Run-Fishing 2: Flyathlon

Among the many things that lay dormant while I was deployed was my fly fishing. While there might have been salmon fishing in the Yemen for Ewen McGregor, there was no trout fishing to be had in Kuwait (although some friends did catch fish at the Kuwait Naval Base). One concept that I had been looking forward to reviving was the idea of combining trail running and flyfishing. I had done a test run before I left last year, but I never got around to running up to a high mountain lake and really taking advantage of a trail run to get away from it all.

So when I finally got back to Colorado I started reviving the idea. Along the way I discovered that I was not only not the first person to think of this idea, but that someone had come along and done it even better. A fisheries biologist and trail runner came up with the brilliant concept of a flyathlon: run a trail to some high lake or stream, catch a fish, run back and drink a beer. I could identify with this guy.

Refining the Packing List

But before I started doing some serious climbing I wanted to review things a bit more. I did one run down to Walker Ranch (which was just a mile, but featured about 600 ft of vertical) and a fish / run / hike in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. These two trips proved useful in refining the packing list from what I had developed last year. I realized that I needed some snacks if I was going to be pushing myself for eight plus miles often over 1,500 vertical feet. I dropped the sandals – for most high mountain lakes I realized the fishing could be done just as well from the shore. I also finally got  fishing lanyard and ditched my trusty but bulky chest pack.

But most importantly I added a leave-behind kit for the truck. This included a cooler with snacks, frozen water bottles and beer for when I get back (running and fishing at altitude works up a healthy appetite and thirst).

So the new list came out to:

Running pack

Running bag (7.0 lbs, minus the handheld water bottle)

Hat

Sunglasses

Water bottle

Rod

Reel

GPS / maps

Camera

Flies

Fishing Lanyard

Water purifier

Fishing license

Toilet paper

Stay behind stuff

Stay behind bag:

Sunscreen

Snacks

(2) water bottles

Guidebook

Change of clothes

Cooler:

Snacks

Frozen water bottles

Beer

All the gear, ready to go!

Sandbeach Lake Flyathlon Training Run

From the Flyathlon website I found a “training course” inAllenspark that was a reasonable drive from Boulder. The excellent guidebook Fly Fishing in Rocky Mountain National Park suggested that it was a greenback cutthroat fishery with some good potential.

After dropping of my son at child care I left Boulder and made the trailhead by 10:45 am. On a Tuesday there were only about five other cars in the parking lot. The trail featured a steady climb that was (for me) runnable for 90-95% of the way. 

Some nice views on the Sandbeach Lake Trail

It climbed 1,979 ft over 4.3 miles according to Strava. The technical running was minimal and the views were good. On a Tuesday I encountered only three other hikers on the way up. Once at the lake I had the place to myself for all but a few minutes when a few other hikers stopped by.

Images courtesy of Strava

The lake did not feature the steep rock scree side that most high mountain lakes have, but it did feature the namesake sand beach. 

Mount Meeker and the namesake sand beach

I decided to first go right and try what I hoped was the steeper side. I did not catch any fish there but as I was changing my fly I heard some grunting behind me. I turned around to see a black bear about 100 feet behind me. I suspect he saw me first because he was mercifully not that startled by me. I was not sure how fast I could swim and was a bit worried that I was about to find out. Fortunately, the bear was in a decent mood and more concerned with fattening up on berries than fishermen and hikers. I took off my shoes and waded into the lake and walked along the shoreline until I felt I was sufficiently far away. I made a mental note to add bear bells to the packing list.

Black bear, black bear what do you see? I see a tasty fisherman looking at me.

I much prefer to see bears from this distance

I then fished a jut of land on the other side of the lake for the remainder of my time. Fish started rising in the center of the lake but they were mostly beyond my casting reach. Finally around 2:45 I decided to call it so that I could get back in time to pick up my son from child care. If I come back again I think I will bee-line it to the outlet, but that will have to wait for another day.

Looking north from the west side of the lake

I filled up the water bottle and ran down. The non-technical trail made for a fun and (for a less-coordinated person like me) pretty safe run.

Nice view of the valley on the way down

It was wonderful to have cold thawed water and food waiting at the end. While I missed the “fish” leg of the flyathlon I decided to celebrate not pissing off a half-ton-plus omnivore by drinking a Denver Pale Ale anyway.

In spite of not catching any fish, trail running and fishing worked beautifully together. While I think I can get my set-up lighter, its current weight of 7 lbs was just fine even with climbing around 500 ft per mile above 8,000 ft. I figured running bought me close to an hour extra fishing time. On the way up I averaged 12:12 minute miles. I figure with walking I would have, at best, probably done 20 minute miles. Over 4.3 miles (one way) that is over 33 minutes saved. And I got in a good run on a beautiful trail. Success.

The Standing Desktop Experiment

The idea of using a standing desktop had been on my mind for a while. I think it started when I read Scott Jurek’s book Eat and Run where he noted that even active people could suffer adverse effects from sitting too long. This got my attention as I had assumed that my active lifestyle would mitigate less healthy things I do – such as eating any snacks that showed up in the office breakroom. The various articles that I looked into seemed to confirm this: while exercise was good, it did not quite make up for sitting all day.

Harvard Business Review – Sitting is the New Smoking

Mayo Clinic Q&A

Initial Research

Some folk at work had adjustable standing desktops and so I asked our HR about getting one. Unfortunately, I was told that this well had dried up – well, sort of. My company would provide a standing workstation if I had a doctor’s note for back pain. I could not bring myself to do this route - I like to think that I am too honest, but it was mostly pride.

My dream set-up that I could not sell our HR on (for me)
[Photo from Ergo Desktops]

So I looked into getting my own. I quickly learned why our company only got standing desktops for thosse medical conditions – they are expensive. I wanted one that could switch from sitting to standing plus accommodate my laptop monitor and a second one.  Desktops that met these criteria started at $400. . . and quickly went up. I guess the craze is still mostly in the realm of hip millennials. I assume that if it ever becomes big enough for Wal Mart to become interested then we will be able to find them for prices closer to $100. While my health is certainly worth more than $400 I felt there must be a better way.

A baseline adjustable desk - with the monitors still a little low
[Photo from Amazon]

Fortunately, the same quick internet research also revealed that I could build one for much less. One popular (and much referenced) site claimed that one could be “hacked” for $22 worth of parts from Ikea. However, at this point I was deploying to Kuwait rather soon, so I shelved this plan and just took my turns at one of the common standing desks that our company was cool enough to get.

Once I got my room in Kuwait though, I was pleased to find that I could stack two of the desk cubes together and make a reasonable standing desk for the evenings. This was much better than using either of them as a desks anyways since the height was not right and would have just strained my back hunching over a nightstand desk. 

Useful re-purposing of Army provided furniture

According to the Mayo clinic’s guide the keyboard was a bit low (should be at elbow height) and the laptop monitor was therefore much too low (the top should be at eye level).

Proper proportions
[Photo credit: Mayo clinic]

Iterations

So the next round in the experiment came about trying to make one for work. We had a self-help wood-working shop on camp, but I was once again stymied by bureaucracy. The woodshop did not have a lot of storage space (to put projects in between work sessions) so there was a blanket policy again building furniture. As the organization that oversaw the woodshop I probably could have bullied my way through, but it did not seem like the right battle.

Initial designs

Testing things out in Sketch-up

But then I found a desktop that someone abandoned when they went home. I measured the height and cut it to the right length to put the tops of the monitors at eye level. I have to admit that this at first seemed too high (especially compared to the set-up I was using in the room) but I eventually realized this was probably because my other setups were just promoting bad posture.

Good on the monitor height, but two stacks of water bottles was too much. And one stack was not enough.

The final step was to get the keyboards right. This was a bit trickier to fine tune. I was quite happy to discover though that some O’Douls cans and cheap paperbacks did the trick. It was worth the effort through to get the keyboard at the right height as this made typing a lot easier.

Everyone appreciated the awesomeness that the O'Douls added to this set-up

Verdict. . . so far

It took about two to three weeks for my legs to adapt to the standing desktop. They would be pretty tired at the end of many days. The problem with DIY solutions is that you are kinda all in. Going back and forth between sitting and standing is an annoying effort – especially with a second monitor. Part of my research found that some of the same people who sang the praises of standing desktops still recommended being able to sit sometimes during the day. In a rare silver lining for meetings, I found that they provided nice sitting breaks.

Some physical pluses were very obvious. At one point I went back to the normal sitting set-up for one day (I wanted to rest my legs before a half-marathon that I was going to do the next day). I found that I could definitely feel it in my back (making me realize why my civilian company would pony up for a standing desktop if you have back issues). I was also annoyed that my monitors did not have the ability to adjust to the ideal ergonomically ideal height that I had become accustomed to.

There were also subtler benefits. I found that it was easier to justify going over to talk to people when I did not have to overcome the comfort of sitting. It was also easier to stay alert after lunch (or at least easier to fight nodding off).

One ultra-runner that I follow claimed that his standing desktop had let him really bump up his weekly mileage without suffering his usual injuries. I did not significantly increase my mileage during this time though and I did not find amazing or immediate results in my running. I did however manage to shave four seconds off my 5k PR though, so the standing desk at least correlated with good running and did no harm.

I ended up using the standing desktop for three months in Kuwait. Overall, it was a success and I plan to try and implement some form of it when I am back at my civilian job. So far, it is an experiment worth continuing.

Kuwait Running Mafia

Even if one is blessed with a good job (as I was) during a deployment, having weekly milestones give you something to look forward to that is closer than the return home. During my first deployment I was fortunate to find a group that did long runs at 0430 every Sunday and finished with drinks at the Green Bean. I met some great people and even got to run on the 101^st 10-Miler Team as a result of meeting these folks.

Camp Stryker Striders after a Sunday Run

With memories of these good times, I determined at the start of this deployment that I would find or start a running club. So I was very pleased when I discovered a flyer for the Kuwait Running Mafia in the USO of Camp Arifjan in my first week.

At some point a few months into the deployment, though no real maneuvering or planning, I found myself as one of the leaders of the club. These are some of the lessons and history for those that come after or want to start their own deployed running club.

History

The Kuwait Running Mafia, or KRM, was founded in October 2012 by four members of the 38^th Sustainment Brigade from the Indiana National Guard:

W01 Moriah Addington (Running Queen)

1SG Jeramie Baty (Coach)

CW4 Chris Jennings (Godfather)

Cw2 Darren Minnemann (Instigator)

According Facebook, some of the original members
[Credit: Kuwait Running Mafia facebook page]

From the founding memo: “The KMR is about fun. It is about setting and achieving goals and helping others to do the same. It's about inspiring and being inspired through others and running. It is just a small community of runners deployed to Kuwait that want to get together and share their love for running or just want someone to run with to push themselves a little harder.”

Original membership requirements included

1. running 100 miles;
2. doing a marathon of volunteer work (26 hours); and,
3. running a race or training run of at least 13.1 miles.

The requirements had been dropped or forgotten by the time that I started running with the KRM although I would say that most of our core members have more than met them. We do not do as many volunteer races as the original crew did because the MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) office does a great job of putting on 3 -4 races every month (although we still snuck a few in).

Vigil and Sam handing out fruit at the Bataan Death March

Continuity

The good news about deployments is that they come to an end. Depending on your service this can be from six months to a year. This presents a challenge though for a loose knit running club that seeks to have membership across many different units.

I decided that the key was to be continuously on the lookout for other leaders. You cannot do this club with just one person. Military jobs are unpredictable both daily (in making it to the runs) and overall (Surprise, you’re going to Iraq!) . I suspect I used a similar checklist to my predecessor:

1. Shows up regularly at the runs: You need someone who can be counted on to bring shirts, water, etc.
2. Come to you with ideas for things the club can do: Fair warning, if you came to me with a good idea, you were in danger of being recruited to the Dons of the KRM.

Volunteer to organize a pasta dinner = KRM Don

Another challenge was continuity of emails. When I arrived the KRM distro list was just “replying all” to the last weekly email. With more than one person in charge this was a challenge with people who wanted to be added or dropped. It also made it hard to keep records of folks that we talked to back in the states for shadow runs and ordering team t-shirts. So I created a gmail account, put in that week’s distro list and gave out the password to the fellow dons.

A common folder was a bit of a challenge too. The previous one was in the sustainment brigades’ server – which I could read but not edit. So I made a folder on the common drive that I hope everyone can get edit access to. Something like dropbox would have been ideal, but it cannot be accessed on military networks.

A final piece was the Facebook page. For reason known only to them, the founding members did not let us become administrators of their original page. So Charles made another Facebook page. It’s a bit confusing, but it's clear which one is the more active page.

Spreading the Good Word

At first I stuck with what worked for me: posters at the gym, USO, Post Exchange, MWR community center and USO. We also found advertising of the Camp Arifjan Craigslist (a Facebook page) to be effective.

Drawing them in at the Resiliency Expo

But what really worked was in-person events. The first boost came when we teamed up with the 13^th Sustainment Brigade to host a shadow run of the Army Marathon. Then fortune smiled again when we were able to get a booth at the Resiliency Expo. This was a day-long event where various organizations put up booths talking about how their organizations played a part in reducing or dealing with stress - and as many KRM members have said: Running, because hitting people is frowned upon.

Weekly Run Numbers

Fun Over Speed

I was fortunate to become part of a running club instead of founding it. Coming from Boulder and before, running clubs to me were mostly speedworks and long runs. Had I tried that, the "Arifjan Track Club" would have had 2-6 regular members and been a low-grade affair. Fortunately, the folks before me realized that a mellow 3 – 6 miles was a much better way to bring people in. I started up a Tuesday speedwork (and stole the name Track Trashing Tuesday from the Rocky Mountain Runners) but it never got more than a half-dozen folks and was often just two or three of us.

Two key parts of the fun was the weekly emails. Again, the KRM was fortunate to have folks other than myself who were more skilled in writing witty and fun emails with good humor and (for a while) cat facts.

Chris "Cat Man" Cruise. KRM Don. Saver of catz.

The pizza after the runs was one of the best additions that happened while I was at the KRM. One of leaders, Chief Bolan, started getting pizza and having it at the finish of our runs. In my favorite KRM quote, one of members noted “this whole time I had though my body wanted water at the ends of runs, it turns out it really wanted pizza.” Then one day Chris was taking a while to get the pizza and so we went down  to help him by standing over him and watching until he got the pizza. Thus was born the tradition of taking over the pavilion and sitting down like civilized starving runners.

It's not just an excuse for pizza. . . but that's part of it

Fun Experiments

Even a running club does not live on simple runs alone. We started branch out with a movie night (Run Fat Boy Run), a talk from the post dietician and a cookout. If someone had an idea we usually, well, ran with it.

End of some more good feasting

Two fun experiments that would be worth repeating at some point was the first Camp Arifjan Chem Light Hash and the Near-Beer Near-Mile. Both are fun running traditions that we adapted for the realities of Kuwait.

I wanted to show folks the fun of a good hash run but I was leary of using the traditional hashing trail marker of flour. Even though most of us have all sorts of great shots thanks to the military, I was worried that some folks just would not take a bit of Anthrax humor.  Our runs, even in the summer, are in the dark so we decided to try chem lights. I laid a weaving trail through the less inhabited parts of Camp Arifjan and folks followed as best they could. We learned that you need a LOT of chem lights – probably 15 -20 a mile. And that local workers like to pick up your hard laid trail. But since there was no real beer involved I was not punished too much for laying the trail.

Before I left I decided to do a near-beer mile. While we could not follow the rules precisely, I figured we would still suffer the carbonation and volume. It turned out even mentioning near-beer can double the attendance of a track workout – a useful thing to keep in mind I guess. It was an experiment worth repeating.

JD starts as lap as others nurse their O'Douls

Final Thanks

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably involved in the KRM and know I would be remiss in not thanking a few key folks.

Charles Noble – for keeping the club together after the founders left and even bringing in a stray engineer  running club.

Jack Bolan – for taking over from Charles and starting the pizza tradition.

Chris “cat man” Cruise – for starting the witty and amusing emails and keeping things fun.

Sam – For taking over the emails and setting us up at the resiliency expo. And taking the torch for the club.

Tom – for taking the KRM gear and part of the leadership mantle.

Good luck, run strong, and

Paying our dues

My little camp in Kuwait offers about a race a week. I generally do all of them because they’re free and good chance to experiment with training. Until about a week before the race I was strongly thinking about doing the shadow of the Bataan Death March. At our camp this was to be done in uniform, with boots and a 35 lb (or heavier) pack. But the 5k I had run a few days earlier seemed to indicate to me that my legs were still recovering from my marathon effort. After discussing the matter with my running club, the Kuwait Running Mafia, we decided that we would instead volunteer at a water stop. We would put on THE water stop.

I have always tried to remember to thank volunteers when I run a race. I am very grateful for the time they spend setting up and standing out there. I recognize that the races I love could not happen without them. The idea of doing a running club water stop appealed to me as a fun way to pay our dues back – at least a little bit.

But if we were going to be standing out there for nine hours (this was 26.2 mile ruck march, not a run) we decided we were at least going to have fun as well. We acquired some Gatorade packets, one of the team igloo coolers, a cooler full of near beer, decorations, and a corn-hole set. The idea of a kiddie pool came up, but was abandoned since the water was at least notionally supposed to be for the runners.

Tom cuts the bananas

The Morale, Welfare and Recreation folks use the Red Cross to run their volunteer efforts. Three of our team members, Sam, Kelly and Tom, went to the volunteer gathering at 3 am and claimed us a water stop on the far corner of post – with plenty of space for our corn hole. The red cross provided a table, water and a trash bag. I brought the rest of the club supplies and met Sam, Kelly and Tom at the water stop. By the 4am race start we were playing our first game of corn-hole while we waited for the first ruckers to reach us.

At some point while waiting we decided that the marchers could use some fruit so a few of us made a fruit run to the dining facility which graciously (if unknowingly) donated asmuch fruit as we could fit into our to-go plates, pockets, hoods and arms.

We were at about mile 8 which meant that the marchers were somewhat strung out by the time they arrived. In the meantime we also got a nice surge of club members who for some reason felt like sleeping in until 6 am or so. I made a few runs for more fruit or in one case to take a marcher to the clinic for a badly sprained ankle.

A little rain comes through

Of course an engineer takes the first near beer

A little after noon the marchers (and club members) tapered off until it was just Sam and I. As expected the 300-or-so marchers had gone through our fruit, snacks and Gatorade like locusts. I had been surprised by just how much water we had needed. By some rough back-of-the-envelope calculations we might have given out 70 gallons of water (and Gatorade). I cannot really guess how many bananas, pop-tarts and other snacks that we gave away but it was also pretty substantial. My one regret was that we did not bring a second trash bag from the club to separate out the water bottle and we should have brought a lot more cups for the Gatorade.

When the last marcher came by around 1 pm, Sam and I packed up and went to the finish to survey the carnage. As expected, marchers were strung out across the field basking in their accomplishment. We said hello to a few friends and parted ways back to our rooms to pass out ourselves.

Sam, Chief and me

Engineers work hard, rest hard

While I will probably have to volunteer many more hours to even break even on the kindness I have received at races, it was nice to make a small down-payment.

Doc fixes up a foot

The Army Marathon - Camp Arifjan Shadow Race

Kuwait Running Mafia
Photo courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

I collect states that I’ve run marathons in. . . and fronts in the Global War on Terror (or GWOT,for those in the know). In Iraq I ran a shadow race of the Honolulu Marathon, in Afghanistan the Marine Corps Marathon. About two months into this deployment I had sent one or two emails to race directors, but I did not pursue the matter that hard. I worried that I had started planning a bit late. It was late November when I started to consider the idea and I wanted to get any race advertised, planned and run before late March. For a while I thought I might just have to do my own personal marathon or a self-supported one with a few friends.

Finishing the Honolulu Marathon in Victory Base Complex, Baghdad, Iraq.

Then MAJ Joe Odorizzi contacted the Kuwait Running Mafia (KRM). We met at a coffee shop on our base on Christmas Day. He had a contact back at Ft. Hood who really wanted to do a shadow marathon with soldiers overseas. The Army Marathon was on 1 March – a little over two months away. I was a little nervous about such a short time to plan and advertise, but I also realized that the opportunity that I’d secretly been hoping for had just fallen into my lap.

Christmas Day Run just before meeting up with MAJ Odorizzi

Fortunately, it was not just my secret hope. A couple of fellow soldiers within the Kuwait Running Mafia had expressed interest in running a marathon and eventually a core committee of about six of us emerged. We met weekly and hashed out the necessary details of advertising, road closures, supplies and volunteers.

Our Facebook Banner for the Marathon

From the KRM records we predicted that we could get around 200 participants. Through a bit of good luck, the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) folks on the camp were putting on a half-marathon for MLK weekend. We got our sponsor back at Ft Hood to get the registration site up in time and printed off some fliers which we handed out at the end of the race. After this we put up a few posters around camp and in work areas. With a week to go before the race we hit 200 participants – 130 in the half-marathon and 70 in the full marathon.

Two days before the race we did our volunteer training. We found an officer and senior NCO who were willing to come on as senior volunteer coordinators. The Red Cross also put out a call for volunteers. Many service members sign up outside of their normal duties to man water stations, hand out gifts on Christmas and do other good deeds.

Some of our awesome volunteers.
Photos courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

The day before the race we gathered at the MWR warehouse to sign out the tables, cones, a clock, sound system, coolers and other items that we would need for the race. I lead a convoy of volunteers to pre-position tables, water and ice around the course. Other volunteers and organizers positioned equipment at the finish area and went to set up the pre-race dinner and packet pick-up. Finally one other organizer and I drove around the course setting out the mile markers and turn signs. At 1900 I rolled into dinner and packet pick-up.

Two runners get their shirts and bibs for the next day
Photo courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

The nice thing about a small race is that you do not have to go through the buses and huddling around at the start. Unfortunately, much of this was negated by organizing the race. The volunteers and organizers were in a flurry getting out to their water stations when I showed up. I helped set up the start and finish line. We finished with enough time to ourselves to the start and do the pageantry of speeches and the Star-Spangled Banner.

Our flag bearer for the Star Spangled Banner considers what he's about to do

Kuwait Running Mafia shot pre-marathon
Photos courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

At 0500 we began. The course was three loops around the camp. This allowed us to get away with six aid stations that were no more than 1.2 miles apart (generally closer). The one national caliber athlete who could leave me in the dust had just gone home so I had the lead from the start. I was racing my own PR which I felt confident I had a shot at getting.

Moments before the start
Photo courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

For this race I set my GPS watch to do kilometer splits which I was aiming to hit in 3:45. I have come to like kilometers over here. They give me better feedback and it’s just nice to tick of milestones (or kilometerstones I guess) faster. The 42.2 kilometer marathon also breaks fairly nicely into (roughly) 10k chunks.

Chief Bolan hitting his stride for the KRM
Photo courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

The first few clicks I ran a few seconds slow – something that I have noticed consistently about myself racing on dirt roads in the dark. Once the sun came up though I got a mental boost and got back on pace. I realized that a benefit of a loop course was that I got to see friends as I doubled back on sections of the course.

Vergil showing who he's with
Photos courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

My wheels did not fall off in the last few miles, but my legs did lose their ability to surge on command. I finished in 2:41:31 – almost 4 minutes faster than my previous PR of 2:45:16. I stayed to watch all of the finishers. One of the other organizers and I broke away at one point to get some more fruit from the DFAC for the last few finishers. We had managed a decent spread, but runners at the end of a race eat like locusts.

Sam finishes her first marathon
Photo courtesy of the 13th Theater Sustainment Brigade

The last finisher was Sgt. Gabriel Castelo in 6:05:50. It was his first marathon and seeing him stick with the race through to the finish was one of the things that makes running so amazing and inspiring.

Sgt. Castelo closes out the Army Marathon at Camp Arifjan

The KRM members who were left helped to clean up. By noon we had the equipment turned in and we staggered to the DFAC to replenish ourselves and go over the fond memories of the day. I am not sure that I will organize and run a race again, but in this particular time and place it was immensely rewarding and I am most grateful to our sponsors back in Texas, MAJ Odorizzi (for bringing us together and helping to organize) and the KRM members and volunteers (who made the race possible). This will be one of the high points of the deployment.

Finishing strong

Fellow mafia don Chris Cruse