt to further add to your annoyance while running in broad daylight.  Luckily the Army decided awhile back to actually let us wear all white ankle socks of the running type, before it was all mid-calf old man socks.


Oddly enough the Poo Pond doesn’t smell when you are right next to it… it really smells several feet away or even way across the airfield depending on how the wind blows. I have smelled it while running over a mile away and almost heaved- it is that bad…  Now that it has gotten really hot I am pretty sure I will not be running by there anytime soon.  Apparently the Poo Pond dates back to the Russians in Afghanistan.  It is alleged that the Poo-Pond has been emptied before. There are also many an urban-legend about people swimming, diving into, and doing various other things in the Poo Pond. I have not confirmed the truth of any of them… nor would I want to find myself swimming with the fishes in said poo filled pond.



There is a small off shoot of the Poo-Pond; I like to call it the Poo-Canal.  The Poo Canal runs in between the airfield and the road, sort of moat like,  and you get to run next to it for a good half-mile on the six-mile route here; that route also takes you by the  Tim Horton’s Coffee shop, although sometimes I really am tempted to stop in on a run, sort of like an aid station, I have refrained.  Maybe if I tackle the Airfield Loop twice (18 Miles) I will stop!

     So as you can see it was fairly clear out that day, and not too dusty- normally it is super dusty- which is why we sport the “eye pro”  I also chew gum which is weird, but it seems to keep your mouth from getting all sandy… As it is getting hotter and hotter every day, the dust seems to be getting worse.
The pictures below are from my other out and back lolli-pond, which is the tail end of the 6 mile loop too.  I call it the NATO Pond 4- out to the pond and back- you can vary the mileage by the number of loops around the pond…
  


The NATO Pond, as I call it, is a drainage pond and there are all these weird little things in it, a cow, the Eiffel Tower, to name a few… but it doesn’t stink and there is generally a cool breeze coming off of it at night… funny the first time I ran by it at night, I turned the corner and the little weird things had little lights on them… and one was playing music, random.

    So most of the Soldiers in my headquarters think I am just a little nuts/crazy/insane for running in the evenings when it is still about 100degrees or sometimes hotter, and that I am not inside in the AC and running on a treadmill… and at the same time a little proud, bragging to some that hey that is my Major right there running...  I say no way to the treadmill, even though it is super dusty and hot, I still enjoy running on the weird gravel/moon dust mix and outside where I can see the mountain range in the distance. And I say wait till the rains come!!! Bring on the MUD!!!  Okay back on track… so this of course motivates the heck out of me to run more and more and more…
       Like I said earlier, there have been some events that have derailed my generally consistent evening run.  The most recent, and humorous, was the escape of a Military Working Dog named Max*.   My day started off with this email….

So I was pretty sure that I really didn’t want to end up running by myself around the airfield, and have some crazed Belgian Shepherd take me down and then maul me with no one around, I mean really that would not have been cool.  I affectionately nicknamed  him Cujo, as throughout the day I had visions of him standing outside my door as I woke up to use the bathroom, or jumping through the window of my sweet Toyota Prado to eat my innerds… one of my Soldiers read the email really fast and transposed the letters of MWD to WMD… Max/Cujo the new WMD…
    So I opted to wait it out… well 36 hours passed before they caught ol’ Max.

*I am sure that Erica “Smackdown” Carper could really run with this story line if given the opportunity!

No worries though I started right back up with only a two day delay…

     My job is pretty cool sometimes, I get to meet lots of cool, tough Soldiers who give their all daily out in the grape rows in the Arghandab River Valley, tough terrain for even the toughest of the tough… most of them think I am crazy for running out here too…  A lot of these guys are coming in to go on R&R Leave, and some others have been injured in battle, and generally we have some cool conversations, not usually about what goes on in the grape rows, but what goes on before and after… and these guys have me cracking up in seconds with their stories and antics- whether it be Johnny Situation (a mannequin dressed as a Soldier) that shows up all over the little Combat Outposts they live on, or the laughing, prank playing and interactions that they have when they aren’t out patrolling…
         Today, one of our Wounded Warriors here, a Staff Sergeant in the Cavalry Squadron, decided he was going to run with me, he is one of my favorite guys out here, he takes no crap from anyone and he runs like a fricken’ gazelle...  I was a little hesitant at first because I really wanted to have a nice slow-ish run by myself, his Soldiers looked at me like “are you afraid to run with him too?” of course that did it, and we were off in about 5 minutes… He normally clips along at about a 6 minute pace, but he was nice enough to run 8:50 pace with me- about 30 seconds faster than I wanted to go tonight… we only went about 3.5 but I felt pretty good the whole time and was able to keep chatting along.  Things are looking up!
       On a more random note… I have been hooked on another thing I would have never thought would appeal to me… the toe sock… for those of you who know me- I have some humongous feet, and my toes are super long, well I have revisited a problem I seem to have had last year…. The one-time-use sock,  here is a picture from Flat Rock 50K last year… one time sock use… I think I have come back from almost every run with a holey sock… until now… those toe socks are some crazy goodness… and they come in Army specifications- all white and no visible logo… yippee… I just ordered 6 more pairs…

Well that will do it for now....

The Creation... (May 2011)

I deployed to Afghanistan in February 2011, leaving my running friends, mainly the Mud Babes and my Dog Rippin’, behind in the States and landed safely in Kandahar on the 24th, hoping that I might get some running in before the brunt of my unit hit ground- I was sadly mistaken. As days turned into weeks and then into a couple of months, I finally got my act together… and that was it- I went out running… and it sucked… mainly because of my running shoes… I had packed in such a rush that the wet soggy Ascends and Cabrakans sat drying by the door while my nice and clean other ones got thrown in the bag. Of course probably with the intention of ordering or shipping my trusty Mizunos… well that didn’t happen initially… 
So the motivation came when I started to feel REALLY, REALLY out of shape, out of energy and generally angry about most things… so I ran… it was only two miles but it felt like twenty… it was hot and dusty and well running on the gravel was killing my feet… I got back emailed my mom and had her send the Garmin… and then another run- this time in the morning- thinking maybe it was the heat… but nope… my feet and legs were killing me… and that three and a half made the difference- and I ordered the Wave Ascend 5s… two pair! 
I patiently awaited the arrival of my new shoes. I continued to suffer through several days of running - constantly asking the main clerk if they had arrived…. And finally the day came… and I was SUPER EXCITED! And I was not disappointed a bit… 
The next day was a bit rough for us here in Afghanistan- we lost a Soldier. Part of my job here is to participate in a “Ramp Ceremony” which is the send off of our fallen brother or sister in arms as the remains are loaded into the back of a military Aircraft bound for the states. A somber ceremony that really brings you back to reality… this was unfortunately not the first one of our year here… it was that day when I was out for a run- a short one- three miles or so- and the thought came to me… maybe a blog could be the best way to communicate my story with my friends and those who maybe want to read about a ultra-marathon-ing trail running dog loving Major in the Army while deployed to Afghanistan... There are not a lot of outlets for a woman like me deployed in a predominately male organization… so my thoughts on a run are how I bring myself back to center… sp this might get interesting…
I hope my blog does not bore you- but brings you along on my journey… a journey to survive twelve months or so away from family and friends, and to reach a goal for training- not sure what I am going to train for- but maybe we will start with a 50K… I might be able to find one of those on leave to run with the mud babes…