The A-Team

http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/taking-a-break/

and I TOTALLY agree with her in saying get back to being prepared!

So this past Friday morning I was supposed to run 20mi, but I just could not get out of bed and was in a bad mood. I overslept a few hours and still couldn’t get going (thank God for second shift work hours!). I know, boo-freaking-hoo. This literally never happens, oh well. So when I finally did get moving I got on my running gear and just tried to keep putting one foot in front of the other and make my way to the kitchen and making preps to get out the door.

I’ve not posted about it, but for the last 3 weeks I’ve been fighting some deep, sharp muscle pain in my right Vastus Medialis (quadriceps muscle just above and inner side of the knee). I even had to cut my 20mi in half 2 weeks ago because at mile 11 the quad muscle told me if I even thought about going another step it was going to make me do a face plant. I had to do the limp of agony/shame 3/4mi home, defeated. This is possibly the subconscious mental block I had on Friday that was preventing me from getting going this morning. Last week I had my first “easy” week since May (a paltry 12mi total). It did the trick as this week my quad was back on track.

So on Friday I got a way late start, which is fine as I avoided the rain. About 2mi into the run I thought, “hey why not add another 6.2mi on and make it a full marathon length run?” I really like to go into a race knowing that I’ve already completed that distance before in training, it just makes it not such a big deal. 11/5 is my marathon and I’ll be beginning my taper here soon so I figured it was do 26.2mi now or not until race day. I at least told myself I’ll take it easy and see how it goes. I certainly do not want to hurt myself this close to a race and would fall back to the original 20mi if needed.

Fast forward to the 6 mile mark, it occurred to me that:

• You may recall that I have 5 running goals this year, one of them being to run 50K all at once.
• Saturday 9/24 was my original planned date for a 50K run (31mi, 362 feet) that was cancelled since I have been getting my workout plan from my coach (hired a coach for a season as a birthday present) instead of using my plan.
• If I wanted to do a 50K before the weather turned mega nasty I should consider doing it today otherwise it will likely be nearly Thanksgiving before I get the chance to do the 50K.

So I went about it in the same manner as at mile 2 when I considered to do 26.2mi. I would take it one mile at a time and see how it goes, if all went well I was going for 50K! (Legal notice, DO NOT TRY ADDING UNPLANNED MILEAGE MIDSTREAM TO ANY WORKOUT WITHOUT PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE OR RISK SERIOUS INJURY)

I am happy to report that I did the full 50K, with a little extra for good measure. End results were 31.25mi/50.3K, and even 2 days later no injuries, not even a blister, hot spot, chafing, sore muscles or even sore feet! I must also say that I had to lean heavily on the Lord for strength to complete; for the amazing weather; and the wisdom to be honest with myself throughout and make determinations on whether I should call it or keep going.

I had some very serious foot cramps hit me at mile 30 that I was afraid if they didn’t go away I was done. I walked it off for a minute or so and was able to get on with it. The beautiful part was how great I felt at the end. And I also have bragging rights to my entry into running Ultramarathon distances. Booya!

So in summary a quick update for my 2011 run goals:

In 2011 here are a few things I will accomplish, God willing:

1. Complete my 5th half marathon, the Mini, in 2hrs or less. Preferably <1h 48m but this year I’ll take <2hr. Did it in 1h47m 😀
   
2. More than double 2010′s mileage goal and step it up to 730mi. Though I only run a max of 3 days each week, that is 2mi x 365 days.
3. The route may be too dangerous, but if I can do it safely, run from my house to my friend Zach’s house. It will be around 18-20 miles.
4. Run 50km (31.06mi). All at once.
5. Run my first full marathon. The Indianapolis Monumental is what I’ve chosen on 11/5.

This morning after my morning 5 mile run, to capitalize on this beautiful June weather I decided that today was going to be Abraham’s first experience at shooting a real firearm! I walked upstairs with Abraham, showed him that we always lock all firearms in the safe, selected a little bolt action Romanian Trainer .22 Long Rifle that I picked up over 10 years ago in the case that I ever decided to have children, and then I showed Abraham how to check if the chamber was clear of ammunition (it was unloaded).

I did go over basic safety with him, but at his age I do not expect him to understand the full gravity of firearms usage. My goal here is familiarization with the routine of shooting, the fact that a gun is dangerous and loud, and that a firearm slings bullets into whatever you point it at. Oh, and that it is fun when done right! After this brief introduction, we locked the safe up, and then headed to the basement to grab a box of ammunition, shooting mat and the range bag. He was so excited and very obedient! Without being too precocious he wanted to help out and carry things and almost acted like he’d done this before. I was very proud of him.

Abraham for quite a long time knows never to touch a gun unless we say he can, can identify bullets if left laying around, and has helped me clean firearms and install parts on them from time to time. We have removed the mystery of firearms in order to prevent his curiosity when we’re not around. We still keep them locked up, except for concealed carry purposes, but if he asks to see a gun we will always make time to show him one and let him handle it as long as it is convenient.

Anyway, we set up a little paper target with 2″ squares on it at 25 yards and set up the shooting mat and range bag. It was now time to put on our hearing and eye protection. Anna came over to help hold onto Abraham while I demonstrated how to load the rifle. Then I fired one round and Anna observed his reaction to see if this was going to work out or not. He was unfazed and still excited. After all, we were only firing subsonic .22 long rifle rounds which sound quieter than a small firecracker. Abraham proceeded to get down onto the mat next to me and we fired two shots together and that was about all of the attention span that he could muster (and exactly what I had anticipated). It was short lived, but a great time was had and it seemed to really be a good experience for him. It didn’t help that he was dressed up to go swimming and his “swummy pool” was filling around the corner by the garden.

Much later in the afternoon, to round out the full experience, we took the rifle back upstairs together and cleaned it and put it back in the safe.

Little buddy, I am so proud of you and I’ve been looking forward to this day for so long. It was a really cool experience and if nothing else a great way to celebrate Father’s Day early for me. I look forward to a lifetime of shooting together and helping you grow as a Rifleman. A fellow firearms enthusiast I know refers to this Rifleman stage as the Tadpole; I think that is perfect.

The New Rifleman in the Family

The A-Team has been crazy busy this spring (haven’t we all?) but here’s a little update on a few things we did today.

Here’s a photo update of our garden, we’re still working on our knowledge of how to be any good at it, but we’re pretty proud of what we’ve been able to do so far with God’s help:

The A-Team Garden 2011, June

So today Anna was weeding and noticed that I hadn’t yet gotten around to thinning out the 2nd greens planting we did. So the little plants are literally choking each other out for space. Anna started thinning them out and we decided to keep the “throw away” plants we thinned as they were small but plentiful and possibly enough for some salads. Needless to say, what she brought in when finished was far more than we both expected, and enough to serve decent sized portions of organically homegrown greens to probably 12 people! We named it “The Unintentional Harvest.” For scale, this is a 14″ diameter bowl:

Kale, Arugula (the non-4-legged kind), Romaine Lettuce, and Baby Spinach

Every Day Carry (in case you were wondering). I have been wanting to post about this for some time now. With having 2 children and the desire to carry a gun, I needed to find a solution that would allow me to quickly access my weapon in an emergency and yet have it tucked away from the kids (should they get nosy in my bag) and also be able to carry everything that is normally dumped into my purse (plus some extra!). So the search began. I looked at many purses from the concealed carry genre and was  disappointed. All the purses were so tiny and really made only for an evening out, not a war bag as I like to refer to my purse/bag and the price tag easily ran over $250. Aaron finally came up with the idea that we look for a bag in the military sector. I was super skeptical but once I tried this baby out, I was hooked!

Maxpedition is the brand we chose

This is my bag sitting

Here is the shoulder strap - notice my keys dangling? No more lost keys!

View from the top (yes that is a FULL pack of wipes)

This is some of the stuff located in this bag

Another view of the "stuff"

Of course these pictures were taken in August of 2010. I have changed the contents based on our needs. We added a dump pouch/rolypoly to the outside that is a collapsible bag attached to the outside that I can use for anything (normally sippy cups get tossed in there). I also wanted to have my camera easily accessible yet safe for those once-in-a-lifetime picture ops. So we added a 3×5 pouch and it offers protection and is still super easy to get into. We also changed the shoulder strap pad and it was WELL worth it!

This is the Maxpedition Mongo S-type (for lefties technically but it works wonderfully for me as a righty with a cross draw). The price tag is $125 plus the additional accessories. We have close to $200 wrapped up into this bag but it has held up to serious use and it serves me well. I can carry everything I need for a day out with the kids in just this bag and still be armed. It is great! I will say that after hours of wearing it, I do get a bit sore but less sore than had I been carry a purse and diaper bag around with me all day. The best part of it all is that I am hands free carrying this bag. Since it rides across my body, I have complete freedom with my hands. This is wonderful with 2 squiggly boys. And as an added bonus, I can sit Mr.Taters (Abel) right up on the bag to help me carry him around when needed and not completely kill my biceps!

So there you have it, my solution to EDC and yet have supplies on hand for a small emergency without having to make it to the car. Plus since my bag is kept in a temperature controlled environment 99.9% of the time, I need not worry about the sensitivity of some supplies (i.e. food). Again, this has been a lifesaver and definitely worth the money.

Thank you Honey for a great find!