As I approached the gym on Thursday morning, I noticed people with numbers pinned onto their shirts....hmmm either there's a race coming up or these are special needs adults who were marked by their caretakers. Okay so I figured out there was a 5K and a Half Marathon on base and decided to join in. The only question I had was how many times do you have to circle this small base to get 13 miles??? They said 25 times!!! Well, I didn't have enough time to do the 13 miles b/f work but I stood in line and raced for the first corner in my second international 5K race. By the way, I hope you all know that when I say International it just means I was competing against foreigners...not athletes!! Well, the run turned out well except for the 3rd turn in the race which led us to several patches of ice...slippin' and a slidin' across the road...but luckily I didn't fall. As we ran in a large loop around the base I noticed the snow covered mountains behind the base and at least 4 cats waiting for me to stop and give them a rub!!! I finished in second place with a time of 24:15...slow but considering the altitude I did a fine job.
Now, if we could only do something about the "European Sauna" smell in the gym. Some of these poeple need to apply deodorant on a daily instead of annual basis.
Well, I'm up past my bed time and have a full schedule up ahead.
Rest easy, the Marines are here.
Well, you could never pass up a race! Another one well done. I do think for the people there, racing is a good means of getting the heart pumping and also deriving a good heat source.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of heat, I went by the second hand shop and found lots of good sweaters, jackets, shirts and shoes to send. I tried to make sure the items were pratical for the Afghani people. So in about a week or so I'll be sending what I have to you to distribute.
I may be able to send some food items too, so let me know what would be appropriate.
By the way, I love you and miss you every day.
Mom
Your 5K times keep getting slower!!! What's up with that? is it the lack of spicy V-8. cheez-its and chips/salsa your body is fueled on?
ReplyDeleteMom,
ReplyDeleteThank you for collecting items. Food is distributed across the country from the World Food Aid Program so don't worry as much unless you want to send small candies for the kids. I hope to visit a few reconstruction sites beginning in March so you can send the boxes in mid-Feb for an end of month arrival. I just put a letter in the mail to you today so look for it in a few weeks. Also, the word "Afghani" means money, like "dollar" for U.S. and "Euro" for most of Europe. The local nationals here are called "Afghans" or are labeled by their ethnic group such as Pashtuns, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Another interesting fact is that the word "Taliban" is plural for "student" in Pashtu. It is an honor to be a life-long student of the Koran and for this reason the current government and military do not refer to the insurgents as Taliban. By doing this we would be giving them a compliment and degrading the true meaning of what it is to be a Taliban.
I'm glad you have a good sense of humor and are finding things you love to do. I'm sure you won that race in the body odor catagory too.
ReplyDeleteKeep posting these adventures I know it helps you but it helps us a whole lot more than you think.
I'm starting to get things together for a package that I'll get off around Feb/22nd. I have some older commedians on DVD that I'll put in that package - I think you'll like them too.
I'm getting ready to go to church. It's so nice for us to have the freedom to go to the church of our choice and it's because of our devoted service men and woman like you that make it possible. I'm so grateful to all of you and I pray for all of you every day. God Bless you all and God Bless America.
Love you baby, take care,
Grandma
5K=3.1 miles --- I think I could make it in 24 minutes considering:
ReplyDelete1) the ambulance would have to pick me up before the 1/4 mile mark
2) the hospital is less than 3 miles away
3) and the ambulance drivers don't dilly-dally around with trying to revive me before loading me up in the ambulance
Now don't get me started with the 13 miles (half marathon). I couldn't run around my tree in the backyard 25 times.
Max tries to keep me in shape by steeling stuff out of the house and runing through the doggy door to get us to chase him. But after a couple times around the tree I usually just stand there and throw something at him until he drops it. If that doesn't work then I send one of the grandkids after him until he accidently drops it. Our neighbors think we're nuts when they hear us running around the yard yelling at Max to drop it. We'll have to video tape one of those episodes for you sometime.
Love you, Aunt Aggie
P.S. Uncle Ron doesn't participate. He just stands at the backdoor and gets a kick out of watching us chase the dog. Sometimes I think Ron gives Max the item and has trained him to tease us like that so he can get his laugh for the day.
Glad to hear you are getting a little time for the things you like to do.It is good to hear you are still safe and sound and you have the cats to look foward to. I am sure you will get used to the B/O after a while. Stay safe. All of my kids want to say HI.Miss you sis.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Angel