Green Beret Fitness (GBF) Operation IRON PEAK ’23

2023.07.29 06:30:00

Green Beret Fitness Operation IRON PEAK – A half marathon distance with 4,400 feet of elevation in the Cascades (Washington, USA). A fun and pivotal event.

Training and Preparation

Very little has changed since my last event, Operation TWO ZERO, on June 16th. Gym 5-6 days/week (strength + WOD), 4-5 miles of walking/rucking daily, some slow-paced running 1-2 days/week, and mobility 4-5 days/week.

The new cycle at AMP has been great for lower-body muscle endurance with high reps and sets. Monday’s are back squats and Friday’s are back-rack reverse lunges.

An obvious area for improvement is to add more weight consistently to my daily walking.

Travel

Gear

Pack: VOG Global Assault Ruk

I recommend this pack (see Op OCALA for more details). I imagine there are other packs out there that are similar and would like. Moving forward, I need to tape my back because I get some slight rubbing. All in all, it’s comfortable and works well with the required gear. I did a training ruck recently with it and do not recommend using a plate since it sinks to the bottom.

Outfit

• Hiking pants w/snacks, chapstick, whistle, phone, and wallet in pockets
• T-shirt
• Baseball cap
• Goodr Sunglasses
• Spandex
• Sports Bra
• Ininji Toe Socks + Darn Tough Socks
• Salomon X Ultra 4 Low Hiking Shoes – Women’s
• Whoop
• Garmin Fenix 7
• Flip Belt w/battery pack/charger

Packed

• Front/side/belt Ruck Pockets: med kit, wipes, some snacks, pocket knife, salt tabs, Garmin InReach Mini 2, headlamp, light hat, light gloves, Mechanix Work Gloves, Life Straw, Salt Tabs
• Small Dry Bag: extra socks, extra t-shirt, shorts, extra headlamp, batteries, eye drops, disposable contacts, chem light
• Additional required items on GBF list: emergency shelter, compass
• Microspikes
• Trekking poles
• Extra shoes: Salomon Trail Running shoes
• SOS Nalgene – full 1L Nalgene of water – extra weight, but not dead weight
• Other: Additional medical bag – extra med type supplies, extra straps, tape
• Food & Water (see nutrition below)
• 2 local beers – DRU BRU Lemon & Lime Lager & DRU BRU Hyak Haze

Reflection: I knew I wouldn’t need the microspikes, but they added some weight to my pack. Additionally, I didn’t plan on using my Trekking poles and succeeded, but similarly were used to add some weight and have just-in-case. My pack weighed ~20.8 pounds dry.

Nutrition

Pre-Race

• Thursday: liquids and solids, nothing out of the ordinary
• Friday morning/afternoon: small breakfast, some snacks, Pedialyte, tacos, a few light beers, water, and electrolytes
• Friday evening: pizza, cheesy bread, chips and salsa, a cookie, a few more light beers, and lots of water and electrolytes
• Saturday morning: Some water and electrolytes and a small bite of “corn bread”

Reflection: I wish I had something else for breakfast on Saturday morning. The bread was dense, so I didn’t feel like I could eat enough. I should have gotten a pre-packaged muffin or something similar from the gas station when I picked up my water.

Race

• 3L water bladder (full)
• 1L Smart Water bottle (near full) with 2 Liquid IV
• 2 Snickers, 1 Reeses Sticks, 3 mini gummy bear packs, 1 caffeinated sport beans, 2 Clif Blok (1 caffeinated), 2 liquid IV packets

I ate the Reeses Sticks, 1 Snickers bar, 2 gummy bear packs, 1 salt tab, and a few sport beans. There were no aid stations.

Reflection: I didn’t eat enough, but wasn’t feeling hungry. I drank water consistently. The Liquid IV in the bottle was different from my usual second bladder, so I sipped it less often. I ended up chugging it on my way down since I was cramping. I liked having it in the bottle and would do it again, but I need to drink it. I also need to take more salt tabs. I should have taken a painkiller at some point to help keep my knees more comfortable, but by the time I remembered it was too late.

Admin

We got to the parking area right before 6 am, as planned. Permits were required. I started to fill them out and put everything where it belonged. I didn’t read the directions. Not paying attention to details resulted in me running back and forth between the permit stand and the car to get everything sorted out. I also had to use the bathroom. Before I knew it, Gregg said we had 3 minutes until the start time (0630). My sister ran back to the car to get chapstick. There were 30 seconds until we started. Her water was still out and my food and water were also not packed. I took a breath and told myself it was okay to start a minute or two late so we could get everything in our packs. I also wanted to drop a roll of TP to the bathroom and donate it to anyone that needed it.

Long story short, I missed all of Admin. Do not recommend.

The Plan

I planned to stay with my sister, Randi, for the entire event. That being said, I did map out a plan for what I thought was the dog tag time of 6 hours. I was reserved about the paces since I didn’t know the true pace we could move at or what the trail had in store.

Honestly, I was there to have a good time. The plan was there more for my guidance to make sure we were moving well enough to not get stuck hiking all day. Gregg’s advice was if the first climb took closer to 2 hours then you should assess whether or not it made sense to continue.

I’ll detail the ruck and also give some insight into my internal conversations throughout the event.

The Ruck

Having a Good Time

The other 10% was when I knew she couldn’t get lost. We caught up to Charlie about 40 minutes in and continued rucking with him.

Internal Conversation: I don’t think we’ll make it in the 6-hour time frame, and that’s okay, but if I had to wake up tomorrow morning and do this again, I think I could do it in 6 hours. Am I being over-ambitious? A little cocky? Maybe. But I’ve been training and will need to be able to do that.

It was generally flat and we moved with pace. Randi’s knees were hurting, so I advised her to take a painkiller before the next climb or have one handy. I didn’t follow my advice because I felt pretty good even after the steep downhill.

Anyways, in standard GBF form, the trail was overgrown. I was pretty sure I saw some bear shit, which was confirmed later by Charlie and Clint. I stayed aware, but no bears sightings. I’m sure they saw us.

Internal Conversation: I would like to see a bear, but somewhere wayyy over there.

I peed at some point. Solid. I’m hydrated. We keep moving along. Next up was another big climb and then the summit climb. The switchbacks were easy to navigate (just don’t fall off the mountain) so I continued up. I stopped occasionally to check back to see if Randi was in my sight. At a certain point, I lost her and waited for a bit. She still didn’t show. I was pretty confident she was fine, but I backtracked down ~0.15 miles and waited. She appeared, whew.

We kept on moving and she assured me everything was fine, but she would just be moving slowly. I think her exact statement was “I’ll keep going, I just don’t know how fast.” There was one split I knew of that would take us way off track if we went the wrong way. Once we were approaching, I closed our gap and we took the split together. We continued to move. I continued to pause when the gaps got bigger. I could see another candidate not too far ahead of us.

My Wheels are Turning

Internal Conversation: I know I’m not here for dog tags, but I do think I could still make it with a push up this last climb. I’ll start the summit and see how it goes from there.

I got to the turn for the final summit climb. I yelled down to Randi to tell her to turn left when she got up. I planned on safely climbing the summit, but wanted to push my pace. As I started I was moving well.

Internal Conversation: Ok. If I get to the summit by 11:20 I will have enough time to ask Randi if I can go ahead and finish. I’ll have just over an hour to finish the last 4ish miles.

And then I stumbled a little. I needed to stop talking to myself and just focus on the task at hand. I reached some rocks and climbed around them – I just missed where the trail went alongside them.

Internal Conversation: Make sure you stay on trail on the way back

I hit the summit and took a few pictures and videos. My watch read 11:20 and I took one more video and picture. I started to move back hoping the last video and pictures wouldn’t kill my time. I made my way back properly around the rocks and waved to Clint who did the same thing I did on the way out. He wished me luck. I fixed my shoes to prepare for some fast movement down.

It’s Go Time

I ran into Randi and asked, “If it’s okay with you, do you mind if I go haul ass and try to finish this thing in the 6 hours?” She said it was fine and asked for directions. I checked to see if she needed any water and advised her about the rocks. I thanked her, told her to be safe, stay on the trail, and I would come back to meet her after I finished. So, off I go – hauling ass.

Internal Conversation: She’s awesome. You need to hold at the slowest a 15-minute mile. Run when you can, but move safely, and if you need to slow down because of the terrain, slow down. Let’s fucking go.

There are no more pictures from the rest of my ruck. The trail is beautiful. It’s pretty smooth in most areas and I only slowed down on the switchbacks to make sure I didn’t take any missteps. My knees are hurting (I should have taken that Aleve), but even more so my quads are on fire and possibly starting to cramp. I slow down for a few seconds about 2 miles in to grab my water bottle with the Liquid IV.

Internal Conversation: Just keep moving, stay focused. Push it. You got this.

I am chugging this thing as I continue to run. I ran by some cute puppies and a lady exclaimed “You’re doing great, there’s only 2 people ahead of you!” I held a ~13-14min/mile pace to the trailhead. At the trailhead, I turn right on the dirt road and attempt to continue jogging, but I know the last ~1.25 miles are the slightest uphill and I am spent.

Internal Conversation: Ok, we can walk, but you better walk fast as fast as you possibly can.

I do. This isn’t a stroll-in-the-park pace. I keep checking the time. I need to hold under a 15-minute mile to make it before 12:30. I generally know that my sister’s car is a grey wagon and only a little further up. Gregg has a white truck right at the start/finish line. I’m moving and dying a little inside. It is hot. But then I see a grey wagon and a white truck not far past it.

Internal Conversation: Ok great, not too far. *Looks at watch.* Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Shit, wrong car.

I still have about a half mile to go. We got to the park so early that there were no cars when we first arrived. I am moving. I can not and will not slow down. My watch reads 12:27 as I see the car I’m looking for. I then see Mel and Gregg get out of their cars – surprised to see me.

Gregg starts yelling a count down “Ten, nine, eight…” or some numbers like that, to where I yell back “No way!” I know I still have at least two minutes, but opt to run because you have more in the tank than you think. I wanted to finish strong. I finished with ~90 seconds to spare.

Turn Around

Upon finishing, I turned to Gregg and asked for water and a banana because “I have to go back to Randi!”. He grabs me two bottles of water. I take my pack off. I turn around and start heading back down the dirt road.

Helpful Links

• AllTrails Navigation

Personal Reflection

Reignite the Spark

Once I got to the Iron Peak Summit I knew it was go time. This was the first time I felt a strong competitive spirit since my college softball days. It’s not that I haven’t been competitive in anything I do, but something hit me during the last climb that I haven’t experienced in over ten years. I wanted to win (against the clock) and for no one other than myself.

When I started down the mountain I felt a rush of energy take over me. I knew it was going to be a challenge that either I was going to eke out a pass or just fail.

I don’t remember the last time I felt pain like I had in my quads. This was a great challenge for me to overcome and really go to my “good” dark place or what is often referred to as the “pain cave”. It was an opportunity for me to see how much I could give when my body didn’t want to.

I’m happy that I came out on top on this one.

Learnings

1. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, maybe you should do something else. Take it all in and appreciate everything you and your body can do.
2. Acknowledge your pain. Feel it. But don’t give in to it. You are stronger than you think and your body can do more than your logical self believes you can.
3. Pick good battle buddies. If you want to go as a team, make sure you go with someone that supports your goals and won’t be offended if you push ahead. And vice-versa.

Final Thoughts

Until the next. 👯‍♀️ ⌚️ 📈

Ready to sign up for your next challenge? Use GBF-SAM for 15% off.