MCRD Boot Camp Challenge 2010

At around 10:15 this morning, I was certain I'd only do the Boot Camp Challenge this one time and never again.

By 10:30, I was already plotting to put together a competitive corporate team for 2011.

Okay.  So how'd the day really go?

I left Garden Grove before 5AM, needing to be at Jenny's by 7, since I'd be riding with her to MCRD.  I'm still borrowing Robert's car, and to get on post, I'd need registration and insurance...which I don't have.  Actually, the plan was to ride with Jenny and rendezvous with Michael at his house, and we'd caravan to the base.  I was so far ahead of schedule, I stopped by the office in Carlsbad, changed and used the bathroom...and still was early to Jenny's.  We left her house in Del Mar, and got to Michael's way early too.  And it was literally a hop, skip and jump (okay, not literally) to MCRD.

It was a little congested getting on base, but we had lots of time, found the rest of our team, Christy and her husband Jimmy, and Michael, our captain, checked us in.  5-person teams were in the final wave and didn't have a scheduled start until 9:50.  I took the time to loosen up, jog and grab some water and bananas.  The assembly site was packed and festive.  Even by 9AM it was already getting warm.

I watched the elite runners go off first and made sure I was at the final stretch 15 minutes later too see the winner cross the finish line.  The guy, Glenn Racz (great name), was cruising and finished around 16:50 something.  I had no idea what lay out on the course.  I only knew what was on the course depiction.  Out there, in the heat and dust were drill instructors and obstacles of torture.  I've done confidence and obstacle courses before...way back in 1983 when I was in Pensacola.  What was this going to be like?  I was sure it was not going to be your standard 5k.

I reconnected with the team about 10 minutes before the start.  The starting chute was already packed with other teams vying for position.  We should have been relegated to the back, but we ducked the tape and took up a great spot on the left near the front.  The start was delayed for some reason, and 10AM ticked by and we still hadn't been given the horn.  I was getting anxious.

They finally let us loose and I took off with my team, weaving through the slower competitors who'd lined up in front of us.  I felt great.  I wasn't running at max, but I wasn't saving myself either.  I was caught up in the moment.  I was keeping abreast of Michael, our fastest runner, and cruising.

The first obstacle was a set of hay steps: 3 steps up and over and 3 down; with a DI on top.  I bounded up and over, only to stick my foot in a crease in the final step and -- PING -- my left ankle rolled inward.  Oh no.  Please say that didn't just happen.  No way was I going to drop out, but how the heck was I going to finish 2.5 miles through a phalanx of drill instructors looking for weakness?  I pressed on, praying it wasn't too bad and the pain would subside.

We hit another stack on the perimeter road and I navigated that one okay.  My confidence was returning as we turned onto the obstacle course, having completed a little over a mile of mostly just running.  I wouldn't normally bother with water on such a short race, but I was warned to take advantage of water anytime you can along the course.  So I did.  Two cups: one down the gullet, one over the head.  I also opted to run through the water wash down chute too, though I didn't notice the swale in the middle and, again, aggravated the ankle.  Damn!

But now we were on the guts of the course and began vaulting over a series of logs, under a log and then through a tunnel...I think.  I lost track of the exact sequence.  There may have been a small wall to mount and cross too.  At one end was the "weak sauce" side, with hay bales available for a boost.  The macho me couldn't handle having a DI scold me for taking the easy route, so I went for the full monty.

Once through that series, I suddenly realized why I'd passed so many able-bodied runners on the road.  Perhaps most of them knew to save themselves, but I was already spent. I couldn't believe how fatigued I had become in just 100 yards.  Ahead of me lay the first push up station.  I can do these.  I dropped and rattled off 10 before a DI could get on me and demand more.

Next up, I think there was another wall.  On the other side was a wide ditch.  WTH?  Was this Survivor?  Am I supposed to make the leap or can I just run in and back out?  No one was giving me orders, so I did the macho thing (again) and gave it a full leap.  Nope.  Not happening.  Instead of waiting to be told, I backtracked and tried again.  Still couldn't make it, but I was turning into a noodle and no DI was getting on my case, so I jumped in the pit, ran through and moved on to the fox hole.  It was just a short, deep hole: in and then out.  Easy?  I was starting to lag now, and was worried about stumbling.  So I took a little time. Wrong.  I got some "motivation" and was trying to dig deep and find some athletic prowess again.  I leaped out and made a great show of effort until I got beyond him and slowed again to try to bring my HR down below max again.

Another set of tunnels and a sandy crawl under a low net of "barbed wire" -- which was easy.  I zipped through tunnels pretty fast and by now I cared not about the sandy and dirt caking on my sweaty body.

I lost touch with Michael and could see him up ahead a ways.  I had no idea where Jimmy, Christy and Jenny were.  After jogging across a bridge, I took a short walk/breather and looked behind for them.  I was coming up on the next push up station, so I had to start churning the legs again and make a good show.  I pumped out 10 again and jumped up, pretending like I was still in the race, but inside, I was just in survival mode.  Was I done yet?  Was the rest just a finishing run?

No.  Beyond another (welcome) water wash down there was yet another series of logs - over and under.  I did my best and found another water station.  I grabbed two cups and couldn't swallow.  I couldn't even calm my breathing to take a gulp.  I walked for at least 15 seconds before being able to get them in me.

The rest was a shorter repeat of the start: over two more hay stacks and then a final straight away.  Michael was waiting in the shade of a tree.  We had to cross the finish together as a team, so I waited with him.  Jimmy arrived next, then Christy.  By now, I was feeling recovered and Jenny came down the stretch.  She didn't have the luxury of a rest stop and we formed up abreast for the final stretch.

It was no sprint.  We linked arms and crossed into the finishing chute in 25:2x something.  We didn't know it, but we'd be fourth in our division, just out of the medals.  Had we registered as a corporate team for Cadence, we'd have picked up a 3rd place finish. Oh well.

Still, I had a great time (in retrospect), and I want to remember this and see if I can scare up a ViaSat team for 2011.  Now that I know what it takes, I'll be prepared and more competitive.

My ankle?  It's sore.  My right calf knotted up slightly again, too.  And I must have banged my right knee on a log or something.  But I'm okay, and with a little rest and recovery, I'll be back on the marathon training track again.

Wish I had pictures.