Rucking

GO RUCK – BASIC AAR

Date:​5/26/2024 (Sunday)

Start Time:​2:00 PM

Location:​CrossFit Gym @ 24137 111^th Street, Naperville, IL

I really dislike writing report and have unwillingly agreed, so here we go with what I remember.  So take it for what it is: Post Covid memory cells of this old guy.

Sunday, May 26, started out for Naperville, Illinois as a very rainy day.  I was not exceptionally excited about rucking in the hard rain.  Thankfully, however, the sun came out at about 1:45 PM just before the Ruck and my spirits lifted. Despite the ongoing updates from Atticus on the brutal unconventional beatdown that the Tough was for their group. 

Welcome Party

Cadre Steve and Cadre DS called us into alphabetical formation.  So one line, two lines, three lines –  left to right or right to left.  Many people had differing opinions and at this point there was very little team communication. We picked two rows:  left to right for the front row and right to left for the back row (snakeorder).

Both cadres gave a short bio.

Next, we were instructed to drop our rucks and grab our carabiner clips to create a sand bag chain.  Of course we were too slow so 10-15 penalty merkins were required.  Then thecadre deemed that there were not enough sand bags in our already clipped chain, so we needed to add more of each weight used: 140 pounds, then 80 pounds, then 60 pounds and finally 40 pounds.  We ended up having 6 of each weight in the chain.

Next step was to ascertain if everyone possessed the packing list items: driver’s license and $20.  Out of the total number of people signed up for this Ruck, approximately 30 people did not show up, 30 were present.  From the sound of things, the discount codes may be a thing of the past. It only cost me $3 to attend the Go Ruck party. The full cost was $45

We ran a set of short laps around the snake chain and then back to our rucks, each time we retrieved another item out of our rucksacks. When our fire making tool was checked, some did not have anything that could light a fire. Penalty scorpions were then held by the entire group for 60 seconds.

We were then directed to go to the chin-up bars to determine if we could get to the goal of a 100 seconds dead hang, assessing if we had adequate grip strength.  I achieved 70 seconds; four people exceeded the 100 seconds hang time.  For the few that exceeded the time we were asked to gather around the person we felt could continue to hang the longest.  A prize for the winner was suggested but I never found out if the final winner ever did get a prize.

We then ran another sand bag lap and were instructed to get outour swim goggles.  We moved to the cold plunge troughs outside in the yard.  We were directed to hold our breath underwater for as long as possible.  My time was maybe 30 seconds; some were shorter and some much longer.  The cadre suggested that thinking of the color blue while under water was supposed to increase our ability to hold our breath.  I spaced the whole “think-blue” thing.  Holding your breathe underwater sucks, not a big swimmer. Makes you re-think WHY am I doing this Go Ruck event. Seemed very unconventional to me. Anyways, wereturned the gym and our rucksacks and repacked all of the items we had dumped out of our bags and as directed put on our rucks. Of course, as a group we were too slow, again.

We then went to the sand bag chain for a 50-count clean and lift to our shoulders as a team – we took on this task in 10 count reps with a short break.  It became very clear that the person chosen to be our team leader was a rookie and completely inadequate for the job, we all tried to help by giving directions.  Some were lifting only to their chest, some above their shoulders, somelifted and dropped right away, while others tried to hold for a longer count. Total chaos. I’d guess that after approximately 35 of these we were asked what repetition we were on.  Very few, if any, knew or were even counting.  So we dropped and did penalty merkins.

We were then directed to carry the snake some 75 yards across the adjacent field and then return to the ramp area of the Cross Fit Gym.  Someone took the lead and we carried for 30 seconds, then rested for 10 seconds. The cadre left this young guy in charge, for some reason.

End of Welcome Party.

RUCK Begins

While we were still not acting like a good team, we were getting the hang of things and were improving.

Team was divided into two crossing guards, two flagmen (US and Ruck), two for the stretcher with the sheet-wrapped dummy, two on the gerry can, and the rest on the sand bag chain (paired down to 16 bags, four of each weight).  We were on the side of a busy road where the terrain was tough – holes in the ground, bushes, tree overhang, mesh in the grass, sloping hills on the side of the road, and very wet mini-creeks were present from theheavy rains.  Because of both the rough terrain and the inability to maneuver well between the person in front and in back of you, those folks carrying the sandbags had a difficult time doing their job.

We headed into the nearby park at a sand based volleyball court.  We then took on the very wet sandy pit for a total of 8 crossingsacross the double wide volley ball court with one cadre on each side giving us our next set of directions.

Sand Pit Workout:

We started with a low crawl (chest and hips in the sand –simulating overhead gun fire drill), next a forward bear crawl, then interlocked arms lunge walk in perfect cadence, then areverse bear crawl, all while pulling the ruck behind us in the wet sand.  Then a crab walk and reverse crab walk.  Next we left turned, lined up behind one another facing North – and 130 T-Claps began with arms straight out and an over-the-head clap.  Civilian count. We were often reminded at how poorly we were doing as a group and how we may have to start over if people did not start completing the assigned movement in good order and synchronization. Somehow that task was completed with a TON of grace from the cadre. 

The last transit across the sand pit was pure murder with next to no arm strength left in most of the 29 folks remaining.  I do notremember what one of the transit exercise were that we performed.

The team started acting more like a team.  It was very heartwarming to see group members begin to act like team mates and not relative strangers.  We were supporting one another.  Stronger members were encouraging the slower finishers, etc. We wanted everyone to finish the race and complete our goals.

At some point, we were too slow and we were ordered to do ten more merkins with ruck in the sand pit.  We did planks with ruck for a couple of minutes and also around 50 low flutters without ruck.  Cadre DS checked everyone’s abs with the 6-pound sledge – a light bounce to see how much belly- jelly you had.

Hydration bladders were refilled and the 5-gallon gerry can was all of a sudden much lighter.  We took a 3-minute water break and then did the one-mile run with ruck around the park.  Upon completion of this task we headed back to the Gym.  Upon our return to the gym we gently returned the sand bags to the floor and lined up in our original alphabetical order.  I was thinking we were done because we had deconstructed the sand bag snake and repossessed our carbineer clips.  I am still missing two.

Mary

We were directed to a new location however it was a 15-minute drive away and told to line up when we arrived.  Upon cadre arrival we then rucked around ¾ mile to a local horse farm where we split into3-4 person teams.  We were doing a Go Ruck old-school volunteer work project at this horse farm. Many weredirected to shovel poop out of the various stalls, some cleanedthe gutters on the barn, some pressure washed the remaining grime away, some provided clean feed for the animals.(thankfully all without our rucks).  We worked there for about an hour.  At the end, we were given a short introduction to this farm and some of the work they do to help disabled/handicapped children.

We then rucked back to our parked cars lined up with our rucks and were presented our reward. A hard-earned Go Ruck patch.

Total Time:  5 1/2 hours

F3 Basic Attendees- Editor, Chumbawamba, Heisenberg, 4howa

P.S. Still a little sore one week later.