Halloween weekend was spent in Seattle doing a GORUCK Light event.
The next weekend I had a Highland Games competition in Huntington, OR.
The next weekend, Veteran's Day weekend, was spent in Seattle doing a GORUCK Challenge. Holy hell. That was by far the hardest physical event I have ever participated in. First, it was raining hard all day. Heavy. It was cold and windy, too. Event started at 2000h. Lots of PT, going up and down a hill. I did crappy. I was disappointed in my performance during the Welcome Party. We ran. I really wanted to vomit. A lot. But it stayed in. We did the tunnel of love. It took so dang long. It was so hard. I basically pulled myself forward with my arms, dragging my body. We got soaked. Everything was wet. Then we started our march...21 of us. We had the following coupons: 2 5-gal water containers full of water, sandbag full of kettle bells, the Veteran's ruck (weighing in ~60lbs), sandbag full of everyone's food (aside from mine and another fellow T1D), team weight: 25lbs of chains, 50lb weighted vest, a giant Pelican case full of misc weights that took 2-3 people to carry and the log from hell. It took at least 7 people to carry it at any given time. We also had the American flag and the GORUCK flag. So, that meant that at any given time, no one was without additional weights. It was so hard. That log was so heavy. Halfway through the night 4 people quit. We were down to 17. We were so wet and cold that we penguin huddled for warmth. Luckily, cadres did not make us carry the log after that.
It was a great group of people. Three women, including myself remained. Both of the were short, so they were not as useful on the log. That also meant that I was on the log quite a bit. At one point, after daylight, my foot slipped off the side of the pavement and landed on the ground. Unfortunately, the ground was wet and I slid. I fell. One of my teammates had lightning speed and caught my coupon before it hit the ground. Thank God! It hurt. I skinned my knee. Everything was sore and hurting by that time. But we did it. We made it to the starting point. We went into the Sound. Did flutter kicks. Water did not feel cold, we were already so wet and cold, it made no difference.
One thing I learned, do not eat greasy hamburgers the day of the event. Let me tell you, trying to do that event while your insides are deciding they are not happy is not pleasant. At one point, I was farting and suddenly realised that that next push would not be a fart. And oh man, it really pushed and wanted to come out. Shit. Literally. So, while physically exerting myself, I had to keep my innards squeezed tight. I became listless. I did not interact with people as much. I was so uncomfortable. I was afraid I'd poo myself. This went on for at least an hour. Since in GORUCK events, you cannot just stop and go potty. You have to hold it until the cadre gives you a break. We were on our way to Gasworks park. I knew where that was. The closer we got, the more it was harder to hold in. When we made it to the park, one of my teammates dropped his weight. This meant PT. Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. I took my glove off. I was anticipating shitting myself and needing to scoop the poop out. We did push ups. My arms were so tired, I literally bent my elbows a wee bit or stuck my bum in the air and drooped down. Then we did flutter kicks. Yep. It's coming. I'm gonna poop. I did not flutter much. I bent my knees and held them there. I squeezed as much as I could. I wanted to cry, I was so uncomfortable. Then that was it. Done with PT. I grabbed the nearest female. Dragged her to a tree, dropped trou and shit myself crazy. It was not satisfying. I had to make sure I got it all out since I did not know when the next potty break would be. I held on to that tree and groaned. It was a vocal poo. But I got it all out. I wiped my ass with wet leaves. I did not care. I got it out and didnt shit myself. Mission accomplished. Whew.
At the end there were donuts and coffee and a fire. I was so thankful. I was so tired. Sore. Wet. Cold. I just wanted to cuddle someone for warmth. I slept the rest of the day at a friend's house. I am thankful for my GORUCK community. So very thankful. We form such great bonds, working together as a team. If one of them needed something, I would love to be there to help them with it.
The weekend after that, I did a half marathon ruck. I signed up for the Struttin for Stuffin half marathon at the last minute. I needed to get my 12mi ruck in 3h30m or less per the Pathfinder Training that I am doing. My friend decided to do it with me. I love my rucking friends. They're great. I got 12mi done in 3h!!! Fuck yes! Three hours! My left ankle/foot hurt so much throughout the whole thing. I actually thought this task was harder than most rucks I do. I did not permit myself to stop. Not even once. I had to get that time hack done and I was not sure of my time for much of it until I realised my GPS on my phone stopped tracking. Luckily I had my watch on me. Ugh, hurt so much. I ended up doing the whole 13.1mi in 3h30m. That last 1.1mi was a rest mile after the hardship I endured before that.
Unfortunately, that event also obliterated my ankle. Per doctor's instructions, no rucking for 2 weeks. No high impact activities (no rucking, running, hiking, jumping, etc.). And I must get new shoes. Well. I got 2 pairs of shoes, one on order. Scott Kinabalu, they have drain ports built in (https://www.scott-sports.com/us/en/video/running/new-kinabalu-supertrac-shoe/)! ; And Saloman SpeedCross Pro (http://www.salomon.com/us/product/speedcross-pro.html), holy tread Batman! It was interesting going into the shoe stores telling them the list of things I want/need on a shoe: water ports or at least good water drainage, ankle support, light weight, grip/tread that curls up on to the toe, rugged tread for wet trails, able to PT comfortably and good cush.
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