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...