My last tour in the US Navy was with a Marine Corps NROTC unit at VMI. Marines LIKE running. My boss asked me how much I ran, I told him about 10 miles a day. His words were, "As long as your work for me, you can run as much as you want to." I took him at his word.
We were living in a runner's paradise, Lexington, VA. In those days there was little traffic in Lexington, and I could leave VMI, run across the river, and be in the country in no time. I could run 20 miles, which happened fairly often and only see 3-5 automobiles. Plus the country side was beautiful, rural, and rolling hills. In fact Lexington has very little flat ground.
I had my best years of training, and racing in those 3 years there. The first summer I was sent to temporary duty at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi be in charge of the obstacle course training NROTC students from around the country. It was there at NAS Corpus that I ran down a jack rabbit.
I was by myself, so in the evenings, after work, I would spend a good bit of time running around the base. One evening I noticed a jack rabbit on the golf course. I ran around between the rabbit and the rough growth where his den most likely lay. The sun was still up and all I had to do was keep myself positioned between where the rabbit stood, and where he wanted to run. I noted that when he ran he kept stopping in the little bits of shade on the openness of the course. I also noted that after just a few minutes, he was stopping more often. Rabbits are spring animals, not endurance animals like me.
I kept the rabbit out in the open, and kept him moving, as fast as I could. Finally the rabbit took refuge under an oleander. He wouldn't leave, just ran round and round the base, which meant he was only running about a 4-foot circle. Finally, he stood on his hind legs and refused to run. I broke a small branch and "counted coup" by tapping him on the head. I ran away and left him to recover.
That was June, 1978, and I still recall it vividly. Fun, at least for a crazy guy.
We were living in a runner's paradise, Lexington, VA. In those days there was little traffic in Lexington, and I could leave VMI, run across the river, and be in the country in no time. I could run 20 miles, which happened fairly often and only see 3-5 automobiles. Plus the country side was beautiful, rural, and rolling hills. In fact Lexington has very little flat ground.
I had my best years of training, and racing in those 3 years there. The first summer I was sent to temporary duty at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi be in charge of the obstacle course training NROTC students from around the country. It was there at NAS Corpus that I ran down a jack rabbit.
I was by myself, so in the evenings, after work, I would spend a good bit of time running around the base. One evening I noticed a jack rabbit on the golf course. I ran around between the rabbit and the rough growth where his den most likely lay. The sun was still up and all I had to do was keep myself positioned between where the rabbit stood, and where he wanted to run. I noted that when he ran he kept stopping in the little bits of shade on the openness of the course. I also noted that after just a few minutes, he was stopping more often. Rabbits are spring animals, not endurance animals like me.
I kept the rabbit out in the open, and kept him moving, as fast as I could. Finally the rabbit took refuge under an oleander. He wouldn't leave, just ran round and round the base, which meant he was only running about a 4-foot circle. Finally, he stood on his hind legs and refused to run. I broke a small branch and "counted coup" by tapping him on the head. I ran away and left him to recover.
That was June, 1978, and I still recall it vividly. Fun, at least for a crazy guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment