TAPER TIME
Sunday, Nov 14:
Yoga for Comfort and Nourishment with Adriene for 25 min, then more stretching on my own, since those poses felt great, and the 25 min felt short now that I'm used to 45 min sessions now.
Wednesday, Nov 17:
Day 26 - Expand | BREATH Yoga with Adriene for 17 min
Thursday, Nov 18:
Day 14 - Space | BREATH Yoga with Adriene for 36 min. It was nice to do a longer session again.
2021 RUCKING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
September 20, 2019, GORUCK announced that it would be hosting the Rucking World Championships 50 mile event in Washington, D.C., with a 20 hour time cap, 20/30# plate weight standards, and $3,500 in cash prizes. It was the next step up from the usual 50 mile Star Course, which is a big beast on its own.
The original date of the event was November 20th, 2020, but a month before the event, GORUCK made the decision to postpone it by a year, citing COVID restrictions within the city. It turned out to be a very good thing for Shannon and I, because we had completed Team Assessment in September of 2020, but we were still quite wrecked in November, and it would take me 5-6 months before I felt somewhat normal again.
One year later, we were excited that the event was finally happening. There was a womens division option available, which meant that we wouldn't be able to sign up as a team like we had originally envisioned, since that was only available in the open category, but we felt like it was important to support women's' divisions in this sport, first and foremost. We still had the option to ruck together for as long as we wanted, though, so that was our plan for at least the first 2/3 or so of the event, and we could always split up if pacing or placing considerations came into play.
My #1 goal, though, was to simply finish. I knew how hard it was to cover 50 miles in 20 hours with 10# of plate weight (20# total), and this event would require 50% more plate weight (30# total). With big events like this, it's cool just to be a part of it. An added incentive for me to finish was that this would be my 100th GORUCK event! I had wanted my 100th to be something special, and it happened to work out so that this would be it.
On my way to the airport, I noticed that my shoes felt really tight. That happens after my feet swell during a flight, but it had never happened before the flight. That wasn't going to be good, if I was going to start a 50 with swollen feet in shoes that were too tight.
Shannon and I flew into DC, landing at 2:28pm on Friday, checked into Capitol Hill Hotel just one block away from the start point at Folger Park, and grabbed some unique and delicious salads at SweetGreen around the block. Our practice is to get a hotel for major overnight events (HTB, TA, 50s, etc) even if we won't end up sleeping there, just in case there's an emergency. If you already have a situation bad enough that you have to withdraw from the event, you don't want to make it worse by not having a place to go to in the middle of the night.
It was really convenient to be able to roll up to the start point when we wanted to, without having to go extra early to avoid traffic. It was chilly, too, so it was nice not being stuck outside for an extended period of time.
We didn't know exactly what to expect at this event, because the format was not going to be that of a traditional 50 mile star course. We'd be given one waypoint at a time to navigate to, and then we'd get our next set of instructions. The event page told us to expect the unexpected, whatever that meant.
We checked in. Combat Ready Tape gave out samples. We saw old friends there. We stretched. I went to the bathroom at least 3 times at the Porta Potty. I ended up making a trip back to the hotel room to grab more clothes at Shannon's urging, which ended up being very good advice, because it was going to be a very cold night. I was glad that the hotel was so close.
Cadre Mocha Mike kicked us off, and made a special announcement about this being my 100th event. That was really nice of him.
He also called up representatives of the military, first responders, teachers, and moms, to hold up the flag as we sang the national anthem.
Afterwards, we were released in waves by division. We received our first lat/long point, had it double-checked by our cadre after we inputted it into our phones, and then set off. There were 8 women total. We were excited about the big group. We set off down D street.
After a while, you started to see people go different ways based on their navigation choices, but Shannon and I don't get swayed by others and go the way that we think is most optimal. We make our way west, then cross over the Potomac, go past DCA, through Crystal City to get to Barcroft Park.
Our first checkpoint is just over 8 miles in. There, we can refill on water, grab a clementine if we want, and get the next waypoint. There aren't restrooms there, and rather than walk a long way to get to a secluded place, I wait for a more on-the-way place later. A few of us are somewhat traveling as a group now, which requires a little more coordination when you want to get everyone moving again. From then on, my plan is that if anyone wants to go to the bathroom, that should be the first thing that they do at the stop, so that we're not constantly waiting for people going out for a while and coming back at different times.
Once everyone's back from their potty breaks, we step off again, and on the way, I make my own pitstop and then rush to join back up with the group. No extra walking for me! We go north and then east, crossing back over the Patomac and through Georgetown and Emily's old stomping grounds. The lights there were magical at night. I had another pit stop by an old Marriott. Darkness is your friend. I took another pitstop somewhere later on, too. I must've been hydrating well, and I didn't want to carry any extra weight in my body that I didn't have to.
My pinky toes started getting blisters at about mile 8. I normally don't get blisters. Fortunately, the situation kind of stayed the same for the remainder of the event. They never got to feeling any worse.
My phone was somehow showing that the battery was at 20%, like it had drained quickly, even though I hadn't actively used it that much. I wasn't sure if it was because of the cold temps or something. I moved my phone against my body, to try to heat it up, to see if that would improve the battery reading. Fortunately, Shannon's was doing OK, so she continued to navigate.
Shannon's hip had been giving her issues ever since she strained something during a workout with awkward side lunges. I was worried about her at times, and she tried carrying her ruck in different ways to relieve the pressure in her hip. She fought through it, though.
(Georgetown at 1:31am)
We went up to our second waypoint at Meridian Park, which was just over 16 miles into the event. We wanted to enter at the southern end of the park, but it was closed off, to our dismay, so we walked halfway up the long park to get to an entrance that was open. We had to climb up stairs to get there, so we were glad when the steps led us to the tent. We refilled on water, used the bushes, stretched, and got our next waypoint. Most of us were eager to get moving again, because it was quite chilly.
Not long after we stepped off, we had to part ways with one member of our rucking group, who was having issues with blisters. We would stay in contact for safety and morale purposes, but we were sad to not continue on together. Tough decisions like that are part of the event when there are big pacing differences and there's a time hack for the event. It's good to have a plan going in, and an understanding with everyone about how it will be handled. That way, there's no drama or time wasting about the decision in the middle of the event. Fortunately, everyone was mentally prepared for this possibility, and we continued on.
Our next point was at a Recycling Center way down south in Old Town Alexandria. To get there, we passed The White House, The Ellipse, and the Washington Monument. That's one of my favorite parts of DC events, especially Star Courses - you get to see all of the landmarks. You don't get to enjoy it for too long, because you gotta keep moving the whole time. It's nice eye candy, though, and takes your mind off of the difficult physical aspect of the event for a little while.
We crossed over the Potomac again, and went by DCA again. This time, it was super quiet, since it was the wee morning hours. We took the Mount Vernon greenway trail down to Alexandria. The walk through the Old Town felt like it took forever. The city was cute and pretty to look at, but the Recycling Center seemed to take forever to walk to. It was about a mile and a half down one road. At that time of night, we had the whole street to ourselves, because there was no traffic.
We finally made it to the Recycling Center, just over 26 miles into it. There were donut holes, but I wasn't in the mood for any. I really wanted a restroom, so I low crawled my way to a porta potty. There were lots of ruckers hanging out at this waypoint, and you got to see a decent number of teams and individuals on this long out-and-back. Normally, one would think "I still have 24 miles to go!" but somehow, my thought was "yay, I only have 24 miles left!" It was odd, but good. Amazingly, but as usual with these things, the trip back through Old Town Alexandria from the Recycling Center flew by, compared to how long it felt when we were making our way out for the first time.
Daytime was starting to peek in now. In the daylight, going on the Mount Vernon Trail, we finally got to see and enjoy the beauty of the fall season around us.
We went over Rock Creek Park, and up Connecticut Avenue, which had a lot of uphill, all the way to Fort Reno Park. At about mile 37, my legs had started freezing up, and rucking became much more difficult. It took a lot of mental effort to keep moving forward, and if it weren't for the group, I don't know if I would've made it or maintained that pace, at the very least. This was another out-and-back where we came across a decent number of teams (comparatively speaking). Everyone was pushing through the pain cave.
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