Raptor of the Week: Steve Bade

Steve Bade
37 years old
U.S Air Force, Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist
Currently training for half marathon that he will run 'satellite' while on duty in a treadmill in Afghanistan.

Favorite running song: Bottom by Tool. "Serious music makes serious running."

He runs partly, because the Air Force says I have to. But mostly because I love the feeling. I never used to consider myself an endorphin junkie, but one of the ways I motivate myself when I don't really feel like running is to tell myself that I'll fell better after a nice long run...and I always do.

Current Running Goal: To score max points on my fitness test, which means running 1.5 miles in less than 9:48.

Worse Case Marathon Scenario: That on 17 January 2010 I will be running 13.1 miles on a treadmill in Afghanistan. I really hate treadmills. Assuming that I will be home, my worst fear is injuring myself and not being able to finish.
Best Case Scenario: Finishing in under 105 minutes (sustaining an 8 min pace). With six months in Afghanistan to do nothing but train, it may be doable.

• About the family: Pretty boring family, actually. I have one brother and one sister, both younger. My sister is a pharmacist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She's married and has two girls, 4 and 7. They came to visit us a couple months ago and had a good time. Allison (the 4 year old) was afraid of coyotes, but she got over it. My brother is a stage manager in NYC. I don't see him very often. Pretty boring family.
• Favorite movie/TV quote: I love one liners. I've got about a thousand and they all annoy my wife, so that's good. I love funny--almost anything Peter Griffin or Homer Simpson says is worth repeating.
• About Collections: I have couple of small collections of nerd stuff, but nothing excessive -- Star Wars and Simpsons memorabilia, stuff like that. I also have about a dozen pair of Converse All Stars in a rainbow of colors, including several plaids and a custom pair I had made in the colors of the Italian flag with the dates of their World Cup wins. For those of you who don't follow international soccer, Italy won their fourth World Cup title in 2006 while we were living there.
• Current running mantra: I suppose I should come up with something snappy like 'temporary pain, lifelong gain', but I haven't thought of anything cool yet. I just wanna run.
• Last time you went out of town: On memorial day we went to Phoenix to a red carpet event showing of a movie called 'Brothers at War'. It is in limited release, so you probably won't see it until it comes out on HBO--documentaries don't tend to do well in the theater. It was a special invitation event for military and their families, veterans, and Blue and Gold Star mothers. It was hosted by Cindy McCain and emceed by Gary Sinise. The movie is about two brothers in the Army and their other brother who is a film maker who followed them to Iraq to see what they did and why they did it. It was a very cool evening. Gary Sinise is very supportive of the military, and meeting him was an awesome experience. The movie was excellent as well. It was very moving, and offered a realistic glimpse of what goes on over there that the media will never show. Check it out at brothersatwarmovie.com.
• About the Shuffle: Until recently I didn't listen to anything while running. My mother-in-law gave me an iPod shuffle for Christmas this year, so I've been using that lately. I need something kind of dark and serious, yet still up tempo to run to. If the music is too happy I lose focus and motivation. Serious music makes serious running, and nothing is darker or more serious than prog metal--bands like Tool, Dream Theater or Fates Warning. At the moment, Bottom by Tool is probably my running song of choice. It has a cool spoken word part by Henry Rollins.
• About Scotch(AKA favorite drink): Single malt Scotch. That's not what you meant? Sparkling water. Just plain carbonated water. I started drinking it when we were living in Europe. Europeans love the stuff, most Americans can't stand it, which makes it kind of hard to find here. I actually started drinking it accidentally. Being a typical American I thought it was nasty, but I had opened the bottle and didn't want to waste it. The bitterness kind of grows on you, and by the time I finished the bottle I decided I kind of liked it. In Europe they sell it in 1.5l bottles by the case, that's how I used to buy it. Fortunately, Fry's sells it in cans, I go through about a 12 pack a week.
• About work: U. S. Air Force, Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist -- at the moment I am the Weapons Section Chief in the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at DM. I supervise and lead 147 personnel formed into 36 weapons loading and maintenance crews that are responsible for testing, inspecting, servicing, loading and unloading the weapons systems of 84 A-10A and A-10C aircraft for both aircrew training and combat operations.
• About the Raptors (stories): I can't think of one... I'm sure something cool will happen at the race that I'll be able to tell my grand kids about, but so far nobody has done anything memorable.