JD's return to Camp Merrill

Originally written in an email to friends I served with in 2/75 (1984-1987)

23 years after my first visit I finally had an opportunity to go back
on to the hallowed grounds of Camp Merrill. I was there to participate
in the Mountain Ranger Duathlon <http://www.5thrtb.org/rangerrun.htm>
along with several adventure racing friends. The duathlon starts with
the 5k run, followed by the 34k bike course and finally a 2 mile run.

I had set a goal of 2:40 for myself. I did this knowing little about
the actual courses. I knew the basics of the terrain out there, so I
knew there would be lots of climbing - I didn't know how much! Camp
Merrill's Rangers put on a great event and the course maps were
helpful in setting my goal time.

My runs were a bit slower than my typical trail run pace, but those
hills out there are killer! The 5k is an out and back course, or
should I say down and up course!! Yep, run down the fire-road for ~1.5
miles, then turn around and run up it! I ran my typical 5 miler pace
(~7:30/mile) on the downhill, but slowed way down on the uphill. I
needed to save something for the bike leg.

Had no way to know how many people were actually doing the duathlon
except for the number of bikes piled up in the transition area. When I
got there at the end of the 5k (first run leg) a large number of bikes
seemed to have dissappeared - I knew to where!

I had a good transition to the bike. Looks like about 2 minutes (much
better than my previous triathlon attempts). Started the climb just
behind some guy
- managed to get ahead of him relatively quickly and I could see
several more bikes in front of me. I started picking them off one by
one - nothing easy about it the climb to winding stair gap - it's
horrible (but in the best way!!!)! I think I was actually catching the
tail end riders from the bike race (bike race started at the same time
as the 5k) before I got to the top. One guy caught and passed me on
the bike - I wasn't pleased, but he was strong on the bike for sure! I
tried to keep him in sight, but there was too much climbing for me to keep
with him.

By the time I got to the top of the main climb (winding stair gap), he
was well out of sight. Coming down from Winding stair gap was awesome!
My top speed was about 37 mph. I'm sure there was some crazy folks out
there faster, but that was comfortable for me. Passed a bunch more
people - I have no idea how many were from the bike race and how many
from the duo - but I did my best to keep up the pace. About 3 miles
from the end of the bike leg, the terrain gets hilly again. Short
uphills followed by short downhills. Some of those uphills were very
tough! The bike leg ends on the same section of fire road that the 5k
used - that means the last 1.5 miles was all uphill!

Made another good transition (just under 2min) to the second run leg
and took off with the one guy who passed me on the bike in sight. I
must have re-gained enough on the downhills to negate most of the lead
he managed to get on me during the climb. The last run leg is similar
to the 5k - down and up the same section of fire road. This time the
total distance was only
2 miles. I was able to catch and pass my arch nemisis (he really did
piss me off by passing me on the bike) before the turn-around. More
importantly I was able to hold him off for the climb back to the
finish line. I crossed the line at 2:34:06 - beating my goal.

When I came across the line, the volunteers handed me an info sheet to
fill out my race information - they used this to immediately calculate
the placements for each category. While I was far from first, I did
come in 3rd for my age group. This pleased me greatly as I would be
able to take home a very nice plaque.

After the awards, my friend and I went over to watch the Hooahs in
action demo. It was very cool and brought back a bunch of memories.

Funny to think how much I missed doing that stuff. I envy those of you
who stayed with it. I don't regret getting out, but I sometimes wonder
how my life might have been different had I stayed in. Revisiting Camp
Merrill was a good thing for me. It was an inspiration to see the
young soldiers pushing themselves to be their best.

I thought I'd share this story partly because I know several of you
served with the cadre at Camp Merrill, but mostly because I want to
hear your stories about things going on with your lives and families.

Take Care Brothers!
RLTW!

2008 Mountain Ranger Duathlon

Originally posted in the trailblazer adventure racing forums

Great Courses, great event! The Rangers in Action Demo is worth sticking around for as well. Well organized and kept on schedule. All of the Rangers and volunteers were awesome! Thanks!

I was there to do the duathlon along with Coker and Pedlgrinder. I had set a goal of 2:40 for myself. My runs were a bit slower than my typical trail run pace, but those hills out there are killer! Had no way to know how many people were actually doing the duathlon except for the number of bikes piled up in the transition area. When I got there at the end of the 5k (first run leg) a large number of bikes seemed to have dissappeared - I knew to where!

I had a good transition to the bike. Looks like about 2 minutes (much better than my previous triathlon attempts). Started the climb just behind some guy - managed to get ahead of him relatively quickly and I could see several more bikes in front of me. I started picking them off one by one - nothing easy about it the climb to winding stair gap - it's horrible (but in the best way!!!)! I think I was actually catching the tail end riders from the bike race before I got to the top. One guy caught and passed me on the bike - I wasn't pleased, but he was strong on the bike for sure!

Coming down from Winding stair gap was awesome! My top speed was about 37 mph. I'm sure there was some crazy folks out there faster, but that was comfortable for me. Passed a bunch more people - I have no idea how many were from the bike race and how many from the duo - but I did my best to keep up the pace.

Made another good transition (just under 2min) to the second run leg and took off with the one guy who passed me on the bike in sight. I managed to catch and pass him before the turn-around and hold him off for the climb back to the finish line. I crossed the line at 2:34:06 - beating my goal.

Lots of awards won by trailblazers out there! My time got me 3rd in my age group. Pedlgrinder came in the top 5 overall and got an award for his age group (I'll let him fill it in so the record stays straight!). His partner Karen did the 15K run and she also brought home an award plaque.

I met Lorna for the first time, and she brought home an award as well!

Coker came in very close to his goal time and better than his last year's time.

Great showing by the trailblazers for this event. Congrats for all the participants. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Santee State Park Challenge 2008 Off Road Triathlon

Originally posted on the trailblazer adventure racing forums

Another great day of Racing today for the Santee State Park Challenge. This was the final race in the three race Challenge IV racing series. Despite morning thunderstorms with lightening, the race started with only a short delay. Chris and Lisa put together an excellent event that was made even better with the unpredictable weather. Big thanks to the Williams and the great sponsors of the series. Also big thanks to those who braved the stormy weather to volunteer their valuable time to make this event happen.

While the field was not as full as the previous two events, the competition was as stiff as ever. Series contenders Chuck Hiers and Adam DeWitt were on hand as well as series 3rd place Steve Anstoetter - and believe it or not series fourth place - ME! On the ladies side, series 1st and 2nd place Katie Felton and Theresa Dawson were ready for the final showdown.

Several trailblazers were on hand - I met both Bill Jordan and Dwight Shuler. While they were not contenders for the series bragging rights, they were definitely contenders for the day's bragging rights.

The weather was not extremely pleasant for the start of the race, but it certainly was not at the level of the Checkpoint Zero race! The course was very wet and intermittent showers kept the racers cool. During the paddle we even had a brief spot of sun (I think this is when Chris called in a favor from the big guy upstairs).

Two events were offered at this race. A short course and a long course. The short course was 3mi, 3mi, 7 mi and the long course was 7 mi, 6 mi, 10 mi (trail run, kayak, mt bike respectively). Most competitors opted for the long course, but a fair number tested themselves on the short course.

The run was out and back for what I measured to be 7.6 miles (to the kayak put-in). My personal rhythm was thrown when I had to stop shortly into the run to re-tie my shoes! What a rookie mistake - I failed to double knot the laces! Maybe half a dozen people passed me when I stopped, and that is always tough to take! I managed to re-catch two of the people who passed me. In the end, I wasn't thrown by much, as my run time and average pace were faster than my goal.

The kayak transition was not as fast as it could have been. I need to work on that a bit. I had trouble getting my PFD zipped up and I just felt a little slow. Thanks to the guys who assisted us with the boats. That is a physically demanding job!

In the kayak I was hoping to make up some additional time. I tried, but those guys with those really nice composite boats (and strong paddlers!) are tough to catch. I managed to pass two more in the boat, but couldn't catch up with a third I had my sights set on. I measured the paddle at just under 5 miles. I was on track to meet my finish time goal at this point.

The bike transition was slow as well. I was passed in the transition area by a guy who I had passed near the end of the run. He was really strong on the paddle and caught me as I exited my boat.

He got out ahead of me, and I set a goal of keeping him in sight. He got away a little at the beginning, but I managed to catch sight of him less than a mile in. This gave me a boost in motivation and I was able to reel him in. I was surprised to pull away a little before running off the course about 3.5 miles in. Just before running off the course, my calves started to cramp up. He caught me when I stopped to turn around, and got back on the trail in front of me.

I was keeping him in sight, while playing the mental games with my calves....talking to myself out loud, trying every different riding position I could imagine - stretching whenever I had a brief moment where I could slow up on the pedals....it was mentally the toughest part of the race.

The bike course was kind of a figure 8. Chris was manning an aid station that we would pass twice at the top of the 8. I have to give some props to Chris - he was cheering me on big time - he had seen how close I was to the guy in front of me. When I came past Chris the second time, I still hadn't caught the guy, but Chris' encouragement gave me a mental boost to kick it up a notch. Somewhere in there my calves had begun to settle down a little bit.

After we passed Chris that last time, we were on the running course, so I knew how much we had left. I could see the guy in front of me and I pushed for about all I had to catch him. I rode his back wheel for a while after catching him - I guess I thought it would give me a little rest. Not really, but I saw an opportunity to pass the guy, and in the space of a mile or so, he and I switched places twice. The second time I passed him, he had stopped pedaling, and I could tell he was fighting a calf cramp. I knew this was an opportunity I had to capitalize on so I dug deep and convinced my own calves that they were stronger than that guy's calves. I managed to pull away from him - to my surprise!

As I got close to the end, I kept pushing as I did not know what my final time was and it was now a race against the clock. When the clock came into view, I could see that I had just missed my target. I crossed the line at 2:46:09. My target was 2:45. Despite missing my target, I'm pleased with the result.

I measured the bike course at 9.3 miles

This result put me in what looked to be 11th place overall. The day's winner was Chuck Hiers. This means he had a complete sweep of the series. Nice work! In the top five were (not in any particular order - I don't know the actual finishing times) Adam DeWitt, Bill Jordan and Dwight Shuler. I don't know who the other person was in the top five.

In the Ladies category, Katie Felton took the win and the series win, Theresa Dawson took second for the series. I think she was second for the day as well. If I understood it correctly, Lisa Williams took the win for the Ladies short course. Nice Job!

Thanks to all the competitors who made this a fun event as well.

jd

My Lesson learned from this race!
I'm not pleased with my calf cramps. Although I managed to get myself well hydrated starting on friday morning, I feel like my dinner on friday night was not sufficient. Next time, I'll repeat the meal (or close to it) that I had prior to the Clemson Challenge.

Clemson Challenge 2008 Off Road Triathlon

Originally posted on the trailblazers adventure racing forums:

I thought someone would have posted up by now - especially since I saw at least 3 other frequenters of this board out there - PedalGrinder, David M and Toby (username = Coker?). The Clemson Cycling club put together a great event - very well organized and lots of schwag!

The event started out with a run somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 miles. It consisted of three loops. Loop 1 started up the fire road then back towards the transition area on single track. This hill wasn't a killer, but definitely seperated the strong runners from the less strong runners.
Loop 2 started as we came past the start finish / transition area and down the fire road the opposite direction. At the parking area it changed to single track and went STRAIGHT UP (ok, so not really straight up, but it was long and steep!)!. This loop was cool as it took us down past the downhill / freeride course. Loop 2 came back on itself at the parking lot and then past the start/finish/transition area for loop 3 (a repeat of loop 1).

The paddle leg was staffed by a number of extremely cool volunteers. As I approached, they were calling out to me "Which boat?". As I pointed and called out the description, they were already moving the boat into the water! I jumped in and they gave me one heck of a shove to get me going!
The paddle course was roughly a diamond shape on Issaqueena lake. Four bouys marked the course, and we had to make two laps. Again, as I approached the takeout, the volunteers were right top of things and pulled me right into a good spot for me to disembark.

The short run back to the transition area was the toughest part of the course! My legs were beat from the run and from being immobile in my boat for nearly 50 minutes.

The bike leg started with something close to 2 miles on fire road before leading into some prime singletrack. The course was a bit different from advertised as apparently, less than a week before the event, a new trail was cut around and through some fresh clearcut by Tyler and ?clemson cycling club?. Although the trail was new (and still needed some compacting and further use), the bike leg of the event was excellent.
About six miles of singletrack spit you back on the fire road in the same location you entered. Then the final 2 miles to the start / finish line.

The same guy who won winter challenge 2008 (Chuck Hiers) won this event as well. This one he won with a finish time of 1:57 and change. If I recall correctly, Pedalgrinder came in 2nd for the Men's individual (2:02?).

I finished near the top ten (12th overall - I think there was 2 relay teams in front of me, so I might have gotten 10th place for Men's individual) with a time of 2:19:50. While I wasn't smoking the course like the winners, this was a very big event for me. Based on feedback from JimK, Labrat, Toby (Coker?) and a few others in the Greenville chapter, I completely re-evaluated my nutritional approach for this event. I arrived at the event well hydrated and with a supply of e-caps, gels and gatorade (my after race drink).

In my previous 2 tris of this type, my calves gave me wicked cramping on the bike legs. With this event I had only the light twitches in my calves about 7 miles into the bike leg. Thankfully, I was able to work through the twitches (stoked!). While this tells me I'm still not preparing myself properly, or getting the proper nutrition during the race, I learned a bunch about what I need to do for the next event. Thanks to those guys for the assist! I felt GREAT at the end of the race, and I could actually walk this morning!

I have to offer many Thanks to all the volunteers. This event was run very smoothly. Congrats to all who participated!

Winter Challenge 2008 Off Road Triathlon

Originally posted on the trailblazers adventure racing forums:

GREAT Event!!! Thanks to Chris and his family for putting this together. the course was killer, the weather was awesome, and I beat my finishing time goal! (by just under 4 minutes). The initial results that were posted had me in 17th place. While not a podium finish, I'm pleased with it since it is only my second event of this type.

I struggled with calf cramping almost all the way through the bike leg of the race. Initially it wasn't bad, and I was able to stretch my calves and I felt better, but around mile 8 it really started getting bad. I lost 3 positions in that eigth mile, but was able call on some reserves to catch the 3rd guy in the final push, and I finished on the rear wheel of the second guy. (famous last words) if I only had another 100 meters.....

I was able to meet up with a couple of trailblazers and chat for a few minutes. Good to meet pedelgrinder and John F (I think that was him).

Hope the guys running the double made it through ok. There was definitely some strong competitors out there.

Again, a great event and I'm already looking forward to next year's!