Keeping an Eye on the Readiness NCO

Our Readiness NCO was rushed to the hospital two weeks ago with a nail stuck in his eye--right between the white and blue parts.  He waited seven hours for a surgeon then had the nail removed in what was, if my memory serves, very painful surgery during which he was awake.

SFC Wayne Perkins served as platoon sergeant and on-site leader for Echo Company fuelers at Forward Operating Base Garry Owen for most of the year we were in Iraq.  Garry Owen is a square mile of American base close to the Iran-Iraq border.  It got hit with missiles enough that the only soldiers in our unit to receive Purple Heart Medals were injured at Garry Owen.

Wayne got his fueling crew through months of 24-hour operations without a single serious injury.  He maintained safety standards in a dirty, nasty environment for months.  He and all of his soldiers came home healthy.

Then he operated a table saw without safety glasses at home, months after the deployment.  The Army, as I have mentioned many times before, is nuts on safety.  Once he recovers, and all indications are that SFC Perkins sight will return unimpaired, he will be giving briefings on the importance of safety glasses.

I am not sure how he will be welcomed back to duty, but a safety glasses theme will probably decorate his office.

Numbers Update

This post is #804.  As you have seen lately, I no longer write every day, but I write every day I do something Army and other things that are related to being an old soldier.

Today also was the day the of the 70,000th visit to the site.  Some of those visitors looked at other pages so the site has had 91,000 page views also.

since I no longer provide any information about the war--except passing along coverage by others--I am going to add my favorite milblogs to my navigation bar.  As always, the Thunder Run is the best and the link is already there, but others are worth listing too.

Riding to NYC After the PT Test

Today I rode to NYC from Philadelphia.  Actually, not quite all the way to NYC.  I rode to the train station in Newark, then took the train.  The only way to actually ride into NYC is across the George Washington Bridge 100 blocks (10 miles) above Midtown.

The ride from Center City to Newark is 90 miles total.  The first ten miles through the city to the Tacony-Palmyra bridge is slow.  LOTS of stop signs and lights.  From the NJ side of the bridge, the ride is great.  Most of the Route 130 has a wide shoulder and not a lot of traffic.

I got on Route 1 & 9 from 130 and the ride turned hectic.  Most of 1-9 has no shoulder and lots of traffic.  Near the end I had a couple of left exits.  Next time i will have to find a better alternate route for the end.  But I never rode to NYC before so I was very happy to ride there.

I still want to ride to Boston someday.  When I do, I will go around NYC rather than through.  It will be longer, but worth the extra 50 miles.

Got a 297 on the PT Test Today!!!

This morning I took the first APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) since I returned home.  I thought I was slipping a little bit lately, but I got the best score in my life:  297!!!

I was two pushups short of scoring the max of 300.  Maybe next time!!!

I had a little help from the calendar because age 57-61 is the second to last scoring category.  I had to do 53 pushups and 64 situps to max.  I did 66 situps in just over a minute 40 seconds, so that was fine, but 51 was all the pushups I could do in two minutes.

To max the run, I would have to do two miles in 15:13, except over age 55 you can either run and be scored the usual way, walk 2.5 miles or ride a bike 6.2 miles (10k) in 28 minutes.  I rode the bike.  The bike has to be single speed or have its gears locked.  I have a single speed, so I rode the required distance in just under 20 minutes.

When you do the bike or the walk, the event is pass-fail and scoring is the average of the other two events. I got 100 points for the situps, 98 for the pushups, and 99 for the bike--297 total.

Great day for me!!

If you want to check your pt standards, follow this link.

Finding a Dog

Yesterday, my wife and I were talking about getting a dog.  We are going on vacation in August on two different weeks so we want to get a dog in September.

We were talking about going to the Humane League and then were wondering if there was some kind of Craigslist category for pet owners moving to a new town who can't take their dog.  I know when an Army unit moves out for a large deployment or relocation, there is a scramble to find homes for pets.

If anyone knows of a list like that where we could give a home to a dog that needs a home, let me know.  We are looking for a medium-size to large dog.  Definitely a dog who likes kids.

Last Workout Before the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT)

Today I went to the gym before my ride to do one last workout before taking the APFT on Wednesday morning.  Now that I am 57, I need 54 pushups and 64 situps to max the test.  The run time to max is now 15:13.  I haven't been running fast, so I don't know if I could do that, but it doesn't matter because I fall under the "choice of aerobic activity" rule allowing me to either run, walk 2.5 miles or ride the bike 10km.  The walk and bike are pass-fail and my score is the average of the scores of the other two events.

To pass on the bike, I need to ride 10 km (6.1 miles) in 28 minutes.  I have to ride a one-speed bike or lock the gears to one speed.  On a good day, I can ride 10km in 16 minutes.  So if I have a bad day, I will still pass.  I think if I have a flat I could change it and still pass.

I did 66 situps in 2 minutes today and 50 pushups.  Assuming I can squeeze out four more pushups on Wednesday, I might be able to max the test.

At the other end of the scale, I need 18 pushups and 28 situps to pass, so I should be good for at least a pass.

Back to Racing--At the Back

Today my brief Father's Day comeback ended.  I entered the relatively flat, fast road race at Brownstown, PA.  On the 2nd of six 5-mile laps I was wheezing and watching the pack disappear.

Although the race was flatter than last week's climb-every-mile Cargas Criterium, Brownstown has three sharp, square left turns that slow the pack to 15mph leading to acceleration on the way out of the turns.  This kind of acceleration is exactly what I was NOT doing last year and what I need to do to keep up in races.  Also, the race was controlled and won by Thru-It-All Cycling team.  They are the strongest and deepest team racing masters 45+.

So what was I doing in a 45+ plus race at my advanced age?  It was a combined field with 45+ and 55+ racers.  Last week the entire field was 55+.  When fields are combined, the stronger field controls the pace and the rest of us do the best we can.  Thru-It-All attacked three times a lap causing the pack to chase.  The attacks went on until the fourth lap when eventual winner John Spittal got away with one other rider at the front of the field.  At that point the field settled down, but I was already a Zip Code behind the field riding with two other 55+ racers who were summarily dropped from the field.

I might race in New Jersey this Saturday, maybe not again till mid-July.  I have a drill weekend on July 11-12 so no racing that weekend.