Dances with Dirt 50 Mile Ultra: Some days your the bug

So bottom line up front I failed to accomplish my goal of completing a 50 mile ultramarathon. However like with everything I do I have a story. This weekend started Friday night when my support team assembled at the hotel in Lodi, Wi. I just want to say that those who came out to help me in my attempt were the absolute best support team ever,second to none. They did a better job during the race with encouragement and nourishment than the people actually conducting the race. Thanks Deborah,Matt,Jade,Tarrah,Dan,Casey and Jay,you guys made it fun.

So Friday myself and my brother Matt drove the 26 miles to the race start and picked up my race packet,number and timing chip. We also wanted to see how long it would take to get there. We determined based on our recon that we would have to leave the hotel at 0400 for the 0530 start of the race. Morning for some of the teenage elements of my team was going to come early. After returning we drove around looking for somewhere to feed the crew. Our choices were limited but we finally found a pizza place in a small town about 15 miles away. It was pretty good pizza and cheap enough. Upon returning to the hotel I laid out all my equipment and hit the rack at about 9 pm. I didn't have any trouble falling asleep and actually woke up at 0315 the next morning. I loaded everything in the van and then woke the others up. They all got up with a very minimum of griping which is always good when dealing with teenagers. Did I mention they were awesome? My sister Deborah arrived from Madison at 0400 and we were off to the race location.

The start/finish line was lit up with Christmas lights on our arrival. It was still dark but the sun rose soon enough as we waited for the race to start. I did all my pre-race preparations, attached my number and timing chip,hydrated, used the porto potty, and applied the pre race vaseline on likely chaffing spots. At about 0525 the call to the start was made and a 100 plus runners moved into position. Both the 50 mile and 50 kilometer (31 miles) ultras were starting at 0530 with the marathon (26.2 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles), and 10 kilometer (6.2 miles) starting between 0630 and 0800. We would all be running on portions of the same course so during the day I would see runners in all the races. I lined myself up at the back and waited for the gun to sound.

When the race started I hit the timer on my watch and my Garmin and started jogging forward, as usual at race start there was an accordian effect as we in the back had to wait for all those in the front to sort themselves out. I wasn't worried as it was going to be a long day and a lot of miles, I had the next 13 hours to stretch my legs. The course initially took us up the ski slopes of the resort the start/finish line was located at. I got a taste of how the day would be and how rough the terrain on this course would be, as for the next 4.5 miles I ran/walked up double black diamond ski slopes and through the woods connecting them. As we turned to head back down the footing was treachourous. The course ran straight down the face of a ski hill that had 2 foot high summer weeds growing on it. A path of sorts had been made as the runners followed the pink ribbons marking the course. By the time I hit this section the grass had been crushed down over the underlying rocks which made for very slippery footing. All I could think off was utilizing the "mountain walking" techniques I had learned in Alaska. I concentrated on making full contact with the entire sole of my foot with each step to create the friction necessary to keep me from busting my ass. The trail leveled out relative to what we had just been through and we hit the first aid station. My awesome team refilled my water bottles and I was ready to head out. I was trying to stay ahead of the hydration as it was already over 80 degrees with high humidity. My shirt and shorts were wringing wet with sweat even after this first section. The first section took me right about an hour to complete.

The next section headed us through a swampy area and then started climbing again. As I would find through much of the course there was no actual "trail." The lead runners made the trail as we ran through the woods, over logs, around head sized rocks, stepping over roots, always following the pink ribbons that denoted the Ultra route. The other races had other colors that sometimes shared our route and sometimes not. The route continued to climb and the elevation change was serious enough that I felt my ears pop a few times on the way up. My Garmin was trying to track the mileage but the foliage was messing with it and it lost signal quite a few times. As we reached the top of the ridge there was a small aid station with water at a curve in the trail. It was literally in the middle of the woods and I thanked the two volunteers manning it as I refilled my water bottles. Besides drinking water/gatorade I also was trying to eat a Clif bar or some Power shots every 30 minutes. I was carrying this food in a small fanny pack while my water bottle were on my hands attached with a special harness.

The course actually flattened out at this point as we ran along the ridgeline to the next check point. I ran most of this section as I had been forced to walk/run on most of the first two sections. I wasn't worried about this however as I knew that would happen on a race of this distance. The goal during an ultra is to always move forward. 

At the 11 mile mark we hit the next aid staion and my team had some Gatorade and a few peanut butter sandwiches for me. I was still feeling pretty good and ate and drank for a quick break. I gave them my useless Garmin then I was off again to the next check point. The course still stayed relatively flat and even slightly down hill as we headed towards the shore of Devil's Lake itself. I was starting to get passed by runners quite regularly now as all the routes converged at this point. I looked at the color of their numbers howevr and could see I was holding my own against the other ultra runners and I must have been somewhere mid-pack. I had tripped over countless roots and rocks with both feet during the race so far but it was during this section that I hit a hidden rock with my right big toe so hard it brought tears to my eyes. I also cut my knee climbing over a log. As I hit the lakeshore aid station at mile 14 I stopped once again to refill my bottles. Doing some quick mental math I figured I was about 15 minutes ahead of the pace I needed to make the 25 mile cutoff time. As a safety measure the race organizers had set a time of 6.5 hours to complete the first 25 miles of the race. Those attempting the 50 miler that missed this time would be directed to finish the shorter 50 kilometer race instead. This was a reasonable precaution to keep from looking for people in the woods over all creation when it started getting dark.

Little did I know that the real race for me had just started. About a mile or so down the trail from the aid station we encountered a camping area we had to run though. It was at this point I got a little off trail missing a turn and running about 100 meters before I realized my mistake. I looked back and saw another runner making the turn so I headed back and got on the right route. We actually hit some paved roads for a short distance and then we encountered the first of what was to be two serious, serious elevation changes. The trail went almost straight up the side of this bluff with huge rocks placed as steps. I looked at the map later and this climb looked to be about 1000 meters of lung searing pain. Here is where my race plan started to unravel. As I started climbing my right hamstring started cramping and then my left as well. I tried to move off the side of the trail and try to stretch them out. I continued to down some water and walk them out but my pace had slowed considerably. Another runner offered me some electrolyte tabs and they helped alot. In 10 minutes or so I was feeling back to normal. We continued to climb and a runner I would pass and be passed by for the next 15 miles or so remarked how this reminded him of the "Golden Steps" at the top of Barr Trail on Pike's Peak. Having been on that trail myself we talked about it for a while. He had actually run the Pike's Peak Marathon on a previous occasion. Finally we reached the top and I started running the downhills and flats and walking the up hills as the trail followed the countour of the ridgeline.

At 17 miles we hit the aid station farthest away from the start. My support team was on the ball and once again refilled my Gatorade. I ate a PBJ, a banana and changed my socks. When I took my shoes off my feet were literally pruning from sweat. I noticed that both my big toenails had blood underneath from the tripping and the constant up and down pounding.The one on the right based on my experience was a definite goner and probably the left one as well. My team asked me how I was doing as they cleaned the cut on my left knee and applied some antiseptic spray. I admitted to them I was starting to cramp up on the uphills and I need to increase my electrolyte intake. After about a 5 min break I headed out on the course again. I was on pace to make the cutoff by about 10 minutes.

The next section started with a 2.4 mile out and back section on a dirt road. This wasn't too bad except for the two big hills on it. At this point I was still able to run and took the downhills as an opportunity to keep up the pace. We passed back through the aid station again and then took a right through a meadow and into the woods. Shortly after that we popped out onto the lake shore and followed a 1.9 mile trail that hugged the shoreline. This was probably the beginning of the end of my hopes to finish 50 miles. The majority of the race up to this point had been in the woods and it was fairly shaded but this section was totally exposed to the sun. The trail was also a popular tourist hiking area and so it was roughly paved although uneven. The combination of the sun reflecting off the asphalt/water and having to avoid all the pedestrian traffic along this area must have sapped my energy subtly with every step. I ran the entire section but it would come back to bite me later.

Once again we hit the lake aid station at what had been the 14 mile point the first time around. Now we around 21.4 miles and I was starting to wonder if I would make the cut off time. I had about an hour to make the 3.6 miles to the halfway point. On a normal day that would have been a piece of cake but on this day on this course it was a serious consideration. So after refilling the water bottles I headed back out on the trail.

Soon enough I hit the second serious climb of the race. Another 2.2 miles of rock steps and serious pitch. And once again my legs started cramping. I continued to tell myself to move forward and eventually they worked themselves out but it caused me to lose more time. Eventually I hit the top of the bluff, we were up so high that when I looked over the edge of the trail I got the same feeling in my legs I used to get when I did a lot of rock climbing and parachuting. There were quite a few rock climbers that had anchors points set up and were rapelling down the cliff face. I asked how their day was going as I ran by and they gave me a thumbs up. I hit the highest aid station on top of this bluff at mile 23.5, as I downed water I saw that I had 25 minutes to make the 1.5 miles to the cutoff at the 25 mile point. It seemed doable as the course now headed down off the bluff. As I headed down I started cramping up again on the steeper sections. I really had to alter my stride to keep moving. I started running scenarios through my head, weighing the options on what to do if I continued on. Would I make the cutoff time? If did could I even finish the race in my condition? If I made the cutoff and continued on what was my rescue plan if I had to stop? I really struggled mentally as I continued running down the mountain. My cramps seemed to have gone for now but blisters on my feet were starting to form and all the pounding was taking its toll on them as well. My pride told me I should continue the race but my common sense told me to call it a day. This is why I love these events, pushing yourself to the limit you learn what you are made of. Doesn't really matter what the results are its the journey that counts.

Ultimately the decision was made for me, I hit the checkpoint at mile 25 in 6 hours 31 minutes 18 seconds. That was 1 minute 18 seconds too slow to continue the 50 mile course. As I checked in they informed of that in the nicest way possible, I told them thanks but it was probably for the best anyway. Well although my hopes were dashed I now had plenty of time to finish the 50 kilometer race as I had suddenly went from having 6.5 more hours to run 25 more miles to having 6.5 hours to run 6 more miles. So I totally chilled for about 10 minutes. I drank water, chatted with my support team, ate a few more sandwiches and then headed out on what had now become my last leg. I told my support team I was probably going to take a while as my focus now was off the time and was shifted to just finishing a race.

I headed back along the same fairly flat to rolling trail I had encountered on the trip out. I was still able to maintain a running pace stopping to walk the uphills. I could feel my hamstrings twinge every time I ran downhill and I really was trying to take it easy on them. Eventually I hit the steep downhill section that I had climbed on the way out. My legs were just too shaky so not wanting to take any chances and fearing I would be stuck in the middle of nowhere and have to be rescued I started walking. I probably walked the last 2 miles downhill over the rocks and roots and trees. Once it flattened out I started running again at a slow deliberate pace, I knew I was close to the finish as I started recognizing some of the terrain. I heard the music at the finish line and picked it up as best I could. I rounded the corner out of the woods and into the meadow and everyone started cheering. I threw my water bottles off my hands towards my daughter and stopped to take a picture of the clock before I crossed the finish line. The clock read 8 hours 28 minutes and 34 seconds. It had taken me roughly 2 hours to travel that last 6 miles, but it was finished. As they handed me my finishers medal they asked me my age for age group awards. I just laughed and told them my age but not to worry about it as I didn't think it would be an issue.

My official chip finishing time for the 50K was 8:27:47.9 just as a comparison to show the difficulty level of this course here are some of my other recent race times. I finished a previous 50K last December during a blizzard here in Iowa in 7:21:42 on a much flatter course. In May I finished the Rockford Marathon (26.2 miles) in 4:29:50. What did I learn? Well I learned that some days your the bug and some days your the windshield. I learned next time I attempt his race I need to do more hill work. And last but most important I need to somehow get ahead of this cramping issue. I have had this issue on both Ultras I have done. I am taking a few weeks off from running to heal up. I am going to concentrate on riding my mountain bike and do some MTB races at the end of the month. As I write this my legs are extremely sore but I am already thinking ahead to my next 50 mile attempt. I will accomplish this distance before I turn 50 years old. I have 2.2 years to make it happen.

Alliant Energy/CVRA Races 5K

So for something like the 15th time I ran the Alliant Energy 4th of July  5K. I haven't missed this race much in the last 20 years. I even managed to make it most years I was in the military. The 8K race is the premiere road race in the area with quite a few professional runners that show up for the prize money. I usually run the non competitive 5K however. I don't need the money.

This year the course changed due to some construction in the downtown area. Instead of a out and back loop from the downtown area it was an out and back loop from the Little Bohemia area of town that is south of the downtown area proper. This was good as it made the course over all flatter and faster, however it was bad because the course itself was more remote and the amount of spectators and spectacle was significantly diminished this year.

So I got up this morning put on my running togs and drove down and parked in the parking lot at work. I did this for two reasons, first I knew parking would be at a premium and second I wanted to get some warm up miles in before the race. So after parking I jogged the .75 miles to the start outside the Chrome Horse saloon. The Chrome Horse is a local establishment that is becoming somewhat of a sponsor for local sporting events. They sponsored the New Bo Fest Half Marathon last year and also the local mountain bike club (Linn Area Mountain Bike Association) has their board meetings there. Once there I saw a huge crowd of people waiting for the 8K racers to finish so the 5K could start. I guess the race organizers had counted on everybody running at least a 12-14 minutes pace for the 8K. This was not to be and even though the 8K had started at 0700 and the 5K was slated for 0815 we didn't actually toe the line until closer to 0830. So directly after the National Anthem we were given the word to move up to the start line. In an unusual move for me I decided to start closer to the front. In the past I have always hung out in the back and then once the race started picked people off. However I had been thinking that this was causing me unnecessary delays in the initial miles of the race and kept me from hitting my goal pace of 24 minutes.So I decided to head up front to see what would happen.

When the starting gun sounded I took off at a comfortable but steady pace. We ran a few blocks east before turning right and heading south along the Cedar River. Once we made the turn we were headed slightly up hill and I was passing people as I usually do heading uphill. As we crested the hill we started a long downhill section and I concentrated on lengthening my stride and taking advantage of gravity. This section was probably .5-.75 of a mile then we bore slightly to the right and dumped out on to the flat river road. This was also the first water stop and the one mile mark. At the one mile mark I had run a 07:37 minute first mile which was faster than I had run the first mile in a few years. Maybe my strategy was working?

As we headed towards the turn around I settled into a comfortable rhythm. I tried to breath evenly and not let the few people who passed me affect my own race plan. I also passed a few people and was in the top third of the pack as we made the u-turn at the halfway point. I made the halfway mark in 11:26. I was on pace for a sub 24 minute 5K and things were going to plan.

As we headed back along the course I could see the rest of the racers stretched out along the mile or so of the course that I could see. Somehow even though it was exactly the same distance seeing all those people made the return trip seem longer. I was starting to breathe a little labored and I could feel my pace slowing even as I tried to hold it steady. I hit the railroad tracks at the 2 mile point and started up the long uphill which had previously been the downhill, funny how that works. I had forgotten to look at my watch at the 2 mile mark but about halfway up the hill I looked and I was at 18 minutes.

I kept chugging up the hill not quite sure if I was slowing or it was an illusion due to the effort I was putting out running uphill. At the crest we now had a short down hill before making the left hand turn back west to the finish. At the turn as I saw the finish line about .02 of a mile ahead. I looked at my watch and saw it was going to be close hitting that 24 minute goal. I didn't speed up but I tried not to slow any further and once again tried to make my foot turnover quicker. I crossed the finish line and looked down at my watch, I had missed my goal by 34 seconds!! My time of 24:34 is still the fastest 5K I have run in the last 4-5 years and I have improved my time on every consecutive 5K in the last 2 years. I know this won't last for ever but for now it feels good.

Post race I grabbed a Gatorade and banana and then jogged back to my car. Total mileage for the day was 4.87 in 39:54 which will be my long run for the week. I am tapering for the 50 Mile Ultra Marathon I will be running for charity next Saturday. More on that next week but until then check out my donation page.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/michaelmcelmeel/danceswithdirtdevilslake50mileultramarathon

Still here but on Hiatus

Hi folks. I am sorry for not posting for an entire month. My life has been really crazy and the creative juices were just not flowing. I have some ideas in mind I will be writing about soon. Meanwhile checkout some of my other sites which I have been updating regularly.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mikemac356
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-McElmeel/675689242
Tumblr:http://mikemac356.tumblr.com/
Dailymile: http://www.dailymile.com/people/mikemac356
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/mikemac356

Also I am running a 50 Mile Ultra Marathon in 9 days to raise funds for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Check out my page and consider a donation.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/michaelmcelmeel/danceswithdirtdevilslake50mileultramarathon?fge=ask

Thanks for stopping by
De Oppresso Liber

Memorial Day 2011

Remember those that have went before and those still to come. Thank you to all those that gave the ultimate sacrifice and those that still guard the gates of freedom.

Here is my Memorial Day post from last year, not much more I can say:

http://mikemac356.blogspot.com/2010/05/memorial-day-me-and-jerry.html

Rockford Marathon 2011

After running the half marathon last year, see this post http://mikemac356.blogspot.com/2010/05/fatslow-distance.html and setting a personal record I decided to make this marathon one of the two I will be running this year.

I couldn't have picked a worse weekend, it was 40-50 degrees and pouring rain all day Saturday. After driving the 3 hours to Rockford, I picked up my race packet and chilled in the hotel room watching the latest episode of Doctor Who on Justin.TV with the J-Man. Boochie took a nap until it was time to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings with her significant other and his parents. We had a pleasant dinner and she went over to his house to hang out while me an J-man returned to the hotel. Me being me, I laid out all my gear for inspection and prepped for the race by drinking lots of water and eating some ibuprofen. Between the strange bed,noises, and pre-race jitters I didn't actually fall asleep until midnight. The Boochie came back and I was awake again at 0100. So prior to the race I got about 4.5 hours of sleep as the alarm was set for 0530.

We woke bright and early and packed all our gear into the car in case misfortune would happen and we didn't make it back to the hotel before the 1300 checkout window. Surprisingly all the kids got up and even Boochie's boy friend arrived on time, so we were out the door by 0600. The race was to start at 0700 and even though we had some trouble figuring out where to park, I was still on line at the porto potties for the pre-race dehydration by 0630.Weather was surprisingly similar to last year. Even though the rain had stopped it was windy,overcast and about 50 degrees.

This race had pace groups similar to the Quad Cities Marathon, and I had such a good experience last time I decided to utilize a pacer this time as well. I was using this race as a training run for a longer 50 mile run I will be doing in July so I wanted to beat my pace from the Quad Cities but not kill myself. I had run a 4:44 in the Quad Cities so I decided to go with the 4:30 pace group for this adventure. That works out to 10:18 minutes per mile over the 26.2 mile course.

A few minutes prior to race start the played the National Anthem and then the gun sounded and we were off!! As we crossed the start line I hit my Garmin Forerunner GPS and fell in behind the pacer. Her name was Val and she was from PA. Over the course of the marathon I was to find out she had run about 10 marathons and many ultramarathons. As usual the first 5 miles were pretty easy, the pace felt slow but I knew it would get harder as we went. The only bother was we were headed directly into a pretty stiff wind. So stiff I had to turn my hat backwards to keep it from blowing away. They had changed the course slightly from last year but I did recognize several of the landmarks from the previous race.

There were aid stations and/or water stops at every mile marker and most also had more porto potties. This was good as I had to utilize them every mile for the first half of the race. Approximately mile 6 we headed back towards the start line and of course now we had a tailwind which was nice. The course wound along a bike path by the river which was very scenic. I was still feeling very strong at this point which was about the 10-12 mile mark.

We emerged from the bike path to hit the city streets again. Running about another .75 miles the marathon and the half marathon courses split. We said goodbye to all the half marathoners that had been running with us as we turned left up a steep hill. At the top of the hill we took a right and crossed over our previous route and headed west back through downtown. At this point the course would cross back over itself several times and we would hit some of the same roads we had run on previously.

Miles 13-16 were pretty uneventful as I still felt good. There were 4 of us counting the pacer in our group and we were all still holding conversations although the pauses were getting longer. We had noticed and commented on the fact that the mile markers seemed slightly off from what our Garmins were reading. Several of us had them and they all showed us about .25-.30 miles ahead of the official mileage.Val apologized for any discrepancy but she reminded us she had to pace to the mile markers and could not rely on the Garmins. She mentioned maybe we would be banking some mileage for the end.

Approximately mile 18 we lost our first casualty as a lady whose name I didn't catch dropped back and started walking. A little later on about mile 20 Vas, a gentleman who said he worked in a hospital and had recently lost 40 pounds started to fade and eventually we lost him. I saw him at the end and he did finish somewhere around 5 hours. So at that point it was myself,Val the pacer and another young lady from Muncie Indiana. She was running her second marathon.

Mile 22-25 were killer as usual. I think it must be some unwritten code amongst race directors that the last miles of a marathon must be in the loneliest,most godforsaken area available. Devoid of any human contact or encouragement, we ran down a bike path through a forested park. Conversation was at a minimum and I for one was concentrating on my pace and breathing. As noted earlier the mile markers seemed to be a little off. What this did was effectively put us at a faster pace than what we had planned. Approximately mile 24 I started to fade myself. it was requiring increased effort to maintain the same pace. It was at this point I decided I needed to run my own race. I reasoned this was a training run and I could still finish under my previous time for the Quad Cities marathon. So I slowed my pace slightly into something more comfortable. The pace group slowly widened the gap until they were still in sight but out of reach.

At mile 25 some joker decided that it would be funny to put a large hill on the course. I powered up this hill with the finish line in sight and took a left to head back down the hill. It was at this point I saw Val again. She had actually slowed down as she discovered what we had suspected, which was we were ahead of our goal pace. I caught up with her and as we rounded the last curve I saw my kids piling out of our car. They were carrying a the big pink sign they had constructed which said "GO DAD GO." They got an "A" for effort but I told them they needed a little more practice as a support crew. They tried to keep up with us but Boochie stopped because she was laughing so hard .Val and myself ran across the finish line together in 4 hours 29 minutes and 50 seconds.

All in all this marathon was a good time and a success. Not sure I will do it again next year as I want to try some different events. But you never know it might be a yearly event. Training for my Ultra starts tomorrow!!!

JTF-6

One of Special Forces core missions is Foreign Internal Defense. FID as it is commonly known is where Special Forces teams will deploy and train an allied country’s armed forces in techniques and tactics. This is what SF has done in Iraq and Afghanistan with some of the police forces or militias. Back in 1993 missions of this type where few and far between, however one opportunity lay with Joint Task Force 6. JFT-6 was headquartered out of El Paso Texas and was a counter drug task force that utilized U.S. military members to assist law enforcement in the interdiction of cross boarder drug movement. Due to the restrictions of the “Posse Comitatus” statute U.S. military could not actually apprehend the criminals but we could conduct surveillance and train law enforcement.

So in 1993 my ODA was asked to conduct an MTT (Mobile Training Team) mission in conjunction with the Colorado River Indian Tribes Police Department. CRIT was headquartered in the town of Parker, Arizona. Parker was a small town located on the CRIT reservation that sat along the California border and the Colorado River. My team flew into the Phoenix airport then moved by rental vehicle to the reservation arriving in the early evening after about a 3 hour drive. We checked into our hotel and since we would be meeting with our liaison in the morning we decided to go out and see what the town had to offer.

As it turned out not much, and we ended up at the local watering hole “The Red Pony.” We walked into the dark smoky bar and after our eyes adjusted noticed we were obviously the only non-locals in attendance. Well this never stopped any of us before so we found a table and ordered a few pitchers. After about an hour, an obviously very intoxicated gentleman who introduced himself as Tyrone sat done and started to talk to us. Tyrone was Native American as most of the patrons where, and he started to pepper us with questions about who we were and what we were doing in town. Not knowing who we were dealing with, we gave him our cover story of being travelers on the way to Los Angeles. We offered him some of our beer, an invitation he happily accepted. Eventually he became comatose and some of his friends came over and helped us get him to his car. Since he was obviously in no condition to drive one of us drove him home and dropped him off.

The next morning when we reported to the police station lo and behold but who should greet us in the squad room but Tyrone! He was a member of the police department and would be one of the officers going through our training. Due to our friendliness the night before he was our self appointed liaison and protector for the remainder of our deployment. Once he and the other members of the force found out my wife was Native American we practically became honorary tribal members.

So we started on a planned 2 week training schedule of physical training, land navigation, shooting and tactics instruction. Every day we would meet at the police station and take the officers through physical training. Our Engineer Sergeant built them a pull up bar and cemented it in out front of the squad room. Officers were required to do 10 pull ups prior to entering the building. After some land navigation instruction we conducted a day/night navigation course out in the desert. These officers enjoyed this training so much that they designated our land navigation course as one of the selection criteria for the Tribal Special Reaction Team.

We also instructed them in tactics and building entry techniques. One of their main concerns was drugs being moved up the Colorado River and stored in “safe houses” on the reservation. Over and over again we conducted mock building entries until finally it was time for the culmination event. Half our team would occupy an abandoned residence surrounded by fields. They would act as drug dealers while the rest of us would conduct surveillance and eventually raid the residence as advisors to the police force.

Myself and one of our Engineer Sergeants would accompany the surveillance element, while the other Weapons Sergeant and one of our Medical Sergeants would accompany the assault element. Our Team Sergeant was on the objective with the rest of the team acting as bad guys. Our Team leader remained at the Police HQ with the Chief of Police to act as command and control.

So the Reaction Team paged itself out and under our guidance conducted pre-mission planning and rehearsals. After a successful debrief of the Chief of Police the surveillance element infiltrated via patrol car about 2 miles from the residence. This house was surrounded  by wide open fields but there were several irrigation ditches that led to within a few hundred yards of the objective. It was one of these ditches we followed to within about 200 meters of the objective. We infiltrated just at dusk and the plan was to confirm the house was occupied and that there was reasonable suspicion to request a high risk search warrant. Our surveillance team remained on the objective throughout the night reporting back situation reports of any activity.

Our team members on the objective, that were acting as the opposing force, would randomly exit the structure carrying weapons or patrol around the property. Twice vehicles pulled up and cargo was offloaded into a shed and the residence itself. At roughly 0500 the ok was given to execute the search warrant. Our surveillance team switched responsibilities and became a support element as the assault team came down the gravel road laying down in the back of a pick up truck. We deployed the two police snipers armed with mini-14’s in positions of cover and concealment but where they had a clear field of fire. Being a training exercise these weapons were not loaded, however the assault team and the “bad guys” all had M16 and M9 pistols equipped with simunitions. Simunitions are similar to paintballs and by merely changing the receiver on individual weapons they could be utilized for live fire training with real time feedback. Oh and they hurt.

The assault pickup pulled to a stop in the driveway and the assault element piled out and stacked up on the front door of the residence. Announcing the warrant and getting no response they breached the door and entered the residence. We heard an exchange of gunfire from our over watch position and eventually saw our teammates being led from the house in custody. They were loaded in police cruisers that had arrived on scene after entry had been made and taken back to the Police HQ.

During the debrief it was determined that had this been an actual entry there would have been one officer down as a casualty and two of the “bad guys.” Good and bad points of the raid were discussed. The next day after an exchange of certificates and kudos we hit the road back to Phoenix to catch our flight to Massachusetts. It was training like this that kept our Special Forces teams sharp during the dark days of downsizing and general malaise in the military following the first Gulf War.

Jake and Zowie RIP 1996-2011

Not sure where to start so I will start from the ending. At 1330 hours today my son took Jake into the Animal Shelter and had him put down. He has had that dog since he was 10 and it was probably one of the hardest things he has ever had to do. It was hard for all of us, to me it felt like we were giving up on Jake. That was the emotional me, the rational me said we lost our dog 3 months ago after his sister died and he had his first seizure. Since then he has been deaf,blind,incontinent, and he slept most of the time. Last week he had a seizure and blood was coming out his nose. We loaded him in the car then, but the shelter was closed so we brought him back home and he survived a few more days. Today he started howling in pain, that was the last straw. Zowie died in her sleep back in January and I knew it was only a matter of time for Jake. I waited to write this post until they had both passed. 

So now let me start from the beginning, in 2006 we were living in Yuma AZ. Yuma Proving Grounds specifically as I was stationed there with the Special Warfare Center. Our previous dog, a beautiful Boxer, we had to give up for adoption because my wife was doing daycare in our home and the dog scared the kids.However being dog people we only went a few months and decided we needed a pet. One day when I was at work my wife and kids went down to the Humane Society to find us a new puppy. So when I got home from work, there he was, a cute little black furball that I instantly named Jake. After a few minutes of playing with the new puppy I noticed my daughter Jade had not come out to greet me. I called her name and from the back bedroom I heard her say "Nothing." When she was younger and she was only about 3 years old then, she used to say that when she thought she was in trouble. I knew something was up so I walked back to the bedroom and there was my 3 year old daughter hiding under the bed with another black furball. Being my normal understanding self I said "WTF, I thought I said one dog!!" But it was too late we had two and they named the other furball Zowie since she was female. As the story goes they entered the humane society and saw Jake in a kennel with the rest of his litter. My daughter picked him out and they carried him around checking the place out. Well when they passed back by the kennel ready to leave, there was Zowie all  by herself, all her brothers and sisters were gone. My wife has a heart as big as the planet and she couldn't stand to see Zowie all by herself. So we got two dogs.

As they grew they developed personalities they would have for their entire life. Jake was the aggressive one, always the alpha male. Until he got older he would bark at everyone he met. I had to keep him away from other dogs for most of his life.  Zowie was the opposite, the princess looking for attention. She would walk right up to strangers or strange dogs looking for a pet or a friendly sniff. Jake was a homebody and when and if they escaped our yard he would always return looking for some chow. Zowie however I used to call "Houdini dog" because she would escape and more often than not I would have to bail her out of the pound. I picked her up in doggie jails in at least 4 states and 2 countries over the years.  They both mellowed as they got older but they remained the same until the last few months. I have memories I will never forget:

The time they escaped out apartment in Germany and Jake came back of course and we found Zowie with the help of our German neighbor down at the pound.A German gentleman had tried to catch them and Jake had nipped his hand before he ran off. It was just a scratch but the guy had it bandaged like he needed 30 stitches.

The time I drove them 100 Km to drop them off for their trip back to the states in the pet transport plane

Playing catch with Jake and his tennis ball (he used to love that)

The way Zowie would walk up and rub her head on your leg looking for a back rub, then when you did rub her back her entire hind end would waggle so hard she almost fell down.

The way, until the day he died,  Jake would go outside in the morning and he would bark at the horizon as his 

front paws lifted off the ground. I think it was his way of saying, "C'mon day bring it on!!"

Zowie would jump in your lap and snuggle like she weighed 3 pounds instead of 30.

I used to take them both running with me through the woods and fields when they were younger. I think they liked that.

The last few years they became more sedentary and spent most of the day sleeping on the living room floor or by the fireplace. Zowie just quit eating one day, we couldn't even get her to eat if we fed her by hand. About a week later she died in her sleep.It is like she just decided it was time. Jake had a seizure shortly after that and he was never the same. You know how he passed.

Jake and Zowie always together in life, and always together in our memories. Rest easy my friends, all dogs go to heaven. We love you.

Sylvan Island Stampede MTB Race

So this weekend was pretty busy, after taking my NREMT practical yesterday,today I headed to Moline, Ill. for ironically enough the first race in the Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series. The race was on Sylvan Island which is in the middle of the Mississippi river. It is about 100 miles to Moline from my house so Jessie and myself took off at about 0630 for the 0900 start. He slept most of the way and when we got to the island, we grabbed my gear and walked across the pedestrian bridge to the check in. After check in we chilled out and he took some pictures of the river etc.. It was a gorgeous morning about 70 degrees and sunny.

About 15 minutes before race time, the loudspeaker from the registration tent advised us to move to the east end of the island to get ready for the start. Once again this year I am competing in the Novice (Cat3) division. With as much riding as I do I will probably remain a novice forever. There was probably about 50 racers and like I do for must running races I went to the back because I figure it is easier to pass someone than to try to stay ahead of them. More on that strategy later. The starter gave a countdown from 5 then pulled the trigger on the starting pistol. As a group we took off down a gravel walking path for about 300 meters then took a right into the woods. The entire course was to be 8 miles long and would consist of 2 1/2 laps around the island. We would start with the half lap. 

Since we were on an island,elevation change wasn't very significant but where the challenge came was the tight turns, roots, and rocks that littered the course. The island had formally housed a steel mill and you could see the remnents of loading docks and building foundations much of which we had to navigate as obstacles. This pretty much summed up the first half lap. I also discovered that I had made an error by starting in the back, I spent the majority of my time on that first part stuck behind a couple of slower riders with nowhere to pass. I eventually passed them however and was passed in turn by a different faster rider. For the first lap and a half this would be the pattern I would pass 2 or 3 riders and I would be passed by 1. So after the initial section the course dumped us back out on the same walking trail, I put it in high gear as this was a spot where you could make up some ground. I crossed the finish line and officially started lap number 1. These full laps started us towards the western end of the island which was more open but also flooded and hillier. I had fun trying to navigate the inclines directly after riding through a big mudhole or muddy section. I saw a couple big wipeouts in this section. I had a small advantage as I wear regular running shoes when I ride rather than clip in shoes. So the advantage was if I couldn't make it up the incline I could hop off and run up the hill, disadvantage was once my feet hit the mud the pedals became very slippery.

The last part of the full lap retraced the original section on the eastern half of the island, as I approached the start of the second lap I was happy to see I was still on the lead lap. Lapped riders didn't get to continue due to time constraints. I also saw my time was 1:39 for this first 1.5 laps. This second lap was more of the same, however I only passed one rider and was not passed by anyone else. Everyone had spread out quite a bit and pretty much settled into their pace. Being my second time through I was more efficient this second lap and was able to make it up and over some of the inclines that had given me issues on the first time around. I did get pretty muddy though as the course now was a quagmire in some sections. I saw a rider fly head over handle bars as he was racing downhill and his front wheel caught a particularly muddy spot.He was ok though and hopped back on his machine. I could smell the finish line once I hit the east half of the island and picked up my cadence. Once I hit that last 300 meters of flat trail I put it in the biggest chain ring and did my best to hammer it to the finish. I felt pretty good about the race, much better than my first race last year http://mikemac356.blogspot.com/2010/04/decorah-time-trials-aka-suck-fest-2010.html

I finished in 1:08:04 official placing will be posted later.

NREMT-I Practical Exam

So I took my practical (hands on) exam for my upgrade to Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate. This practical is one of the two culminating events that finalize everything I learned in my EMT-I class over the last 4 months. National Registry is a strange animal, I have already passed the course work at the Community College for EMT-I. As far as they are concerned I am done,however to actually work as an EMT-I I have to pass the national registry practical and written test. So I was a little nervous. I haven't taken a hands on test in about 4 years or since I took my practical exam for my EMT-Basic.

Last Thursday the instructor who taught our class was actually working with me at the Ambulance Service so she ran me through all the possible test stations (Thanks Mary). I wasn't totally confident though as test conditions are always different. On Friday night, before the test, I watched a bunch of youtube videos that showed other people going through National Registry stations. I woke up Saturday morning and as soon as I was conscious the test steps started running through my head, I guess I was a little tense. Anyway I took a shower, got dressed and made the 30 minute drive to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. 

When I walked into the testing area, I saw that there where about 60 people taking the practical that day. Most of these though were from the latest Paramedic class and they had different stations than the EMT-I's. There were about 10 of us testing for EMT-I. I checked in with the proctor and sat next to a few of the guys I had been in class with. I looked through the test steps again but I could definitely feel the old rush that I always feel when I take a hands on test. From the Basic Training Skills test to the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection and all the others in between I would feel a mixture of nervousness and adrenaline. Eventually the National Registry representaive came out and handed everyone there test paperwork. We filled it out as she read the rules and procedures for the test. We then got in line to start the test.

How the test was organized for the EMT-I was we had to pass a trauma assessment station, airway management, intravenous cannulization, and a random basic skill. We would get in line and be given a plastic card that told us what station to go to next. So when I was at the head of the line the first card I got was the trauma station. This was the go hard or go home moment for me. This was the station with the most points,most opportunity for failure and the most leeway for the evaluator to be subjective. It was also the station I dreaded the most since when I took my EMT-B test I failed it the first time around and had to retest.

So I made my way down the hall hoping that I wouldn't blow the very first station of the day. I entered the room and the evaluator read me the instructions for the station. The scenario was a young lady who was a victim of domestic violence and I was to do a trauma assessment and treat and transport appropriately. What made it difficult was she was unresponsive and all moulaged up with several injuries to the face,abdomen and left arm. I started my assessment and interventions, I made sure I verbalized everything I was doing and asked the evaluator for any information such as vital signs or changes as I went along. I was in the zone and had tunnel vision on the victim, I was trying so hard not to miss anything. At one point my mind went totally blank, I started to panic a little not sure where I was at in my assessment or what the next step was. However, I took a breathe and suddenly my mind started working again. At the conclusion the evaluator asked me if there was anything else I wanted to say. I realized I had not called for additional help which was critical fail criteria. I blurted out " Advanced life support is in route since I never called them off!" The evaluator asked if I was done and I said yes. I left the room feeling pretty good about that station.

So trauma was the turning point and I got it out of the way early. I went through the next three stations fairly easily as they followed the check list in my mind. No subjectivity on the evaluators part you either did each step or you did not. Airway management was accomplished using a Combi Tube which is a blind insertion away device. The Combi is a tube you insert into the trachea to keep a patient's airway open. The basic random skill was the application of the Kendrick Extrication Device. The KED is a short semi-rigid backboard that is used to maintain spine control on a patient that may be seated in a vehicle or chair. My last station was the IV station which due to all the cross training I had in the military gave me absolutely no anxiety. When I was all finished  I went back out to the lobby and waited for my results. I looked over the criteria for each station again and unless I was totally wrong I felt I had passed them all. Eventually the National Registry representative called me and asked if I had any issues with the test. While she was asking me this she had a little smile on her face. When I said no she informed me I had passed. I felt this enormous sense of relief as all the self induced stress just left my body. I thanked her, informed my classmates I had passed and walked out of the Hospital on cloud nine. I will be taking my written test next week and then I will be a Nationally registered EMT-I. That day was a good day.

My ipod: Story of my life

So as most of you know I like to run, and as some of you know I like music. So when I got an ipod for my birthday last year what could be more natural than to put music on it for running? Now I like country music,blues,jazz, opera, and even native american powwow music. I like them all, a lot, but when your running you want something upbeat, so when I run, I run to rock and roll baby!!! During my weekly long run last Saturday I started day dreaming about the music on my playlist and why it was on there. I also do a lot of day dreaming while I am running. You can group the music on my ipod by different periods of my life.

High School:

I am a product of the late 70's and early 80's having attended high school during parts of both those decades. This was also the Disco era and the era of it's crazy,radical,and anti social counterpart Punk Rock.Being a young man raised in the Middle West to a middle class family I did what was normal, I rebelled against society. Or at least I thought I did. I was rocking the mullet (spray painted blue and spiked). I also liked to wear skinny neckties with t shirts. Safety pins and electrical tape were fashion accessories. Being weird was a badge of honor along with the myriad of small buttons on my jacket pledging allegiance to BLACK FLAG or the RAMONES. Gabba Gabba Hey was my anthem!!! I would constantly visit the "record" store looking for the latest vinyl.

These songs are on my ipod:
B-52s
Rock Lobster
Dance This Mess Around
Planet Claire

Ramones
We Want the Airwaves
I Want to be Sedated
Sheena is a Punk Rocker

Plimsouls
Oldest Story in the World
A Million Miles Away

Early Military:

After high school I joined the military and was stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division. I was in my late teens and early twenties. This was the period in my life where I did a lot of stuff and I mean a lot of stuff that should have killed me or got me arrested. Like Josie Wales said though" I was always lucky in the order of things." My roommate and best friend was from Southern California and he introduced me to the heavy metal hair bands of the 80's. I still think for pure rock mania these artists remain the best. This is the period when I fell in love with Judas Priest, Metallica, Black Sabbath and others. Nothing like listening to Ozzy at level 11 on your bitchin Reel to Reel tape deck while guzzling some brews.

These songs are on my ipod:
Accept
Balls to the Wall

Dio
Holy Diver
Rainbow in the Dark

Scorpions
No One Like You
Rock You Like a Hurricane

The 90's:

During the 90's I was a starting to establish myself as a career soldier. I also made the transition from infantry to Special Forces. It was during this period that my family was young. So I alternated between raising my children and perfecting my craft as a special operator. What goes on TDY stays on TDY wasn't just a saying it was a code of honor between brothers that I will never break. I started to get introduced to all sorts of "new  music" as I spent spent many days and weeks crammed together with my team in isolation or on deployment. The "neu metal" and alternative rock that was making the scene like Nirvana and Limp Bizkit started making its way into my music collection.

These songs are on my ipod:


Veruca Salt
Seether

Kid Rock
Bawitdaba

Rage Against the Machine
Bulls on Parade
Fistful of Steel

Hole
Celebrity Skin
Miss World

The Cranberries
Zombie

The new millennium:

During the last 5-6 years of my military career my unit was constantly deployed and constantly at war. Bosnia,Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq where all places that were very familiar to us. If we weren't in a hostile fire zone, we were training to go to one or refitting from just coming back. We were finally honed killing machines, just to survive this period I became a very angry and violent man. My first reaction in any situation was to close with and destroy my adversary. Constantly moving forward, keeping the enemy off balance and seizing the initiative. Violence of action was something to be proud of. The music I listened too reflects this. It was also influenced by the immense amount of time I spent in Germany in particular and Europe in general.

These songs are on my ipod:

Rammstein
Du Hast
Asche zu Asche
Feuer Frei
Links 2 3 4
Reise Reise
Sonne
Stein um Stein

Slipknot
People=S**T
Wait and Bleed
Spit It Out
Duality

Korn
Freak on a Leash

I haven't found anything good to listen too since I left the military. It is almost like my interest in new music ceased at the same time as my status as an action guy. Maybe I will find something in the future but since I very rarely listen to music radio and I never buy CD's anymore I think I am stuck with the choices I have made. Every song has a memory though, I think Garth Brooks said that.

Passionately Purple Quest for a Cure 10K

I decided to do this 10K because my race schedule had a hole in it for the month of March. I found it on kind of short notice on one of the running websites I peruse. It was the inaugural event to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and had 5K and 10K options. I choose the 10K because I am trying to keep all my runs above 4 miles in preparation for my May marathon. It was held in the town next to mine so it wasn't that far to drive.

I picked up my race packet the evening prior to the race,so I woke up the morning of the race and put my running togs on, got in the car and headed over to the start at Francis Marion Intermediate School. I arrived about 15 min before race time so I hit the sidewalks for a mile warm up to get the old knees lubricated. This was going to be my first race without my knee brace in probably 3 years. I am trying to wean myself of the brace as my knee now only hurts when I am through running not generally during an event. Got back at the start/finish line just in time to hear the announcements and then the National Anthem was sung by some local high schoolers. This was a really small race, it looked like less than 50 runners were there for both races.The temperature was about 27 degrees with no wind.

We got the command to start and I headed out at my normal training pace. I have been noticing that my average pace on training runs has been dropping, which hasn't happened in a few years, so that is good news. I started towards the back as always and slowly weaved my way through some of the other runners as we all started to settle into our paces. The first 6/10ths of a mile were on the same street the school was located on then we turned right and headed slightly downhill for a block or so then turned right again and headed back behind the school. By this time we had all spread out into basically single file and I started concentrating on running an even pace and slowly reeling in the runner ahead of me.

Approximately mile 2 we took a left and hit our first long hill, I passed a few people on the hill as I usually can keep a decent pass going up hill. We continued on through a neighborhood and the course was either downhill or flat in this portion. We passed the first water stop, but I didn't want any at that point. We turned back towards the north and headed back towards the start point about mile 2.75. It was at this point I got passed by 2 guys wearing blue. After they passed me I concentrated on not letting the distance between us get any bigger. We both continued to pass a few people as we hit the up and down rolling hills of the course at this point. Approximately mile 3 the 5K runners turned off and the two guys in blue slowed down slightly. I thought they were 5K runners but eventually they kept going straight along the 10K course. At this point I caught and passed them and then took a left and headed back away from the start. 

The 10K course went down streets just off the main downtown area of town and eventually we hit another water stop at mile 4.5. I slowed to a quick walk and gulped down a cup of water. I picked it back up and about mile 4.7 we hit a steep downhill section. I hate those because, you guessed it, at the bottom we took a left and headed right back up the same hill. It was about 500 meters long and steep.My asthma was acting up during the race due to the wild temperature swings we have been having and the steepness of the hill just hit me the wrong way. I utilized my inhaler more than once which is unusual.  So I had a little hiccup on this hill and my pace slowed down.It was shortly after the top of this hill that one of the guys in blue passed me, he had apparently left his friend behind. I kept him in sight for the rest of the race but was unable to catch him again.

After this hill, the course continued to head back towards the start and also continued to alternate between flat and rolling terrain. At mile 5.5 we started to retrace the start of the race in reverse. As we took a left to head back up to the street we had started on, my Forerunner GPS said 6.2 miles. I hit that in 52:30 which is 2.5 minutes off 10th Group standard but not bad for a former action guy. Well since 10K equals 6.2 miles and the finish line was nowhere in sight I was a little concerned about the course accuracy. We took a left back onto the original starting street and I could see the finish line in the distance. I finished strong in 57:07 and my GPS said I had run 6.77 Miles. I confirmed this with another runner whose GPS also had the course as being long. Something they can work on for next year but overall a good race. My pace for the entire race was 8:26 minutes per mile and for the 10K was also 8:26. I ran an additional distance after the race as a cool down and with the warm up ran a total of 8 miles at a 8:40 pace.

Douchebag of the Week

As an EMT and a retired Special Forces soldier I have seen my share of douche bags. You know who I am talking about, the guys from suburbia who have there pants so low on their hips they walk like a frickin penguin or the hipster at Starbucks drinking their Latte while talking on their iphone and wearing their sunglasses indoors. My douche bag of the week is not any of those however; my douche bag is emergency medical personnel who think they are too cool for school (pardon the use of the way back machine for that expression.)

            Don’t get me wrong I have always said that if it is black and has Velcro then it by default must be cool. However gear alone doesn’t make you cool it is what you do with your gear that makes you and the gear cool. Emergency medical personnel who show up at the scene with their 511 tactical pants, titanium trauma shears, and sunglasses and then can’t do a basic assessment just look like the ring leader of the ass clown circus.    We used to call people like this a walking clusterfuck.

            EMT-B Smith pulls up to the Ambulance garage in his Ford Ranger pickup with the EMS license plates and flashing white light, the white light denotes he is EMS but doesn’t allow him to drive any faster or ignore any traffic laws. Hey, having a light is cool. On his back windows are the Star of Life and the slogan “EMS saves Lives”. He hops out of the truck ready to spring into action. In the cargo pocket of his pants are his trauma shears in tactical black, 15 ink pens in case he runs out on scene or has to do an emergency tracheotomy and his ipod with a copy of the EMS field guide. His coat is a personally obtained Level 3 reflective coat that says EMT in big reflective letters on the back. That’s in case anyone forgot when he gets on scene. He has tactical communications in the form of his pager and handheld “walkie” so he can talk the lifeguard helicopter in or coordinate with medical control should he be the incident commander. He is wearing GSG9 Addidas tactical boots in the hopes that SWAT is in need of a helping hand.

            When EMT-B Smith arrives on the scene he dons his medical gloves and heads straight for the patient, damn scene safety!!! The patient has an altered mental status, is lethargic and diaphoretic. The patient is showing obvious signs of a diabetic issue so naturally EMT-B Smith slaps a cervical collar on, backboards the patient and declares a trauma alert. Hey trauma is cool, medical issues take a backseat. PUHA or Pick Up and Haul Ass are the watchwords of the EMS douche bag. Lights and sirens are also cool. When EMT-B Smith gets to the Emergency Department he is much more interested in talking to the charge nurse about his exploits than giving a thorough report and handover. Did I also mention that patient blood pressure is always 120/80 for this douche?

            When I was in Special Forces we called ourselves “quiet professionals.” It is not the loudest or the flashiest operator that you want on the objective but that quiet professional that is tactically and technically proficient and can get the job done. This can also apply to many other professions such as EMS. Be proud of who you are and what you have accomplished as an EMT. However let your actions speak for you not your attitude or the gear you wear. The world needs Emergency Medical Personnel we have plenty of douchebags.

Freezefest 5K Race

This was my first scheduled race of the year, I haven't ran a race since the Hawkeye 50K that I did back in December. This was also my second year doing this race and I wanted to better my time from last year which was 26:44. I have been training for the Ice Age 50 mile ultramarathon that I will be doing in May so I have been putting in some longer runs. However I have been doing some speedwork at the indoor track and have been able to maintain an 8 minute mile for 3-4 miles. Don't laugh 8 minute miles for me is speedwork,it's not really about speed but about effort anyway.

Now I will get my excuses out of the way upfront. I ran a grand total of 4 miles this week prior to the race due to having the flu and generally feeling pretty low. The temperature has also changed drastically and it snowed last night. Wild weather changes usually make my asthma worse,so all in all not at optimum form for todays effort.

I pulled into the parking lot of the event and went into the lodge to checkin and grab my race packet. I was number 105 and I got the sweet red shirt that you see above. I say sweet because most of my race t-shirts are white it was nice to get another color for once.I walked back to the car and geared up for the race. The older I get the more gear I need for a simple run. Hat and gloves-check,sunglasses-check,race number-check,race chip-check, ipod-check, knee brace-check, and yak trax-check. Glad I wore the yaktrax because about an inch of snow had fallen and the roads were covered with some slickeryness.

I then went on about a mile warmup running pretty slow and taking pictures along the route. I did notice some pain in my bad knee but nothing unusual and I just chalked it up to my inactivity from the past week. When I returned to the lodge parking lot, I took the obligatory prerace visit to the porto potty and waited outside for the race to begin.

Right about the 1100 start time all 200 or so racers ambled down to the start and more or less seeded themselves according to where they thought they would finish. I put myself somewhere in the middle. We tried to listen to the starter who was talking through a bullhorn but I for one couldn't understand a word she was saying. Eventually she said the words I could understand, Runners Ready,GO!! (what happened to set? no one says set anymore.)

I started out pushing my pace a little based on my indoor times I was shooting to finish under 25 minutes for the race. We initially headed east and while snow covered the road was flat and wide, I was passing people and settling into my pace. My breathing however wasn't relaxed and I was gasping a little bit, no problem I just took a hit from the old vitamin O ( inhaler) and I started to breath a little easier. I knew I would be using the inhaler a lot in this race due to the weather change and trying to beat a specific time. A few hundred meters short of the first turnaround the race leader passed me going the other way. He was moving pretty quick as you can imagine. More runners up ahead started to pass me going the other way so I knew the turnaround was close, after a few minutes I saw it and picked up my pace a little.

Making the turn we started heading back down the same road now heading west. I was passing other runners myself as they continued east towards the turnaround. about 3/10ths of a mile past the turnaround was the 1 mile mark. My 1 mile split was 8:01. I am not sure if at this point I  psychologically relaxed or if I just got tired. What I noticed is that I started breathing easier and now I was getting passed occasionally by some runners from behind. No one had passed me in the first mile. As we headed west we passed the start point and continued on down the road I continued to try and maintain my pace but I was still getting passed by a few runners and I was no longer passing others. It is this point in the race which was about halfway where separation usually occurs and people settle into their race pace. Just prior to the second turnaround was the 2 mile mark, my split for the second mile was 8:18 so I had run 17 seconds slower. A few hundred meters later we hit the second turnaround and headed back east along the same route. I could see the finish off to my left but we still had to run almost a mile before we got there.

I decided to try and run comfortably, and attempt to maintain my place in the race standings for this last part of the course. I pretty much accomplished this only getting passed by one person in the last .75 of a mile. Just about where the start had been was the 3 mile mark, my split for the 3rd mile was 8:17 so I was maintaining a steady pace. After the mile marker we took a right turn into the lodge parking lot and ran the remaining .10 of a mile to the finish. This last .10 was uphill which somewhat slowed me down ( excuse mulligan) but I attempted to power up the hill. Unfortunately I missed my goal by :38 finishing the race in 25:38. The good news is that I ran this race 1 minute 6 seconds faster than last year. Another good stat is that the times for my last 4 5K races have all been improvements. dating back to this race last year I have run 5K's in 26:44,26:22,25:46 and today's 25:38. So I consider this race combined with the awesome post race cookies to be a win.

Sarajevo, Bosnia 99

In July 1999 I was a member of the 1st Battalion 10th Special Forces Group stationed in Boeblingen Germany just outside Stuttgart. During the last part of this month NATO decided to hold a Stability Pact Summit with many many world leaders in attendance including then United States President Bill Clinton. Security as can be imagined was a massive undertaking and the all call went out to our unit to conduct counter sniper activities. Every single sniper qualified individual in our unit something like 90 of us was deployed to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina for the summit. Each counter sniper team would have a shooter, a spotter and a commo man to operate the satellite communications. This deployment was an odd one as we generally knew when we would be back home and we weren't deploying whole Special Forces teams but only those individuals that had qualified as snipers through the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course. I would be going with only two other members of my ODA and a whole bunch of other battalion members.

On the day of deployment I drew my M24 (Remington 700) Sniper Weapons System, grabbed my gear and loaded a C130 for the relatively short flight of a couple hours to Bosnia. We landed at the Sarajevo International Airport and as we loaded our gear onto military vehicles I noticed all the bullet holes and shrapnel scars on the buildings on and surrounding the airport. During the war this area had been on the receiving end of a lot of artillery fire as well as some heavy fighting.

After we loaded all our gear we were trucked to the NATO/SFOR main base. They dropped us off at the base movie theater which would be our home for the next few days. They had set up hundreds of cots inside the theater and we all claimed one and spread out our gear. The rest of the day involved a lot of laying around and the obligatory tour of the local base exchange. Someone had neglected to tell the theater they were closed for the duration so that night I got to watch a movie while laying on my cot. The movie playing was The Mummy with Brenden Frasier. I have seen that movie a hundred times since then since it is one of my daughter's favorites, however my first time seeing it I was laying on a army cot eating popcorn in Sarajevo.

The next morning we packed our mission essential equipment and loaded into vehicles to be dropped off at our counter sniper positions. We would be deploying teams all along the motorcade route to look for any would be snipers or other problems. We were considered the outer ring of security, the inner security ring around the airport and at the summit site would be manned by the Secret Service and other national assets. Myself and my team were dropped off on one of the main streets downtown and told to find a hide site on the roof of one of the buildings facing north. We had been given our surveillance sector and our radio call signs back at the theater. We entered a likely building and climbed the stairs to the roof. The building was deserted and about 7 stories tall. It had a nice flat roof with a small ledge around the edges. From its roof we had a clear field of fire throughout our whole section of street to the east and west.

We started to improve our position as we would be there for the next two days. we had been put in place the day prior to the summit and would stay until its completion. I placed some sand bags on the concrete roof that I had been carrying to act as a platform and reduce the recoil of my weapon. While our commo guy set up the radio and made a situation report (SITREP) myself and my spotter made a range card of our sector. We used a laser range finder and plotted out all the major terrain features,buildings and likely hide sites and got accurate ranges to them so I could dial it in to my M24 if needed. One of the buildings we took a range to was the Sarajevo newspaper building which had been heavily damaged and from what I was told was left as a memorial of the war. It was a large multi story building and had been so utterly destroyed you could see right through it.

So for the next 24-36 hours we scanned the opposing rooftops and streets for any suspicious activity. Every 4 hours a SITREP was called in and we would switch of being "on" the gun every few hours. It had initially started out blazing hot and sunny but as the sun moved across the sky the clouds built up and it started to rain. We constructed some poncho "hooches" for shelter by bungee cording them between the antennas that sprouted from our roof. Occasionally boredom would over take us and we would spot a pretty girl and follow her progress down the street through our binoculars, we were in the heart of Sarajevo downtown and the streets were buzzing with activity. As the day wore into night we switched to night vision goggles and thermal imaging to continue our surveillance.

The next morning the sun came up and burned off the early morning mist that hung low in the valley in which Sarajevo sits. It was good to see old BOB (Big Old Ball) again as the night had been somewhat uncomfortable and chilly on the roof top.I whipped out my camp stove and brewed up some coffee and ramen noodles while I took in the scenery. I wondered what it would have been like to be trapped in this city during the recent war, as sniper fire and artillery shell rained down from the surrounding mountains. I also wondered how a city that had hosted an Olympics could have turned out to be in such a mess. As the morning wore on we got word that the motorcade would be heading our way shortly. We had been getting updated over the radio on the arrival of all the Heads if State at the airport.

We went on a higher state of alertness as the motorcade moved our way along its route, as the first sedan passed our vantage point we continually scanned our sector for movement. Black sedan after black sedan passed us. We tried to make out the little flags flying from the hoods but they were too small to see from our vantage point. Finally we got word the POTUS would be passing by shortly, a large black van with a multitude of antennas passed below us and then the sedan carrying President Clinton went by followed by another van. It was unconfirmed but it seems like our communications went out for a short time after the first van went by, like they had been jamming.

Once the President went by more dignitaries passed us and we continued to keep a sharp lookout. This was anti-climactic however as the motorcade would be taking another route to egress the conference and our job was essentially done. Eventually we got the word to pack up and move to street level for exfiltration.We waited until we saw the vehicle pull up in the alley behind our building and we quickly moved down the interior stairway and piled into the back. The truck took us back to the NATO base where we spent the rest of the evening swapping war stories with our buddies about what they had seen. One of the best I heard was that a French soldier at the airport had been tackled by the Secret Service because he thought it would be a good idea to try and get a peek at Bill Clinton through his sniper scope!!! True or not that was a good rumor.

The next morning we packed our belongings and boarded a plane for home. On arrival we turned in our weapons and I headed for my apartment and my family. I was tired but satisfied I had once again made the world safe for democracy or something.