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.

Screaming Jelly Babies (Gummi Bears)

On the first friday of every month, the museum where I work opens its doors in the evening.  We are part of the "First Friday" night in Philadelphia.  Last month we had free beer samples from a local brewery and a visiting scholar talking about the history of beer and brewing.

On July 2, we will have chemistry experiments every hour including the Screaming Jelly Baby, as it is known in Britain.  Jelly Babies and Gummi Bears are almost pure sugar and oxidize so fast you can get a screaming sound from a test tube with the right temperature and oxidizing agent:



In Iraq, I would hear serious conversations about MEDEVAC missions, emergency leaves, and other "work" issues in an aviation unit in Iraq.  Today I heard two of my co-workers talking very seriously about how and where we would be setting up the Screaming Jelly Baby experiment.

 Life is different back here in the world.

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

I am using Twitter more lately because of a program called Tweet Deck.  I am also using Facebook more and adding friends from Task Force Diablo (2-104th GSAB) and high school.  You can find me on either Facebook or Twitter by searching my name.  I am also on Linked In but use that less.  Twitter and Facebook are made for immediate updates.  LinkedIn not so much.

I know there are hundreds of other social media options out there.  Are there specific ones an old soldier/chemistry geek/bicyclist should be looking at?

Let me know.

The Whole Race--I am Coming Back!!!!

Today was the annual Father's Day Race, officially known as the Cargas Criterium and Masters State Championship at Greenfield Industrial Park in Lancaster PA.  I have been riding in this race since I turned 50--except 2007 when I was in a neck brace.  I went to that race and probably caused fights between a dozen racers and their wives after they saw me watching the race in a neck and chest brace with not-quite-healed scars on my face.

Today I got my best result--EVER!!!!

In four races between 2003 and 2007 I never finished better than 26th.  In 2008 I finished 21st.  Last year, it was one of the three races I did in America in 2009, because I was on leave from Iraq during the last two weeks of June.  I finished 20th.

Today I was 19th.  Not exactly a victory in a field of 40, but it is the first race I finished with the main pack since I have been back from Iraq.  I will be racing next weekend in a race I have finished more than once in the top ten.  I am feeling good!

The other great thing about this race for me is that it is six miles from my house and my family comes out to cheer for me.  Today, my wife was at a six-mile mud run of her own, but Lauren, Lisa, Nigel and Jacari were out and yelling GO DAD! on every lap.  In fact, they were so loud that a couple of the riders said they sounded like the horns at the World Cup Soccer Games.

They sounded great to me.  At amateur racers, the participants outnumbers the fans by ten to one.  I had ten percent of the crowd cheering for me.  I was a happy Dad.