RACE REPORT: Asheville Spartan Super & Sprint 2018

THE SUPER


Obstacles are way harder (and often impossible for me) to complete in the rain, so I kept an eye on the weather forecast for Asheville during the week.  It was raining for much of the week leading up, so much to the point where Spartan advised that only SUVs and Jeeps attempt to come to the parking lot.  Fortunately, there was a knight in shining white Jeep who offered to take others in a carpool.

The course at the quarry is one of my favorite Spartan venues... not that I've been to a ton, compared to the biggest enthusiasts, but it's something special.  The mountains surrounding the valley are a beautiful, deep green, and bands of cloud above the mountains complete the picture.  The side of the mountain is a giant tiered wedding cake of rock.

It was extra muddy this year, with all of the rain.  Normally, I volunteer post-race at every race I do, but I was glad that I wasn't signed up for it this time.  You had to wade through mud through the festival. 

Team Southern Spartans had the biggest team perks for the weekend, so I hung out in the tent before my age group heat.  It was a bit chilly, so I used a trash bag to keep warm.  Before I knew it, it was time for me to start.



The race always starts with a long hike up a river... in the river.  There are large rocks under the water, so I have techniques to try to avoid banging my shins against them, having learned in past races the hard way.  What I wasn't expecting this time was to hit my knees against sharp rocks.  I raced the next day, too, and I think I found the culprit.  There was a rock that looked like a giant stack of razor blades... that explains the deep cuts I ended up getting from it, on both legs.  It was on the left side of the river, too, where most of the runners were going.  On facebook after the weekend's races finished, people were sharing pictures - I wasn't the only one who hit this rock, it seems.



Fortunately, it wasn't raining during the race, but with all of the mud and the numerous water crossings, you were wet, which got the obstacles wet.  The obstacles were the usual ones, for the most part.  I failed Olympus (which I have always failed apart from my very first time on that thing in Tahoe), Herc Hoist (heavier than usuasl with the rain that seeped in to the sandbags), Twister (too wet), Multi-rig (too wet for me), Spear (always fail), Monkey bars (too wet).  Their new obstacle at this event was the Great Wall, which is a Devil's staircase (a slightly leaned in wall), but with more wall with some rock climbing holds above it, such that the only way to get up was to jump up high enough to grab onto the lowest series of handholds, then pull your way up. 

I couldn't get my hands to grab onto the handholds... I was tall enough, but not enough strength to hold myself up on it, once I do.  I can do fine, jumping and grabbing onto pull-up bars, or tops of walls, but either my strength was gone by the time this obstacle came around mid-race, or there's something different about this kind of grab.  I hope to get to try it again at some point, maybe earlier in a course, so that I'm fresh for it.

The Asheville course is known for its elevation gains, so we had the usual steep ups and downs through bushwhacked trail.  It always amazes me how the competitive racers bomb down the hills with no injury to their ankles.  That's brave of them.  I take my time going down.

 

I can't say enough about how beautiful this course is... there were a few times that were "wow" moments.  Even though I've been here twice before in 2016 and 2017... it never gets old.

Something else that was new this year was the finish line photos.  They had props!  I've always been into 300 and Spartans, and I have my own shield at home, but they had nearly full kits (no capes... I may need to bring my own, for my next event)!

After the event, we had beer, then got out of the parking lot before it got more chewed up.  I checked into and took a nap at the motel, and then went into Black Mountain to meet up with my knight for dinner.  I walked around the town a little bit afterwards, doing some Pokemon Go.  It's a nice town, with restaurants and shops.  I can't believe I never knew this was here.  I plan to be back in the future, and to bring others along.

THE SPRINT

The next day, I was out for more.  I was signed up for AG again, since I had some remaining race codes to use before they expired.  It was even muddier that day, if you can imagine, since it rained overnight.  They even slightly delayed the festival opening in the morning, so that they could pump out some of the water, or something.

I feel bad for spectators, especially for those who expected to just be watching people get dirty... they would be getting a good taste of mud, too.  An immersive experience.

My obstacle failures were similar for this race, although I did make it on the rig this time, since it was dry today.  We got about as many obstacles on the Sprint as we did on the Super... only minor exceptions, like the Great Wall, which I was glad not to see again, since I know that I'd have even less of a chance on it today when I was already tired.

The Bucket Brigade has been easier for me since they started pre-filling and adding lids on them.  Either I used to over-fill them, or I'm just stronger, or there's less of a chance of extra water weight from rain getting on the rocks, or maybe the shapes and sizes of the rocks of late have left more natural gaps.  I've wondered if my rucking would help with the sandbag carry.  Since they made the switch to the 40lb sandbags, it has been harder than the ultra-light sandbags that we used to have.  It doesn't feel any easier, but I guess I'm at least more confident on them.

At the finish line photos, I went for the Spear prop this time.

 

After the race, I went rucking, so that I could take advantage of the fact that I was in Asheville and able to hit up some new trails.  I went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, where I had found a trailhead the previous day.  I discovered that the Mountains to Sea trail went to the Folk Art Center (and beyond), which was 3 miles away.  Perfect distance to add 6 miles of pre/post-working rucking for Pathfinder, and a nice goal and place to explore for the mid-way point of my ruck.



I had been to the Folk Art Center before with my family when I was a kid.  I remember thinking it was boring at the time, but I really enjoyed it this time!  They had fantastic folk art on exhibit, and it was better and more interesting and diverse than what I find at most museums!  And I've been to many museums around the world.  I highly recommend it.  It's free, it doesn't take up too much time since it's not a massive place, and it's a good mix of traditional art forms with modern designs and twists.  Really cool.  They don't allow photos, so I can't give you a preview, but you'll have to check it out and see for yourself.

After rucking, I went back to Black Mountain to try another restaurant - the Trailhead.  It was decorated in an outdoors-themed way.  My kind of place!  They had a pretty good selection on the menu, and the menu items were named after local outdoors spots, too, which was nice.  I appreciate local stuff.

Another fun weekend in Asheville.  Asheville is great for outdoors stuff and food.











Kicking off My First Pathfinder Ruck Training Program

PATHFINDER is probably the most well-known ruck training program in the rucking community.  My initial exposure to it was maybe seeing pictures of peoples' patch boards, and seeing the finisher patches from Pathfinder.  At the time, I thought "who needs to be trained on how to walk with a backpack", and didn't give it any more thought.  I also assumed that those patches were like participation patches, which would be another assumption that would turn out to be wrong.

(example of a patchboard on google)

A couple of months later, I started listening to the GORUCK show podcast consistently, and that was awesome.  It fed my obsession, so I was soon searching for other rucking podcasts and discovered All Day Ruckoff.  You start with the most recent episodes that sound interesting, and start working your way back through their archive.  I found a June 2017 episode about that PATHFINDER ruck training program, and that's where I learned more about it. 


The program consists of a certain number of rucking miles that you need to cover during the 12 weeks, a certain number of challenges that you select from a list, and a certain number of rucking workouts (which are like strength workouts, but using the ruck as a weight in all kinds of creative ways).  The community is another big aspect of it, first with your peers, and also with a course advisor whose sub-group you get added to.  In the facebook group, you are able to get encouragement, advice, camaraderie, and more feeding of the obsession 😏


If you take a look at the list of challenges, they are no joke... they are true challenges.  There are 11 to pick from, and you pick 4 or 5, depending on which program you've signed up for.  Each one pushes you hard in a certain aspect of training, and the challenges are quite varied, so you are also challenged on being well-rounded.  Breadth and depth. 


I had decided that I wanted to sign up for the program at some point, but the question was when.  The next class would start on Aug 1st.  At first, I was hesitant, since that 3-month period would be at the peak of OCR racing season.  However, the two are reasonably compatible... both require and build on strength, and that's where I have the most room for improvement.  And, if I were to delay it until the class after that, I'd be running into my next marathon buildup, and that is more speed-oriented and less strength-oriented.  Now would be the time.


The night before July 31st, I got 5 hours of sleep.  The next day, I was understandably tired after work.  I considered napping then running, but my feet were too worn for a run.  I considered doing a midnight ruck to kick off Pathfinder, but it would've meant finishing at 3am and then getting 3-4 hrs of sleep, so I didn't do that.  I did, however, plan out my schedule for Pathfinder. 

I did this so that I could determine what pace I needed to set to complete everything in time.  I had to account for weeks I'd be travelling, or tapering or recovering from other events, too.  I'm happy with how the plan turned out.  It's going to force me to do more than I'd normally do, and some of the challenges scare me (that 20 miler!), but it should be a great adventure chasing this down. 

My first activity for the program was on August 1st.  It was raining in many parts of the country that day, but I was determined to start off on the right foot.  With thunder grumbling overhead, and the occasional lightning strike, I rucked for 4 miles in the rain.  My baptism into the program.

Completing the program is going to be a challenge.  I realize now that those Pathfinder patches on the patch boards were earned with a ton of work.  Even for those who don't check all of the checkboxes by the end of the program, though, they'll still be getting much stronger through the process, with all of the miles and workouts and challenges, and the groups are going to still be a great place to encourage rucking.

Adventures in Asheville (New Belgium, Lake Powhatan NRA, NC Arboretum, Spartan Build)

THE WEEK BEFORE

Tuesday, Jul 24:
Interval session at the gym.  4.0 in 29:29, 7:22 average.  My first workout back, after GORUCK Tough - Operation Red Wings.  Surprisingly, I wasn't sore from it.

• 1 mi warmup in 8:11
• 4 x [0.5mi @ 9mph, 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph]

Didn't do the usual 3 x 0.75 mi reps, since my legs didn't feel like they could handle reps so long this time.  This was a decent alternative, though.  Last speed session before Spartan Asheville.  Record 8 pullups afterwards.  Then 4, then 10 toes to bars.

Thursday, Jul 26:
I started rucking around the neighborhood because I wanted mileage for Pokemon Go.  Plus, I wanted to get a better feel for how realistic Star Course would be.  At first, it felt easy, and I regretted not bringing a sandbag along.  But just the ruck with 20 lbs started to wear on me after a few miles.  I went until I was hungry, then until my shoulders started to feel smashed.  I didn't want to develop an imbalance that would spread to my legs and core, so I stopped at 5.7 mi in 1:40.  While doing it, though, I made the decision to go for Pathfinder training!


ASHEVILLE ADVENTURE

I had signed up to volunteer for Course Build for the Spartan Super & Sprint.  Since I was going to make the 2 hr drive anyways, I decided to make a weekend of it.  On Saturday, there was a spot open on a New Belgium brewery tour, so that was my first stop after I got in.  They have three tasting stops during the tour, and the tour guide is really friendly.  There's an Asheville vibe to that place.  A slide takes you from one floor to the one below!  They support the local community, with promoting food trucks and being situated close to the town by the greenway on the French Broad River.  They have a good beer selection, too, with a good variety of styles to choose from.  Sierra Nevada has a more impressive campus, but their beers were a bit more homogeneous, with IPAs for the most part.  New Belgium even had a special brew called Hemp Pale Ale, flavored and smelling like its namesake.  I was craving some hot food after the tour, so I got pulled pork at the BBQ food truck. 

Fueled up and hydrated, I went to the Lake Powhatan National Recreation Area to find trails.  It was within Asheville's city borders and wasn't too far away.  Having camped there a few weeks earlier, I knew that there were decent trails there, too.  On the map, it looked like there were a variety of options.

I planned for a long run, so I wore my Salomon S-Lab Set Pack that included a Nalgene of water.  I also brought a battery pack and headlamp.  I learned from past experiences with the headlamp, that time I was on an unfamiliar trail after dark on a run gone awry.  It did make me a bit slower, but it's good to practice with packs every now and then, since that's the way to go for certain races.

 

I started by heading out to Lake Powhatan.  After I did a loop there, I decided to go on a larger loop on the left, which would pass by the NC Arboretum.  This large loop touched the Blue Ridge Parkway on the other side.  It was double-track, with consistent elevation gain, followed by elevation loss.  No roots at all, just small gravel.  It was a warm day.  The trees offered some shade.  The lake and creek portion had been more scenic.  This big loop was mostly a giant circle around a steep forest.


I came across a gate for the arboretum, with signs saying that it closed at 9:00pm.  It had been 2:30pm or so when I set out.  I took the opportunity to explore the arboretum a bit.  There was an azalea garden, and more structured gardens.  I do regret missing out on the Bonsai garden, which I only noticed after that part had closed for the day.  The arboretum had interactive exhibits about different natural fragrances from plants, which was interesting.  I also just relaxed on a rocking chair for a while.  If I wasn't here, outside, in a pretty garden, I'd be waiting out the day in my hot car, so this was much better.

I did a bit of geocaching throughout the day.  I grabbed some late in the day before I decided to start heading back.  The way I had intended to get to my car was behind a locked gate, though.  I tried to find alternate ways, but in the end, with about an hour left before the trail gates would close, I determined that I had no choice but to take a longer way back to my car.  With the sun setting, and the gate closure looming, that gave me some extra adrenaline for the run.

The first leg of my run to the arboretum was 8.6 mi in 1:47:31, 12:41 ave.  After the couple of hours walking around with Pokemon and Geocaching, and chilling, the run back to my car was 3.2 in 36:28, 11:07 ave.  In all, I got in 1184 feet of elevation gain.

I went without a shower and car camped at night.  A bit chilly, with a low of 62, but I have a decent amount of gear in my car to help me survive whatever.

The next morning, volunteering.  We did tables, a couple of big tents, fencing, blade flags, and fence signs.  We were efficient, so we finished up a little early.  Sweet!  Enough time to go home and do laundry from the weekend.




Monday, Jul 30:


50 min Body weight strength session.  Since the 12-week Pathfinder (PF) Ruck Training program was going to start up on Aug 1st, and that had a heavy emphasis on ruck workouts, this may be the last time I'd do the body weight session for a while.  Not that I couldn't do it during the PF program, but it could be harder to fit in while hitting all of the other requirements.

• Crunches: 500/side
• Plank: 4 + 2.5 min
• 2 min Pushups, to prep for the Army Physical Fitness Test (a PF challenge): 32 + 27 on the 2 tries
• Squats: 50
• Adductor/Abuductor Leg Lifts: 65/115
• Lower Leg Extensions: 100
• Single Leg Squats: 115/140
• 6 in: 60s
• Assorted Dumbells

Geocaching Hidden Creatures & GORUCK Tough - Operation Red Wings - Charlotte

TRAINING LEAD-UP

With only 2 weeks between GORUCK Toughs, it was important that I recover.  I usually feel pretty wrecked after rucking events, and maybe I'm an inch shorter, too.  I decided to not touch the ruck during the 2 weeks.  My reasoning was that in the first week, I'd be recovering.  The second week was the week leading up to the next event, and I didn't want to go in not 100%.

The day after the GORUCK Independence Day event, I went on a walk at McAlpine Creek Park with my mom and dad.  I wasn't even sure that I could walk normally, but that ended up being ok.  I'd normally ruck when I'm on walks with them, but I gingerly just took my nearly empty daypack. 

It was a beautiful park, with two ponds, plus greenway that goes for miles.  It even has a permanent XC course with a starting line archway.  Totally legit.  Since it's flat and beautiful and shaded in parts, I decided that it would be a good place to do marathon training in the future.

Monday, the top of my ankle felt used, and didn't feel like it had good integrity.

Tuesday, Jul 10:

I didn't go to the gym at work after work because I was too tired and hungry, but I made it out to my subdivision's fitness room later.  My heart was craving some cardio, like my blood was stagnant in my body, so it was good to get it flowing.

8.0 in 1:06:00, 8:15 ave, 2 degrees of incline.

Watched the Tour de France while running.  It's suprisingly good motiviation and good for making the miles go by, even though it's just a bunch of people pedalling.

Saturday, Jul 14:

I made it out to McAlpine Creek Park, to fulfill my vision of doing long runs here.  I went early in the morning, to avoid the sun and heat.  I wanted to cover as many different trails and offshoots as possible, to get to know the place and scout out my options for future runs.  I first headed straight out on the greenway, towards the end that I didn't go to with my parents.  I got to the end of the paved portion and went for another 1 mile on singletrack that would become more paved greenway in the future.  When I went as far as I could, I headed back, and took a detour into James Bryce Park, which has a bunch of dirt trails of its own, single and double track.  I wound through the single track as much as I could to extend distance in the shaded area.  When I exhausted that, I headed back to where I parked, crammed down a PB sandwhich and gulped water, then continued on trails that I had explored during my previous visit.

15.1 in 2:42:36, 10:44 ave.  Slow, but the single track would've slowed things down, as did a little route finding on the future greenway area, as did waiting for a big snake to cross the road.  I need a better pace than that, so I'm looking forward to seeing a better number next time.  I'll probably stick with laps on the greenway.

Monday, Jul 16:

Body weight strength session, to make sure my infrastructure is maintained for GORUCK.

• Crunches: 450/side
• Plank: 3.5 min
• Squats: 100
• Abductor/Adductor Leg Lifts: 100/135
• Pullups: 5 + 10 Toes to bars, 5 + 10 Toes to Bars
• Pushups: 25 + 20
• Single Leg Squats: 65, 75
• 6 in: 60s
• Russian Twists with 8lb wt: 30
• Lower Leg Extensions: 110
• Assorted bumbells

Wednesday, Jul 18:
Wanted some kind of run this week, even if it's the week before a big event, to help my body remember what it's like to run normal, after last weekend's long run and Monday's strength session.  Felt decent.  The faster medium run pace felt easy for the first time in a while.

5.0 in 39:14, 7:51 ave, 2 degrees of incline.

Thursday & Friday, Jul 19-20:
This weekend was the last weekend of Geocaching's Hidden Creatures virtual souvenirs hunt, so I took the opportunity to hit a couple of patches of geocaches.

The first patch was on Thursday at a business park near where I work.  It had one hidden little park with a waterfall and stream that was just gorgeous.  It's in the middle of the business park, and I work so close to it, but I never knew it was there.

Friday also wasn't a workout, but it ended up being surprisingly strenuous.  I didn't measure it ahead of time, but one way ended up being about 2.5 miles, for 5 total miles of walking.  No ruck or anything, but I'm not used to walking long-ish distances, so my feet were tired by the end!  How do I expect to do long distance rucking, if 5 miles is a challenge?  It's funny how running 5 miles is no big deal, but walking it makes your legs much more tired.  I guess it's the additional time on your feet, and slightly different muscles.  I got lots of caches and discovered many hidden treasures in our city.  It was fun to do something like this during the week.  I run along this trail every couple of weeks, but there are things that I discovered that I hadn't noticed during the runs.

GORUCK TOUGH - ORW

Cadre Montreal decided to host this event at Crowder's Mountain, so that we could experience ORW in terrain more similar to what the soldiers experienced in the real ORW.  That was pretty cool, since most GORUCK events involve rucking through city streets in the middle of the night.  This would be legit mountain, with not even street lights to keep us company. 

It was an HTL, too, so it didn't occur to me until Wednesday that the Tough would start at 10pm on Saturday, not Friday.  Extra time to rest!  That was nice.  For Friday events, I'd be driving straight from a full day of work and go right in.  With a Saturday event, I could nap during the first part of the day and come in rested.

When I got to the start point in the dark, the HTLers were already there, recovering from their 24 hr ordeal and gearing up for the next challenge.  There were many people I didn't know.  It was a big class, with 40 in all. This ended up being perfect for our welcome party, where we did modified Murph in a group.  Suitable to be honoring the 4-man team, and Murph, in this way.  We split the Murph reps among us.

After that, it was time to head out.  We carried the coupons up the mountain, swapping coupons with each other.  The most challenging part was the terrain.  I don't remember the name of the trail, but it took us way up high above the city, on giant boulders that you had to skip across.  Imagine doing this with coupons, by headlamp. 

 

The far point of our ruck was a lake, where we were to pick up more coupons... a whole bunch of sandbags, plus weight for the ammo cans.  Fortunately, we had a 0.8 mi run challenge, where all 40 of us had to make it in 10 minutes.  We pushed, and made it by 8 seconds.  That's quite a feat, for such a big group, including tired HTLers, going along a rooty and narrow trail in the dark with headlamps.  There was a guy who did 50 burpees in 2 min, too.

At this point, we traded off Cadres and were joined by Pike.  We had to do "stretches" (pushups), haha.  Then, away we rucked.  It was tougher this time with all of the weight, but GORUCK Tough D-day Charleston had showed me that I could endure miles of coupons without a break.  

When the sun started coming up, Pike taught us about Stand-to, short for Stand-to-Arms, where everyone is absolutely silent during the sunset and sunrise period when the enemy is most likely to attack.  You listen for oncoming people.  We tested it, by having 2 from our group go out and walk back to us on a trail.  From the time we first heard them, to when they were next to where we were in the woods, there was about a 30s period.  

This was my fourth Tough, and I had been able to avoid being a Team Leader up until now.  But I got assigned this time.  Fortunately, I've had the opportunity to learn from past TLs, so I wasn't as terrified as I would've been, had I been asked to do this in one of my earlier challenges.  I walked the line, shared the instructions from the Cadre, communicated with my ATL, tried to count to make sure everyone was still with us, made sure everyone was ok, made sure we were handling coupons ok.  

We didn't do explicit TL feedback sessions this time, but there were some things I realized I could've done better.  

1) Not good at making decisions under pressure - we were carrying a casualty, and I had a chance to pick a new one, but with the 5-second countdown, I picked a guy next to me, rather than someone who would've been lighter.  I'm not sure about how to improve this skill, yet.  I'll have to think about it some more... haha... that's my problem... being more comfortable with analyzing stuff first, than making decisions fast.

2) Not being good at counting.  I counted the group about 6 different times, and I never got all 40 people, until someone suggested that I walk down the middle of the line of pairs.  It's crazy to get to the end, only to find out that you're short 1-2.  I have no idea how I missed it so many times.  Everyone was there.  I just can't count.  I was the last TL, so it was like 11 hours into it, but man... you'd think that I can count.

3) Encouraging as a second thought.  At the beginning of my term as TL, I was all about keeping everyone in order.  About halfway through, though, I remembered that my job is just as much to keep everyone motivated.  That's like me... being task-oriented as my primary mode.  Less people-oriented.  I realized it, though, and started encouraging them, too.  

After 4 Toughs, I continue to learn stuff.  You'd think that at some point, it becomes another ruck in the night through city streets, but it hasn't gotten old yet.  Especially with this TL twist, I got even more out of it than I expected.  I had been dreading the day when I'd be TL, but it wasn't so bad.  The Cadre want to see you learn, and the teammates you're with are normally the kind of people who are willing to put in the work and are team players.

July 4th & GORUCK Independence Day Tough - Chapel Hill

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Jun 18:
South End Pub Run.  It was warm.  Since I had just raced, I didn't want or feel the need to go as fast as usual.  I usually don't go after weekends where I've competed in something so that I can recover.  However, this was the start of the Ultra Running Grand Slam challenge, where the goal was to do 400 miles in 3 months, to match the distance that the Grand Slam runners would race over that time period.  That was good motivation.  I couldn't wait to try.

I'm a low mileage runner, for a marathoner, so averaging 5 miles per day is a huge stretch for me.  In maintenance mode, I may do about 15 miles per week.  A max week for me during marathon training may be just above 30 miles in a week.  I was curious to see whether I could keep it up.

Fortunately, the rest of the pack leaders in the pub run weren't pushing the pace hard, either.  The pub run coordinator Nathan was racing Western States, anyways.

Tuesday, Jun 19:
Only day 2 of the Grand Slam Challenge, and I was already feeling yesterday's Pub Run, and the weekend's Brew Dash... haha... all my runs are beer-related.  I did 7.5 in 1:04:42, 8:38/mi average, at 2 degrees of incline, trying to bank a couple of extra miles, in case I took a day off later in the week.

My incentive on this run was to continue running long enough to finish watching the first half of the Japan vs. Colombia game.  I had a late start, since I had to work late.  I floated between 6.8->7.4mph, which felt better than forcing a certain pace.

I had considered doing a strength session earlier in the day, but I wanted to get in miles.  Maybe I'd get it in later in the week, when I needed a rest day from all of the running.

Thursday, Jun 21:
5.2 in 1:05:13, 12:32 average.  Trail run at the Whitewater Center after work.  Decided to try the run, despite my legs still feeling tired from earlier in the week.  I wanted to take advantage of cloudy weather that day, and to use the trail as an intentionally slower and softer surface for my beat up body.  It was hard on my legs, though.  My Salomon S-Lab shoes felt plasticy and hard under my feet.  It was much harder than a normal run.

It started to thunderstorm suddenly and visciously in the last mile, and was scary when I was going in an open field by telephone towers, since lightning started.  The thunder was straight overhead and loud.  It was pouring as I got back into the car.  It was incentive to go fast.

I can't believe that I'm struggling so hard to even do a few days of 5 milers this week!  My body is so beat up even part way through the very first week of the 400 mile challenge.

Saturday, Jun 23:
55 min strength session.

Monday, Jun 25:
Tread mill intervals.  4.5 mi in 33:46, 7:30 average, 2 degrees of incline.

• 1 mi warmup
• 3x [ 0.75 mi @ 9mph, 0.25 mi @ 75mph]

Almost fell asleep running during the warmup.  Tired this week.  I didn't go visit Charleston over the weekend like I had planned, since I was so tired.  Lots of people were at the gym, and the treadmills were full.  People being there spark my competitive juices, which was probably part of the reason for the interval session.

I've been binge watching 13 reasons why, both seasons over about 4 days.

Thursday, Jun 28:
9.0 in 1:13:22, 8:09 average, 2 degrees of incline.  Got 12 hours of sleep last night, after about 5 nights with 6 hours each.  I could've slept even more if I didn't have to work.  I felt pretty good, so I could go long on the run.  I started with a progression run for the first 7 miles, but for the last two, I was flexible about the pace to get in more miles.

Saturday, Jun 30:
7.5 in 1:35:11, 12:38 average at the Whitewater Center.  While my dad went on a walk, I ran.  He and my mom were in town for a visit.  It as tough.  My tummy was streaming with sweat, since it was humid and hot.  The run wasn't easy, and it started to rain, which was a good excuse to stop it shortly thereafter, instead of going for 2 hours like I had originally planned.  Afterwards, I watched a couple of recorded world cup games with my dad.

Monday, Jul 2:
Another interval session.  4.5 in 33:38, 7:28 ave.  Didn't plan on an interval session, but my competitive juices kicked in when there was a guy on the treadmill next to me.  I would've otherwise probably floated for some miles.  It was warm.

• 1.5 mi warmup in 12:38
• 3 x [0.75 mi @ 9mph, 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph]

Preceded by a shot of mustard, since I was craving salt and something tangy, despite my mouth feeling like it was already saturated with salt.  Weird.  Over the weekend, I had about 8 bouts of postural hypotension, so I didn't feel so bad about doing it.

July 3rd, out to celebrate Independence Day at the Whitewater Center!

 

 (official USNWC photo)

On July 4th, a little shopping and walking.

GORUCK TOUGH INDEPENDENCE DAY

I got to the start point in Chapel Hill at Southern Community Park at about 7:30.  It had rained really hard during the first hour of my drive, but now, it was just lightly raining.  It gave me time to do a little Pokemon Go, meet my teammates, and prep my gear.  Most of the class was members of F3, from a couple of different F3 groups.  A friend from HH12HR was also there. 

Our team weight was a snake from some previous event, which is appropriate for "don't tread on me".  There was a surprising amount of newbies, maybe a third.  But since many were from F3, they were prepared. There were some coupons laid out that I had never seen before... some small cylinders and a large cylinder, included.  The sandbags were all big ones, 60-80 pounders.  That big cylinder, which looks small in the picture, was actually the worst thing, from what I hear... it was nicknamed the #doomtube during the course of the event.

It turned out that I was the only girl in attendance.  The guys were all really nice, though.  They had me start on the flag, but I was pretty quickly itching to get on some weight, since I was getting bored and feeling under-utilized.  I got my hands on some small cylinders after a while.  We soon learned that Chapel Hill didn't get the second part of its name for no reason... there were hills aplenty in the city.  It never quite hit me until tonight. 

I normally don't use the restroom at events, somehow.  I did this time, though, three times.  Maybe it was the heat, and me hydrating a little more than usual.  

The welcome party wasn't at the very beginning of the event.  Instead, we got one or two movements in, first.  I liked that.  It's different.  It lets you get in the swing of things and get a nice little warmup, and it helps to break up the event.  For the welcome party, which is intended to be a rude awakening where you get beat down with a bunch of PT and tempted to quit before the event even begins, we took turns going around the circle, introducing ourselves and leading the group in our "favorite exercise".  We did 15-60 reps of it, depending on how strenuous it was.  That was a nice way to get to know everyone better, than at a usual event.

During the movements, I did a little single ammo can, some 2-man large ammo can, some of the snake (which was surprisingly tough on your shoulders), some 1/4-1/3 full jerry can, a few feet of 60lb sandbag, some small cylinders, and the most of the med bag (maybe 20lb).  

Between movements, we took turns telling the group about a LEO or military person from our area, who we were rucking for.  There were some heart-wrenching stories of real life heroes in there.  F3 promotes the idea of a circle of trust, and I don't know much about F3, but I feel like something similar happened that night, from the kinds of personal stories that were shared.  

Towards the end, we were at a park, and we asked for something that was originally going to be saved for the Light later that day... a lesson on questions on the citizenship test.  We got what we asked for, a little game where we were in pairs, taking turns answering questions, and if you got it wrong, you and your pair had to do pushups.  Fortunately, my buddy and I made it through without penalties.  It was fun.

Before we headed out for the last evolution, we also got a "choose your own adventure", where we could either take a casualty, or get in the water.  We chose water.  It was cold, and we had to get fully wet, and spray the air while saying "America!".

It was getting super tough towards the end as the sun was coming up.  Carrying anything was absolutely grueling.  My partner on the 2-man ammo can was giving me encouragement even as he was struggling to help me make it.  Several times during the event, I thought about how I wouldn't mind quitting and just falling asleep somewhere by the side of the road, even when we were only a couple of miles from the end of the event.  I was starting to feel completely depleted muscularly (not for a lack of nutrition) and wasn't sure if I could physically make it.  Somehow, though, you manage to push on to keep up with the team and not drag them down. 

Cadre J Dub is clear in his standards - a 20 min/mi pace, regardless of terrain.  I like that.  It's not some unknown and arbitrary standard that you have no clue about until the end when you find out if you made it or not.  You know what you have to do and you push for it.  Fail and face consequences.  Make it and enjoy being a winner.  

In the last stretch, we got to go through UNC Chapel Hill.  I always like visiting college campuses.  I was so tired, though, that I had to force myself to look around and appreciate it while enduring the suffering.

This group was maybe the best in terms of teamwork that I've been a part of.  There were willing volunteers when painfully heavy stuff had to be carried.  There wasn't fighting or getting frustrated at each other.  We took challenges like casualties when they inevitably came, in stride, without complaint, and learned from mistakes.  It was special to be a part of that.  The newbies were TL's, too, and they did great, as good as any veteran TLs I've seen for the vast majority.  

After the event, I met up with a friend for a place to shower and then lunch.  Then, a drive home with nap stops along the way.

RACE REPORT: Brew Dash 6K 2018 & SOL FEST

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Jun 11:
South End Pub Run.  5.1 in 41:21, 8:03 average.  Started slow with the group, then sped up.  Hot, at 90 degrees at the start.  Shade and a couple of sprinkles suddenly came about halfway, though, and wind felt somewhat better.  Usual perceived hard effort, though not a crazy pace.  Good heat training for Brew Dash.  My body craved running today, since it's been about 2 weeks since a run (with a GORUCK in between).

Splits> 9:01, 8:10, 7:55, 7:47, 7:42, 0:46 for 0.1

Tuesday, Jun 12:
55 min strength session

• Pullups: 7.5, a record
• Plank: 4 + 2.5 + 2.5 min
• Abductor/adductor Leg Lifts: 80/120
• 6 in: 75 + 75s
• Squats: 100
• Crunches: 300/side
• Pushups: 20
• Single Leg Squats: 2x100 (shallow)
• Dumbell row pushups: 20
• Lower Leg Extensions: 125
• Assorted Dumbells

BREW DASH

Beer + Running, all the yes.

It was a warm morning, but I had a confidence booster from this week's hot South End Pub Run.  The course started with the wide Main Loop, then went to the Lake Loop.  I started at the front, was passed quickly by 4 women adn lots of men, got passed by 1 more man 1/4 of a mile in.  But after that, I was passing people.  One woman at 1 mi, 2 more @ mile 2, and the third at mile 2.5.  I realized that I was in first at the end of the Lake Loop, during the out and back.  It was a nice surprise, since I've gotten 2nd, but haven't won a Brew Dash before.  I knew that if I could hang on to the pace, I'd have it, since the others had already slowed.  I pushed hard, to be safe. 

They had a unique prize this year... an awesome stein!

 

DEEP WATER SOLO

After the race, I filled the gap between then and the start of the beer festival Sol Fest with my first visit to Deep Water solo.  It's like bouldering, but you can go high, because when you get to the top, or if you fall off before getting to the top, you drop into a deep pool of water.  To make this work, the wall is slanted backwards a bit, which makes it more challenging.  

After the orientation and safety class, you get the remainder of the 30 minutes to climb.  I wanted to start with a more challenging one at first, since the start is when I'd have the most strength, and I wanted to see how I'd do.  I got a decent way up.  When I dropped, though, I was slightly leaned forward, and hitting the water from that height feels like a little punch to the gut.  The lifeguard had recommended pencil diving it.  I see why.  After that, I always tried to go straight down, if not slightly leaned back.  

It was tiring, but fun.  I only got to the very top of one or two.  30 minutes is a good amount of time.  I don't have the endurance in my arms to make it much more than that, anyways.  

SOL FEST

They renamed the beer festival to Sol Fest this year.  Maybe it's meant to appeal to women a bit more.  I liked the layout this year.  They spread things out a bit more, giving you more space to meander through the festival, without feeling too crowded.  You could enjoy things a bit more.  They had tables where you could enjoy your drinks, and live music, too.  They used to condense everything in a 1-block space.  I like that more breweries are doing sour beers.  It was great for the hot day.  Love all the beer swag, too!