Christmas in CHS 2020

I went to CHS on my way back from JAX.  I ended up getting a ton of training in while I was there.  I worked out a bunch and could handle all of it without issues.

Tuesday, Dec 22:

My first full day back, I met up with my friend Bridget, who wanted to see CHS, and especially the bridge at night.  I suggested going during the evening, so that we could get daytime views as well as nighttime views of the city.

We had to do some mason twists along the way for the 10K Core challenge, of course.

We rucked from Mt. Pleasant over to Poogan's Porch, where we had Southern Food for dinner.  Even though it was a little chilly, we opted for outdoor dining.  It is kind of crazy that we can dine outdoor in late December here, though.  The food was good... nothing mind-blowing, but good.

(Crab cakes)

(Fried green tomatoes)

(Fried Chicken)

(Complementary biscuits, although I still like Bojangles' better)

I stopped my watch while we were eating, but we hit 12 miles in 3:50:14 after doing extra loops around the Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park.

Wednesday, Dec 23:

I went to the track to do 60 minutes of 45# cleans and tosses with a 45# SB.  It started getting to me in the last 15 minutes, I think... like the risk of strain started outweighing the benefits.  

After that, I did the HH Cadre Doug PT:

100 burpees slick, then a 1 mile run in 6:45, then 50 burpees slick, then a 1 mi run in 6:56.

Thursday, Dec 24:

Played "Fairest Lord Jesus" a bunch of times until I made it through without any messups, so that one day, if I lose the sheet music, I can at least try to reconstruct it.

In the evening, I did a coupon ruck using the 20# RPC (which Bridget gave me after an incident on the bridge) for the first time, plus a 45# SB.  I stopped every 0.75 miles to do 20 plank shoulder taps for the 10K Core Challenge, plus 5 cleans.  It's fun to look at Christmas decorations this time of year.  Rucking is great for that kind of thing.

I did yoga in the evening, although this practice was hip-focused and had more intense stretches that could lead to strain if someone pushed too hard.  

Friday, Dec 25:

Just me an my Penguin.

Back at the track, I did a Joe Baker Fitness workout called "Stability", which included a bunch of iso holds and tosses, plus a 1 mi low carry with a 45# SB and 20# RPC, in my MACV1s.  Plus some more plank shoulder taps, of course.

Saturday, Dec 26:

I did a mile of coupon rucking with a 45# SB and a Rucker with a 20# plate plus 2 bricks to try to make it a little heavier (since I hadn't brought my 30# plate to Jax and only brought my 20# plate in case I decided against using bricks at the last minute).

Then 1 mile of normal rucking.  

Then 0.5 mi of OH rucking.

Then 50 ruck thrusters.

Then 4 miles of movement including 500m each of low crawling and bounding, in 2:49:44.  That was a long 4 miles.  It was cold and difficult, but it was some epic training.

Sunday, Dec 27:

The next song that I tackled was "Solitude".  It was even harder, because I haven't seen the sheet music for it in maybe 20 years, so it was all from memory... largely muscle memory.  This one I really do need to capture before I forget.

I wanted to ruck sightsee some more in downtown CHS, so I set out with the 20# plate and a brick, plus EDC.  While on the bridge at sunset, I saw a dredging ship.

There was a convenient restroom that was open in a parking garage near the Fort Sumter boat launching point and aquarium.

Marion Square had a Christmas tree.  It felt a little weird walking down King Street in the middle of a pandemic.

About 8 miles in, I realized that I was still feeling good and decided to take advantage of the fact that I was in a cool city and do 20 miles there.  NC had a curfew at the time, and CHS was going to be much more interesting than going back to NC to do this in my neighborhood.  I had wanted something long like this before the Bragg HH, anyways.  

I took a break about 10 miles in, and realized that I needed to speed things up if my phone and Garmin batteries were going to make it.  The whole ruck had started off super leisurely, since the original goal had merely been to do some sightseeing while rucking.  I started pretty much shuffling it all from there on out.  

I did some loops around Hampton Park, and there, I realized that my headlamp battery was pretty much dead, too, when I tried to run on trails that were a bit rooty and super dark in parts.  Yikes!  One interesting thing that I ran into was that as I was running through Hampton Park, a couple sitting outside of their car offered me pizza, which was kind of weird.  It turns out that the Charleston 100 Ultra Race was happening that day, and because I was running and wearing a pack, they thought I was a participant, haha.  I came across racers a while later, and realized what was going on.  I did my best to avoid them thereafter, so that they wouldn't think that I'm a lost racer who was so fatigued from the race that I was going in literal circles around the park.  I also tried to avoid too much interaction with other racers, in case I was going the opposite way or on different paths at times, so that they wouldn't think I was a fellow racer who was cheating or anything.

And the charging cable that I thought that I had brought ended up having the wrong kind of connector.  I was wearing a normal tri-blend t-shirt, too, not something I'd normally wear for a ruck this long.  At least it wasn't super cold.  

On my way back, I knew what general direction I needed to head to get back to the bridge... north and east, so I made my way across the city accordingly.  At one point, I found myself in the projects that I used to ride past on bus rides to elementary and middle school.  It felt familiar.  It was pretty quiet, since it was at night and during pandemic times.  I came across three different people, but I was shuffling at a good clip.  About as I was exiting the projects, I heard gunshots a few housing unit blocks away.  That gave me incentive to go extra fast.  I was grateful to have a steel plate against my back, and for me to be going away from the area.  Once you're on East Bay street, there are many cars around again.  I saw a few cop cars speeding towards the projects as I headed north.  

I felt strong and pushed hard even at the end to make the battery time hack.  The watch and phone made it!  This was a good redemption ruck after the previous 20 miler I had done.  I had 2 snacks during the ruck... a third would've been nice, but I had no time.  You can tell from the battery indicator that my phone barely made it!

Back at the Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront park, there was a group of fit-looking but normally dressed individuals who were having a celebration.  I'm guessing they were associated with or participants in the race, because they all looked very fit, and it would be very odd to have any other kind of gathering during the pandemic.

Monday, Dec 28 - 

Left CHS...

and went back to CLT, where I got to place my last 2 patches for the year...

Especially following the TT, that was a ton of solid training.