Sunday, Nov 9:
Yoga for Renewal with Adriene... my body, especially my left Achilles, maybe from the inclines, needed it.
Monday, Nov 10:
It snowed!
Saw Chrissy with my mom since I got free tickets. It was good! My friend was an extra in it, haha.
Early this week, I had a feeling at work that I really wanted a vacation, and I thought fondly about trips I've made to GRHQ and Jax in the past. I looked at GORUCK events that might be taking place in the Southeast, and what do you know... there was a whole weekend of events in Jax. I started to contemplate the idea of going, either to do the 26.2, the 12, or the 5K plus activations, depending on whether my mom wanted to come along.
Tuesday, Nov 11:
18A "Upper Body Prep" in 22:00, then "Push-up" in 59:19... not great by the third round, but I haven't done this one in a while.
Wednesday, Nov 12:
18A "Lower Body Prep" in 16:52, then "Lower Push BW" in 34:17
THE DRIVE TO JAX
My mom was interested in coming, so we'd make a trip out of it and I'd actually book two nights of hotels. We drove down on Friday, we'd do GORUCK stuff at their new HQ on Saturday, and then we'd see St. Augustine on Sunday before driving home. I wanted to see the beach somewhere in there, too, since shark teeth hunting is a tradition on all of my trips down there.
On our drive down, we saw a million signs for Buccee's. I think I had gone by there once before but didn't stop for some reason... maybe I was in a rush to get where I was going. We were going to make time for it this time, though! I've heard a lot about it. Mixed opinions, but I was excited.
They had lots of Xmas stuff around. I enjoyed looking at all the merch. The food looked "eh" to me, but I did take a little bite of my mom's BBQ Mac and Cheese, and it was decent.
I don't care what people say... Buccee is very cute. If my mom hadn't been there to hold me back, I would've gone home with way more Buccee's merch than I got (only a little ornament and a 5-gal bucket).
5K CITY RUCK
My goal was to see how many patches I could get my mom to earn over the weekend. She did agree to do the 5K City Ruck with me. We got in and registered our team name, "Momma Bear and Baby Bear". We got a number that we'd use when we filled out a form confirming our find of each point along the course. It was their first time using the online form to submit finds, instead of doing picture proof. There were tons of people participating, so it makes sense that they'd try to figure out a way to track everyone's progress in a more logistically practical way. It was still kind of on the honor system, at least for the 5K, though, because the QR codes that you scanned at each point took you to the same form every time, and you just used a drop-down list to indicate which point you found. You were still asked to take pics, but there's no way they could really check all the pics for this size of group. Maybe for the longer distance events that have awards they'd check, though.
When the time of the event rolled around after a briefing by Cadre Barbarossa, we got access to the URL that would give us the hit list. Without a paper hit list, it is more challenging to go between Google Maps, the Hit List, and Road Warrior. We had a remarkable 12 points on our 5K course... enough to push you over towards needing a Road Warrior Pro subscription. I bundled nearby points together to make it work without Pro, though. There's always pressure to get moving at the start, even when plotting correctly is more important.
#JaxStartPoint
I ended up blowing by point #1 at first and overheard others talking about it, so we doubled back to grab it, maybe adding about a quarter mile right off the bat. Oops. It was my mom's first time, though, so she probably just going with the flow and along for the ride.
#Vinyl
There were enough people doing the event that you could somewhat follow-the-leader. Some teams did go CCW vs CW, though, and some might've had slightly different point sequences, depending on which app they used.
#12thAve
Ginger's Place did give me trouble... Road Warrior seemed to put it at a different location. Another confusing thing was there there were two points on the same block, right next to each other... Ginger's Place came sooner than I expected since Road Warrior had it plotted much further down the road, so I was surprised to see it instead of a mural. I asked other teams around us whether they had come across a mural yet, and they said no, although they weren't necessarily the navigators on their teams.
#Gingers
I was glad that the route took us to the GRHQ area, since I had many great memories there.
#WeddingYoga
#BeachesMuseum (listed as #BeachHut, which appeared twice on the hit list, which was also confusing)
#OldGRHQ
We had to cross 3rd street multiple times... it always takes a long time for those lights to change, and there aren't a ton of places to officially cross. It was nice to go near the beach, though.
Random Pic my mom wanted to take
#DawnPatrol
#JaxBeachLifeguards
After Dawn Patrol, we had to do an extra crossing and re-crossing of 3rd Street, since I had missed the mural on my first go-around. It added extra distance, since we hadn't grabbed it when we first went pretty much right by it, but better to do the extra quarter-to-half-mile then, than to miss it completely and have to go back or something like that.
Another random pic that my mom wanted to take
#MadeInFlorida
After crossing back over 3rd Street, I'm not sure if anyone found the QR code for #OceanFront, but we were definitely at the WWII memorial. It was great seeing so many other teams out there, having a good time with their friends and family.
#OceanFront
I was using a 20L rucker v2, and my mom was using my shorty 20L rucker v3. Each had 10# in it. I was prepared to carry her weight later in the event, if she needed me to. She ended up being a champ, though, and carried her own weight the whole time without any issues. Her legs did get tired in the last mile, and she started moving more slowly, but we still made it!
#BeachHut
After that, it was time to participate in as many activations as I could...
BEER MILE
First up was the Beer Mile, which I definitely wanted to finish before the GORUCK Takeover workout. I went for the 100# one, since go big or go home. I knew I could do 100#... how it would go with beer would be the question.
They had weight plates and some sand jerry cans and a couple of sandbags that you could borrow to make weight. I put 70# in my ruck and carried 2x15# sand jerry cans. To get the ruck up, I had to sit down, do a sort of a sit-up / good morning from the seated position, then squat my way up.
They had weight plates and some sand jerry cans and a couple of sandbags that you could borrow to make weight. I put 70# in my ruck and carried 2x15# sand jerry cans. To get the ruck up, I had to sit down, do a sort of a sit-up / good morning from the seated position, then squat my way up.
In the spirit of the event, my first beer did have alcohol and was a light beer. The next three would end up being 0% alcohol beers, though.
The carries weren't bad at all, but trying to down the can of fizzy drink was brutal, even without alcohol.
The early pictures might have me smiling, but it was carnage by cans #3 and #4.
I did finish, just in time to quickly grab a 20# simple sand bag to join in on the Takeover workout, though. It took me 56 minutes to do that beer mile because it took so long to stomach the drinks. It took a lot of mental fortitude to keep all that liquid down.
GORUCK TAKEOVER WORKOUT
There were good vibes going for the Takeover workout. Everyone goes at their own pace. You had the option to split the buy-in and cash-out reps with a partner, but I did the whole thing. My presses turned into push presses by the end, though. It was a solid workout.
SAMSON MOBILITY
Next up was a mobility session hosted by Samson Mobility. They handed out lacrosse balls that we could use to loosen up tight spots.
During our mobility session, more of the 50 mile ruckers would come in. I am not in 50 mile shape at the moment and have tremendous admiration for everyone who was able to do that!
KEG CHALLENGE
The keg challenge was much easier than the beer mile.
We went 2 at a time, and my buddy was good at knocking out burpees, too.
The keg wasn't too heavy, but it was awkward and took a little strength to get up.
The second workout was hosted by F45. As the day went on, the crowds left over from the 5K did dwindle a bit, but we still had a good group for this partner workout. I teamed up with someone from the SCARS team.
I think he wished that I was faster on my reps, but I'm a slow and methodical exerciser. 5 minutes is going to last 5 minutes anyways, though.
EMBRACE THE COLD CHALLENGE
After all that working out, it was a good time to do the ice bath challenge. It was getting a bit chillier as the day went on, though, and the sun was no longer there. It was actually quite cold, but endurable. At least there were things in the pool to play with.
SCARS
My favorite part of GRHQ is the people. I got to catch up with some friends who did the 50, plus the crew from SCARS and other staff. Such great people.
POST-GRHQ
After the events ended, I met up with my mom again. She had gone shopping at the nearby Marshalls earlier. We went to Homegoods and Wholefoods, located in the same shopping center. How convenient! Next time I come here, I can spend the day doing GORUCK stuff, and she can shop to her heart's content.
After that, we went to the famous Angie's Subs. They had sponsored the 5K that day and gave the finishers $10 gift cards, which was really nice. Their subs have a sweet taste to it... I had the "504" with coleslaw on it, and my mom had a Philly cheesesteak, I think.
MICKLER'S LANDING
The next morning, we set out early to stop by Mickler's Landing, before making our way down to St. Augustine.
There weren't piles of small shells washed up like the waves, like I've seen in the past. I don't know if it has to do with the tide or with how long it's been since the last storm. I looked on the very small traces of pileups but didn't find anything for like 45 minutes. I found one thing that might be like the gums of the tooth, but that was it.
There weren't piles of small shells washed up like the waves, like I've seen in the past. I don't know if it has to do with the tide or with how long it's been since the last storm. I looked on the very small traces of pileups but didn't find anything for like 45 minutes. I found one thing that might be like the gums of the tooth, but that was it.
Oh well. I headed back to where my mom was near the beach entrance.
Before we left, I started digging like a Myrtle Beach friend had said she did to find teeth, where the waves would end their journey. To my surprise, in the deep layer of grainy shell fragments right below the layer of fine sand, I found like 3 teeth in quick succession! It was like hitting the jackpot! I know the secret now! Maybe the tide still has to be just right, but now I know what "good" hunting ground looks like, at least beneath the top layer. I had always been a surface searcher in the past, but this was a nice technique that didn't require you to move around as much. The waves and water did the work of helping you search through a lot of volume.
ST. AUGUSTINE
We continued the drive southward to St. Augustine. My mom said that she had travelled through before, but she said she didn't remember much of it. Maybe it was different back then, about 40 years ago.
Our first stop was the Castillo de San Marco. I had been interested in going in on a previous trip, but there was a line, I didn't have my National Park Passport with me, and I might not have had time. We first walked around the fort. It was cool to see the holes made from previous attempts to attack the fort.
Their walls were made of what looked like crushed shells, which were good at absorbing the shock of the projectiles.
We saw a dolphin in the water and a bird in the water.
Afterwards, I wanted to go in, since that's where all the NP stamps were. My mom stayed outside.
They happened to have cannon firing demonstrations coming up soon, so I went upstairs to see that.
Then, I did a quick tour of the upstairs and downstairs, before going back out to meet my mom.
To use the other 90 or so minutes before our free parking would expire, we started by walking along the waterfront to the bridge with the lions. The bridge was up to let boats through.
It's interesting to get a glimpse of what life was like for those who lived in the fort.
This one was a fun one...
To use the other 90 or so minutes before our free parking would expire, we started by walking along the waterfront to the bridge with the lions. The bridge was up to let boats through.
We then walked up to city hall and a really picturesque college.
We finished with a walk down the shopping alley.
There were some nice Christmas decorations out and about... it would've been cool to see this place at night, but we weren't able to get that in on this trip.
Another great visit to Jax! And glad to be able to share it with my mom!
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