Ruck Review: GoRuck Challenge Class 1165

Hello again! Sorry for this late post, but you knew that I had post a review about my first GoRuck Challenge ever! On September 12 Jill and I embarked on our very first GoRuck Challenge in honor of the fallen heroes of 9/11. Although I had made many training promises right after our GoRuck Light in July sadly I didn't do any of it. :( I don't want to say that I went to this event "cold," but let's just say I heavily relied on my crossfit training to get me by.

 

I was a bundle of nerves when Justin dropped us off at the mall. But we had to take a selfie beforehand. The calm before the storm if you will ;)

 

At first we didn't see anyone, but as we walked closer to the Smithsonian castle. We saw them. Hundreds of people all anxiously awaiting the cadre and their instructions.

Of course with any GoRuck event we kicked off with the "welcome party." A series of PT drills to get the night started off right. As soon as we began the first exercise I knew that this was nothing like the two GoRuck Lights I've done in the past. We quickly found out the Challenge is definitely not double the duration and intensity of a Light. After a hearty round of PT which included the ever famous "tunnel of love" and centipede push-ups (I still can't get the hang of those!) we split off into groups and were assigned a cadre. Ours was Cadre Luke, a fellow University of Maryland alum. :)

 

During a GoRuck event, you have to get to certain locations within a time cap. And of course when you don't make it to the destination in the time allowed you get penalized with PT. Obviously our first mission to the White House ended in an epic fail since we were still figuring out how to work as team. 

 

Flutter kicks in near the White House gates? Why not?

 

 

Next we headed to the Lincoln Memorial where we did a series of partner sprints and of course more PT for those who weren't sprinting.

 

Serving up pain...like a boss...

 

We had to make our next destination so we did the last sprint up the Lincoln Memorial stairs as a team.

 

 

Now I'm not going to tell you about everything we did because each event is different and each cadre is different. And even if you get the same cadre twice, you'll still get a different experience because it all depends on what kind of mood he's in, LOL. But! I will tell you my favorite thing during our challenge was when we had to "veg" up Marine recon style ;)

 

 

And of course with every challenge, you gotta get wet!

 

 

Just flutter kicking in the Potomac River...nbd...

 

A shot of me dumping the water out of my ruck! It was the easist way to get all the water out without taking the backpack off.

Before I forget I must give a huge shout out to our shadow, Aaron Wyche. He followed our group from beginning to end and he was the perfect shadow! He took these amazing pictures and was always there to offer help when needed (i.e.: "Can you watch our stuff while I jump into the Potomac?"). Thanks again! :)

 

As the night turned to day we crossed into Virginia to visit the 9/11 Memorial by the Pentagon and then back to DC...

 

Carrying various team weights along the way...

 

 

Jill is always surprised how often she gets carried at these things!

 

 

We stopped by the World War II Memorial for an awesome group shot!

 

 

We were on the home stretch...

 

But we weren't done yet! When we got back to the starting point it was time for...you guessed it..more PT. Here are the shortest girls doing log lifts (which of course includes my sister and I). By this time I had a permanent "poopy face" on (as Cadre Luke called it), but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and I definitely wasn't going to quit now! 

 

Photo credit to Nick Schrein

When we finally got our patches, I was exhausted, yet happy! In my bleary-eyed sleep deprived state, I realized that this was the hardest thing that I have done in my life so far. It was difficult at times and I can't tell you how times I thought about quitting, but I'm glad I didn't. 

 

To conclude, my sister Jill said it best on her Facebook page: "I wouldn't have been able to endure the 19 miles over 12+ hours without my team to embrace the suck with me. We suffered in silence in honor our fallen heroes who would give anything to have the ability to even feel pain. Never thought I'd be grateful for pain until now; it means you're alive. I'm not gonna lie and say it was fun, but it was good livin'!"

PS...people have asked me when I'm going to do the next one and I must say I haven't signed up for another yet. But let me know if you want to do one, I may just join you for the action ;)

Ruck Review: GoRuck Light Washington DC Class 326

 

The GoRuck gods couldn't have planned a better day. It had been raining the entire week leading up to our second GoRuck Light! It's funny how Justin thinks I'm crazy for doing these events, but I think he's crazy for not wanting to do it!

 

Here is a shot of our group awaiting our instructions.

 

 

 

Look at this sexy set of team weights!

 

 

 

Warming up with some PT! Doing the wheelbarrow with a ruck on is no joke! Holy ab-strength Batman!

  

 

Jill holding it down with the 20 lb sandbag.

 

 

Me buddy carrying the 120 lb.(?) sandbag. The important thing that you need to remember during these carries is that you need to share the load with someone the same height as you! It seems like common sense, but whenever someone needed to get relieved you needed to find someone the same height as the person carrying the weight or you were SOL.

 

 

Working on our people carries! Cadre Dakotah taught a few different ways to carry people. Although you can't see her face, we're carrying Jill. I got carried this way as well and it is not comfortable. I also got fireman carried (carried across the shoulders), even though I tried to hide! LOL! There were plenty of lighter girls than me! Come to think of it, none of the methods of carrying people are very "comfortable"...

 

  

 

Here's a shot of Aaron and his various weights! Can you believe he carried each of us? For what seemed like a really like long time...and uphill too!

 

 

We ended the day with a bucket of ice cold brews! They definitely hit the spot on a hot day.

 

 

So with two GoRuck Lights under our belts, the only thing left for us to is a GoRuck Challenge (basically twice as long and carrying twice the amount the weight). During the BOGO Buddy pass sale, Jill and I also signed up for the Challenge on September 12. And we get a special patch too! Woohoo!

 

 

 

We'll probably start training for it next month, but here are some things I want to accomplish with the

• One-person carry someone more than a couple of feet - it's a strength thing. Enough said.
• Step up my PT game - I need get my bear crawls, flutter kicks, etc. on lock--the key is to be prepared for everything!
• Ruck a little faster - my little legs take twice as many strides as taller people so I need to learn how to take twice as many steps without wearing myself out

I think we might try to shadow (follow a group of ruckers throughout the duration of their challenge) another GoRuck Challenge before ours to get a feel of what it is like. But if we don't, we'll just have to have faith that we've been training right!

 

To see the review our our last GoRuck Light click here!

Ruck Review: GoRuck Light Baltimore Class 119

Hello everybody! I am finally getting around to reviewing my GoRuck Light experience! We had such a great time! Jill and I are already planning on doing another Light in preparation for a GoRuck Challenge next year (perhaps the Independence Day or September 11th ones--they're the popular dates in DC).

 

GoRuck was unlike anything I had experienced and I liked the fact that it was team focused. Our group consisted of people of various different fitness backgrounds. There were some people that had never done a GoRuck before, while others had done several. About a third of of our group were former military, another third were into ultra-sports (e.g.: Spartan Death Race/World's Toughest Mudder), and another third were crossfitters like myself. Of course there was some overlap between those categories and there were also some that didn't fit into any of those categories (like my sister!) but you get the idea.

 

Now that I got some photos, let me walk you through some of things we did!

 

We had to get up super early in the morning to make the 7AM meetup time in Baltimore at the steps of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Here is a shot of us getting our weight checked by Cadre Chris.

 

 

After getting our bricks checked it was on to our first challenge. One person was assigned our team leader and it was his job to guide us to our next destination. Of course, the Cadre threw us a curve ball and said that we had five casualties that we had to carry along the way. That meant five of our team members had to get on another person's back and be carried for part of the way (the girls were in high rotation for being carried). There is a certain technique behind carrying someone like this. 

 

 

"GoRuck--Where you put your hand between someone's legs and then ask them their name." LOL

 

That's pic above is me. And boy is it uncomfortable (I'm sure for all parties involved!). Here is a shot of Jill being carried, too. I actually carried another female, but I couldn't carry her too far :(

 

Along the way, the Cadre would announce that we would have to pick up additional weight (aka: demo) in the form of sandbags found along side the road.

 

Me being a road guard!

 

Cadre Chris with his family (aka: the "Soul Crushers")

 

Here we are lined up doing push-ups. I don't know what they are called but they were freakin' hard! Basically the person in front of you put their legs on your back, then you put your legs on the back of the person behind you and then you push-up at the same time. I had never done them before so they were super challenging!

 

 

Doing the flutter kicks. Man was PT rough! Need to work on that for next time!

 

 

Jill walking along the guys' abs of steel!

 

After our first PT session we were on our way to our next destination with a new team leader. One of my teammates enjoying some ACRT--Advanced Cellular Repair Technology (aka: beer) along the way :) And yes, he's wearing a suit!

 

This newly assigned mission didn't require as many casualties, but we still had to carry some people.

 

Here is a picture of our team awaiting our next instructions.

 

 

One of my teammates who had completed a GoRuck Selection (the hardest of the GoRuck events with the lowest pass rate) said that he had carried more people during this GoRuck Light than he did during the Selection (which can span over a few days!) I guess it depends on what Cadre you get and what he is in the mood for. ;)

 

Here's Nicole being a bad a$$!

 

Here's a shot of me holding one of the many team weights--a sandbag. We had several team weights including a 65 lb sandbag, a weighted pvc pipe (which was super awkward to carry), the GoRuck flag, the American flag, and various sandbags we picked up along the way.

 

So that is just some of the things that we did. We did a ton more but if I talked about it all it would take an entire day! Plus, wouldn't you want to experience this fun yourself? ;) What was supposed to be 4-5 hours, 7-10 miles turned out to be almost seven hours and about 11 miles of good livin'. Under promise, over deliver indeed! We explored various neighborhoods of Baltimore all the way down to the Inner Harbor and back up again. We got wet (via: Harbor water), got dirty (via volleyball court), and had a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again!

 

Go...Ruck!

Go...Ruck!

Good...Livin'!

Good...Livin'!

Easy Day...All Day!

Easy Day...All Day!