22 to the U

The big event finally came and now its finished!

Starting 0000 on Sunday 22 May the 22 to the U kicked off with two AFROTC Det 910 team, one with 4 and one with three 3 members, and one large PLU AROTC team of about 8 people.  The task of the event required the team to ruck 45 miles from the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron (STS) on McChrod Field at JBLM with a 45 lbs. ruck on their backs.  Some teams did this in a relay style where one cadet was rucking at a time while others were all in it together and each cadet had their town 45 lbs. ruck.

I was tasked with driving my truck as suport with Mike a volunteer medic assigned to the 22nd STS, and Phil Tsui who took pictures the whole way.  Driving through the night took a toll on us and we all struggled to just stay awake, but it was nothing compared to the individuals who actually had the rucks on their backs and went the distance.

The most inspiring part of the event was the last 11 or so miles where every member of the two Air Force teams got out of the support vehicles and ran to the Medal of Honor Memorial at the UW.  The last 11 miles was the only leg of the route where there were any hills, but it allowed the teams to finish together in 12 hours and 56 minutes.

Here is a link to the fund raising page with a description of the event:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/222U/special-operations-warrior-foundation

We didn't raise as much money as we had hoped to but every dollar donated still went to an amazing cause.

Here is a map showing the route we took:

View Larger Map

My first big run.

Last week on Saturday my friend Jamie posted on her facebook that she had just ran 18 miles in preparation for a marathon.  For some strange reason I commented on her post saying:

"Your crazy! The next time you want to run 18 miles I'll go with you..."  

The following Saturday rolls around and I find myself out at Golden Gardens in Ballard at 9:30am getting ready to run 15 miles.  My main goal was to just finish the run not really knowing how to gauge my ability for that kind of distance.  I have never ran anything over 5 miles and those runs usually have been with a group of guys whose ability is well beyond mine where we ran around a 7min./mile pace with hills. 

We started out at a nice speed and maintained around a 9:30 min./mile pace.  The first half we pushed all the way through only stopping for crosswalks and I felt great.  Then on the last mile and a half I decided to open it up and run.  I didn't have any fancy way to measure my pace but I probably ran that last little bit at a 7 min./mile pace and it felt great.   I thought at the end of it all I would have died and my legs would have fallen apart but I'm still walking.

In conclusion to the run Jamie made the two of us a big batch of creeps.  Not really knowing how many I ate, we measured my creep consumption by noticing that I had enough to eat half stick of butter, while leaving about four for her. (that's all she wanted.)


All I'm trying to say is, I think I'm ready for a half marathon...

Here's the route we took there and back:  

View The First Big Run in a larger map