Thankful Thursday!

This morning, I actually loved my job and was proud to be in the Army! Now I have to admit, I don't have many of these days. I'm not really the patriotic type and on any given day, the Army is just a job that pays my bills. But this morning, it was a bit more.

What made it all different? We went running. Ha! I know you're saying that don't you guys go running everyday? Yeah, we do. Now I don't run everyday 'cause my bones are not the way they used to be and running everyday would be very detrimental to my health but at least 2 or 3 times a week is a necessity to make sure that I'm staying fit, trim, and ready for the PT test.

Now back to this run...it was in honor of the Buffalo Soldiers for Black History month. Short, jaunt down the road, around the Buffalo Soldier memorial and back again. Maybe 3 miles...I know it wasn't longer than that. But the whole post was involved. Every Soldier was required to be here at this run to participate. I'm talking about 5,000 Soldiers easy. It may have been closer to 7,500, it was a whole lot of us. All of us in were in the same uniform (shorts and jacket) all experiencing the cold together, lol. Every unit had their colors out in front and some even had their mascots. There were even a few loved ones along for the run! True esprit de corps!

The cannons started us off and since there were so many of us it took almost 10 min before my unit even started moving from our spot. Of course with any unit run and with this many people you sprint to catch up and then quickly come to a halt as you run up on the people in front of you. There were several times that the guy in front of me was about to be crushed, lol. Seeing all the units running by and hearing the all the cadence being called was inspiring. Everyone was in their best form, from the 2 star down to the lowest private, we were all out there being all that we could be. Rather by choice or not, you could not be out there and not feel that you weren't part of something bigger. That your comrade running next to you would help you at all costs. The Sergeants were all the way live, yelling at those falling out and pushing us all to greatness! Just what NCO's do best!

All in all, I kept up. That was one thing that I was worried about. I've never been a great runner. In 10 years, I can count on 1 hand the number of unit runs I've been able to run and keep up with the whole group. This time around I was surrounded by the guys and I felt I had to prove that I could do it. I mean you can't have the captain running and fall out, not motivating to the kids at all. So the sprint and slow down affect really helped me up. It gave me a chance to jog in place and catch my breath for the next length. Then one of the females fell out and after they yelled her back into the group (literally), I felt like I should push it out to motivate her to keep up and not fall any further behind. It worked and next thing you know, we were at the end and were walking to cool down. Woohoo!

Since I'm on the end of my Army career, I'm looking for these moments to remember because this will always be a part of me! I know I'll miss days like this but at the same time, I think the trade off will give me much more fulfillment in the long run.