GO RUCK!: Veteran owned/operated. Post your progress and AARs

8654Maine said:
Ok, Marine0311 and Jay, and anyone else who's interested, here's what I'm throwing out.

Pick a date where it's warm...cause cold and wet sucks hairy donkey balls.

Pick a place near one of us to use as base. This way, we save on money and lodging. I live in Maine. There's a Portland, ME event in May and a Boston, MA event in June. Y'all can come up to my place and hang before and after and we can have a shoot afterwards (y'all can prebuy ammo and bring it or send it...I won't touch it). NO MOLESTING MY CHICKENS!!

Or we can pick a neutral or central place and share lodging to save money.

Jay and 0311, pm me your contact or just add to this thread. I work weird hours so don't even bother calling me cause I won't answer. I'll pm you my email address.
Click to expand...

Would you create a PM with the 3 of us on this please?

Thanks.
 
8654Maine said:
Ok, Marine0311 and Jay, and anyone else who's interested, here's what I'm throwing out.

Pick a date where it's warm...cause cold and wet sucks hairy donkey balls.

Pick a place near one of us to use as base. This way, we save on money and lodging. I live in Maine. There's a Portland, ME event in May and a Boston, MA event in June. Y'all can come up to my place and hang before and after and we can have a shoot afterwards (y'all can prebuy ammo and bring it or send it...I won't touch it). NO MOLESTING MY CHICKENS!!

Or we can pick a neutral or central place and share lodging to save money.

Jay and 0311, pm me your contact or just add to this thread. I work weird hours so don't even bother calling me cause I won't answer. I'll pm you my email address.
Click to expand...

If you guys don't mind having a SS newbie around then I'd be interested in doing this as well. I've never been to Boston, and a GRC sounds like a great way to explore a new city.
 
I'm signed up for the Boston one in March. Should be a good time. It's been a while since I rucked, so I've been using the MARSOC Final Prep plan. I'm on week five and having nothing but good things to say about this plan. The only thing I've changed is subbing stamina/work capacity on the swim days.
 
I'll update here instead of the other GoRuck thread.

Sidebar:
Before I go further, I'll say that I almost didn't make this one. I forgot to put in time off (subliminal?). I had to ask for a switch. Y'all know what it's like to have someone work your Saturday?
'Twas not easy. Folks wanted to know why. I told 'em.

"Are you crazy" and "why" was a recurring question. Even my wife asked it: "Why are your doing this?"

I thought about this. I could go on about physical fitness, mental toughness, exercise, productive day, camaraderie, working out, celebrating my 49th, celebrating my 28th anniversary of boot camp, blah blah...

In a nugget: ego. I wanted to see if I still got it. With folks half my age. Pure, unadulterated ego. There.

Event:
GRC Class 541. 51 lbs ruck (had extra shit that was not needed).

  1. Cadre: Chris. Recon Marine. Quiet. Professional.
  2. Team: 21 signees. One no show (female). 20 males start. Most were civilians. More than half were GoRuck veterans. Few were doing back to back GRC's!
  3. Time (start): 0100 hr, May 4th at Portland Obervatory, ME.
  4. Weather: 43 deg F start. 39 low. 55 high. Clear, min winds, 8 mph peak. Water temp 46 deg.
  5. Terrain: mostly flat, waterfront, peak elev 19 meters.
Mission: Do whatever the cadre say via a team leader, as a team, in a timely fashion. Fail a time hack, pay a penalty. Always carry a flag (American and GoRuck). Never let them, your team weight, or your rucks touch the ground. Penalty otherwise.

Results:
  1. 18+ miles, 11hr and 10 minutes.
  2. 19/21 finished
  3. some injuries, mostly strains, cramps, muscle pulls.
  4. Good time by all (at the end).
Observation:
  1. Joining Facebook was recommended. Apparently, one can see your fellow team members and work out together and discuss strategy. Folks seemed to gel well from the Facebook crowd. I didn't join Facebook.
  2. I hate sand PT.
  3. One person quit the first hour. We did beach PT for the first few missions. It was a smoker. His reason was that he was sick recently and now strained something. Can't say if he was smart or not, though. Stunned in silence were we.
  4. Like hurling in a enclosed space, once one starts, domino effect. After the first DOR, a second guy also w/in minutes asked to be dropped. His reason was that he couldn't go on. We all vocalized that he could and should suck it up. Convinced him. Of course, now someone else had to carry his ruck. Guess who did? Not me.
  5. Well, the jokes on me. We were on that beach for awhile. Partner event. Dont' know what it's called but one person bear crawls. Other person is under him being half carried and half dragged. Picture a sadistic cowgirl position. Well guess who dragged that person with the extra ruck...yours truly.
  6. Waterproof everything
  7. Don't bring something you don't wish to lose. Lost my headlight being dragged in the sand.
  8. Don't wear a watch.
  9. Wear one of those skin tight shirts and shorts, i.e. UnderArmor or similar. I used to think those were kind of gay or metro, but it really kept most of the sand out. Sucks wearing a ruck w/ sand scraping one's back.
  10. Powder or put something in friction places. I wore lycra shorts underneath. Kept most of the sand out. But I still got friction rubs. Man, crotch-burn sucks.
  11. Give your key, wallet, or valuables to Shadow company (folks who photographed and walked with us the entire way). One team member lost his keys in the sand. He was a NG guy from CT. Gave him a ride to the Toyota dealer to get a key.
  12. Fireman's carry includes the ruck. I saw pics of other GRC w/ the person being carried was ruckless. That was verboten w/ us. My neck and back muscles are still sore from keeping my neck extended. If you don't cinch the ruck on your back and keep your neck extended (meaning lifted back), the ruck will ride on your neck and if you get in the wrong position, your throat will be pinched. I'd rather have screaming thighs and back rather than being suffocated.
  13. Don't carry extra shit. I had foot powder and other useless shit I thought I needed. I wore so many layers cause it stated out cold. Well, you will get warm very shortly. That extra layer will soak up the water and you'll be carrying that stuff. Use the packing list.
  14. I brought extra water besides a 3 liter camel back. Don't. One leeway that the cadre had was to make water stops. Those extra water bottles added weight.
  15. Cramping and aches will happen. Having electrolytes helped. Had gatorade in the camel back. Other folks had electrolyte tabs and chewables. It worked. Only a few folks had severe cramping.
  16. Being in shape is key. I prepped by a combo of running (long distance w/ wind sprints). Free weights and swimming. I also did 9 mile rucks about every 2-3 wks for about 3-4 months. I should have done more burpees and lunges. My thighs really payed for it. I was worried about blisters since my feet are really wimpy. Merino socks and running shoes did the trick.
  17. You can do this if you aren't in shape. You will rely on the grace of others. But that's a penalty of another kind. I couldn't do it.
  18. Camaraderie is great. When folks volunteered to take that near-quitters ruck, it felt really great. That's good when everyone is still pumped, it's the first hour, and everyone has gusto. That shit changes pretty quick when everyone is tired and smoked. Resentment reared it's head in about 4-5 hrs. It really sucked to see "that guy" carrying the flag w/o a ruck, while everyone is doing fireman's carry. It really kicked in during log PT. "That dude" got his ruck back and joined the log brigade. Those who've done a real selection or screening know what I'm talking about.
  19. If you are a team leader, then LEAD. Assign folks. Know names. Always supervise. Don't give into whining (people bitch all the time). Don't wast time planning. Don't be someone's friend. Make a timely decision. Implement a plan. Improvise when you need to. Once the cadre found out what I did, he really didn't pick me to be team leader. I really wanted to do it. Not because I can do a DI voice or motivate folks or complete a mission. Nope. I didn't want to carry chit.
  20. That little voice was in my head a couple of times. Whispering encouragements: go home...enjoy the good life...you really don't need to do this...it's nothing but a patch...doesn't mean anything...you're too old...you've done this shit for real...let it go...you'll still be the same guy...no one needs to know...
  21. I LOVE saying FUCK YOU to that voice.
  22. I read that this course shouldn't be used a realistic guide to whichever military selection one desires. True. Because you'll be doing this and more, daily. This is a good intro. If you can complete this, without letting others carry you (figuratively) and you can carry others (figuratively and literally) and, at completion, you can do another the next day (or go drinking), you should do fine.
  23. I HATE sand PT
Conclusion:

  1. It sucked.
  2. It is do-able.
  3. Could have been worse. Cadre really could have smoked us more.
  4. There is nothing better than accomplishing a goal. No one carried my ruck. I helped carry others.
  5. Ego in check. Reality has set in, though. I'm not as bad/tough as I once was or thought. I could have done more: carried someone more, carried the log more. But, I was never "that guy".
  6. After all that, I really felt bad (physically) but really good (emotionally, mentally). A good trade off for a weekend.
  7. I still got it...I think.
Recommendation:

  1. Go do it. Don't think about it. Just sign up. Commit. Simple.
  2. If you don't, doesn't mean a thing. But you should, esp if you're on this site.
  3. Talk is cheap.
  4. If one is contemplating enlisting and joining those at the "tip", this would be a great barometer.
  5. I'm not doing this ever again.
  6. But ask me in a few months.
  7. I never joined Facebook.
  8. Have epsom salt for ready.
 
8654Maine said:
I'll update here instead of the other GoRuck thread.
  1. Good time by all (at the end).
  1. Wear one of those skin tight shirts and shorts, i.e. UnderArmor or similar. I used to think those were kind of gay or metro, but it really kept most of the sand out. Sucks wearing a ruck w/ sand scraping one's back.
  2. That little voice was in my head a couple of times. Whispering encouragements: go home...enjoy the good life...you really don't need to do this...it's nothing but a patch...doesn't mean anything...you're too old...you've done this shit for real...let it go...you'll still be the same guy...no one needs to know...
  3. I LOVE saying FUCK YOU to that voice.
  4. I HATE sand PT
Conclusion:

  1. It sucked.
  2. It is do-able.
  3. Could have been worse. Cadre really could have smoked us more.
  4. There is nothing better than accomplishing a goal. No one carried my ruck. I helped carry others.
  5. Ego in check. Reality has set in, though. I'm not as bad/tough as I once was or thought. I could have done more: carried someone more, carried the log more. But, I was never "that guy".
  6. After all that, I really felt bad (physically) but really good (emotionally, mentally). A good trade off for a weekend.
  7. I still got it...I think.
Click to expand...
Agreed on all counts. Seems like you guys got a lot of a distance in fairly quickly, how was the pace? I'm also relieved to hear that I wasn't the only one hearing the little voice. A job well done!
 
Deathy, we could have covered a lot more distance. Spending time on the beach doing inchworm pushups and burpees and then crab-walking and bear crawling up the only hill really cut our distance down.

It really helped that we did Indian runs w/ shuffle alsternating with fast walk to meet the time hacks.

Everyone hears that voice. The winners don't let it win.
 
I did GRC in the first year they stood it up, it wasn't as much missions, goals, events then it was just smokings, log PT, and taking care of the weakest links.

I'm doing GoRuck Ascent this summer, a four day thing in the Rocky Mountains
 
dknob said:
I did GRC in the first year they stood it up, it wasn't as much missions, goals, events then it was just smokings, log PT, and taking care of the weakest links.
Click to expand...

I remember you posting about that a while back. Re-reading it after I had done one, I came to realize just how much harder yours was! Hat's off to you!
 
dknob, your thread was what motivated me to do the GRC. Yeah, the current ones have paled, but it's a good start.

Good luck on the Ascent. I assume you've acclimated to the elevation.

The "Selection" seems to be where it's at. 0% pass rate last class.

Hmmmmm.
 
Thread title changed to : GO RUCK!: Veteran owned/operated. Post your progress and AARs

Ladies and Gents I am sure everyone would like to see your comments if you are going to do this and your AAR.
 
Deathy McDeath said:
I remember you posting about that a while back. Re-reading it after I had done one, I came to realize just how much harder yours was! Hat's off to you!
Click to expand...
Well It's a business first! They want people of all types of go and try it. Our Tampa class was 50% assigned to MacDill/CENTCOM - so huge veteran percentage.
 
8654Maine said:
dknob, your thread was what motivated me to do the GRC. Yeah, the current ones have paled, but it's a good start.

Good luck on the Ascent. I assume you've acclimated to the elevation.

The "Selection" seems to be where it's at. 0% pass rate last class.

Hmmmmm.
Click to expand...
Yeah - only took four damn months!!
 

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