13.1 Miles (submitted by Roy)

27Apr09 I ran my greatest achievement. 13.1 miles!!!!

It wasn't really planned. We new that Camp Buehring was hosting the half-marathon, but I was still debating whether or not to run it. Kevin, out of the blue said he wanted to run the event, so I figured I might as well do it also.

We met at the center stage for registration at 0300 in the morning. There were more people there than I expected. Everyone was anxious. The event didn't start till around 0430.

The first mile started faster than I expected, but as I warmed up I began to feel better. I was going strong until I hit around the 10 mile mark. Then I hit the "wall". My legs started to hurt and I had to put some effort in to my strides. As I approached about a quarter mile from the finish-line.. I could feel my calves start to cramp as I began to accelerate towards the finish.

I had to tell myself to slow down in fear that I would get full cramps and fall. I stretched my strides out as far as I could and finished in a couple of seconds after 2hours. When I came to a stop I was hurting. My toes were swore; my calves were cramping, and my feet were aching.

In fact my legs still hurt today. But all that aside, it was an experience. I can say I can run the distance from home in Kea'au to work in Hilo.

Memories and experiences...that's what it's all about.

Run! Roy, run!

Here's Roy and the Aloha Run Team #3. For a second there.. I thought they we wearing grass skirts!! :)


And here he is during the Oklahoma Marathon in April 09 (Kuwait). Wow.. look how bowed his leg is? nah nah nah... Roy... just teasing.. no get all freaked-out... I was just teasing. Geezes.. :) Love you!

Easter Marathon in Kuwait

Here's a snip of the email Roy sent about the Easter Run they participated in there in Kuwait. "I ran a longer leg of the marathon today. 6 miles (10K). I started
running around 0700, and it got super hot. I ran it in around 55
minutes. Slower than I hoped for, but I couldn't expect much after
running a 23min 3 miler the day before. We came in 5th place, but awards
were only given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. We all got a medal and a
t-shirt. It was a fun day. After the tiredness kicked in. We had to
register by 0345, so I had to wake up at 0300. Yesterday's Easter run
we also got a t-shirt."

I'm proud of ROY!!! Yea! He looks good yeah? He's the one without the shades.

Again...

So today, Roy went to Oahu to begin the process of his 2nd deployment to the Middle East. You know, they worked on his will, stated who his dependants are, updated the contact information for the people the Army needs to call if Roy gets hurt, lost or is killed.

Sigh, again. He's doing this again. We're doing this again. Again.

This picture was taken the day Roy returned to US soil. My favorite military term from that was "Boots on the Ground." His safety was not guaranteed till... his boot's were on the ground. This was on 13 January 2006, at Kalaeloa, Oahu. Tomorrow will make a mere 2 years that he and the rest of the Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers returned home from participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

They said that training may begin as early as mid-summer 2008. 12 month deployment.

Again.