Friday Week 9

Did you miss me today or yesterday? Sorry, I was late posting, but I am here now! 3rd and final day of the triathalon is over and I couldn’t be happier! It was very tough for me to basically do a sprint triathlon 3 days in a row. I was happy with my performance and my effort. I have a lot to learn if I am going to do this again, but I doubt I am going to do this again haha! I ended up finishing 2nd overall, which I am really proud of. It was one of the tougher things I have ever done physically.

Ed, a counselor of ours organized the triathlon. Counselors are FBI agents that are assigned to each section that act as liaisons for you. They help you out and interact with us low end local folk haha. They are invaluable to the whole NA scenario and I am sure they enjoy the experience as much as we do. I am grateful for Ed that he did organize this, it has been a unique experience. Our 271 classmates volunteered to help by being on the route, counting laps, and supporting us as we competed. It has been very inspirational and I am so thankful for their help and support! It’s awesome that they would give their time so willingly to us.

No real new information from Friday classes. We are talking frankly with out teachers about what we liked and didn’t like. It’s nice to help the future classes of the NA out. Saturday we have a behind the scenes tour of Arlington cemetery!

Steps 20,854 = 9.87 miles


My friend Marco and I after the 3rd day of triathlon! Happy to be done!!

Dinner after I’m the Boardroom.

A few recovery drinks in the Boardroom

Final PT session for Section 3!  Tacticle Warriors!


Got this hot little number today!





The legend that is EJ!



Bike stage of triathlon, it’s a bruiser!



After day 2 splits



After day 2 results!



Running stage of triathlon. I’d like to point out that is actually cold out, you just can’t tell!

Winding Down

Thursday was tough for me, I was as tired as I have been in a long time. The first night of the triathlon kicked my tail in a big way. I cramped bad in the pool so I spent all day today drinking Gatorade and water in an effort to better hydrate myself. I have low energy and my legs are slow and heavy. I’m struggling with the idea of doing this again, let alone a 3rd night.

I was able to sneak a short nap in around 2:00pm, that seemed to help, but I didn’t feel like I even got any sleep. We are almost all done with classes and our discussions are now about what we are going to do once we get back home and what can make the NA better.

2nd night of the triathalon went much like the 1st for me, I survived and I only added 1 minute to my time. I would have thought I would have added more based on how I was feeling all day, but I guess I pulled it together a bit. Yeah, one more night.

The Yellow Brick Road is in doubt due to the wind storm last week, they have a ton of trees down and the Marine Corps is in charge and are saying it’s closed. We are fearing this! Most of us want to do the YBR, for traditionals sake, if we can’t do it, the PT staff has an alternate plan! The PT staff is not a fan of the YBR and they want to kill us....haha, with a whole new tradition. We will see.

Reality is setting in, we are close to be done! I noticed a class mate cleaned out his locker...sad! We had our last PT session with EJ and that was sad too. A really solid instructor who cares about his class.

Tomorrow is Friday and Day 3 of the triathalon! Saturday we are doing a big visit to Arlington Cemetary.

Dinner after night 2 of the triathlon


Don’t judge me, I needed another piece of chicken! And a couple of beers at the Boardroom!


Day 1 results. Marco is a beast and so is Tina!!!

Snagged a pic of Gavin snoozing between classes!


PT the other day

Pool workout!  Was tough!!

Just Another Day in the NA

We had a nice start to our day when our earliest class allowed us to sleep in an extra half hour. Normally one would be excited about this and I was, but of course I was still awake at my normal time! Sleep is weird here, I don’t sleep well here at all and based on conversations with others, they don’t either. Get it while you can! I brought a pillow and a blanket to use on my bed, I’m particular about pillows and I am glad I brought mine.

Classes went well today again, we are starting to have discussions about how we integrate back home with all that we have learned here. How fast do we try and change our departments for the better haha. Like everything else here, the people get it. They realize a slow change, starting small is the best way.

EJ O’Malley is literally trying to kill us. I don’t know anyone in my section who has a problem with it though! He is always fun and motivating. He comes across as almost a character of himself, but after a few weeks realize he is genuinely nuts haha! By far, he will be the instructor I miss the most and I am not alone in that belief.

So last night we did our first leg of the NA Triathlon, one of our counselors does them (Ironmans no less) and he has organized a butt whooping. I struggled through his course.
18.6 miles on the bike (with hills!)
4.4 miles running through the FBI grounds
650 meter swim

I was beat last night and I have 2 more nights of it to go! Pray for me. I learned a hard lesson last night about electrolytes when I cramped up something fierce in the pool. Today I will try and plan a little better.

My favorite part of the day though was FaceTiming the kids, they are super excited to come here and visit next week. Having my in laws live so close makes life so much easier! I should be able to sneak away and go see them a bunch next week as our schedule lightens up considerably.

Steps 19,770 = 9.5 miles

Triathlon rules

No joke, here is the bike and run stuff. Bike was killer.

Day 1 and these fellas were working the bike section of our triathlon. It was tough!

Silent Auction

Today is officially my last day of real class work and it feels great! My group presented on Angela Merkel as a transformational leader. I think it went well, it’s not the most exciting thing to talk about When I say last official, I mean I have no more assignments or obligations for classes. I will just be participating from here on out.

We had PT today in the pool! A swimming workout compliments of EJ was tough! Sprinting and getting out on each lap to do some exercises was tough. We had some running in place in the deep end for a finisher. Everyone agreed this was a great workout.

This place is very crowded and lunch is tough with everyone. Luckily it’s our last full week here so we won’t have to deal with it soon. Our time is winding down and the discussions around here are about graduation plans and when our families will be here. It’s all pretty exciting.

Tonight was our silent auction night. Below are some pictures of the items that were donated by members of our class, to be auctioned off. Some very impressive stuff! I bid on several items, but only managed to win $100 worth of Portillio’s gift cards. They will go to good use!

Some of the highlight items were an old school billy club that went for 1k, an original LAPD patrol shotgun (been refinished) went for 2k! Some really cool street signs went for over $300 and the biggest item was a 16 day trip to Australia including airfare/hotel/some meals, tours, and a bunch of other stuff. It went for 9k!!!!  I don’t know our total amount of money raised from our auction, but I will guess that we easily set the record for the most money raised by a FBI NA session!

Tomorrow begins 3 straight days of triathlon...we will see if I can complete this challenge or not. I was basically volen-told that I would be doing it! No prep and I haven’t ridden a bike in months. More info about that tomorrow.

Steps 9901 = 4.46 miles

My Monday envelope from home!


Hero stand made with powder coated metal. Really cool item. Hang your vest, uniform, and a lock box for your firearm. The flag I donated next to it on the floor-it went for like $185 I think.


The crowd!


NA Bag Set!




Challenge coin holder

Week 9 Begins!

Monday is busy around here! All of these new baby agents and analysts are making for some long lines in the cafeteria. Not to mention, the NAA is holding their meetings with our home chapters this week. This is the busiest I have seen this place yet.

Today started off great, we did our Media class final project, a press conference. I was the Chief of Police in my group and we had to give a press conference on a pretty bad scenario, they are all bad of course! Your classmates then acted as the press and they grilled us, very practical and a good test I thought. I had fun and we got great feedback. I owe a few classmates later on this week though! ;-)

After media class we attended a program to honor the lives of 4 former NA grads who died in the line of duty. 2 of the 4 were from the 263rd class, just a few years ago. Over 70 members of the 263rd class came back for this ceremony and that was moving. It says a lot about the bonds you form while you are here. The roommates of each that had passed gave great speeches and I felt as if I had an idea of who these men were. It’s puts life in perspective, we aren’t typically on the front lines in our assignments, yet anything is possible.

Having some people from back home here has been a nice surprise. I know both of the reps here from Iowa from before and one of them (Jeff) is a good friend of mine. Last night they took the Iowa group here out to dinner to the Globe and Laurel. I have made a conscious effort to keep this blog positive and upbeat, but I can’t when it comes to the Globe. It was by far the worst restaurant experience I have ever had. I won’t go into details, I just don’t feel like it. If you are coming to the NA, stop in there for a drink one night, walk around, check out the memorabilia, just don’t eat there.

Big Kevin, from Ohio!  He is always smiling and in a good mood!


Ceiling at the Globe and Laurel


A very rare filet at Globe and Laurel and some pretty crappy instant mash potatoes. Disappointed


Entrance to the NA Store, pretty cool


Our group at the Pentagon


Hallways of the Jefferson dorm, where the execs stay! Ha. It’s more hotel like and ours is more dorm like. If you are coming here, don’t expect these accommodations