Day 1 (4 May, 7 weeks until race day)

June 25th will be my 40th birthday and I wanted to do something special to commemorate it.  For a long time now I have been considering running an Ultra-marathon (50 miles or more).  So on my birthday, I will be running 50 miles, in under 12 hours, while in Afghanistan in an effort to raise charity donations for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides scholarships to the children of Special Operations Soldiers who have died in the line of combat.  I have been asked many times why I am doing this. There are two main reasons- 1) To honor the sacrifice of my Special Forces brothers, and 2) I would hope someone would do the same for my children.   I want to invite you to join me in this event, in celebrating my birthday by making a donation.  My goal is to raise $10,000.  If you could distribute this to as many people as possible, I would be grateful.  Feel free to post this link on FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, FWD in e-mail, BLOG, Twitter, and distribute in any way you want.   The run is only 7 weeks away, so please plan to visit my website and donate before the event.  

Thanks, Matt

Greetings Everyone,

The official time was 11:05. It was 1 hour longer than I had hoped, but 1 hour short of the deadline- so I am happy with the results.

 

The day of the 24^th started out pretty well, the runners ate pasta, mashed potatoes and gravy for the carbohydrates then went to sleep. We slept until about 9:00 pm. Next we showered, dressed, did a small warm up so that the Physical Therapist could stretch us out. Then around 10:30 the medics gave us one last check. By 11:00 I gathered the support team to do one last check of equipment and give a safety briefing. By 11:30 we were moving to the start line. We had the runners, the support team, and a handful of well wishers who showed up just to see us off. At exactly midnight we started running. 

 

The weather conditions were great. It was a cool evening, clear skies, and no wind. However this would change before the day was over. The 25^th, was going to become the hottest day in Afghanistan so far this year. Temperatures would eventual reach 107 degrees. The traffic was very light and we use the entire road. The first three laps felt pretty good, I loosened up and was feeling relaxed during the first lap.  Laps two and three were pretty normal. The majority of my training runs had taken me out to 20-25 miles, so I felt pretty confident and comfortable with the 1^st three laps. This would take us to about 24 miles. For the first 24 miles we averaged about a 10 minute mile pace- pretty slow by most people’s standards, but it was a conscious effort on our part to run a deliberately slow pace in order to preserve our energy. We were somewhere around 5:00 am, at the 24 mile mark when we stopped and had our first “long” break. This involved medics looking over our feet, changing socks, eating drinking, bathroom breaks, and more stretching. The “pit” crew was awesome. We had everything we needed with in arms reach were in and out of our break in less than 10 minutes. 

 

Laps 4-5 were where I had the most concern. I knew that the last lap (which would take us to about 47 miles) and the last three weren’t going to be much of a problem, because we would be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. So the majority of my concern was with laps 4 and 5. I was right. And so it was, lap four was a dark, painful ordeal. I really began to question my decision to do this, the reality of finishing, and my overall sanity level. I tried to draw on every source of motivation I could think of. Family, Special Operations, fallen comrades, the Special Operations Warrior Foundations, families who benefit from these types of events, personal experiences, and sheer determination were what made up the majority of my thoughts.   During mile 37 I realized we were 75% finished. I stated this to my pacing team and was at first pretty elated to think we had already done 75%. Then my next thoughts were that we still had 25% to go and that was more of a mental setback than the previous excitement I had felt just before. We ran the whole route with a Garmin GPS system for accuracy and it was a good thing. Somewhere during laps 4 and 5 I lost track of where we were and laps started to blend into one another. But by having the GPS, I was able to get a sanity/reality check at any time, just be asking. Our mile time slipped from 10 minute miles to 13 minute miles on average as we finished up with mile 40.

 

The last ten miles were also like I anticipated- they felt easier since I knew the end was in sight. After the first three miles, we were able to tell ourselves, that this was the last time we would see this landmark. This was not only important mentally, but also because some of the landmarks were truly menacing during the run. For example, the trash incinerators, the sewage septic dump area, the road construction, the hill, and the back side with its narrow roads and heavy traffic. During the last lap we were able to resume a 10 minute mile pace for the first four miles, the first time we had done that since lap three. We were feeling pretty good. Then at mile 47 I suffered some bad blisters. Small surface blisters were easy to deal with and I had already popped a couple of those. These however (one on each foot) developed deep, which meant they were under the callus and would take a lot longer to treat. I decided it was only three miles and I could “stick” it out. We were greeted at mile 49 by a group of well wishers- the same who came out to see us of. This was a Civil Affairs unit who has a soldier (MSG Spring) in their unit who is the mother of one of my soldiers (SSG Spring). That was a real pick me up. Then when we got to Camp Vance there was another group of well wishers from our unit there to cheer the finish. It was followed up by lots of handshakes, hi fives, and hugs. We then walked to the SF Memorial dedicated to all the Special Operations fallen Soldiers who have given their life in this country and paid our respects. It was over!

 

After a few moments of congratulations we drove the 100 meters (yes we drove) to the medical clinic for a checkup. I received three bags of IVs, and some meds, and a check up from the DR. Following the check up we had a 1 hour full body massage. Between the exhaustion, the medication, and the massage- I was pretty incoherent. I don’t remember all of this, just that I was feeling pretty numb. Following the massage we drove back to Camp Montrond, the time was about 1:30. I slept for four hours before I woke up and called home to tell my family everything was alright and I had finished. Since I was awake at this point, my roommates threw me a small birthday party with Pizza Hut pizza and an Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen. It was the perfect ending to the long day. At 7:00 I took another round of medication and slept another 12 hours. 

 

All in all I feel pretty good. I am still pretty stiff, especially in my right calf. My Achilles tendon held out, and my joints are feeling OK. The worse damage seems to be the blisters on each foot, and a strong possibility I will lose the two big toe toenails before it is all over. 

 

I want to personally thank SSG Spring for running an excellent support crew and keeping the Gatorade and water at an arm’s length away for the entire 50 miles. SFC Case for having the medical wisdom and care to keep me going without permanently damaging my body. 1SG Raube for putting up with my insanity and for being my biggest supporter and giving us the latitude to do such an event in these circumstances.   SFC Glasgow for taking his role as a pacer so personally that he ran every step of the way with me- his was a truly selfless act of service and I appreciate his efforts greatly. I don’t know that I could have done it without him. I want to also thank each and every other person who was personally involved, runners, pacers, drivers, pit crew, cooks, and medics.

 

Lastly, I want to thank in general- everyone else who contributed, who encouraged me, who believed in me, and who supported me in each and every way imaginable. Without you this would not have been nearly as memorable or significant. I truly am grateful for what we were able to accomplish in behalf of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. I wish them the best and continued success in their very important mission to support the families of fallen Special Operations soldiers. 

 

With sincere thanks and gratitude-

Matt

 

P.S. wait until I turn 50…