31 Miles for 31 Heroes

From the event website:  31Miles for 31Heroes is a 31 mile ruck through the night to honor the lives of the Heroes of Extortion 17.  Participants will carry 2 bricks in their rucks, one to represent the lives of our fallen and the other to represent the burden carried by their families.  Periodically, Ruckers stop to read the bios of these warriors and raise a drink (of water) to their memories.  All funds raised will benefit The 31Heroes Project, a non-profit which serves to impact the lives of our nation’s heroes and their families, while remembering the fallen.


Planning the location of our virtual participation was amusing to say the least.  Suggestions ranged from Umstead in Raleigh to an out and back on the AT for 15.5 miles.


Cooler (read Army) heads prevailed and we planned a route at Anne Springs Close Greenway (conveniently 10 min from my house!)


The planned route was the Blue Star Trail (7.2), Dogwood Trail (1.2), Muscadine Trail (2.9), Field Trail Loop (1.5), Trekker Loop (.8), Prairie Loop (1.5), Mill Pond (1.5), Sugar Loop (3.4), School Loop (3.7) and then back to Old Nation Road and return to the parking lot for 31 miles!


My packing list consisted of my Snugpak ruck, 2 challenge bricks, 6 liters of water, 1 water bottle, 1 soft dog bowl, 1 extra shirt (Columbia Chill Shirt), 2 bags of beef jerky, 1 bag dried cherries, 1 bag of Very Cherry Jelly Beans, 1 can of Cheese Um Pringles and 1 Dutch Shepherd.


I wore a ball cap, Nike ACG wicking shirt, Nike ACG shorts, Compression Sleeves and my awesome Salomon hiking socks, along with a new set of Merrel boots I picked up.


Since dogs can't drink from a bladder, you have to carry the water bottle to fill the bowl.  Copernicus doesn't like the soft bowl, so he didn't drink until he was really thirsty.


My first 5 miles was the Thursday workout with Team Spearhead.  Angler and I did a loop around Carmel middle school.  The only thing bad about that was having to make up the flutter kicks when I met the crew at Mile 5.


That's right I said flutter kicks.  Again I was able to influence the crew here.  Since I am doing the 10,000 flutter kick challenge, I was all for it.  (At least for the first 10 miles). During our rest breaks, we banged out 31 flutter kicks! 


The amazing thing about hiking at Anne Springs is how remote it is.  I guess especially if you do it on a weekday.  The starting trail, the Blue Star is predominately under cover.  This trail worked out great because there was a bathroom/water stop at two locations.  The only problem we had on this trail was when we got to the peach orchard, we couldn't find the trail and had to double back to the Timberline trail to get to the turnaround point.


The Muscandine trail had some challenges in a few places where it is not marked as well as the Blue Star.


The heat really didn't come up until around 3.  We were just completing the loops out around the Field Trial barn, which were all out in the open, when we headed back into the tree line around 3:15.


I changed from a black shirt to a white one at around mile 21.  Not really into changing socks as my feet were well prepped with the Kiehls lotion I use for running.


The loops in the Southern part of the park were a little more of a challenge, especially during the later miles.


We came out of the woods at around 6:15-12 hours for 31 miles.  My feet were feeling good!


Lessons learned:


1. Bring electrolytes.  What an idiot.  I always use Endurolytes or Gatorade or something for running.  Why I chose to not bring them I don't know?  I paid the price Thursday night with muscle cramps, even though I reloaded.
2. Wear a sweatband.  I seem to have turned into a head sweater.  It becomes annoying to the point where I can't wear sun glasses because I am wiping so much. 
3.  Army (okay and Marines)  vs. Navy.  Interesting dialogue about humping.  All Army and Marine units hump. (or Ruck, or road march, whatever floats your boat).  Navy Seals don't do a whole lot of rucking in BUDS or at their units.  Very different philosophy from Army and Marines who have extensive long range movements under weight.  The Seals feel there is no sense practicing being miserable, just suck it up when the need arises (Olympic conditioning helps I guess).  I was still competitive with the crew at the end from a walking perspective, but the last 5 or 6 sets of flutter kicks were agony!


A great experience for a great cause.  Now I hope I can count this for Pathfinder...

Hero Rush-5K Obstacle Race 10/20/12

WTF did I sign up for here?

After posting a 5K PB a few weeks ago, I thought this would be a lovely way to spend a Saturday and it supports a great cause.

Joey, Jennifer, Darwin and I (Team Darwin) all headed to the zMax part of the Charlotte Motor Speedway to particpate in this race.  Jennifer and Darwin would be the rooting section and Joey and I would be the runners.

After sliding down the fire pole, the start was a 1/4 mile sprint to the first obstacle, an easy jump over the wall.  Joey pulled away from me right away.  The next test was a low and a high cargo net.  The low one was a little harder because it was not very stable. 

A short jog later, we picked up a tire and ran around a short lap.  After dropping the tire, a little further up the trail had us going through a 2-3 foot deep stream.  No problem so far, but for many people who aren't used to running through the woods, the creek freaked them out.

Then it was a climb out of the creek and a trail run to waiting CPR dummies.  30 compressions gets you a pass and after another short trail run, was the surprise mud pit (this race prides itself on no mud, but whatever).  Another half K on the trail led you to the crowd control obstacle, a bunch of hanging tires and tires on the ground.  Jennifer and Darwin where here to give encouragement. 

Moving on takes you to another tire carry, this time, two tires, and an over wall, an under wall and a sprint to the finish.  Dropping the tires and another 200 yard dash to a ladder up into the "smoke house".  This is a shipping container filled with junk and smoke.  This is also where the lines started.

After climbing down some cargo netting and a dip down (and up!!) a valley, it was time for the rope climb, 3 rope bridge. 

After balancing my way down the bridge and another 300 yard dash, came the hardest obstacle, the towering inferno!

Imagine climbing up a drain pipe 20 feet (keep in mind the drainpipe is 3 feet in diameter and come to think of it, so am I) while water is showering down, and I mean showering down on you.  You worm your way up and through some wood to the top.  Once at the top, you slide down a tarp into a shallow pool.  Let's just say it felt like I hit the water at 100 MPH.



Coming up for air I'm thinkin, hey I'm almost done.  I would be wrong.

After another 1/4 mile jog (I was actually still jogging at this point) and running on the dirt track, I came to the stretcher carry.  Basically more tires (they love them some tires at hero rush!) through an obstacle course, barbed wire and all.  I dropped my tires and now I am almost done...yea right.

Another jog and three skips over fire, you come to the foam obstacle.  More pipes, filled with foam.  Yum!

Okay, now I can see the bleachers, how far away could I be?

Down into a dark tunnel for the next obstacle.  More sewer pipes, but these have a spider web of ropes that you have to weave your way through in the dark.  Those 100 pushup worksouts came in handy here.

Up out of the tunnel, still jogging, (ha ha) and what is this?  A water stop?  This close to the end?  Uh-Oh!

Around the corner and the spectators take a shot at spraying you with a fire hose (the advantage of beign slow: when you get here, they have lost interest). 

Now I run into a nice gentleman who tells me to pick up that 200lb (okay maybe it was 40) hose and run up the stands with it, back down, up again and back down.  WTF WTF WTF, what I am I a Navy Seal? (nope). Someone asked me how high the bleachers were.  I think I could see Russia from those bleachers.



So now I gotta be almost done right?  Just a few more surprises.

Another 50 yards and you come to the hazardous material pit.  Don't know how to describe this, think baby oil and jello.  You have to squirm under some barrels fully submerged.  But hey, at this point, I am hangin by a thread anyway.

Now the final turn for home.  I can see the finish line 300 yards away and I start running (okay, I thought I was running, I was probably crawling).  Wait, what is this?  Cones are directing me to what?  Oh it's a smoky maze I have to crawl through on my hands and knees.  No problemo!  Out of the maze and cross the finish line.  5K, 20 or so obstacles, 2.5ish hours.  Wow.  Lots of fun.

One of the staff I ran in to on the course told me "This is the hardest race we ever did"  Thanks for telling me now!  And I lost my wedding ring to boot!

Still great fun all in all.  What's next?

Road Trip 5/5/12-Lake Norman and Catawba, NC

Jennifer had a great idea to take a ride out to the country.

Our first stop was a quick breakfast at Einstein Bagels.  Then on the road to escape the golf tournament traffic.

Our second stop of the day was the Terrell General store. 

At the corner of 150 and Sherrils Ford road, they serve ice cream and soda in glass bottles.  They also sell penny candy and other locally made goods and some light groceries.  Nice people, it is nice to see that a small business can still thrive in today's economy.

They told us about a place called Murray's Mill.  About 20 min away, this is a still working mill that used to be the industrial hub of the area. 

We started out at another general store, The Murray & Minges General Store.  While they sell some things here, it is really the gift shop for the site.  They still have much of the goods arrayed like they used to be. 

Then we visited the actual mill.  They still have the water wheel connected, and it is pretty cool to watch it work the machinery.  You can walk around 3 floors of the mill.

They also have some nice nature trails on the property.

The rest of the pictures are here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/116220729005084753753/albums/5739519320111542401

Running 5/1/2012

Can't believe it is May 1st already.

So I did my rehab for the shin splints.  Rest for 5 days massage and Hammer Nutrition's Tissue Rejuvenator.

Good stuff.

Pre run Ibuprofen (not always the best idea) and lots of stretching.

Anway, I took it slow, not the usual sprint I always end up starting at.  A little soreness, more on the right, but no serious on the left where it was really killing me.

Was a slow run, very hot for May, but no pain.  Iced the shins after the run.

Also starting to try new hydration tactics.  Today I tried Nuun Lemon Iced Tea flavor.  Thought it would be good during a run to fantasize about drinking iced tea.  Don't do it!  It's like brown water.

Orienteering Lake Crawford 24-Mar-2012

Okay, this is it, last meet of the season.

First I was informed that I will be the meet director for this meet next year.  Hmm...

Then off I went.

Was smokin points 1 to 6.  Then I made a bone head mistake and followed a line of drift and had to backtrack to find point 7.  Then I went into wandering mode (not following my compass or pacecount) and ended up on a major wasteful hike shown on the map by my crazy route between 8 and 9.  Shoulda took 5 min, endedup taking 25, duh!  Then I woke up and finished quickly. 5th out of 7.

Joey for the first time ever did not finish the Orange course.  There were a large number of DNFs so I know it was difficult.

Results here:

http://www.carolina-ok.org/results/season_2011-2012/2012-03-24/index.php

Orienteering Kings Mountain National Military Park 3-Mar-2012

With my recent terrible performances, I needed a good showing this month.  It is usually cold and nasty, or the place is on fire.  It was great weather this month.

I ran Green again. Point 1 was no nonsense, 2 was an easy find. 3 was a pretty long let, but an easy ridgeline to track to.  4 seemed like climbing Mt. Everest.  I hadn't really been working out that much and paid for it climbing a hill to get to 4.  5 was a hike, decided to take the high road and stay away from the jungle below.  Passed a young wipper snapper who decide to stay in the valley.  6 was super easy.  7 was a little of a struggle.  Many folks were circling looking for this point. Then off to the finish for a 4 out of 15 place.  Not too bad, one of those days where if I woulda pushed harder, I could of easily come in 2nd.

Joey came in 2nd on Orange, he did a great job.  I have been pushing him to run the more advanced courses and he is stepping up.

Results are here:

http://www.carolina-ok.org/results/season_2011-2012/2012-03-03/index.php

Orienteering Reedy Creek Park 4-Feb-2012

What a dreary day for orienteering.  We arrived to a large crowd.  I gave a quick class to about 20 people while Joey got off to a quick start. 

Then I ran Green.  I had some difficulty on one point and had to back track, the crowning achievement was smacking my head on a branch!

Results are here:

http://www.carolina-ok.org/results/season_2011-2012/2012-02-04/index.php

Joey, 1st out of 50 (great job) competitors and me 12 out of 20.