Trail Race Initiation & 9/11

If you recall, the purpose of this little journal/log/blog/babble is to document my quest to forever be the athlete that I thought I once was.  I documented my marathon training, my first time going snowboarding, some golf, and my overall training.  In my effort to continuously try new things, I have signed up for a trail race on Sept. 17.  It's the Morgan Conservation 5 mile race in Oldham Co.  I have never run a trail race before.  I have run a few mud runs so I am hoping these runs are similar, minus the nasty mud pits and crazy obstacles.

Because I have never run one of these things before, I reached out to a friend of mine, Suzy Goodwin, who I'm pretty sure ran her first 1/2 marathon the day she was born.  She gave me a few tips like to not wear my ipod and wear a good set of trail shoes.  While I will definitely heed her words for the ipod, I might have to simply wear my regular shoes.  I am not going out to buy a new pair of shoes for this, although I know I should.  If I like it and want to do more, then I'll head out and get some.  Those puppies are expensive (birthday/Christmas present Katie!)  I'm pretty excited to be doing something new and I will definitely report how it went.

I would be remiss if I didn't say at least something about the ten year anniversary of 9/11.  I still remember it like it was yesterday.  I remember every minute of that day.  I remember watching the news after the first plane hit in the ET shop on my ship.  Everyone kind of thought it was crazy that a plane hit one of the twin towers but we didn't think too much else about it.  Then a few minutes later I watched as the 2nd plane hit when I was in another shop on the ship.  Then we knew something was awry.  About 10 minutes later, my Weapons Officer called a meeting of the ship's security team and I was part of the first group to be sent out as extra watch while we tried to figure out what the heck was going on.  I made a call to my wife Katie, told her I was OK and that it was time for me to do my job.  Even though I was in charge of the ship's training division at the time, I was still a part of the Weapons Division on the ship and that is where my obligations and duties would come first.

We had know idea what had happened that day and we had no idea of the severity of what was going one.  As more news came throughout the day we started to get more and more intel.  We started to understand the magnitude of what was going on.  My ship was on high alert, the base was shut down, the airport was grounded, and while this may sound hyperbolic, our world would never be the same again.  It wasn't until the next day that I fully realized that we were in a different world.  It was a feeling that I will remember for the rest of my life.  I walked outside on my ship the morning of September 12 and the base was completely silent.  No troops doing PT on the pier or elsewhere on base.  No cars driving.  No planes from the Norfolk Airport.  Nothing.  Complete silence.  Extremely surreal.  It was at that very moment I knew the severity of what was going on.  Again, I don't mean to sound hyperbolic, but that's just how I felt at that moment.

A lot has happened in 10 years.  We got Bin Laden, which I touched on in an earlier post.  What i do with this blog is very insignificant.  It's one goofball's ramblings of how I try to stay fit.  There are still countless men and women who give their lives every single day to make sure 9/11 never happens again.  People like Carrie Tripp, Josh Wadsworth, Matt German, Trey Goodwin, and Kyle Baker.  Seal Team 6 is currently in the wake of it's biggest loss ever.  One of my first division officers, Lt. Mike McGreevey gave his life as a SEAL in Afghanistan a few years ago.  These men and women are true heroes and I thank them every single day for carrying out the challenge I was a part of 10 years ago.  If you see a soldier anywhere, be sure to thank them.  And after you thank them, thank them again.  They deserve it.  To my soldiers still in, continue fighting the good fight.  I'm proud of you.  I will continue to do my best to forever honor the fallen men and women from that day and the soldiers who have gone since then.