Monday, November 10, 2008

Weekend Update--How I become Aquaman


This weekend was my monthly "Army Weekend". Since I have become the commander of the company there is no truth to the one weekend a month, two weeks a year. Its more like one weekend a month and 2 hours a day. There is just a lot to get done which takes a lot of extra time. This weekend was busy and it was a productive weekend all the way around.


Saturday we took the company to the Fort Meade Pool for "drown proofing" or basic water survival. This includes swimming 50 meters with all of your uniform equipment on (boots get heavy); jumping into the water with your rifle, ammo vest and helmet, and then getting them off so you can more easily get to safety; swimming 25 meters while keeping your rifle out of the water; learning how to make floation devices out of your pants; and finally I included getting out of the 45 lbs of body armor that we wear. We only took volunteers for the final challenge since not everyone is a strong swimmer.


I am not the strongest swimmer when it comes to triathlons. I can maybe average a 30-32 min 1500 swim during a race However, this weekend I was out swimming everyone. I did the events and acted as a safety swimming all over the pool. I doubt I did more than 1000 meters for the entire 90 minutes we were in the water. It is nice to have the compliments that I looked like Aquaman in the pool. What a change of perspective makes.


The rest of the weekend was a bunch of administrative chores and classes the Army requires for all of us to be "trained". However, my Dawgs did squeek by over Kentucky and the LSU/Alabama was a nail biter. All in all it was a great weekend and btw I think fall has offically made it to the DC area.

4 comments:

Rainmaker said...

Very nice. It's funny how a change in perspective really shakes things up. As a result of your post, I plan to attend a senior citizen water polo game weekly.

Kelly said...

Nice... too bad aquaman is the nerdiest of the superheros.

The Lazy Triathlete said...

I have no problem being the nerdy superhero!!! LOL

CoachLiz said...

Love it! I was one of the slow ones on my swim team. My coach always called me the Dark Horse. Now I am always in the top 10 to 15% of my age group on the swim leg at races.

WHOOP!!!