I Did It! GORUCK Heavy Class 039

The Buddy Pass really is at fault here. My buddy, Jacob, and I split Buddy Passes so we could both do a Challenge and a Heavy this year. I saw the Chicago Heavy started on May 23, and would finish on the 24th, my birthday. What a cool way to spend my birthday!!!

I had done a Light last year, and I scheduled my first Challenge in Cincinnati, OH on March 21. It was awesome. Big Daddy was Cadre and he beat us. Our group was strong and he pushed us. I was definitely challenged.

As April became May, and the Chicago Heavy was coming, I became quite nervous about the event. I haven't been nervous about an event in a long while. But every time I thought about the Heavy, my stomach would turn a little bit and I kind of felt like I was going to poop my pants. Could I do it? 24 hours or more, over 30 miles??? That's insanity!

But I had people in my corner. Recently, Spartan Races posted a motivational meme that says "Every time I think about giving up, I think of all the mother******* I have to prove wrong." Not me. I have supporters, people who think I can do amazing things they themselves are incapable of doing. I wanted to prove them right.

So I showed up. There I was, just before 6pm on Friday, May 23 on the grass across from Soldier Field, waiting for the Cadre to enter. Soon enough we were getting started. My demons showed up on the 12 mile ruck march.

The Challenge in March really hurt my hips. I could hardly walk afterwards and every time I did anything longer than an hour they would flare up. Somewhere in that time frame I developed a (self-diagnosed) case of plantar fasciitis in my right heel. Both of these showed up during the ruck march. I thought to myself that if they hurt this much already, how bad would it be over the next 18+ hours? That thought was too much to handle. Thinking was the enemy.

Fortunately for me, I had two buddies with me. Bill and Jacob had done the Fugitive Run with me and Bill the SISU F.O.R.G.E. ruck (among a bunch of other events) with me. Having these two guys there with me kept me from quitting right there. If I were alone, I probably would have been done.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #1: Bring a friend! You need someone there to share the burden with. I can't imagine going it alone. I now know why the Buddy Pass was created.

From left to right: Andy Packard, Jacob Sipes, Bill Vernon, and me. This is before the Heavy began.

After a short break to eat and check on our feet, we got to business. The rest of the time was a mixture of crazy physical activities mixed with learning. It was incredible. Physically and mentally draining, but rewarding and fun. Yes, I said it, it was fun. So here are a few other tips:

GORUCK Heavy Tip #2: Live in the moment. Do not, I repeat: Do not, think ahead. Cadre Luke said "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." That's how you complete a GORUCK Heavy, one step at a time. If you think about how much more you'll do, it will overwhelm you.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #3: Don't worry about food. Apparently food is a crutch. The Cadre take it away sometimes and it messes with your head. Let me tell you this: you can survive a day with no food! I put it in my mind beforehand that I would be fine even if I never ate. During the event eating became a bonus and lifted my spirits. There were some among us that got really down without having any food. It's all mental, though.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #4: Get your head right. Here's the truth: you are going to mess up. You can try your best, but the Cadre will find something to make you "fail".  Just accept it and move on. This goes back to the "live in the moment" tip. You can't do a thing about what you did, just keep going and keep improving.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #5: Do your part. That "coupon" isn't going to carry itself, now is it? Does it suck? Yes. Are you tired? Yes. Do your feet hurt? Yes. Do your shoulders hurt? Yes. News flash: everyone else is in the same condition! You don't have to be Atlas and carry it for eternity. Get under the weight, pick out a point ahead of you, carry it to that point and call in a replacement. Then repeat. You will help your team and it probably won't be as bad as you think. Also, don't quit because you think you're holding the team back. That's weenie talk for "I quit." Battle through those thoughts, keep trying, and I promise nobody (that matters) will care that you went dark for a minute.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #6: Have fun! If you are out there to "prove those mother******* wrong" or trying to look like some bad mammajamma, you're not helping the team. Heavy is supposed to be hard, and it will be. Take pride in getting everyone to the finish line. We got 40 out of 42 (one was a med drop) to the finish. Smile and talk to people. Find out their name, ask them how they are doing. Ask them what they do, where they are from, anything! It will help get their mind right and will help them trust you. "Teamwork is key." Enjoy what you are doing because you can. Some day you won't be capable of doing this stuff so look around, take in a deep breath, and smile because you are doing something amazing.

GORUCK Heavy #039

GORUCK Heavy is not for everyone. If you think it's for you, sign up and come in with only one possible outcome: a patch. Do your best and enjoy yourself. Take it all in. That's what GORUCK is about.

GORUCK Challenge - Cincy (Class 953)

9pm- The last time I would know the time. The group meets at Fountain Square. There are 17 of us, 3 gals and 14 guys. Cadre "Big Daddy" (BD) John introduces us before electing one of the gals to be Team Leader. Cadre John is unlike anyone I have met previously. He always has a smile and positive attitude. He looks out for your best interests. He's got nearly every rank/certification a Marine can get. He will beat you down and make you enjoy it. After formalities of checking bricks, water, IDs, and cash, BD gives us the most important rule of the night: 

"Always stay within arm's reach of someone else."

We begin to form to columns and lose shoe privileges. Several of us violate the only rule and we have casualties. We march a short while carrying the casualties before we have to do bear crawls, crab walks, etc…

After a brief march we find ourselves past Paul Brown Stadium looking at the Ohio River. Air temp is in the mid sixties but water temp is only 45 degrees. Soon we are doing bottom samples for 5 and 10 second increments. Many couldn't stay under that long. I did and paid with an instant headache. (that went away nearly as quickly) We did some PT on the beach to warm us back up just so we could get back in. More bottom samples.

Hello log. It was really big. And heavy. Prior to the event I looked forward to the log carry. At Spartan races I typically excel in the sandbag/bucket carries. It's in my wheelhouse. This log nearly crushed my soul. There was a slight curve in the log (it was 15-20 feet long) that made it continuously shift on us. That gave each of us nice moments of bearing incredible amounts of weight. Fun times.

We carried that God-forsaken log over the bridge into Kentucky because BD had never been there. The sidewalk on the bridge was pretty narrow making it pretty difficult to navigate, but we finally made it. Then we carried it some more. And some more. I'm not sure how long we carried it or for how much distance, but it was longer than I (and anyone else) wanted. The log was winning when a drunk guy who pronounced his name as "Roomie" joined us for about an hour and helped lift our spirits (and the log).

Finally we were able to rid ourselves of the log. Unfortunately we didn't get to throw it in the river. We weren't free from burden, though. BD allowed us to trade the log for a pair of boards (Actually, we had to win a ball-in-cup game to do so). These new boards were about 18 inches wide, 3 inches thick, and probably 15 feet long. My guess is they were once used for scaffolding. They seemed so light compared to the log. That feeling was short-lived. Our shoulders ached so after a while we decided to carry it like a suitcase down at our sides. It was a great relief. And also short-lived. BD made us put four rucks on the board making it impossible to carry anywhere but on our shoulders again. Agony.

We went up some giant hill (I had no idea where we were basically the entire time, seeing how it was only my second time in Cincy as an adult). Once at our next checkpoint we got penalized again for violating the only rule, this time with 200 flutter kicks.

Finally we got to ditch the weight. Tired of being punished for violating the rule, we decided that each of us would hold the pack of the person in front of us so we couldn't get more than arm's length away. We headed towards the "Stairway to Heaven" or something like that. It was a giant set of stairs on Mt. Adams that lead to a beautiful church.

The only rule was violated again, so we tackled the stairs with one shoe and no straps. Fun times. Finally up the hill we navigated to a place we could refill our water. While we were at the church the sun rose. It was beautiful!

Our only task left was to return to Fountain Square, but with casualties. Four guys (including the biggest) were casualties. We rotated who carried the casualties, but with everyone beat down, it was short goings. We made it down into the city and I noticed Cadre John turn his back and pull the patches from his sweet java GR1. I knew the time was near.

Once at Fountain Square it was one more round of push-ups. Like always: Down- "Attention to detail!" Up- "Teamwork breeds success!". The BD changed it on us, Down- "GO!" Up- "TOUGH!" It echoed through the square. Moments later BD was shaking each of our hands and passing us our Tough patches. Mine immediately replaced the flag patch on my tac hat.

9am- To the minute, BD delivered the 12 hours he promised. I went back to my car, changed clothes, and headed to Chick-Fil-A. A quick stop at IKEA and I was on my way back to Indiana, tac hat riding shotgun, Tough patch right there, within arm's reach.