I’ve attempted a few times to write a blog post in the weeks (months?) since my last visit. Each time, I just get completely overwhelmed and say screw it. I don’t know where my blog will go from here, I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I felt the need to stop in with an update.
Things are not going well. There have been some dates that I had a hard time with, there is an event coming up I’m going to have a hard time with and basically I feel like my support system is slowly crumbling, piece by piece. Getting out of bed every day is a challenge, never mind trying to add blog posts to my day.
Enough boo hoo shit. I’m tired of talking about my feelings, which I’m told on an almost weekly basis that I’m “allowed to feel” by my therapist. Grrrrreat. They feel awesome.
So what have I been up to?
I went to VT for the Infinitus trail race. Since I was injured (shocking, I know), I rucked the 8K with two friends instead of running it. It was a serious trail – real steep inclines and declines, some crazy bushwhacking and challenging terrain. When I finished, I hung out at base camp and watched all the crazy ultra people come in and out as they ran mile after mile. It was a cool environment to be around.
I ran the Gaspee Days 5K again – one of only 2 races that I’ve run every year since I started.
I’ve done another Carry the Fallen ruck march – this one in Plymouth because we were moved out of Boston at the last minute for Pride. It actually turned out to be a nice change.
I attempted my first GORUCK Challenge. The Light I did last year was almost 4.5 hours. A Challenge is normally around 12 hours. The DAY BEFORE the event, I found out I had a rib subluxation and possible rotator cuff tear. I attempted it anyway. I lasted 45 minutes into the Welcome Party and had to medically withdraw. I was devastated and still am. I feel like a quitter. I am so, so proud of my girls though. They all finished and were amazing.
Shadow Squad
I’ve shadowed some GORUCKs, including the one I should have been taking part in. I have a passion for it. I really enjoy taking pictures, and being out there, watching my friends embrace the suck inspires me. There is something about walking through a city at zero dark thirty, when everything is still, that’s beautiful.
I tagged along in the pouring rain to the Spartan Super to cheer on my friends and had a lot of fun, even completely soaked.
We attended my cousin’s bridal shower and I got to see my family.
I spent a fabulous day with some friends at a gorgeous lake and just enjoyed being outside in nature.
We celebrated the 4th of July at our house with a cookout with friends. We had so much fun, there really aren’t any pictures (besides one I’m not sure should be shared lol). It was a really good day. A really, really good day. One that I wish I could bottle for the bad days.
I hit a slump in training, eating right, basically anything healthy. I completely self-sabotaged. I’m trying to fix it. I’m doing the best I can for now. I feel like I have more to say, but no words to say it, so I’ll end here for today.
Friday – Shoulder PT + 90 minutes of Freestyle Friday at Unleashed
Saturday – 6.75 mile hike
Sunday – Yard work, moving furniture and cleaning around house for a few hours
Monday – Packing and moving
Tuesday – Shoulder PT + 30 minutes yoga, 4 mile ruck and 45 minutes lifting
Wednesday – Shoulder PT + Rhode Runner Blackstone Blvd 5K
Thursday – 1 hr kickboxing
This week was kind of a blur, what with Memorial Day and all. It was also a short week for me because I have today off to head up to VT with friends to run Infinitus.
The moving and packing was to help Tara’s parents out. They are moving, along with her brother, to VA in about a week, so we had some extra furniture we no longer wanted that they are taking and then helped them pack up their POD with their own stuff as well. All that on Sunday and Monday was plenty of a workout for me so I didn’t do anything additional. I also hurt my back at Freestyle Friday trying to dump a 60 lb sandbag off my ruck, but it caught and basically snapped my spine backwards…so yeah – OUCH.
With my knee still tweaking a bit and my back not 100% recovered, I’m not running the race tomorrow. I’ll be bringing my ruck instead and hiking it. I found a couple of friends who also aren’t running so I won’t be alone, which is nice. My other friends are doing the 88k (I’m doing 8k) so I’ll be hanging by myself a lot of the time in the tent I’m sure.
I’m excited to spend the weekend in the woods. From what I’ve heard, there may not be any cell service up there, which could be kind of nice. We’ll see. I think it will be nice to disconnect a bit.
This week’s song is in honor of the mountain I will be climbing tomorrow. Have a great weekend!
Friday – 30 min yoga + office workout (shoulder PT + no ruck: 200 squats, 100 push-ups, 50 4-count flutter kicks)
Saturday – Abington Police 5K
Sunday – 30 min yoga
Monday – Rest (Technically a rest day. I did walk a couple of miles with a friend but didn’t track it-probably about 2 miles. I also did shoulder PT.)
Tuesday – 3 miles + 1 hr lifting + office workout (shoulder PT + no ruck: 100 squats)
Wednesday – 30 min yoga + did 1 hr yard work w/ ruck on + office workout (shoulder PT + with ruck: 150 squats, 50 push-ups)
Thursday – 30 min yoga + shoulder PT
This week’s training to me was just meh. I worked as hard as I could, but I should have run yesterday and didn’t because my body is being mean. I’m in pain 24/7 regardless of whether or not I’m working out. Moving around and being active does help, but still…it gets old. I have a virtual race tomorrow that I’m doing with some friends at Fells Reservation in MA for Racing 4 Valor. I get overexcited and inspired by them and I signed up for the half marathon distance, but didn’t take into account that it’s on trails, not road, and I haven’t properly trained for the distance like I did for my first half last year. I’m pretty sure I’ll be dropping down to the 10K, but I’m OK with that (mostly).
Outside of that, we’ll be spending some time with Tara’s family this weekend. They’re moving to VA in a couple of weeks so she’s trying to see them as much as possible while they’re here. I’ll grill, we’ll have a nice fire, even some s’mores. It should be a nice weekend.
While it’s nice to have a long weekend and everything, please remember what Memorial Day is about – those who made the ultimate sacrifice, for us.
I don’t really have a whole lot to say today, so here’s your song for the week.
Yesterday, I ran the Abington Police Community Partners 5K in my hometown of Abington, MA. Since I started running 3 years ago, this is only one of two races that I have run all 3 of those years. Not only do I love running it because it’s in my hometown, but they made a beautiful little course out of it.
Tara and I did what we typically do and stayed at Julie and Dan’s house on Friday night. They only like about 10-15 minutes away from Abington so it’s really nice to be able to sleep in a bit before heading to the race. Unfortunately, we didn’t get in until around 8:30 Friday night so I missed the early bib pick-up. This meant leaving around 7:00 to get my bib when they started giving them out at 7:15. In hindsight, I could have left a little later, but it worked out fine.
Once I got my bib, we just hung out in the car for a while to stay warm. It wasn’t super cold out, around 60ish degrees, but very cloudy so it wasn’t super warm either. The rain held off, so I was happy about that.
I had two goals going into this race: 1. Not to walk at all and 2. Keep a steady pace.
#1 shouldn’t have been an issue, but there is one hill on Centre Ave that always forced me to walk it. #2 was a general rule because I tend to get swept up in the pace of those around me and if I start out too fast, I never get into a proper rhythm.
The course starts out in front of the police station, loops by the junior high, through the cemetery, back out to the police station right around the halfway mark then loops around Island Grove back to finish at the station.
I am very pleased to say that not only did I meet both of my goals, but I set ANOTHER new 5K PR. I had told you I just set a new one a few weeks ago at a different 5K, but I now have a new one again! I’m super excited!
That is the face of a very happy Courtney right there. I refused to look at my watch the entire time I ran because I didn’t want to get thrown off by it at all. I maintained a comfortable, but pushing, pace and figured I’d let the chips fall where they may. Not only did I set my new 5K PR, but I also beat my best time at this race by almost 2 1/2 minutes! And at the end, they had cupcakes with glitter on them. Glitter!
I’m still riding the high off of this race since yesterday. I know that I can push myself out of my comfort zone and even though some days I don’t feel like I’m doing enough, I know everything I’m doing is helping make me better.
Friday – 2 hours of getting my ass kicked at Freestyle Friday
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – 5 mile run + 3 mile ruck
Monday – 30 min yoga + office workout (shoulder PT, 50 push-ups, 50 squats)
Tuesday – 3 miles + 1 hr lifting + office workout (w/ 35 lb ruck: 50 push-ups, 100 squats, 30 lunges + shoulder PT)
Wednesday – 30 min yoga + 1 hr yard work w/ 35 lb ruck + office workout (shoulder PT, Without ruck: 50 4-count flutter kicks, 50 russian twists w/ 30 lb plate, 50 leg pull-ins. With ruck: 100 squats)
Thursday – 30 min yoga + 5 miles + office workout (shoulder PT and 50 push-ups)
I’m really turning up the training intensity now. I only have a couple more weeks until my GORUCK Challenge and I want to be more ready than I was for the last one. Most of these workouts are split into morning and evening and I really like getting in some extra stuff in my cubicle at work as time allows. Usually, the stuff I do at work, is in sets of maybe 10 or 25 in between phone calls and orders so it’s not like a straight workout. Every little bit helps, right?
I feel like I’m not in a very “write-y” place today and don’t have much to say. I have a race tomorrow in my hometown (1 of only a few races I’ve never missed since I started running) and am looking forward to it. I think on Sunday I’m going to try to de-clutter/spring clean the house. Closets seem fuller and I need more organization in my life. We’ll see how that goes. I want to purge whatever possible out of the house.
I just randomly heard this song while looking through the new releases on Spotify and liked the lyrics. Hope you enjoy – have a great weekend!
This week felt like a horror show in terms of training. Saturday, I volunteered to work the Unleashed tent at BoldrDash on the Beach – an OCR that I ran last year. I was there from 8am until around 2:30ish and planned on doing my run for the weekend when I got home. Let’s just say it turned into a rough afternoon. While I still got out there and did 5 miles, it was a shit show. I had to walk A LOT and nothing felt right. I couldn’t get my breathing and my hips were bothering me tons.
Sunday I traveled to Amherst, MA to cheer on my friends as they ran the 7 Sisters Trail Race. So while it was technically a rest day, we were standing/walking around quite a bit. It was beautiful up there and I think I’m putting it on my list for next year, even though I watched people cringing as they crossed the finish line.
Monday, I ran after work. Just an easy 3 miles. Well, it was anything but easy. That annoying twinge in my hips from Saturday turned into actual pain in my bad (right) hip that has been bothering me all week now. This is the same hip I strained when I first started running that sidelined me for months. I’m much more careful about listening to my body now, so I just stretched and rolled on Tuesday.
Wednesday, I had a pity party. The day went to hell and I’m started to get PMS-y (sorry if TMI) so I said screw it and just hung out in bed for the night. Thursday, I got back into things and did the kickboxing class. Oh the fun we had!! Our trainer is getting married tomorrow so I made a playlist just for this class with fast paced, wedding-themed songs. It was SUCH a good time!
Tonight, I’m going to hit up Unleashed for Freestyle Friday. We’re going to put together some GORUCK training since we now have less then one month (!!!!) until the event. I got my new steel plate on Tuesday, so it should make it easier to carry instead of bricks. I also ordered an actual GORUCK ruck that I hope gets here soon so I have time to break that in as well.
Not much to say about this week’s song choice. I just really like the song. Enjoy it and have a great weekend!!
I had a GREAT week of workouts. I’m pretty psyched about that. Like I mentioned in this post, last Friday I had a new PR on the weighted sled push. That night, my friend Amy and I planned to run the next morning. I usually run on Sunday mornings, but I like having the company so we arranged to run early before the plans that both of us had on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for a run!
Afterwards, Tara’s parents came over to celebrate her dad’s birthday. We went for a short hike and then I grilled us up some burgers for lunch. We had a nice visit.
Sunday I barely moved because I was so sore from Friday and Saturday. It was definitely a well deserved rest day. Monday, I still wasn’t feeling it, so I just did some yoga to work things out and loosen up. Now let’s talk about those Tuesday and Wednesday runs!
Tuesday was just a regular 3-miler, nothing fancy. I didn’t know when I set out, but I felt pretty strong and ended up running faster than I thought and set a new 3 mile PR. Wednesday I met up with some teammates to run the free 5K put on monthly during the warmer months by Rhode Runner in Providence. It was a beautiful night for it. I came straight from work and just enough time to find a parking spot, run to the tent to get my bib, meet up with my friends and ended up stretching once we lined up to start! Not how I like to start a race.
The race isn’t on a closed course, but essentially doesn’t meet up with much traffic. It is just an out and back along a (mostly) gravel path in the middle of two one way streets. We had to cross a few streets, but not busy ones and it was never an issue as the cars basically had no choice but to yield to the throngs of runners coming at them. I knew I started out WAY too fast and couldn’t get my breathing under control. I tried to slow it up, but it’s been a while since I’ve actually raced and running with other people always makes me go faster.
So what happened? I set a new 5K PR!! My old one has stood for a very, very long time. My new time, 33:14, will be my new standard to go by as I continue to improve. I couldn’t ask for better people to celebrate it with, either.
My hip was a little tweaky on Thursday from back to back running (not to mention faster than normal) so I was a little hesitant to go to kickboxing last night. I decided if the kicking bothered me too much, I’d punch more and just see how it went. My hip actually cooperated for most of it and I didn’t have any issues, except with my shoulder. I couldn’t hold high planks or do burpee punches, so the trainer modified for me. He absolutely smoked us in that class. There were 5 of us and we’d all done the class plenty of times, so he decided since he didn’t have any newbies he’d challenge us. It was awesome!
After kickboxing last night, I met my friend Katie and some of her friends to see the new Avengers movie. I didn’t get to bed until a few hours ago, but it was totally worth the lack of sleep. I would definitely recommend it if you’re into those movies.
Tonight, I’ll probably take it easy and do some more yoga. I’ve got a busy weekend ahead. I’ll be helping out at the Unleashed table at the BoldrDash on the Beach OCR tomorrow and then Sunday I’m tagging along to cheer my friends on that are running the 7 Sister Trail Race. It’s gonna be busy, but fun.
I’m obsessed with this week’s song. Much like I became obsessed with Take Me To Church last year when it was first released, every time this Hozier song comes on I crank it up. I don’t know what it is about that man. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
At Unleashed, their slogan is “Explore A Stronger Version Of You”. What I am about to write is going to be somewhat superficial and then somewhat deep and incredibly difficult. First, I am going to tell you how I am exploring a stronger physical self.
This past Friday, I attended Freestyle Friday at Unleashed which is basically a 2.5 hour free-for-all where you can use anything in the gym that you want to create a workout for yourself, or spend time practicing something. I’ve only been a few times, but it’s a fun time. We’ve come to have some friendly competitions to push each other to always do more – especially with the sled.
After some event specific warm-up and training (more on that in a bit), we started pushing the sled around. The last time I did it, we were at somewhere around 700 lb. This time, we loaded it up with plates and just kept pushing. We eventually added sandbags, then humans, then smaller humans. Here is a pic of me pushing about 1070 lb and below that is a video of me pushing around 1020 lb.
My friends encouraging me to do more, and then being able to do it, makes me feel strong, physically and mentally. Now, let’s talk about that event specific training, shall we? After shadowing the GOREV, I was completely inspired. I told myself I would never do another GORUCK after our Light in October because I felt I didn’t have the mental fortitude to get through it. After witnessing what my friends pushed through, and all that I’ve overcome in the last several months, I decided to register for another GORUCK event, appropriately called a Challenge.
I have several friends who are going to do it with me and, with their support, I’m going to give it my all. I know they will do everything in their power to see that I don’t fail. On that same note, let’s talk about how I’m exploring mental strength.
It’s no secret I have depression and anxiety. I’ve always been honest about that on here and don’t feel the need to hide it anymore. I’ve decided to share a bit more and, maybe, it might help someone else needing help.
I don’t remember if I’ve spoken about it before, but I also have PTSD. I’m not going to (and never going to) get into why on this blog. What I will tell you is that I also used to cut as a coping mechanism. I started when I was a teenager and did it well into my early 20s. For those who have no experience with it, personally or otherwise, I will just tell you that I did it as a way to distract myself from the mental pain using physical pain. I’ve come to understand that it is a common theme with those who do/did it.
What I’ve only just figured out in the past few months is that cutting is an addiction I just need to keep at bay, not unlike alcoholism or drug abuse. My immediate instinct when having a really bad day, hour, minute is to turn to something that makes that mental pain go away. Luckily, I have Tara and amazing friends and I haven’t resorted to that. The urges were almost daily, but thankfully are getting better with continued therapy and medications I am on. It helps that I have learned better coping skills and am working through what I need to work through, difficult as it may be.
I guess my point in admitting this in such a public forum is that you don’t have to do it. It sucks, and it will hurt, but there are other things you can do. Don’t stuff shit down because it’s not going anywhere. Work through it and come out stronger on the other side. It will get better.
I’m going to pick up where I left off, when we finished the GOREV event Sunday morning.
Amy B and I were met by our other friend Amy C, who was the one running the marathon the next day. She brought some food for Amy but I had felt pretty sick the last four hours or so of the GOREV, so I couldn’t eat or drink anything for a while. Amy B’s husband came up with their kids to meet us at the finish and she changed into some fresh clothes. I literally dozed off sitting up on the stairs while she was changing. Once we had stopped moving, I lost all adrenaline that had kept me going.
Once everyone got situated, we headed back to the parking lot to pick up Amy B’s car. From there, the two Amys and I drove to my cousin’s house just south of the city. She was nice enough to let us stay there while they were away for the weekend so we didn’t have to pay for a hotel. It was 5 minutes from the T station and it’s not far out of Boston. I think we were able to get in the house and settled down sometime between 10:30-11:00am and Amy B and I were going to get some rest while Amy C did some errands. We laid down on the couches and I think Amy B was asleep before she even finished laying down. I was super restless and still not feeling well and only got rest in 10-15 minute increments. I think I got up 4 or 5 times to either drink or take medicine or whatever. It was not restful at all.
I finally gave up sometime around 1pm and Amy B woke up shortly after that I believe. We sat around chatting for a bit and then all got ready to attend the pasta dinner being held by Amy C’s fundraising team for Brigham and Women’s Hospital. We were thrilled to have a buffet to eat because we were starving, but we all ended up only getting the one plate of food and calling it quits.
Once we had eaten, we stopped at Target on the way home to pick up some food and last minute supplies for the next day. I think we managed to get to bed around 9pm, but at this point time and days were a blur to me.
Monday morning Amy C got up and got ready and I got up shortly after her around 6am, with Amy B following soon after. Our super runner finished up and then drove up to meet her team and get ready. Amy B and I sat around a bit, had our breakfast and chatted, checked in with people on our phones and then both got ready to head into the city.
Amy C was in the wave to have an approximate 11:15am start. She kept sending us updates and pics and it was really exciting to see what was going on with the athletes. Amy B and I took the T in because driving would have been a nightmare. Our plans we made the night before were to meet her at around mile 16, mile 23 and the finish.
We arrived without much of a delay to mile 16 and starting watching for her based on the text updates we were getting from the BAA and from her occasionally. It was amazing being part of something like that, even just as a spectator. The atmosphere is pure electricity and the sound just never stops. I can’t even imagine running in it.
We got a text from Amy C shortly before she met up with us that she needed some dry socks. We had two runner bags with us that had mid-race supplies and after-race stuff. When she finally came to us, she was soaked through just like everybody else out there. We helped her strip her shirts off and change into something warmer and drier, then she changed out her socks, grabbed some more Swedish fish and kept trucking. She was in some pain from a prior leg injury and had a cough that wouldn’t quit, but there was no way she wasn’t going to finish her first Boston.
Once she took off, one of Amy B’s friends, Adam, took us to near Beacon St where we needed to meet her for mile 23, which should have been where her team cheering area was. There was nobody there. I guess it was team family members and once their runner went by, they were leaving.
I sort of wish we hadn’t stopped there because that only gave us maybe 30 minutes to get to the finish by T. Yeah – that didn’t happen. We got the text she finished before we even got to the last stop. I was so disappointed and felt like I’d let her down by not making it in time to see her finish. Luckily, we found out afterwards that 3 of her other friends were there at the finish so she did have some support at the end. She did awesome, coming in at 5:16:46.
Once we knew that we couldn’t see her finish, we re-routed to meet her at Boston Sports Club which was the after destination for her team. Once we got there, we went to the meeting area, but she wasn’t there. We finally got a Facebook message from her that she was in the med room. I, of course, immediately panicked but we asked at the front desk to find out where she was and found her getting her leg looked at and being warmed up. Her phone had been ruined by the rain so she had borrowed a PT aide’s phone to message us.
We got her stuff picked up and she went off to shower before grabbing some food there, then we all headed to the food court in the Prudential Center (where BSC was) to get food because the restaurants in the area had very, very long waits. You would think something was going on in town!
I am so amazingly proud of this girl. She worked her tail off to get there, training through injury and sickness. You did it, Amy! You ran “the fucking Boston Marathon”!!
To say that April 18-19, 2015 were life-changing would be an understatement. Let’s just start at the beginning.
You’ve heard me talk about GORUCK before, including the one I took part in back in October. The event that was being held this weekend was a Gorevolution, the second of its kind. It was basically a GORUCK Heavy (24+ hour event), but with a historical twist – we would be following in the footsteps of our ancestors as we walked from Concord to Boston along the Battle Road Trail, Minute Man Bikeway and Freedom Trail.
When they tell you that the event starts at 4am, you get there early. We ended up going to bed later than I planned on Friday night (somewhere around 8:30-9:00?) and I set my alarm for midnight. I knew several people that were doing the event, but was there mainly in support of my friend, Amy. It was her first Heavy. Amy and I stayed at Julie and Dan’s house so we’d be closer to the start and wouldn’t have to drive so far so early in the morning. Once I was up and ready, Amy got up at 1:00 and started getting herself ready. We were out the door just past 2:00 and on our way! We arrived where we were told to park around 3:00 and there was a very nice guy everyone calls Jeans that hooked us up with a ride to the start (about a mile and a half away). We thought we’d have to walk to the start so this was a nice surprise. We were at the start by about 3:30 and just kind of hanging around with others that had arrived early.
All of a sudden, out of the pitch black walk the two Cadre – Andy and Logan. So begins the event. First things first, they lined up to have the roster checked. There were supposed to be 35 people there that had signed up, but only 23 were present. I don’t remember in what order the next two things occurred, but they had their bags inspected to ensure they had the correct weight, food, hydration and safety gear and then were read the rules and precautions to be taken during the event. Cadre Andy then took us shadows aside to advise us on how he wanted us to behave alongside the class.
Once everybody was situated and checked in, off we went. The beginning started out deceivingly simple – walk along a little bit, stop at a historical marker, Cadre would tell us a bit about it and then move on. No yelling, no PT yet. This lasted maybe a mile and a half or so as we made our way into Minute Man Historical Park.
See this picture below? That man in the black coat and evil grin? That would be Cadre Logan. He’s grinning because they are about to bring the suck. Once they got across that bridge, things would get much, much worse.
From here, they needed to get down on the ground to avoid “enemy fire”. They were told to low crawl, roll left, roll right, all while trying not to become a “casualty”. If you become one, you are no longer allowed to move under your own power. In this instance, they had to be dragged by other members of the class to get them to the tree line and cover.
Once they made it to the tree line, we walked over to the park path to get back to our trek. Not everyone was falling in line with what the Cadre were saying, so some PT needed to be done including up/down with their rucks as well as holding them overhead.
Some bear crawls, lunges and crab walks were next.
Once we rounded the corner after a quick jog, they got a small break while the Cadre spoke again.
Back to the road they went with some low crawls. I thought it was highly amusing watching the runners and bikers come through looking at them like they’re nuts. After that, they played a lovely game called “I’m up, he sees me, I’m down” where they had to get up, move for a second, then lay down all to the cadence of saying that phrase.
They went around another bend and had another quick refuel and then more crab walks, because it’s fun. After a little more walking, we came across a tunnel where they had to lay down and do 100 flutter kicks.
Once they walked a bit more on the trail, we came to Fiske Hill. Oh, Fiske Hill. They had some fun there. It started out with having to crawl down the embankment from the parking lot into what can only be described as disgusting. They then had to make their way up the hill, stopping here and there for PT and picking up various “weapons” to charge the hill.
Near the top of the hill were casualties, so there were lots of buddy carries through here up another short, steep hill.
After we left the park, we had a long, boring walk along the main streets until we reached the Lexington Common. We had just missed a re-enactment so we took a break to eat and check feet. We got to see just a bit of the next one starting, but had to keep moving on to stay on track.
From the Common, we entered the Minute Man Bikeway. There was a lot of just plain rucking on this portion. At times, Logan got them going at a very quick pace. I spent a lot of time shuffle running to keep up in the back. Along the way, they were told to pick up various items like aluminum fence posts and tire rims. Little did they know, they would soon be building “the apparatus”. They would have to use these pieces, along with whatever rope and straps they brought with them, to build some sort of method of transportation for an oil drum that was left on the side of the bikeway.
We rucked on the bikeway for a long time it seemed and then veered off for a bit to see a few areas of interest before joining back up with it.
It was nightfall by the time we reached Boston Common. We had another break for food and feet before walking along the Freedom Trail.
Once we were past the Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea), it was time for some very difficult maneuvering. They were to pick up some items and move them to our next location, which was an extended break at a local gym frequented by ruckers.
Once we got there, they were able to leave those items behind. After our rest period to refuel and check feet, off we went to Fort Washington, where they would pick up more items to be carried all the way to the end in Dorchester Heights to build a “cannon”.
I have to say that I believe this was the most difficult part of the journey. It was a lot of walking through a closed city of Boston. They had to carry these really heavy items for miles with very few breaks because there weren’t enough people. You also have to remember we’ve passed 24 hours during this trek and everyone was exhausted. The smiles during the first few miles had long disappeared and I watched as zombies shuffled past me. I will admit that there are times I don’t remember getting from one block to the next. I could have been sleepwalking for all I know.
23 started, 21 finished with one voluntary withdrawal and one med drop (who pushed it so, so hard and should be proud). At the end, with the sun coming up, they were handed their patches. Tears flowed, cheers erupted and everyone squeezed each other tight. These are a few of my favorite shots from the end.
This is our GPS that I forgot to start at the very beginning, but that’s pretty close to the actual duration and distance.
What I witnessed was incredible. People pushing through immense pain, working together to get the tasks done. Tears, sure, but no quit. They didn’t know the meaning of the word. I am so, so proud of every member of that class and it was an honor to walk alongside them.
Don't blink. Just run. 