GORUCK REUNION 2019 - Jax Beach

I dove deep into GORUCK in 2018.  I went from having done a single Tough in 2016 and a single Constellation in 2017, to doing the following events in 2018:

• Valentine's Day Light CLT in Feb
• Immersion 12 ATL in May
• Expedition 12 CLT in June
• D-Day Tough CHS in June
• Independence Day Tough Chapel Hill in July
• Operation Red Wings Tough in CLT in July
• Traditional Light in Winston-Salem in August
• 9/11 Light in CLT in September
• Mog Mile Tough/Light CHS in October
• T-Day Tough/Light CLT in November
• Santa Ruck Light CLT in December

Plus Pathfinder Endure, City Ruck Tour Columbia, Biggest Fox, the Rain Ruck Ruck Club Callout, and War-X Survival Weekend.  

I went from having one ruck and no hip belt (just a $2 webbing strap with a buckle), to having more rucks and accesories than I care to disclose.

I did some more events in 2019:

• Battle of the Bulge Integrated Tough Savannah in Jan
• Pistol ASI and F.I.G.H.T. FAD Myrtle Beach in Feb
• Star Course 26.2 ATL in March
• Bataan Light CLT in April
• Constellation 12 2.0 CLT in April

so I was keenly interested in finally getting to visit GORUCK HQ, where all the magic happens.  

When they announced that the annual Reunions events would happen at Jax Beach, it was a great opportunity to attend my first Reunions while also getting to see HQ, meet Monster and the crew, and all that cool stuff.

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Apr 15:

I had some catching up to do on GORUCK's April Rucking Challenge - Lucky 7's, with its 7 workouts over the course of the month.  I had only done one so far, so I doubled up with days 2 and 3 on this day, after a nap in the car after work.  

Day 2:

5 x 

• 10 Walking Lunges
• 10 Plank Pull-throughs
• 10 Overhead Presses
• 200M Ruck AFAP

which I completed in 23:03... barely felt this one.

Day 3:

1 mi ruck in 16:08

10 x 

• 50m Suitcase Carry
• 10 Ruck High Pulls
• 25m Bear Crawls 

I did this without gloves, and my left palm already had scars from a fall at Spartan, so doing this in the parking lot at work turned into minced meat.  I normally wear gloves, but didn't try to hard to find some to do this, to see what it's like.  I think it makes me appreciate gloves more, when I do use them.

Afterwards, I did another 4.7 miles of rucking at 15:22 pace (I think I had practiced integrating a 1 min shuffle each mile), since I was still feeling pretty fresh.  During this ruck, I was on Messenger with my DC Star Course team members, and we came up with a team name, which was exciting.

Wednesday, Apr 17:

Rucked 5.8 mi at 19:03 as a gear test.  I tried out a fresh pair of Salomon XR Missions (I loved my first pair, which I've been using for a long, long time).  I also tried rucking with a 15L Bullet with an unpadded hit belt, with a 10# plate held up high on a Greyman Tactical Molle Panel, plus a little bit of extraneous gear to mimic the extra weight of gear.  I also tried spike poles for a tiny bit (I couldn't find my rubber-capped ones) before I quickly gave up on that idea, since 1) it felt extremely awkward and not like something I could even get used to, 2) I realized that it would be impossible to navigate if I had poles in both of my hands.

Didn't do Pokemon Go.  Didn't shuffle.  Just paid attention to how the gear felt.

Thursday, Apr 18:

Wanted to get in a run because I needed the cardio.  I could've done a strength session instead, but really wanted cardio.  5.0 in 41:12, 8:15 ave, 2 degrees of incline.  (Splits> 8:35, 8:28, 8:23, 8:11, 7:33).  I ended up feeling sore the next day.  What's happening to me and my running?

Friday, Apr 19:

Chipped away some more at Lucky 7's, with the Day 4 workout.  I stuck indoors this time, to not destroy my hands during bear crawls, using the larger exercise room at the gym at work.  It was also threatening to rain outside.  It wasn't a killer workout, but I did breathe a little hard towards the end.  I used a Rucker V1 with no hip belt, so I tied up the ends of the shoulder straps together as a workaround.  Better than nothing.  I normally have a hip belt, so it made me appreciate having a hip belt more.  I seem to have been going without gear that I normally take for granted recently.

1 mi ruck at 14:00 pace (on the treadmill, did it in 13:47)

10 x 

• 10 Thrusters
• 25m Bear Crawl
• 10 Ruck Swings

Saturday, Apr 20:

Since my running ability has clearly deteriorated, I really wanted to try to salvage some of that fitness with a run today.  13.0 miles in 2:15:28, 10:25 ave on the trails at Latta Plantation.  It was in the 50's, with light rain.  I need to get my endurance back, because if I can't even run for 13 miles comfortably, how am I going to ruck with gear and weight for 50 miles?  No food or water necessary during the run.

Sunday, Apr 21:

Lucky 7's Days 5 and 6.

Day 5:

1 mi ruck in 16:56

10 x 

• 10 Russian Twists
• 10 Pushups
• 10 Overhead Squats

1 mi ruck in 17:06

Day 6:

10 x 

• 100m Suitcase Carry with Switch Halfway
• 10 Squats with Ruck Front
• 10 Swings

I discovered a nice place to do outdoor ruck workouts in my neighborhood - the boat landing.  It was wide, peaceful, quiet, and untrafficed.

I was amazed that I had so many workout days in a row.  I normally only work out once every few days, to allow for recovery in between efforts.  After having to let my left foot get back to health after the Star Course 26.2, I was glad to be getting back into the swing of things.

Wednesday, Apr 24:

Rucked 1.4 mi round trip to the subdivision fitness room.

4.0 mi run in 33:20, 8:20 ave.  It felt way harder than it should've, since it was only 4 miles, and I was well-rested.  My arms have felt cold and numb today, from shoulder to h and.  It was weird.  

At the gym, taking of my ruck, I had warm fuzzy feelings about how awesome GORUCK bags are.  They make me feel like I'm ready for anything.

DONUT RUCK

GORUCK HQ makes a full weekend out of Reunions.  The first official event was the Donut Ruck, which is a weekly outing that some of their employees take part in, where they ruck to a donut place for miniature sweets and coffee, before rucking back.  Since it started at 9am, I decided to head down to Jax Beach the night before.  It was about 6 hours total of driving, so I left after showering at work, and then slept for a few hours at a rest stop before doing the last hour.  I got there an hour early, then went into the PX building.

From my first 5 seconds there, I was amazed by the warmth of the group.  The CSRs there greeted me as if I was a VIP or a friend they hadn't seen in forever or something, even though I'm a nobody.  They are stellar people.  They had some gear to browse, including unicorns.  More GRTs showed up.  I tried my best to meet people, even though that is a little out of my comfort zone.

It was pouring rain at start time, so we waited it out for a few minutes until it calmed down outside.  By the time we decided to go out and got started, though, it started pouring again.  What's a GORUCK event without some epic-ness, though?

We started with a group photo, before we headed out through some neighborhoods.  People were meeting each other, and one guy was splashing into every puddle he could find, trying to splash as many bystanders as possible.

The Donut Ruck is meant to be an accessible event, and they especially wanted to keep it light before the Tough, so that we didn't go in already tired.  We got to the Mini Bar, where a line formed to get coffee.  Back outside in the courtyard, HQ treated us to 3 tray boxes of their mini donuts, which was a nice surprise!

Of course, there were some shenanigans, too, like when we challenged ourselves to make a pyramid out of our rucks, instead of just arranging them in a row against the wall like normal people.

I don't normally drink coffee.  I only do so before marathons, or I'll eat a couple of chocolate covered coffee beans before events.  I had Nitro Brew there, though, since it was special.

Back at HQ, I met Monster.  I also visited SCARS, where I dropped off my Rucker V2.1, to add side handles.  HQ is a cool place.  So much GORUCK.

JAX BEACH AND GRAFFITI

After the Donut Ruck, it was time to explore Jax Beach a bit.  HQ had emailed out a list of ideas for things to do.  HQ is located only a couple blocks away from the beach, so I headed there, first.  I grew up a few miles from the beach (although I'd only go like once a year, since I always took it for granted), but this beach is better than the ones that I'm used to.  The sand was super fine and soft and flat and clean.  They have an initiative that encourages locals to help pick up trash.  It was nice weather, not too hot, and it was cloudy, so I just felt so peaceful walking along the surf, listening to the waves, and looking for the occasional shell.

While I was there, Bomber posted that there would be a meetup for lunch at Graffiti, and I saw that it was only a couple of blocks away.  GRTs and some people from HQ had gathered around a couple of tables in the outdoor seating area.  I was still pretty full from the donuts, so I went for zucchini fries, and had a beer.

I know of Lee and Bomber from the GORUCK Show Facebook Live Feed and podcast.  They're quite a pair, and are always a highlight of my Thursdays.  I had done an event with Lee in CHS last June, although I was only barely getting into the GORUCK show at the time, and didn't know who he was then.

HQ people gave Lee a little surprise in his free beer.

After lunch, I decided to go to Mickler Landing to hunt for shark teeth.  Over the course of 2 hours, I found 7.  The sun was beating down hard, so I did my best to shield my body from the sun.

It was hot, so I tried to take a nap in the car, but maybe due to the coffee, I couldn't fall asleep.  I decided to go to Bird Island Park, which was on the list of recommended things to see.  It was a nice little park.  I didn't ruck it, since I didn't want to put more hard miles on my feet before the Tough, but I did walk around and get some Pokemon, and I enjoyed the unique-looking birds from the area.  They don't look like the birds from the Carolinas.

I opted to just get something for dinner at Trader Joe's.  I wasn't craving anything heavy, after Donuts sand Zuchinni fries.  I craved phytonutrients, maybe because I had been out in the sun.  I got a vegan wrap.  Not super satisfying, but it gave me the phytontutrients.

I drove out to Beaches Town Center, a nice shopping and restaurant area that was also on the list, but it was dinnertime on a Friday, so parking was harder to find, and I decided to give it up and drove back to HQ.  

I tried to sleep, but again, no luck.  Maybe the excitement, maybe the Nitro Cold Brew.  While I was waiting for 1am (with an 11am HQ doors open time), I was thinking about how much I preferred 9pm/10pm start times.  

When doors did open, I got to meet Ryan from Ruck.Beer, who had been parked next to me and had also been trying to get some sleep.  It was time to gear up.  I was glad to have a spot close to HQ.  There were many people.  No issues finding parking, that I'm aware of, but lots of people.

We decided (or were told... I don't know)... to line up alphabetically.  There were 200+ who signed up.  173 showed up.  The line of people stretched so long.  I'm in the middle, but I was afraid that the "A" end would stretch to the next postal code, or into the beach already.  With us lined up, the Cadres (JC, Beaux, Jason, Dustin) were able to do roll call and gear inspections a little bit easier.  

Getting everyone together for an intro speech was a little bit harder, with so many of us.  It was like a mass of cows.  Eventually, we got underway with the event, though.  We had 4 ranks, and we started by walking through some quiet neighborhoods.  It was a little wild, at first.  I'm used to the crowd of GRTs from the Carolinas.  Here, there were maybe some outliers who stuck out, but there were guys burping unabashedly.  Anyway, we got to the beach, and it was time for surf PT.  I figured that we wouldn't have an event at Jax Beach without getting into the water.  I guess first thing is as good of a time as any.

We did some push-ups, we had to roll to the left and the right in-synch, and we had to practice and re-practice standing up in unison.  It was cold and uncomfortable, although not to the point where I feared hypothermia.  It was probably in the 60s, for air temps.  I am surprised that nobody quit, though.  Even though it's an event called "Reunions", that brings together many of the most ardent GRTs in the community from across the country, there was also a decent number of first-timers.  I wonder what was going through their minds during surf PT.

After that, the real welcome party began, for me.  We split into four teams, one per flag (Thin Red Line, Thin Blue Line, Florida, USA), and we had to do a relay race.  We split into 7 ranks per group, and each rank would take turns going down to the surf, filling about 6-7 sandbags with wet sand, then bringing it back up to the top of the beach.  In the meantime, lots of difficult PT.  I remember that even the first round was grueling, and I couldn't believe that we still had 6 groups to go.  Overhead holds, pushups, group caterpillar pushups, squats, more overhead holds.  I was with JC.  As much as all of that PT sucked, though, I was grateful to be with him instead of with Jason's group next to us.  

Someone in Jason's group had said that they were cold to the point of having goosebumps, so he warmed them up by getting them in the center, then having a sand storm coat everyone.  I'll take the PT, thank you.  I think the group to our left also had to get sandy.  When I say sandy, it's like multiple inches of sand coating them.

After we finished the relay, we were relieved to get to fill 80 sandbags, and we started on a trek along the beach for a few miles.  It was so beautiful out there.  The moon was super bright, and shining across the ocean, close to the horizon.  It was quiet, and I was in a mass of GRTs.  Good thing the Cadre weren't strict about formations... we were a huge group.  With 80 sandbags, there were about 2 people per sandbag.  After a while, I settled into a swapping pair with a really nice guy.

We finished the beach ruck and got to refuel for a bit and dump sandbags, before going on a ruck through some neighborhoods.  It was at this point that things were feeling pretty easy... no coupons, just rucking through Jax Beach and enjoying the city.  We were still all wet and a little cold from the surf PT.  I was glad to have my long sleeve shirt on, not only for sand chafing, but also for a bit of warmth.

The intensity came back up once we got to an astroturf field, though.  While we waited for people on a bathroom break, we got some extra special Jason time.  He brings a whole nother level of enthusiasm, energy, and a special kind of humor to the event.  He doesn't cadre that much anymore, since he focuses more on the bigger picture vision for GORUCK, so it's special when you do get him.  He has a way of making you work hard and maintain standards, while also making you laugh.  There's no hiding with him.  He'll call you out if you're slacking.  He'll also inject dance parties into the event, to keep things fun.  

We did a couple of exercises up and down the field, and then we did a sequence of buddy carry variations.  I've done these before at other events, so this kind of felt like a "best of GORUCK".  At the end of many variations, the sun started coming up, although because the event started at 1am, it meant that we were still really only like halfway through a standard length event, which was slightly demoralizing.

We rucked through some commercial parts of the city as the sun came up brightly.  It was kind of weird that after like 6 hours together, we were finally seeing what everyone else looked like, for the first time.  

During the event, apart from the team weight, we also had the Rooney Ruck, to honor the renowned Cadre who passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier this year.  It was 75lb, and the goal was to get everyone to carry it for some point during the event.  They also had some collage memorials posted in HQ, and there was a raffle to raise funds for his family.  I was thinking that we may do the Rooney WOD some time during the event, although we didn't.  

Our next destination was a high school field, where we formed the world's longest tunnel of love.  We were told that we'd have to tunnel from one side of the field to another, and back.  It was a massive field.  It was sooooo hard to hold the position, with 173 of us crawling through.  I did my best, but snuck breaks in between people whenever I could.  I was about halfway down the line, and I was only in the early phases of the crawl before the Cadre finally called time on this evolution.  Crawling felt way more comfortable than holding the tunnel, I will say.  I did have the benefit of gloves, long sleeves, and long pants, though.

After this, we split up into two groups.  We had a race that consisted of a tug-of-war, a run around two fields while carrying a casualty on a stretcher, and a run around two fields while pushing a football tackle sled.  Then, we did it again, I think.  I was not of much help during this race, on any of the tasks.  I wasn't even able to ruck very fast.  A jog was feeling very strenuous at this point.

Afterwards, it was our group's turn to go to the nextdoor police department, where we had a service action built into the event.  Our task was to wash a few cop cars, while also doing a collective 500 pushups, 500 tricep dips, and 500 pull-ups.  I didn't contribute a lot, but I did what I could.  It was a nice way to have teamwork and do PT while also doing a service action.  This was my first in-event GORUCK service action.  Although it's no longer required, the service action normally consists of collecting items for donation before or after the event.

After that, Jason gathered us together, we did a little PT while getting sprayed, as a cool-down.  

Next, he told us how it's important that we be able to create our own motivation.  Our group got to pick how to motivate ourselves.  Someone said that the blue team had chosen to do pushups (I thought it might've been overhead claps), for their motivation.  Someone on our team, though, came up with the brilliant idea of doing the limbo.  People had already been holding a broom and a hose from the car wash, so we started cheering for each other as everyone took turns under the limbo pole.

It was one of my most fun GORUCK moments ever.  The guy who was holding the limbo pole... I don't know if he was a GRT or someone from HQ or the PD, but he was hilarious.  He interacted with each person in a different way.  He even limbo-ed himself at the end!

We took pics with the cars at the end, and thanked the PD for what they do for the community.

Finally, a full class picture, along with a police escort back to HQ.

Back at HQ, we celebrated being one big crazy family, we celebrated Rooney, and we had beer and got patched.

Afterwards, we washed our rucks as instructed, to get rid of all of the corrosive salt water and take good care of our gear.  HQ ordered tacos for us, so we all refueled.  

I got to meet Bomber in-person.  I love him.  It's impossible not to love him.  I also got a pic with a good representation of the Asian GRTs.

After this, I went to the hotel, showered, and decided to sleep until I naturally woke up.  It had been a long weekend already, with not much sleep, and I'd have to drive back home the next day.  I was aware that this may mean missing the bar crawl and not waking up until like 16 hours later.  I ended up waking up like a few hours later, and I decided to make the most of the weekend and go out to the bar crawl.  

BAR CRAWL

I was about an hour late, so people were just wrapping up there and paying checks.  I chatted with a group for a little while, and then we walked a couple of blocks over to another place.

It was loud at the other place, so I met a couple of nice NYC ruckers, and got tips on Star Course and NYC rucking events.  I hadn't had dinner yet, so I decided to go back to the Blind Rabbit to get something to eat.  I ate it all.  After that, I went home.  Ironically, I had no beer during the bar crawl.

SCAVENGER

I had heard that some people are used to finding teams for Scavenger, the morning of the event.  I had gone to Reunions alone, so I didn't have a team pre-planned.  This time was a bit different, because the Cadre asked us to prepare team shirts with the theme of Heroes and Villains, since Marvel End Game was coming out that weekend.  Many people came dressed in groups.  I was worried that I wouldn't find a team.  I saw a couple of people with a dog, and I figured that a group with a dog might be nice and let me join, and they did.  It turns out that the team I joined would have Cadre Rick and Kit on it.  

It was my first Scav, and I have been wanting to try one for a while.  I was the TL, and ended taking point on Instagram, where I re-purposed my Star Course account for the Scav team.  The rest of the team took care of figuring out the waypoints and deciding on the optimal way to see all the sights and get points.  

There were many ways to get points.... do PT every few blocks, thank an officer, do/see something cool, find certain things, do certain things, perform/teach certain things, snipe other teams, challenge other teams in PT, drink beer, find Bomber, jump in the ocean.

We hustled, and it turns out, we actually got first!  Drager for the win!  Ironically, I hadn't had anything to drink during the bar crawl, but I had a personal record on number of beers during a 3-hr window during the Scav.  That made being the instagram hashtagger extra challenging.

PARADE

The Scav was shorter than normal, from what I understand... 3-ish hours?  I don't know if it was because of the parade that was happening in town, to celebrate the first day of beach season.  I went over to see it for a little while, and get one last stroll along the beautiful beach, before the drive back home.

It was an awesome weekend to be in Jax Beach.  The Scav was extra special because of all the people and floats who were around.

SUMMARY

I was looking forward to some great things going into the weekend, but HQ exceeded my expectations.  From the my first few moments there, to the end, it was packed with fun and family.  It was great to be immersed in GORUCK people, GORUCK culture, and GORUCK fun for a weekend.  Special shoutouts to the incredible CSRs who make us feel special, the Cadre who impart their wisdom and life lessons to us, Bomber and Lee who were fantastic hosts throughout what must've been an endurance weekend for them of event after event, and my fellow GRTs who remind me of how great it is to be a part of a community like this, where we're all connected and feel like one, despite coming from very different places and having different backgrounds.  

GORUCK Constellation 12 CLT 2019

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Constellation doesn't really require a lot of physical training.  You might be jogging at times, but it's based on your group's desire to move faster for certain spurts during the night.  Constellation non-beta Class 001 in Cary, NC, was my second event ever, after I had done the Veterans Day Tough 2016 in Columbia, SC, the year before.  After the memorable physicality of the Tough, I remembered loving the lack of PT in the Constellation.  It was more about learning and practicing skills with a mixture of classroom sessions and missions through the night.

With that said, here's what I did in the week leading up to it...

Wednesday, Apr 10:
GORUCK's April rucking challenge for individuals was "Lucky 7".  Complete 7 prescribed ruck workouts during the month of April.

Since I had a big first week of April, where I was recovering from the Coupon Ruck and Spartan Volunteering (it was probably the latter that banged me up), and then tapering for and doing the Spartan Sprint / Vol / Super / GORUCK Bataan Light, I didn't start with the first workout until the 10th.

Some people had started already and were posting their times online.  That was helpful, since I could assess how long I could expect each one to take, and plan and mentally prepare accordingly.

I started with the 1 mile ruck on a 2 degree incline treadmill in 14 minutes, followed by the 10 x [10 ruck squats, 10 ruck pushups, and 10 russian twists], with each set taking about 2:30 each.  My pushup form deteriorated a lot in the last 2 sets.  My Russian Twist form wasn't great at any point, either... I didn't go too deep on the twists.  It's what I could manage with the 20# that I used, though.

Since it's been almost 6 months since I did Pathfinder, I've forgotten how much ruck workouts suck ;)

Thursday, Apr 11:

I feel like I've been tired since January.  Fortunately, I was feeling a bit more energetic after work today, so I got in 6.0 in 48:09, 8:02 ave, 2 degrees of incline.  The run did feel harder than it should've felt.  Maybe it was because I had peanuts, a Fiber 1 bar, chocolate, and a mustard shot prior to the run, and I was still digesting.  The pace was pretty good, though.

Splits> 8:36, 8:23, 8:14, 7:59, 7:93, 7:17.

GORUCK CONSTELLATION

In 2018, GORUCK revamped their Constellation course modules, based on feedback that they had received the year before.  The syllabus still looked pretty similar to the one I originally took in 2017, and my 2018 schedule was already full of a bunch of other GORUCK challenge events, OCRs, and the other 2 survival series events, so I didn't try to take the new version last year.

Since they were offering Constellation in my home town this year, though, and since I had snagged some good deals on events towards the end of 2018, I signed up this year.  It was nice to have a hometown event, where I wouldn't have to drive a bunch to get to the event location.

I had gone into 2017 without a team, and was adopted by a group from a local crossfit box.  This time, a fellow participant from a Light had reached out prior to the event, and we were planning on teaming up with some of his friends.  His friends ended up bailing, haha, but we found a group of 3 to join.  We ended up with 2 teams of 5 and 1 team of 6 at this event.  This was much smaller than the massive class that we had had in 2017, where there were 3 cadres and like 9+ teams of 6.

We had one Cadre, but he was a good one.  Cleve was back.  I had him for the first time a week ago, at the Bataan Light.  My impression of him was that he was funny, chill, and good at connecting with participants.  I'm sure a Tough or Heavy version of him would be different, but now I'd see the Constellation version of him.  

The event was based at Crossfit Eternal.  They let us meet inside their box, which was awesome.  In 2017, we also met at a crossfit gym, but we only got to use the parking lot. It was great to have lights, a whiteboard, plenty of space, and restrooms to make the classroom sessions easier.  That gym was close to IKEA, so I knew a bit about the area, although our area of operation was pretty small, so I never got as far as IKEA and the places that I knew.  It wasn't a bad thing that our AO was small... you don't want the missions to take you miles away, and have you walk miles back each time... you wouldn't be able to cover as much content, if most of your time was spent walking around.  

Our first class and mission was about finding good hiding spots.  Using a map of the AO, we found 3 candidates for good hiding spots that gave cover and concealment.  We went to the one we liked the most, planning a route that would allow us to move around with the least risk of detection.  We went in one way, scoped out the area, found ways of egress, and sent photos of our spot to HQ.

I loved our hiding spot.  We could've lived like kings there, although you're only supposed to stay in one spot for 12 hrs max.  I'm surprised we didn't run into security or homeless people there, because it was that good of a spot.

We took an alternate route back, and on our way back, we received instructions to try to snipe other teams.  While we were on a parking deck, I spotted another team, and we all got down.  They came up the staircase, and we sniped them.

We learned to make fire, with 0000 grade steel wool and a 9v battery.  In a real SHTF situation, I don't know how easy it would be to find 0000 grade steel wool, but it was cool to learn (and be forced to use) an alternate technique for fire making, rather than reverting other techniques that we may have encountered in the past.  

As usual, I'm not good at making fires.  Fortunately, my teammates were.

We learned first aid ("MARCH"), we learned how to make a stretcher out of rucks with waist belts.  I was glad that I brought some extra gear that wasn't on the packing list, like my tourniquet from Constellation 2017, and paracord, since we used those.  We learned how to escape from restraints, using paracord.  As a nice new twist, we also learned about how to take down sentries.  

We learned how to make improvised weapons, using stuff that we scavenged.  It's fun to see peoples' creativity.  It's amazing what kinds of stuff you'll find lying around the city, too.  You can make some pretty effective weapons with random stuff.  Wouldn't want to run into the wrong side of this group in a Mad Max scenario.

We made maps.  We hid and found caches.  We had a final evolution that mixed together a bunch of elements from the skills that we learned during the night.  We had to cook chicken feet, and we tried it.  It tasted like fatty chicken skin.  Bleh.

We also couldn't leave without getting pepper sprayed.

At Constellation 2017, I had tossed my gas mask into a dumpster after we got sprayed, since I didn't want that stuff to touch everything else I had.  I made a new one prior to the event, so that I wouldn't have to worry about rushing to construct it during the event.  

Good times.  Something different.  As the Cadre mentioned, these skills are perishable, so it's always worth doing these events, even if you've done them before.  Learned new stuff.  Gained confidence in my ability to better handle things if SHTF.  

I enjoyed our team.  As Cadre mentioned, sometimes, when emergencies arise, you know the people you'll be working with.  Other times, you have to come together with strangers to accomplish your mission.  We helped each other get through the challenges, we worked together well and incorporated everyone's ideas.  

RACE REPORT: Spartan Vol/Super/Vol/Sprint & GORUCK Bataan Light CLT

BUILD VOLUNTEERING

The day after the coupon ruck, I volunteered for the Spartan Build Crew.  In the morning, our crew of 5 volunteers manually filled the following sandbags, using shovels, a scale, and a heap of sand:

• 40# x 218 bags (festival)
• 45# x 30 bags
• 30# x 20 bags
• 20# x 25 bags
• 70# x 22 bags (womens herc hoist)
• 105 x 22 bags (mens herc hoist)

All this, the day after a Coupon Ruck!  The thought of the 105#ers is a bit scary, but we 2-man carried them to the scale and to the pallets, which made it manageable.  We used cones to help funnel sand into the sandbags, and they needed some shaking and maneuvering to get the sand through the end of it.  Imagine shaking around 30# of sand repeatedly for a few hours.

It was good fun, though.  I like the manual work, as an escape from what I normally do for work.  

In the afternoon, after a good lunch (I always like the lunches that Spartan provides for Build volunteers), I was content to have a less physically demanding task.  I assembled the blade flags.  By the time I finished that, it was the end of the work day.  8.5 hrs of good work.

The next day, I was limping because my right butt was strained, and my left rib felt bruised, and my left shoulder was strained.  I felt like I had been in a car wreck.  Decent sleep the next night helped me recover some, although I wasn't feeling good enough to try a workout.

Wednesday, Apr 3:

5.0 in 40:12, 8:02 ave.  The run was harder than it should've felt, maybe because I ate peanuts and dried mangoes prior to the run.  I was feeling good and was eager to work out today, though.  Maybe it was the Vitamin B and St. John's Wort.  I went for a run, since I wasn't sure I could handle a workout from GORUCK's April "Lucky 7" ruck workout challenge on that day.  It had been a while since my last run, anyways.

Splits> 8:21, 8:17, 8:03, 7:50, 7:39.

SPARTAN SUPER

This was the first time that Spartan has hosted a Super-distance (6-9 mi) race in Charlotte.  Sprint distance races (3-6 mi) are typically the most plentiful, and as you go up in distance, the races are harder to come across without travelling longer distances, so it's nice to have more of the longer distance races in your backyard.  

Porter Farms hosts OCRs for a variety of companies, so I'm familiar with the venue, and I knew they could handle the extra distance.  I'm also familiar with the cow poo, but it's part of the experience.

Now that volunteer free race codes only cover open heats, I stuck with the open heat and didn't upgrade to an age group heat.  It was actually nice to not have the extra pressure.  It was crowded, but I just focused on crushing the obstacles as best as I could.  To be fair, it's crowded even in the Age Group heats, in the beginning.  

With the 9:15 am start, there wasn't frost to contend with, so the drier-than-usual obstacles certainly helped.  It was wet, since it had rained the previous day, but it wasn't bad on the hanging obstacles.  I was strategic about taking advantage of dry spots.

Hay Wall, Over Walls, Rolling Mud, Dunk Wall, Hurdle, Invert Wall, Bender... no issues.  Z-wall is always challenging, but if you're patient and are careful with your holds, you can get through.  Herc Hoist was challenging, too, but not impossible.  Barbed Wire, Tubes, Slip Wall with a half-length rope, Vert Cargo with an Irish table - a new twist on an old obstacle.  I had to get help up the Irish table, but I was in the open heat, so I didn't mind.  

Atlas, Sandbag, Twister.  They don't normally have photographers at Atlas, so that was nice.  I got through Olympus, for the second time ever in my life (the first time was suprisingly in Tahoe, the very first time I encountered it, and I've failed it a zillion times since).  I think the drier course helped.  

7' wall, Barbed Wire 2, Stairway to Sparta, Beater... a new obstacle for 2019... I failed on the very last bar... bummer.  Oh well, at least I know I can do it.  6" wall, Multirig, Spear fail, Bucket.  The bucket carry course was flat.  I'm glad they've moved away from super steep bucket courses... those things are dangerous, if buckets get dropped or if people slip, so I'm glad.  It's challenging enough as it is.

A-frame, Rope Climb, Monkey bars, Fire.  

8.4 in 2:15:18, 16:06 ave.  

COURSE SWEEP

I wanted to get in some more volunteering, and based on when I finished the race, that left Course Sweet as the only shift that I could still fit in... so another 7+ miles of work it was!  I was with a team of 4 others, walking through the course, and taking down course tape, picking up trash, and picking up other course markers.  

It was a great team effort.  It's wonderful, when you're in a group where everyone's committed to working hard and doing their part.  We worked together seamlessly to take everything down.

We were rewarded with some great views and getting to work with a staff member named Woody, who is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  He truly cares about people, and giving them a meaningful and great experience, whether they're racing or volunteering.  

I'm glad that my body held up during the volunteering session.

SPARTAN SPRINT

Day 2... I was in the 9:15am volunteer wave again.  I was scheduled to do the GORUCK Bataan Light at 1am, and I had planned to pick up food for an HTL participant prior to the Light, so I had to hustle.  

I got to meet my CLT Star Course teammate SP for the first time before the race.  She happened to be doing the Super/Sprint/Light combo, too.  It was nice having her on course, too, since it pushed me to work harder.  

I failed Herc, Spear, and Rope.  They took away the Irish Table for the Sprint, so that wasn't an issue.  Normally, the Rope isn't an issue, but it was slippery and at the end, so I took the burpees.  I barely rinsed off, wanting to get back into town for the Light.  I did run into my HS Soccer Teammate, though, who I haven't seen in like 10 years... she was volunteering.  It was awesome seeing her.  

Went to Bojangles to pick up some Chicken Biscuits.  I was a bit messy and out of place going in there, but it was starting to rain a bit, so everyone was a little bit messy.

3.5 mi in 1:16:45, 21:56 ave.

GORUCK BATAAN LIGHT

I changed out of wet, muddy clothes, into fresh clothes, once I was at the start point and no longer under big time pressure.  I didn't have a whole lot of time, though, so I gave out some Chicken Biscuits, scarfed down my own, and hastily geared up.  My HTL friend was still going strong.... looking tired, but still in the fight, which was awesome to see.

At the gear inspection, I couldn't find my ID and cash in my ruck immediately, and fortunately, the Cadre moved on without looking for everything in my bag.  I did have it and found it like 10s later, but I had a bit of a panicy moment for a little while there.  

We had a big group, so we split up into 2 teams.  We started the event by honoring Cadre Rooney, who had passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  We did the Rooney WOD, which consisted of a 400m run, and 5 sets of [75 mt climbers, 75 squats, 100m run, 75 flutter kicks, 75 overhead claps], 400m run.  The Cadre did "it pays to be a winner", to incentivize the two teams.  The winning team would gift the losing team with an extra sandbag.  We had to start over at one point after mixing up the sequence, but we recovered.  We took turns leading the counts.

Cadre Cleve, who I've heard of, was the second Cadre.  He brought a drone and took shots.  My friend KD was there with her adorable kids shadowing, too.  It was so cute to see those future GRTs running around with us and guarding their own eggs from Cadre Fagan.  

Our team was awesome, so we won.  Each team got a healthy batch of coupons, though, so there was fun all around.  I like Fagan's philosophy of bringing lots of coupons so that nobody hides and everyone contributes.  It can be easy, especially if you doubt yourself, to shirk from the tough stuff.  So it's nice when you're forced to push yourself.  You discover that you can do more and do better than you though.  Fagan's strategy prevents people from being robbed of the opportunity to learn from the event, by people discounting what they're capable of and therefore not discovering their potential.  

We set off for some park.  The two teams started off going the same way, but our team decided to split off after a couple of blocks, so that we weren't competing for the same limited sidewalk space.  We hauled it and ended up making it to the destination, first.

At Latta Park, team members shared stories of people who were part of the Bataan Death March.  Then, the Cadre shared GORUCK's overview of the historical event.  Since we got there first, we might've given another coupon to the other team.  I was feeling bad for them.  They walked further and had more to contend with.  Each team had gotten an even split of newbies and experienced GRTs.  It's always a learning experience.

Since the Rooney WOD took a longer than usual percentage of the event, the next destination was the start point.  We carried stuff back.  During the event, I was on poles with ammo cans the most, followed by a single small ammo can, followed by an 60-80# sandbag.  I think people normally exaggerate the weight of the sandbag by about 20#, haha.  I don't know, though.  I don't have a scale.  But I have my suspicions.  

At the end, we got patched, Fagan handed out some Cadre patches, and then the HTLers got patched.  I got to meet some GRTs who I haven't met before.  They traveled some distance to be here.  It's cool to meet GRTs from around the country.  Despite living in very different places, we all share a common spirit.  

The HTLers were great.  Despite having already done 24 + 12 hours of intense work, they didn't shy away from putting in as much effort as all of the fresh Light people during the event.  Their bolts were well-deserved.

Amazingly, my Fagan egg survived its ~5 mi journey in the back pocket of my trail running shorts, even when I had forgotten about it during story time when I was sitting down and stuff.  Time for another celebration omelette.

Coupon Ruck

TRAINING LEAD-UP

On Sunday, the day after Rugged Maniac, I was feeling like my foot was 30% better than it had been immediately after Star Course ATL 26.2.  It was showing signs of improving, but I still wanted to be patient and be careful.

Monday, Mar 18:
Body weight strength session

• Pullups: 7 with a slight kip for the last 2
• Crunches: 400/side
• Plank: 3 with sloppy form, then 2.5
• Adductor/Abductor Leg Lifts: 85/145
• Pushups: 30 + 20
• Shallow Single Leg Squats: 75 + 85
• Lower Leg Extensions: 100
• 6 in: 60s
• Squats: 50 
• Russian Twists: 35 with 20#
• Weighted Dead Bug w/ 20#: 100
• Various 10# dumbell arm exercises

Wednesday, Mar 20:

Up until this day, I had stayed away from rucking.  I decided that I felt good enough to try it again today.  I went out to South End with my parents.  I had explored the Rail Trail once before while geocaching, and I loved it, so I wanted to share it with them.  That trail is awesome, with statues, brew pubs and other eateries with lots of activity, and nice views of uptown.  There are lots of fun things to discover while you're walking.

Sunset is a great time to go, because it's cooler, there's a different kind of energy to the place as people go out for evening exercise or going out for the evening.  The sunset and then the skyline at night are great, too.

Friday, Mar 22:

I hit the gym after work.  From the previous weekend, I knew I could run ok.  I hadn't been running any other time during the week, so it would be fine to try again without the risk of overdoing anything.  I had been feeling really tired in the past couple of days, but I was feeling good and happy that day.

5.0 in 41:30, 8:18 ave, treadmill at 2 degrees of incline.  I ran until my lower right back started tightening up a bit.  Normally, with injuries and compensations, whatever leg has an issue, the opposite side's back tightens up.  I used new shoes.  The ones that have been in my rotation have all had many miles on them.  It doesn't hurt to bring in some new ones with fresh cushioning.  I wonder if that was some of the cause of my issues.  

Splits> 8:37, 8:33, 8:21, 8:11, 7:47.

Sunday, Mar 24:

I had a lazy Saturday in bed all day.  I think I even ate some of my meals in bed.  By Sunday, I was itching to get my blood flowing again.

5.0 in 43:03, 8:36 ave, treadmill at 2 degrees of incline.  I wore heavier shoes than usual, to rotate in a different pair, so the run felt a bit harder than normal.  It was still good to get out, though.  I'm glad that my foot's improving.  I rucked 1.4 mi to/from the gym, on top of that.

Monday, Mar 25:

The ruckingchallenges.com March challenge was called the "1,000 lb Ruck".  Of course you're not rucking a 1,000 lb ruck, but the idea is that you transport 1,000 lbs for 1 mile, cumulatively.  After the issues after Star Course ATL 26.2, I didn't think about the challenge much, since I had kind of given up on it, and was pretty consumed by getting better.  

My rucking friend was organizing a Pathfinder Coupon Ruck event, though, and it's hard to pass up a chance to ruck with some cool people.  Ironically, the Coupon Ruck was the Pathfinder challenge that I had most wanted to avoid.... well, that and Triple Miles both sounded pretty awful.  In Pathfinder, you get to pick 5 challenges out of a list of about 11.

The Coupon ruck consists of sharing about 80# between 2 people, for 10 miles.  Sounds terrible, doesn't it?  That's a lot.  I guess it's pretty normal as part of a Tough, so it shouldn't be as intimidating to me as it is.  You mix it up with different kinds of weights, and split the weight up in different ways throughout the challenge, to simulate different coupons and swapping schemes during a Tough.

Anyways, since I was planning to do the Coupon Ruck, I'd be getting in a decent number of pounds moved, so I did the math.  I had 262 points from the 26.2 with 10#, and then another 78 points from the shorter rucks during the week.  If I ended up doing about 50# for 10 miles during the Coupon Ruck, I'd have a manageable gap to fill to make up the difference.

So, I went for a ruck on Monday.  I needed to see how a more substantial ruck felt, anyways.  If I had any troubles doing 5 miles with 20#, for example, then it wasn't a good sign for the coupon ruck.  Last-minute, I decided to try 30# instead of 20#.  I almost never train with 30#, but I guess I wanted to try to be more efficient with my time that night.  It ended up being great.  It didn't feel that much harder, and it was nicer to do an extra 10# than to have to walk an extra 50%.  I didn't bring any water, so just a 30# plate wasn't much different than what I might have during a normal ruck with 20# during a GORUCK event, anyways.  

I also used the opportunity to try out a new pair of Salomon XR Missions.  I love my original ones, but they're old, with worn treads and heel counters that are starting to crumble where I normally slide/force my feet in.  I'm going to avoid the MAC-V1s for a while, until I'm well past feeling 100% again.

I was happy after finishing 3 miles and was tempted to stop it there, but I kept going.  During the ruck around my neighborhood, it hit me that this was actually supposed to be prime Star Course DC training time, so I should be doing good training right now.   I ended up with 6.4 miles.  I could've pushed for even more, but there's no need to risk it at this point. A gradual buildup is the wise thing to do.  

It went well.  I was happy to have completed a good normal ruck again.  I had to take the downhills gingerly, but the rest felt pretty good.

6.4 in 130 minutes, about a 20:00 pace.  

COUPON RUCK

There were 5 of us who signed up for the Coupon Ruck.  It was my first ruck in North Charlotte.  On the event page, we were all indicating what kinds of coupons we could bring to the suckfest.  It was kind of crazy... we were all excitedly sharing what kinds of heavy, awful things we had in our arsenal to make a normal ruck harder.  I offered a few options.  I have more stuff, too, but I had no desire to haul around a bucket or anything too unwieldy or with sharp edges like that.

We met up in the park, and decided which coupons to take with us.  We had a nice assortment, and went with 3 sandbags (30#, 45#, 45#), an extra ruck (30#), and a kettlebell (15#).  We had two Pathfinder Course Advisors in the group, so they knew what they were doing, and we had a good system going.  Every 1/2 mile, we'd swap coupons.  We went on a looped 2-ish mile course, which gave us chances to stop by the cars again, if needed, too.  We took a 5-ish min break at the 5-mile mark.

It was a nice day for a ruck.  It was one of the first warm days of the year... so it was actually a little sweaty, and we had all that coupon sharing going on, haha.  Team building.  The park was nice.  The gravel was nice to our feet.  It was scenic, with some trail areas and a section by a pond with a fountain.  There was also a 5K going on that day, which added a little bit of excitement.

I was starting to feel the weight in the last couple of miles, but my foot was fine.  I was breathing harder sometimes, and had to focus, but I was happy to find that none of the coupons were that bad.  It was challenging, but you only had to worry about taking it half a mile at a time.  It was a good group.  Everyone was good about sharing the load, and we had a nice morning of rucking and hanging out.

10.0 in 210 minutes, about a 21 min pace including the break and the swapping time.