Back from the Dead and Feeling Old

Last week I wrote about the training I was doing at the FOB (Forward Operating Base). Well I was killed during the exercise, but was brought back to life by the Trainers. Last Saturday I began IED training and was made the NCOIC of our group and the Convoy Commander for the actual training event that took place on Tuesday. It was another good training but the role of convoy commander took its toll on me. I damn near lost it. I did manage to keep my head long enough to get us through the exercise, but it was intense. Mutiple IED attacks, snipers, and groups of Iraqi civilians (some were actually suicide bombers). There is so much that goes on and my biggest problem was commucations. Our radios were not as good as we needed them to be and several times I had to run between vehicles to get my orders followed. Overall, the trainers thought we did well, although I admitted that I was just a tad overwhelmed with the situations. I was running around with all my "battle rattle" on (thats kevlar, IBE, and my body armor) in 90 degree heat. I survived all this and felt good on Wednesday when I got back to the regular job. So I am feeling old not because of this but because of what happened to me on Friday. See Wednesday we did some solid PT (stretching, pushups and situps and a nice long run), and on Thursday I ran with my body armor on. Friday was an easy day....just a friendly game of Frisbee football. During the game I bent over to pick up the frisbee and....ahhh..shit...I pulled something in my lower back. Now I didnt do the smart thing by quiting right there...I kept playing like an idiot. Big mistake. Well at any rate, I was in pain and could barely walk by lunch time. I had to go to sick call and the doctor gave me some drugs and ordered me to rest my back. I was real sore yesterday, but I feel that I will be ready for PT next week. Until then I guess I will keep feeling old. Ah well....I guess I need to stop trying to run with those 20 year olds.