Memories of Cpt. America

I’ve been looking forward to today’s run all week. I’d re-mapped my route so I got in all 10 miles, had good workouts all week, and was pumped to show myself that I really am on track for my upcoming races. Then yesterday the rain came. It hasn’t been raining hard, mostly just sprinkling with the heavier rain to come later in the day. Instead of changing up the rest of the week’s schedule and then have it continue raining, I decided to take a long lunch and get it over with. Once I stepped outside I realized I wasn’t dressed warm enough and had to put on a hat, arm warmers and tights. I don’t think they are really called tights, not when guys wear them, but they are for the legs and they are tight!

What was interesting about this run, and what kept me mentally occupied for quite a while, is how it reminded me of a particular run back in my Army days. We had this one Commanding Officer nicknamed Captain America, and it was well earned. He was very fit, and loved to take us on long, fast runs. If he was feeling frisky he would stop in the middle of the run and have us do grass drills. For those of you not familiar with the term, it is a bunch of push-ups, sit-ups, anything that would get you down on the ground. Every year we had to take a 12 mile road march with full gear, including a 45 lb back pack. His goal each year was to break the Division record for completing the march. He wouldn’t take short cuts to do it either. His marches were through some pretty tough terrain up hills and sandy trails. I digress, back to this run. It was Cpt. America’s last day. Everyone knew it was coming and had it marked on their calendar. When we got up that morning we were so excited to see it pouring rain as we knew any run would be cancelled. Not so! He lined us up in formation and started us out onto the road. I couldn’t believe it when we got there. It was raining so hard that there were several inches of standing water in the road. It didn’t matter, not to Cpt. America. We took off on a run, chanting all the way. After passing several possible early turn around points, I resigned myself to a long run with my now soaking wet shoes and socks that must have weighed 10 pounds each. We finally stopped at a large field, for you guessed it, grass drills. Only we’d gotten so much rain that it quickly became mud drills. Fifteen minutes later and caked with mud, we were on the road back home. I actually appreciated the water in the road this time as it helped wash the mud off my shoes. I don’t remember how it ended, probably with everyone pumped up from the brutal workout we had just finished.

That was 25 years ago. My run today was nothing like that. There was no standing water in the road, and I didn’t stop along the way to do front/back’s or anything else crazy. It was a hard run though, and mental toughness was the key to getting through it. I may have hated Cpt. America back then, but I sure learned a lot about myself because of him. If I saw him today, I’d shake his hand and thank him. Unfortunately I don’t remember his name and wouldn’t really want to talk to someone responding to Cpt. America!

Today was a good day to run!