Monday, Sep 10
5 mile run in 41:28, 8:18/mi, 2 degrees of incline. Stopped when my right back started tightening up. Upper arms were sore today, either from the GORUCK Light, or from the 5K (running fast in sprint sessions or 5Ks does that to me). I wanted to run today because I wanted the feeling of flying, although my legs had had their fill after 2 miles. I think it was the effects of the weekend. Considering I did the box jumps at the Light, I understand.
Thursday, Sep 13
"Blackout" was the ruck (20lb backpack) workout that I chose for Pathfinder training today. It was another fantastic one, with a perfect level of difficulty and a good design targeting different areas.
3 rounds
- 20 ruck thrusters
- 20 pushups with side ruck pull
- 20 ruck burpees
- Run 100 yards with the ruck as a coupon
3 rounds
- 10 overhead squats
- 10 squats with ruck front
- 10 ruck swings
- Run 100 yards with the ruck as a coupon
24 bear crawls with alternating arm ruck pulls
24 crawl bears (backwards bear crawl) with alternating arm ruck pulls
100 4-ct flutter kicks (had to split into 3 sets)
75 crunches with ruck overhead
50 leg levers with ruck overhead
25 situps with no ruck
Plank with ruck, 2 min
OH hold, 2 min
Plank with ruck, 1 min
OH hold, 1 min
Plank with ruck, 30 seconds
OH hold, 30 seconds
I rucked 5.5 miles afterwards.
Friday, Sep 14:
Before bunkering down indoors for the weekend due to Hurricane Florence, I got one last ruck outside. It started to rain down mist halfway in. 5 miles in 95 min, 17:04 ave.
Saturday, Sep 15:
It was OK enough to drive to the subdivision's gym. It was windy and rainy, but nothing too bad. 7.0 mi in 59:28, 8:30 ave. I was counting down hundreths of miles the whole time, for some reason, even though I had Food Network TV to distract me. That's a lot of counting.
Monday, Sep 17:
This was the first time that I've had to modify one of the ruck workouts that I chose to attempt. It wasn't a good feeling, because to get to the point where I decided that I needed to modify, I had to get to a point where I felt like I was straining my arm muscles. There's supposed to be nothing wrong with scaling... scale down to what makes sense so that you can gradually build up and also not hurt yourself, scale up if it's too easy... but it does hurt the ego. Oh well, I tried to make up for the gap in other ways.
The "Does This Count" workout is supposed to be
7 rounds
- 10 squats (alternate ruck front vs. back each set)
- 10 overhead ruck presses
- 10 ruck thursters
[but I only did 3 rounds before proceeding, since my upper arms were not feeling it]
5 rounds
- 10 bent over rows
- 10 tricep presses
- 10 Russian twists
3 rounds
- 10 single-leg ovehead lunges, per leg (my lunges are never pretty, even unweighted)
- 10 ruck situps
- 10 ruck curls
- 10 ruck chest presses
1 round
- 20 skull crushers
- 30 4-ct flutter kicks
I made up for the 4 missing rounds of the first group by doing another set of each of the 4 groups, followed by 60 squats, since my legs still had some juice.
3 mile ruck afterwards in 54 min, 17:52 ave. The ruck part of the workout took 40 min.
Thursday, Sep 20:
My body felt like it wanted a run today. I had considered going out to the trails, but there wasn't enough daylight left after work and the traffic time it would take to get there.
6.0 in 47:52, 7:59 ave.
Friday, Sep 21:
I was driving up after work, so I got in a workout and my last shower before the weekend, before heading all the way up to Ohio. The main purpose of the workout was to have a good excuse to get in another shower. I didn't think to taper at all for the War-X event, since I thought it would mostly be some long duration but mild to medium intensity activity, where we learned and practiced survival skills.
My original plan was to get in a run for a second day in a row, but my knees were complaining after a mile and a half. I remembered that one of the ruck workouts started with a 2 mile unweighted run, so I decided to pivot to that and stopped running after 2 miles. The rest of the workout didn't seem too crushing, so it was a good choice before the long drive.
"All Day Ruckoff"
2 mile run (Splits: 8:35, 8:26)
2 rounds
- 20 front squats
- 20 4-ct flutter kicks
- 20 lunges, ruck front (not pretty, as usual)
- 30s overhead hold
- 20 bicep curls
- 20 upright rows (had to split into sets of 5 with a couple seconds of pausing in between)
- 20 kettlebell swings
- 20 shoulder shrugs
- 20 overhead presses
After that, 6 hours of driving. Arrived in Ohio just after midnight, just as it started lightly raining. I got in a few hours of sleep before the event.
WAR X SURVIVAL WEEKEND
Ohio seems like a long
way away from the Carolinas, but it's actually only 6 hours from Charlotte,
which isn't that bad. It was worth it, too, to try War-X's Apocalypse
Survival weekend. It looked similar to some other events that I've tried,
like Green Beret Challenge's 24 hr "Behind Enemy Lines" event with
survival lessons and a final mission, and GORUCK's Expedition wilderness
survival course. The venue looked pretty cool, too. They have over
a thousand acres to play in and transform into a war zone, complete with a jail
in the jungle.
The event started at 9am
on a Saturday and would end at around 9am on Sunday. It was perfect for a
weekend trip without having to take off from work. It would be a packed
weekend, but doable. I got there a little bit early. There were a
number of experienced War-X people there, but there was also a good number of
people like me who were brand new to War-X. People shared tips about how
much stuff to pack. There was a gear list, and some optional suggestions,
but the overall recommendation was to consider "agility and speed over
comfort".
Since I was a little kid,
I've loved gathering "gear" to go on missions. I used to play
with my sister, with plastic guns and flashlights and stuff like that.
Now, I get to do all of that, but amped up... little me would've been so
proud.
Everyone gathered in the
parking lot was getting ready for a physically demanding 24 hours. That's
when I started to get a little worried. I realized that maybe I should've
tapered for this, instead of doing consecutive workouts in the two days leading
up. I'm someone who takes lots of rest days and tapers hard. It
works for me, and keeps me from getting injured. I'd be in for a ride.
We got a general
briefing, and then went through classes on land nav with handheld GPS's and
topo maps, firearms and tactical movements, first aid, and fire building.
Each one went into the perfect amount of depth, going through what you most
needed to know to succeed, and letting you practice a bit before you'd get
thrown into the wild. By this time, we had been split up into
teams. They chose teams for us, which I was glad for, since I had come
alone, and it would've been awkward to be picked last, or to not know anyone
when everyone else was already teamed up. This also maybe helped to even
things out a bit, so that one team wasn't going to totally dominate the others
and take the fun out of it. I do get both sides, though... if you are
going with people that you know, it can be fun to experience it together.
At the same time, having to learn to work with strangers and become a team
organically is a rewarding challenge and good learning opportunity, too.
They did give people a chance to request switch-ups, if they wanted, but
everyone was cool with the teams.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
There was nervous
anticipation at the start. We got thoroughly checked for prohibited items,
which even included food! Then, it was time for the mission
briefing. Each War-X event has a different theme. They keep you on
your toes, and even the veterans are in for surprises. Our scenario
involved a rogue group threatening to deploy a virus, and it was our job to
stop them. They put together a cool video for the briefing, with
schematics and intel. This was going to be very realistic, with bad guys
willing to use escalating force to take you down, friendlies that you may
engage with, caches to find, other teams to compete against or potentially work
with, etc.
Soon, our team of 6 was
off on a convoy to head in the direction of our designated base camp.
Before we got there, though, chaos erupted, and I soon found myself being
chased by bad guys as I charged into a thicket of thorns to try to
escape. One of them was about 15 feet away from me, but occupied with
catching someone else, so I took the chance to bolt further into the
forest. When it seemed like nobody was actively pursuing me anymore, the
dread of realizing that I've been separated from the rest of your group sank
in. At least I hadn't gotten caught right off the bat, but it wasn't a
good feeling to be alone already.
Someone from the team
had had the foresight to suggest a meeting spot in case we got scattered, but I
heard the enemies still prowling, so I couldn't go with that plan directly, and
started to try to make my way towards the direction of base camp.
Fortunately, I had the map and a general sense of direction, so I knew which
way to go. I was relieved to find the rest of my team along a path... a
friendly face, and not bad guys.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
We made our way to base
camp, which involved ziplining across a river... so cool. We found a safe
place to set up camp, and then we started on our first mission. There was
a cache that was going to be guarded, and we knew they were expecting us, so we
had to move tactically, and not simply take the most direct and easy
route. We went through a river crossing and hilly terrain, and then scouts
went out to retrieve the supplies, managing to avoid capture.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
As we finished each
objective, we were given our next one. We were competing against the
other teams to complete the objectives first, while avoiding capture.
We'd earn points for doing certain things, and we'd be deducted points for
doing other things. We were running, running, running, eager to make good
time. I thought I was a good runner, but the rest of my team was
dominating. You come up with analogies based on what's familiar to
you. I felt like in Harry Potter 7 when the trio kept going from place to
place to escape from the bad guys. Always running, never able to rest for
long. I also gained an appreciation for people in the military. You
can't afford to stop when you want to, just because you're tired. You
have a mission to complete, and your team and your mission depend on you
continuing on. You don't get to choose when to stop. Stuff happens,
and you have to deal with it. Just when you finish one objective, you get
another thrown at you.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
The most trying time for
our team came next. It's like in a real battle. Stuff happens, and
sometimes, things escalate quickly. We were trying to find out next
objective, when bad guys came. There were other teams in the area.
There were drones also searching for us. Some of our team went missing,
and had ended up being captured. The sound of tazers was terrifying, and
the bad guys knew that we were still in the area. Fortunately, I was
still with 3 of my teammates, but the sounds of the ATVs rumbling, and one of
the bad guys eerily saying "where are you, little girls" was
frightening.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
After more got captured
and taken away, those of us who were left made our move towards the
cache. The guys in front of me were running fast. I heard shouting
around me. I thought about ducking to the sides of the path to hide, but
the guys were still running full speed ahead. Thankfully, I had decided
to stick with them, because we suddenly stopped and I realized that they had
taken us straight to the cache. I came to a grinding halt nearly on top
of it. PA grabbed a gun and shot one of the guards while I grabbed a
second gun. I wish I had tried to grab more while I was there, but I
bolted as soon as I could, and we ducked into tall grass.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
We were in enemy
territory, and we had to find the rest of our group. We fortunately
stumbled upon KT, but we weren't sure where AB (aka "Rue", haha) was. I felt so bad for
her, and how terrified she must've been, wherever she was hiding, alone and
surrounded. She ended up getting captured, so it was down to three on our
team. At least we had weapons now, to defend ourselves.
One thing we didn't have
with us, though... headlamps... and the sun would be setting in about 30
minutes... and we were a mile and a half "as the crow flies" from
base camp... and we were not crows... we were tired people in rough terrain
having to take indirect routes to avoid detection. Tactical error.
I should've learned by now, after my earlier incident where not having a headlamp got me in
trouble.
PA went a bit ahead to
get the headlamps, but after a while, we found out that he had gotten
caught. That left 2/6 of us... oh, man. Now, it was dark, and it
was KT and me, plus our radio man who provided contact with the
coordinators. By now, it had been long past when we were supposed to go
after our next objective. We were going to try to take on the prison with
just the two of us, but we got an opportunity to link up with Charlie Team for
a coordinated rescue mission. Teams don't normally work together, but our
situation was pretty desperate, so I was so thankful.
Getting to Charlie Team,
though, would turn into a nightmare. They were located 0.55 mi away "as
the crow flies", but we ended up going like 1.5 miles, 0.5 of which were
through the thickest thorn brushes you can imagine. Even our radio man
with his short sleeves endured lash after lash of those thick and sharp thorns,
as he led the way to help clear a path. It would take what felt like
minutes of getting brutally cut up to just make it 0.05 mi. From head to
above your toes, you were pushing through thorns. All this by the light
of an Apple Watch, a 3x2 inch GPS display, and a radio light for the three of
us. At this moment, after whacking through thorns, we thought that
whatever the prisoners were going through had to be more pleasant than
this. There may have been a desire to quit, too, but that would just
leave you in the middle of a thicket that was impassable by ATV or anything
else that could rescue you, so you had no choice but to either turn back the
same hard way, or just continue on, and we had already gone halfway after a
long time... it would probably be shorter to just get to the end of it, even if
that was going to require another 40 min or however long of swimming through
thorns. During that time, I thought there must've been a good metaphor
for life somewhere in what we were going through. I also felt like having
endured what we were going through together, the three of us were going to be
friends for life. I wanted so much to just go back to base camp and be by
a warm fire by then and not in my wet clothes, but I wanted more to rescue the
captured team members, first.
At last, we came upon a
path. It was the most welcome sight ever. But.... Charlie team was
nowhere to be found. They should've been 500 feet away, but nobody was
answering our shouts, and we were surrounded by nothing but more thick thorns
on either side of the path. We radioed in, explained the situation, and
fortunately, some friendlies were going to be able to provide support. We
hopped in an ATV with them to try to link up with Charlie team, but the path
was impassable at one point due to a fallen log, so we were left to proceed on
foot to try to find them. Somehow, after about 1.5 miles of driving, the
spot where we ended up was still 500 feet away from Charlie team's supposed
location, but they still weren't there. We now had to go on our own to
link up with the rest of our team.
Apparently, in the
meantime, the rest of our team had managed to escape. I don't have any
good personal stories of prison, since I didn't end up getting caught, but from
what I heard, it's pretty intense. They make you feel it, physically,
psychologically, etc,... more legit than I expected. Through cunning and
courage and team members looking out for each other, though, they had escaped
before we were able to get to them in our odyssey through the thorns and then
the long ATV ride and the search for Charlie team. I'm so proud of them -
they didn't need rescuing. We did end up running into Charlie Team on our
way to the prison, though, and it was so nice to see some non-hostile
faces. They even had mercy on us and gave us an extra flashlight, even
though we were from a competing team. We made our way up to the prison,
which is really eerie looking at night, with the cages and the fire and the
sense of despair in that place.
For the past few hours,
all I wanted to do was hug my team members when I saw them again. I
didn't end up doing that, but I was so glad to see them and be reunited.
It was finally time for us to make our way back to base camp and start a fire
and rest for a little bit. It felt surreal, being back together again after some iffy times, as we walking through the riverbed. Somehow, DE managed to procure a tiki torch, even, and it felt like a victory parade going home. Back at base camp, we were relieved to find PA who had made his way back after his escape.
We ate and drank for the first time in forever, and started warming up and
settling in. I was surprised by how little I ended up needing to eat or
drink during the 24 hr event... about 1.5 L of water, and maybe 150cal of 6
reeces pieces (M&M-sized things), 2 quarter-sized squeezes of MRE cheese
spread, a few pieces of MRE cookies, and a couple of bites of MRE bread.
I'm kind of a picky eater, but you're not so picky when you're hungry! It
was about getting calories and not running out of energy. We were supposed
to have more food to go around, but that had gone out the window during the
capture, so our team of 6 managed to survive on one MRE package for the whole
day.
(Roasting socks over an open fire)
We had about 2 hours to
rest, so we tried to get in what we could, in hammocks, or spooning, or in or
on a garbage bag. It sprinkled rain a little bit, but fortunately, it
wasn't for long or with any kind of strength. We kept the fire up during
the night, and it gave us much-needed warmth in the cold. At about
2:30am, we were up again for instructions on our next objective. We
packed up and headed back out.
(Direct hit by AB!)
We still had much to do
before we could successfully defeat the bad guys' plan to take over the world,
so we had to get moving. We had to obtain something stealthily, then
trade it with some friendlies for something we needed. Then, we were
ready for our final assault. We were ready for all kinds of stuff to be
thrown at us. It did end in a big boom, and we got to the finish as a
full team, with all of the required items, arm-in-arm, at the end.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
Our team didn't end up
winning, but I'm so proud of what we accomplished. We completed more
objectives than the other team, and we had the most prisoners escape.
Hats off to the Charlie team, though... they finished first, and helped us in
our time of need.
This was a pretty
awesome event... more real than any other event that I've been to. The
others feel sanitized in comparison to this. If you want to test
yourself, put yourself through something challenging. I like to picture myself
as someone who could be brave like the soldiers in the stories that you hear
about, but I find out in events like these that I'm more of a coward, who tends
to run and hide. I think these events help to challenge me to be more
brave, though. I'm inspired by the team members who did the hard work of
going into enemy territory on scouting and stealth missions to get stuff like LL & PA, and
by the ability my teammates to endure and not complain and thrive in
challenging circumstances. I'm not where I want to be, but I can take
learnings from each event and try to put them into practice at subsequent
events. For example, I learned about the power of positive attitudes and
getting things done despite unpleasant circumstances at GORUCK, and I used that
here to help push myself and teammates in the rough times.
(Photo Credit: Dennis Crider)
I'm so thankful for the
experience, and for the team that I got to know and be a part of during the 24
hours, and for the other teams who were part of this. The organizers did
such a great job of planning for the event, making it so realistic, and being
ready to continuously adapt the game based on how things progressed. Even
the radio man... we wouldn't have gotten through the hard night without his
presence and support. He toughed this out just like the rest of us, with
even less gear than we had. It was such a cool event. I did miss
out on getting the chance to go to prison, but I did get to try the tazer after
the event, and there's always next year! They're sure to come up with
another amazing event to challenge you like no other event can.
