Joshua Grzegorzewski: the RunningBull Blog : Tags : veteran

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Preparing for Independence Day

Posted by Joshua G Jun 24, 2008

After having taken some time away from my campaign in order to participate in the Blackberry Curve Urban Challenge Grand Finale event in San Francisco (as discussed briefly in my last post) I am ready to get back to my primary mission of the year: Running in honor of our soldiers. Next week I will be participating in two 5-mile races; the 25th Annual POW-MIA Race for Freedom in South Boston and the 4th of July Minuteman Classic in Concord, MA both of which pay tribute to the soldiers who have risked everything for this country.

Since my normal running schedule had been so upset through all of my recent travels, my regular blood donation (every 8-10 weeks), and my first 100 mile week (thanks to the Western States Training Camp) I tested myself last weekend with a local race; the Auburndale Community of Newton, MA "Rove the Cove 5k". This race provided me an opportunity to gauge my current capabilities in a shorter (i.e.. faster) race while also helping my friend Alain promote his series of race events that directly conflict with the POW-MIA Race for Freedom and my work shift at Karma Yoga Studio next Sunday by distributing flyers for the Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prixand wearing his race shirt. It doesn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of the Boloco burritos and smoothies.

Well, I found that I can still run in the low 6-minute range over varying terrain on a hot and humid day so my race performances should be fine next week. Now I just have to figure out how to get out to Concord in time for the start of the race on July 4, since my wife will have the car for her residency at Tanglewood, the Train doesn't run early enough, the buses aren't running, and I don't necessarily want to run the 15 miles each way to race for 5 more. Maybe I can borrow a bicycle.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: 5k, veteran, san_fransisco, boston, training

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Inspiration - or - How I spent my Memorial Day Weekend

Posted by Joshua G Jun 5, 2008

I can't believe that it has been nearly 2 weeks already but that is what happens when you go away for a week...you have a week of catching up to do PLUS the normal day-to-day life things waiting for you to return. And though I am nowhere near caught up yet, I don't want to let this go too much longer. In a whole chicken/egg sort of way I spent the holiday weekend participating in the Western States Training Camp (thanks to Rodale - publishers of , Montrail, and of course Greg Soderlund the Western States Endurance Run Race Director) paying tribute to the memory of those soldiers who paid the ultimate price in service to this country as part of RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans in support of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. The Training Camp consisted of 3 days worth of trail running across 70 miles of the infamous Western States Trail that ultimately cumulate in the town of Auburn, CA.

And though I did not bring my camera along with me on these 3 runs, you can get an idea of the terrain from the photo tour (complete with topographical reference map and course profile) available at the WS100.com site. However, these photos don't quite capture the true experience of our first day spent running nearly 28 miles through a constant rain; constant if you don't include the segments spent above 5700' elevation when the precipitation was actually freezing rain mixed with snow. Strangely enough, running in and out of misty fog banks through mud and puddles, wet pine needles, poison oak, and jagged rocks on a narrow trail hugging the side of a mountain with 2000+ foot drop was an incredibly introspective experience. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my mind found other things to do while I was running/hiking for 5 hours in a borderline hypothermic state.

I found myself reflecting on the experiences of my father in the jungles of Vietnam, of the early colonial militiamen in the deep forests of New England and Canada during the French-Indian War, of the soldiers both Confederate and Union in the Appalachian Mountains during the Civil War, and of soldiers in all the other conflicts great and small throughout our nation's history. I thought about how they might have felt, cold and wet and hungry, marching/running through unfamiliar lands under a constant state of anticipation and trepidation. I thought of how their simple actions helped shape the course of history in creating our nation and how that would allow me the freedom to undertake this opportunity to dwell upon these cultural ancestors of ours.

The Foresthill Bridge is the highest bridge in California, 730 feet above the valley below. I drove across this bridge twice a day traveling between my hotel and the Camp and admit to being unnerved by it each time. I ran down a slope that descended about 100' more than this bridge is high within the first 5 miles of my run...and then the real hills (down and up) began.

Fortunately(?) it only rained that first day. Our second day was bright and sunny and though a bit chilly at the start it quickly warmed into the upper 60's and 70's as we descended from the town of Foresthill to the Middle Fork of the American River on a soft yet firm trail with many many rocks and a couple of minor stream crossings. Unlike the actual 100 Mile Western States Run being held later this month, we did not get/have to ford the river. Instead we were treated to a nice 3 mile long uphill climb under the midday sun to await our 20 minute bus ride back to the base camp. By this time I had logged nearly 50 miles of running over a 26 hour period and in that time I came to realize that I am actually relatively good at downhill running. Of course the alternative being trip, fall, and probably break something (if I was lucky) I had great motivation to become a good downhill runner. The drawback to this of course is that although I minimized the negative effects on my ankles, knees, and feet (from sliding friction in my shoe), I did a tremendous disservice to my quadriceps. On the third day, Memorial Day, I was really starting to feel the cumulative effects of all of this running.

Though you wouldn't know it to look at me at the finish; because my stupid grin doesn't reflect my actual collected experiences from the previous 3 1/4 hours in which I lost the trail twice, slipped and fell for the one and only time (while going up hill), and reached true dehydration. This last came in a revelation with about 7 miles to go as I was running through a charred and blackened meadow and with the scent of the recent wild fire strong in my nostrils and my thoughts still wandering. My head was cold. The sun was beating down nicely on this 70-degree day, but the sweat that had been drenching me for hours was now chilling me. That and my motor reflexes felt about 1/2 second behind where they should have been. Fortunately, the feeling passed after a quick 20 oz of water, a Gu Roctane packet, and 5 minutes with my hat firmly planted on my head. I made sure to take advantage of that final aid station at No Hands Bridge while savoring the scenic views before starting the final ascent 3 miles from the finish.

Thankfully the mud of Saturday became the dust of Sunday and Monday because even with my new pre-release edition Left/Right Technology PowerSox and my pair of Vasque Blurs with the sticky rubber soles it was a tough run with treacherous footing over some truly difficult terrain (trail or not). No, that is not a tan line but a demarcation of where the poison oak stopped carressing my ankles. Happily I can report ZERO blisters, bunions, caluses, or lost toe nails from this encounter.

Thank you again Jim Rigney for your words of inspiration and personal examples of determination and dedication which led me to enter the Essay Contest that made this experience possible. I hope to some day form an Asha'man or Shen an Calhar running team of other like minded individuals to participate in some of the trail relay events in thanks to your contributions and in honor of your brothers-in-arms. You are not forgotten.

And neither are the 4600 American soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq for our current War on Terror, or the hundreds of thousands who fell in service before them. At least, not by me on this day of picnics, ballgames, white sales, and the like.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: inspiration, veteran, trail_running, memorial

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Photos from my Death March Memorial experience

Posted by Joshua G Apr 13, 2008

Surprisingly, my performance in the Death March Memorial Marathon received coverage by my local newspaper, the Somerville Journal. Not so surprisingly, they didn't get all of the details quite right. But that seems to go with the territory.

I finally stopped running around (literally) long enough to sort through the photos from my trip to give a little more insight into the experience. Part of me wishes that I would have had a camera with me while running the race, but to be honest, I don't think my photos would have been all that great. I would recommend visiting the race website and viewing the event photos online.

Upon arriving in El Paso, TX two days before the event, I realized (a) that I had spent way too long crammed into airplane seats, (b) that I needed to get acclimated to heat, the lack of humidity, the sun, the altitude difference, and the terrain, and (c) that I needed to do something fun and educational while I was here. So with that I headed out to the namesake of the missile range and visited the White Sands National Monument the morning before the race. It was about a 120 mile drive from El Paso (the scenic route) and as you can see, the sands are definitely white.

It is also a strangely barren place, which at the time I went was truly devoid of people. During my run along the 4.8 mile "trail" through the dunes I only saw 4 other people, the footprints of whom are seen below. The sand is powder fine and filtered through my shoes and socks and got into just about anywhere on my body that sand could get. Only about the top 3 inches are loose, but that is more than enough to slow a person down dramatically. I was lucky to manage just over 10 minutes / mile and was very thankful for the 44 ounces of sports drink that I was carrying along the way. Fortunately, the sand on the race course was actually much more coarse and therefore easier to run through. I didn't experience anywhere near as much trouble as I did during this training excursion, which is probably how I did so well.

But of course the event was more than just a run on the beach, a beach nearly 1 mile above sea level and hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean; it was a memorial to the soldiers who suffered the horrors of the Bataan Death March through the jungles of the Philippines in 1942. My trip would not have been complete without a visit to their monument in nearby Las Cruces, NM.

I am honored to say that I was fortunate enough to sit and talk with a couple of the survivors of this horrendous chapter from a war full of great atrocities. Eight of these men were on hand to send us off at the start of the race with a handshake and a "hurry back"; an order that I obeyed and used as my inspiration while challenging the 4 mile long hill climb in the middle of the course. I am also proud to say that I was welcomed back by these same men when I crossed the finish line. Below is a picture of Colonel Glenn D. Frazzier and myself (wearing my signature honor flags) after the race. You can learn more about the Death March and Colonel Frazzier's experiences in his book .

I am so truly honored to have been able to compete in this event in honor of these men as well as all who have followed in their footsteps by answering the call to service. I truly appreciate that I can show them all my respect for what they have done and continue to do in the name of liberty and democracy. I also am honored that you have chosen to help support these efforts through your participation in following my progress, in your comments of encouragement, and in your pledges of support for this noble cause to help the NESHV.

And of course, no visit to the White Sands Missile Range would be complete without a visit to the missile museum.

Well...only 7 more days until the Boston Marathon. I know that I am recovered enough to complete the full 26.2 mile marathon distance, but I am unsure of just what pace to set for myself. Especially since less than 2 weeks later I will be undertaking the duty of leading others in their quests to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon by holding the 3:30 pace (8 minutes per mile) throughout the New Jersey Marathon. I intend to better my time from last year and would like to at least finish in under 3:20, but I really want to requalify myself for Boston with a 3:10 or better. Ideally I would be shooting for sub-3:00, but that might have to wait until the fall at the Marine Corps. Marathon, depending on the outcome of my application to pace at a marathon I completed before.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: boston_marathon, veteran, marathon, inspiration, motivation, new_jersey, pace_team

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"RunningBull's Run" producing surprising results

Posted by Joshua G Apr 9, 2008

Not so surprising is that I was unable to find 10 minutes this weekend to post this update, but I am getting ahead of myself.

I have to believe that my Tempo Hill run described in my previous posting helped make a difference for the Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon because after months of training in Boston, 65-degree (and rising) temperatures, 5000 foot elevation (see attached course profile), and over 20 miles of loose rocky/sandy trails should have destroyed me. Instead, I was not only able to finish in a time just 4 seconds slower than my Boston Marathon finish from last year, but I finished 1st in my Division and in 5th place overall.

Granted, I will be lucky to finish 5,000th in my next marathon, the Boston Marathon, in just 11 days.

However, I am not going to live too far in the future when I can still savor my recent success and remember the inspirations and motivations that helped buoy me on through the incredible challenges of the course. Did I mention the near constant winds that were in our faces on the inclines? The send off we received from the former POWs who survived the Death March, the camps, the transport ships, and all of the horors that came with each and the knowledge that whatever discomfort, pain, injury, case of dehydration, or other ailment that I might suffer over the course of those 26.2 miles, it would be only a drop in the bucket compared to what they overcame. Putting things into perspective like that helped me to appreciate my accomplishment, but made me give even more credit to the teams that completed this endeavor together and those individuals who finished the event wearing full military uniforms, complete with boots and 35lb packs. Those "heavy" division participants were the reason that I went back out on the course in the full mid-day sun for 3 hours after I finished, rinsed off the sweat and grime, and ate before I finally had to drive back to El Paso for my return flight to Boston.

I am now providing links to my events and results from my campaign pledge page for those who want to follow along with my progress.

There, that wasn't too bad...it just took about twice as long as I expected it would. Now I have to run to catch up with my weekly Nike Run Club.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: marathon, boston_marathon, veteran, inspiration

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Taxes are finished, now it's time for some taxing races

Posted by Joshua G Mar 24, 2008

I don't have any good excuses as to why I haven't been able to keep to my weekly schedule posting to this blog, but at least I have been able to stay 90% faithful to my training routine, even slipping in a couple of yoga classes this past week to keep me loose.

My only explanation is that St. Patrick's Day, Easter, volunteering with WGBH TV, and the aforementioned 1040 and Mass Form 1 all received higher priority attention than for a blog which never receives any comments so it feels like it doesn't really matter to anyone (except me).

I just got in from 9 miles of random hill work around Somerville at my tempo pace. I feel pretty good except for some slight twinges in my calves that I expect are the result of partial dehydration and excessive pounding on the asphalt roads up and down these hills in the dark. Oh sure, just because it is going to be about 30-degrees warmer on Sunday for my race in the desert at about 5000 feet more elevation than I live and train is no reason to think that maybe I should rethink my goal time of 3:20. Actually, my goal is to finish in the top two places of my division (light civilian male) to bring home a medal to show my disabled veteran father upon my return. Based upon prior results I will have to knock out an awesome personal best finish to achieve that goal, but you never know what you are capable of until you try.

I must thank New Balance (and the Miami Marathon) for the shoes I was provided in exchange for leading the pace group in January. Those NB 1223 shoes have been great for me on my long runs, on these technical runs, and even for mile repeats on the track. By using these shoes I have been able to stretch the life of my other shoes by rotating through them more often, which means that some shoe retailer is going to be very happy with me sometime around August or September of this year.

Okay, time for me to wrap this up and try to get at least 6 1/2 hours of sleep tonight. I am so glad that I am not crazy enough to even attempt to catch any of the Red Sox opening day game from Japan at 6am tomorrow. Nope, I'm only crazy enough to try running 3 marathons in 7 weeks, when my previous minimum recovery time had been 4 months between races. At least I am smart enough to delay donating blood until after that third marathon.

2 Comments Permalink Tags: marathon, veteran, pace_team, running, volunteer

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launched: RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans

Posted by Joshua G Jan 17, 2008

I have formally launched my public awareness and fundraising campaign in support of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Boston. Veteran's concerns have always been on the periphery of my life since my father is a veteran of 3 tours of Vietnam who suffers from PTSD and Agent Orange related illnesses. These issues moved closer to the forefront after he had a stroke during surgery for a brain aneurism which has left him half paralyzed and in need of the services provided by the Medical Centers operated by the Veterans Administration. And I realize now that he is actually lucky to have these services and programs available to him.

Veterans make up over 25% of the homeless American population. Over 40% of these veterans suffer from psychological disorders and 35% have some sort of chemical dependancy, generally used as self-medication for their disorders and to cope with the harsh realities they find themselves in. This is not things should be and WE have the power to do something about it. These men and women stepped up and answered when this Nation called. They served, protected, and honored the United States of America and then...they were forgotten, forsaken, and ignored.

RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans is actually a series of thematically related racing events intended to Honor the sacrifices made by America's Veterans in their dedicated service to keep our very society what it is today while raising awareness of the situation many of our veteran's find themselves in. The schedule of events is as follows:

Event Name	Event Date	Location	* Event Distance *
1. Bataan Death March Memorial	3-30-08	White Sands Missile Range, NM	Marathon (26.2)
2. Boston Marathon	4-21-08	Hopkinton-Boston, MA	Marathon (26.2)
3. Western States Endurance Run (70-mile Memorial Day Weekend)	5-24/26-08	Auburn, CA	70 Mile (trail)
4. POW-MIA Race for Freedom	6-22-08	South Boston, MA	5 Mile
5. Concord Minuteman Classic	7-04-08	Concord, Ma	5 Mile
6. Air Force Marathon	9-20-08	Wright Paterson AFB, OH	Marathon (26.2)
7. Army 10-Miler	10-05-08	Washington, DC	10 Mile
8. Marine Corps. Marathon	10-26-08	Washington, DC	Marathon (26.2)
9. Veterans Memorial Road Race	11-11-08	Stoneham, MA	11k
10. JFK 50-Mile Memorial	11-22-08	Boonsboro-Williamsport, MD	50 Mile (trail)

I will also be participating in other events over the course of the year which are not directly associated with RunningBull's Run, such as next weekend's ING Miami Marathon where I will be a Pace Leader for participants attempting to complete the 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes (or less).

Please visit http://www.active.com/donate/runningbull to help participate in this tribute to the service of our veterans and help fund the programs and services of the NESHV that help rehabilitate and reintegrate our homeless and unemployed veterans.