Sunday, June 23, 2013

First thoughts

We went to the beach this morning, J, Guinness and I.

I had ulterior motives… It seems like, whenever possible, there’s a part of the Challenge where the team winds up in the water. (Check out some of the pics from Challenges past.) There’s a lot of stuff online where people talk about what they wear, which makes sense. There’s a lot of sweating and, of course, the water so moisture wicking stuff is important.

I got fully dressed in every thing I intend to wear next weekend: 30 lb. ruck, sneakers, socks, compression shorts, moisture wicking tank top, running shorts, t-shirt.

And then my ass headed directly into the ocean.

THAT WATER WAS COLD.

Yes, I know - this is not a newsflash. I live in New England. I’ve spent a lot of time at the beaches here. But, at 7AM when it’s barely 70 degrees outside, and you haven’t broken a sweat yet?

COLD. COLD. COLD. COLD!

The best part was when Guinness decided to join me. He was so afraid, but he ‘embraced the suck’ and came in with me. Not a huge fan of the waves because I think they took him by surprise, but still! He’s a real New England beach dog now. (You’d be amazed by the number of people who bring their dogs to the beach ass-early so they can run and play in the water.) I’m amazed that for all the times he and J have gone to the beach - Guinness being off-leash, no less - he hasn’t wound up in the water by now.

We went in a couple of times. The last time, I underestimated the tide, gravity and momentum and wound up on my ass. Had the waves been much bigger, I would have been submerged. I wanted to get totally wet, but I had stayed closer to the edge because Guinness kept following me in and I didn’t want him in over his head. That last time, the Universe had it’s own plan. It must have thought I was wussing out or something…

The good news is, the moisture wicking clothing wicked moisture. The sneakers and socks did OK. My wet, pruney, feet didn’t blister. The ruck seems to be waterproof.

I’m going to call that a success and get ready to leave to meet up with my gym buddy for a long walk/jog.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I. Am. Decidedly. NOT. Smart.

I ended up adding a RADIO RUCK to my GORUCK collection. As much as I love my GR1, it’s a little too long for me to wear comfortably for a long time. The bottom hits my tailbone weird and I can’t imagine wearing it all day loaded with bricks and a bladder. So, after talking to GORUCK’s amazing customer service people, I decided to down size to the RADIO RUCK.

I put the Challenge required four bricks in it and brought it to work. The idea was to bring it to my workout tonight. We’re planning to start with two bricks, but I wanted to see if I could fit the four in there and still carry the bag.

HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP. FOUR BRICKS ARE RIDICULOUSLY HEAVY.

I can see you all out there… “Duh, Nelson. What did you expect? You’re doing something called the GORUCK Challenge. Did you think it - even the ‘light’ version - was going to be easy?”

Well, no, but the reality of what I’m embarking upon finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Literally.

I can do this…

I’m just going to continue to question my sanity while I work towards the June 8th Challenge in Boston.