Night Running in Afghanistan

It was too hot to run yesterday afternoon, I only got 3 miles before I had to call it quits.  I was pretty bummed and dejected last night, so I decided to give it a try....yep, I threw on my headlamp, grabbed a water bottle and took to my trail at night. 

WOW, what fun...though it is eerily creepy running in Taliban country in the middle of the night, with only a headlamp on..and every noise made my heart jump.  In the distance I could hear wild dogs howling, and getting a bit closer all the time.  Maybe they saw my light, or could smell my sweat, but whatever..I wasnt too concerned as I had a chain link fence between me and the wilderness. 

After 5.5 miles I decided to call it a night, it was slow going, running with a headlamp.  The tunnel vision makes it difficult to run quickly and I was barely staying under a 12 minute pace...it was a good lesson for me though, and I can't wait to do another one, though I think next time will be stateside.

Oh, and here is a pic of the Change of Command ceremony from today.  I am the one on the right.