GRC Aftermath

I recounted my adventures at the GORUCK Challenge in my previous post. However I wanted to follow-up and add a few notes on any aspects I missed.

First if you ever plan on participating in a GRC know this: each Challenge is unique. The tale I chronicled was the experience as I saw it. If you asked any of my teammates they might tell you a different story. Here's one account written up by Rich V. detailing his GRC Cincinnati tale.

I also need to give credit to Jason our cadre as well as my fellow teammate Landon for posting and sharing the amazing pictures they took during the event. More of their work can be found here and here.

To anyone up to taking the GORUCK Challenge I would recommend the following: know that there is no best way to train. Have a strong running background, yes. Do lots of work with weights. Find what aspects are unique to the city you will be traveling and play to those strengths. For example, to train for Cincinnati it would have been helpful to run stairs. Do lunges around an entire city block - while wearing a weighted pack. Get in the water before and during your training series. Ask a buddy if you can carry them for a few miles. Bear crawl your little heart out. And then show up on race day still not knowing what to expect.

Regarding packing for the Challenge: bring as little as possible. The GORUCK packing list might be a little overkill. Had I known better I would have only brought my gels, gloves, and a small waterproof bag for ID and car keys. Have a good water bladder and a headlamp if participating in a night class. Everything else I packed was rather useless and just caused excess weight. If you have fair skin like me I would also recommend wearing sunscreen - even if you are participating in a night Challenge - because you never know for how long you will be out there "doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well." [Fun side note: my mother was EXTREMELY upset with me post-Challenge. Not only was she exceptionally worried about me the entire time, I promised I would be back home before 11AM or noon. I didn't finish until near 4PM. Needless to say I had multiple missed calls from her demanding to know where I was! I was surprised she didn't file a missing persons report and send out a police search party.]

Also don't try to be too macho and add a ton of extra weight to your pack - because your teammates will be carrying the weight at many points throughout the Challenge. I personally also found it helpful to use my yoga strap to secure my bricks near the top of the ruck using the pack's interior webbing. This helped immensely to distribute the load evenly.

I wanted to speak to the pack I selected: the GR-1. This thing is freaking awesome! Military grade strength and plenty of room. Since the Challenge I have already used my ruck multiple times while traveling. When I finished the Challenge I simply left the thing in the trunk of my car (a hatchback) for approximately two days over the holiday weekend. Upon later returning to my vehicle I was faced with the unpleasant stench of the Ohio River reeking from the pack. This baby smelled BAD! It took a few days to air my car out completely, but the pack proved to be truly GORUCK Tough and held up nicely in the washing machine - followed by some time air drying on my porch.

Speaking of my porch - I have added a new addition to my decor. My bricks now have a permanent residence out there.

it could read Carrie: GRC Class 045

Other random notes: my shoes held up really well during the Challenge. Since I have now trashed 3 pairs of trainers since June (1 in the Warrior Dash, 1 during GORUCK, and 1 playing in a charity mud volleyball tournament) I was in serious need of some new running shoes. I am sticking with Nikes (for better or for worse) and purchased the following pair:

Be prepared for some real suck following the GRC. I was sunburnt and had minor resemblances of poison ivy covering most of my legs. I could not walk properly for DAYS. I was in A LOT of hurt. But it was all worth the pain. Every second of it. And I would do it all again in a heartbeat. 

So what's in the future for this GORUCK Tough chick? Unfortunately I will not be traveling to CO for the Ascent. It's simply too far out of my budget right now. Plus I am not sure I am quite ready to take on another GRC so soon. Once I finished in Cincinnati, while I was so glad that I had participated and completed the Challenge, I had written off any future attempts with Team GORUCK. Since then my outlook has totally changed. I CAN NOT get GORUCK out of my head.

In fact, I'm even thinking of GORUCK in my sleep. The other night I dreamed I was participating in a GRC in Paris. Our cadre got mad at some of the group when he saw our packs resting on the ground. As a result he left half of us stranded during the night. We were told to find a log to carry and had to find our way back to the rest of the team by sunrise. None of us could speak French. I woke up and couldn't figure out if it was a wonderful dream or a nightmare.

Regardless, upon finishing our GRC adventure Jason revealed that GORUCK will be returning to Cincinnati next July. I am definitely considering signing up ... if I don't surrender earlier and sign up for another Challenge before that!