These training sessions are dedicated to Capt. Joshua S Meadows USMC, assigned to 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, who lost his life on Sept 5, 2009 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan. Wednesday started out with a 10 minute rowing warmup and a weight lifting routine with 6 exercises with 12,10, and 8 reps and a 30 sec rest between sets. Wednesday evening was interval time. The positive part was that the scheduled distance for this workout was not as long as the previous weeks. Ended up doing 4 miles of intervals with an overall average speed of 5.3 MPH. The original schedule for Thursday had a bike ride, a TRX workout and a 4 mile easy paddle. I completed the bike workout covering 11.4 miles in 33 minutes and a TRX-1 7 week workout but I had a conflict come up and was not able to fit in the paddle. Since it was an easy short paddle I am not that concerned with missing it. Friday was an elliptical workout of 4 miles in 33 minutes and a TRX-2 7 week workout. The workouts seem to be going ok. I am starting to be a little conservative on how much I push my max effort sessions to avoid a pull muscle and an injury. At this stage of the training I think it is more important to get my body conditioned for long periods of effort versus multiple short periods of max effort. Tomorrow will be a long paddle – 30 miles. Spending lots of time planning routes, figuring out gear needs, ordering food, and thinking through different scenarios. Lot of concern right now in the Watertribe about the water levels on the St Mary’s and the Suwannee River. They are both very low which makes passage on the upper parts of these two rivers very difficult. Praying for rain over the next few months. The workouts this month have not been easy and the future ones don’t look to be any easier. For the family of Capt. Joshua S. Meadows (USMC), that included a young child, the days without him are not easy. A donation to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will make it easier for the families of fallen warriors such as Capt. Meadows.   http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/billwhale/ufc2012