It's often been said that "There's no 'I' in team" and that the individual should put the good of the team above their own individual gain, but why is this? Recently, after I completed the Goruck Challenge, a friend asked why do an event like this as a part of a team vs an individual race. My initial gut reaction response was a righteously indignant "because teamwork is good." After a bit, this question caused me to think deeper into the nature of teamwork and why working as a part of a team is beneficial.
Let me give you a bit of background. For me, working as a part of a team has always been a given. I drank the kool-aid early on this one. Growing up, there were only two reasons I was ever allowed to get into a fight. The first one was before my first day of first of school starting first grade, my dad pulled me aside and said that he didn't care if anyone said anything about him, but if anyone said anything about my mama, well I needed to take care of that. He informed me of the second and only other reason I could justify fighting when I started playing team sports at age eight. He told me that if there was ever a team fight I better be the first one off the bench. Giving to the team, sacrificing for the team, placing the importance of the team over the importance of the individual have been common themes from my early childhood well through my adulthood. The importance of teamwork is one of those truths that I always took for granted and never challenged, until now.
After thinking about it, working as a part of a team has on many times been one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. Most likely almost all of us can relate to being on a team where at least one person didn't do there share forcing the rest of the group to pick up the slack for them. The slacker or slackers on the team would either get a free ride and enjoy all the benefits for which everyone else had worked, or would drag the team down to failure. So again, there's still the question, why would a hardworking self motivated person want to be a part of a team? The answer to that turned out to be pretty simple. Working as a team is also one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done.
The standard motivational saying is that team stands for "Together Everyone Achieves More." Even though some members of a team may be more skilled or in better shape than others, when a group of individuals truly come together and form into a team, the whole is always greater and can accomplish more than the sum of the individual parts. The key to teamwork is not that everyone necessarily gives the same amount, but that everyone gives as much as they can to the team. If I'm pushing through a grueling workout and look over and see someone else that may not be in the same shape as me that's pushing even farther outside of their comfort zone for the team, and thereby pushing themselves for me, it inspires me to push farther. When you get a whole group of people that are all pushing themselves and pushing each other farther, the team is able to accomplish more than they would individually.
Another benefit to teamwork is that knowing that when pushing to your limits or past, your team will be there to help you out. In the GRC those that were feeling strong were able double back and help carry the packs of those that weren't feeling as strong. The folks that carried the extra packs at the beginning may have needed someone to shoulder their pack later in the challenge. If not they were able to keep pushing, confident in the knowledge that if the need ever came someone would be there to shoulder their pack and help them out.
My biggest examples of this have come through my experiences with the fire department. While as a firefighter teamwork is crucial to our everyday life at the crew level, teamwork for us extends around the world. In the last post I mentioned the amazing outpouring of support from firefighters from across the globe to help out and honor the fallen San Francisco firefighters.
http://nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2011/06/june10-2011.html
The majority of us didn't know the two firefighters personally, but that we did know that we are all apart of the same team. We came to help, hoping that other departments would never have to do to the same for us, but knowing that they would be there without hesitation if we were ever in the same position.
And thirdly, celebrations are infinitely better when celebrating with a group. Individual accomplishments are great, but celebrating accomplishments as a group is the gift that keeps on giving. When celebrating team accomplishments, you also get to celebrate the amazing bonds that are forged among the team members through shared experiences. Usually, the harder a team has to work together, the harder they have to push themselves and each other, the stronger the bonds. When this happens, the team becomes a community, a family. Even though you may be separated by your teammates by time or distance or both, you can still continue to inspire them and be inspired by them. Teamwork transcends beyond a single event or season and extends into the rest of your life.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
June 10, 2011
June 10, 2011 was a very interesting day. It was the day of the memorial service for the two San Francisco Firefighters that were killed in a house fire last week. It was also the 10 year anniversary of the very first day I worked on the line as a firefighter for my current department. Everything about this day both humbled me and reminded me what a truly incredible honor it is to be a part of this community and family.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/funeral-for-fallen-firefighters-draws-thousands-to-san-francisco/
As I was getting off work that morning, I drove up to our training center to meet up with other members of my department. We were sending two engines up to SF to be a part of the procession. Each engine had space for 6 firefighters. Because we had more people that volunteered to be a part of the procession than we had spaces for, we had a lottery system to chose who would go. My name happened to be one of the ones chosen. In addition to this we also sent two engines and a truck to run calls in the city, along with other departments from all over the bay area to give all of their department's members a chance to attend the service. Our union chartered a 50 seater bus to give rides to anyone from our department that wished to attend the service. Many more of us carpooled or took the train to the service. This was just one department out of the many that were in attendance that day. Estimates put us at 5,000 uniformed personnel from all over the country, all over the world standing at attention and saluting as the flag draped caskets were carried into the cathedral.
As the rigs in the procession wound their way through San Francisco to the cemetery in Colma, several times I looked out the window in amazement noting that there were fire department rigs as far as I could see both in front of us and behind us. The news reported 50 rigs, but there easily must have been a few hundred. Just as amazing was the show of support from the public. Every over pass was crowded with people waving american flags and holding homemade signs to show their support and gratitude for Vince and Tony. Others on the sidewalks lining the route stood at attention, or brought their children dressed up in firefighter outfits.
http://novato.patch.com/articles/view-of-sf-funeral-procession-from-novato-fire#photo-6527041
Sometimes with all of the politics of late, I tend to forget that the citizens of our communities consider us a part of their extended families as well. It was truly touching to see this incredible show of support.
After the service, as I drove to my academy class reunion, I could only hope that all of this offered some small degree of comfort to the friends, families, and members of SFFD who are grieving the loss of two of their brothers.
At the reunion, we all were that much more aware of the lifelong bonds we forged together 10 years ago, bonds that remain strong regardless of how long it's been since we might've seen each other. We shared stories and laughs and were that much more appreciative of the time we've had together, and the times to come.
Firefighters Vince Perez and Tony Valerio, thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
To the friends, families, and members of the SFFD, my thoughts go out to you and I offer my deepest condolences.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/funeral-for-fallen-firefighters-draws-thousands-to-san-francisco/
As I was getting off work that morning, I drove up to our training center to meet up with other members of my department. We were sending two engines up to SF to be a part of the procession. Each engine had space for 6 firefighters. Because we had more people that volunteered to be a part of the procession than we had spaces for, we had a lottery system to chose who would go. My name happened to be one of the ones chosen. In addition to this we also sent two engines and a truck to run calls in the city, along with other departments from all over the bay area to give all of their department's members a chance to attend the service. Our union chartered a 50 seater bus to give rides to anyone from our department that wished to attend the service. Many more of us carpooled or took the train to the service. This was just one department out of the many that were in attendance that day. Estimates put us at 5,000 uniformed personnel from all over the country, all over the world standing at attention and saluting as the flag draped caskets were carried into the cathedral.
As the rigs in the procession wound their way through San Francisco to the cemetery in Colma, several times I looked out the window in amazement noting that there were fire department rigs as far as I could see both in front of us and behind us. The news reported 50 rigs, but there easily must have been a few hundred. Just as amazing was the show of support from the public. Every over pass was crowded with people waving american flags and holding homemade signs to show their support and gratitude for Vince and Tony. Others on the sidewalks lining the route stood at attention, or brought their children dressed up in firefighter outfits.
http://novato.patch.com/articles/view-of-sf-funeral-procession-from-novato-fire#photo-6527041
Sometimes with all of the politics of late, I tend to forget that the citizens of our communities consider us a part of their extended families as well. It was truly touching to see this incredible show of support.
After the service, as I drove to my academy class reunion, I could only hope that all of this offered some small degree of comfort to the friends, families, and members of SFFD who are grieving the loss of two of their brothers.
At the reunion, we all were that much more aware of the lifelong bonds we forged together 10 years ago, bonds that remain strong regardless of how long it's been since we might've seen each other. We shared stories and laughs and were that much more appreciative of the time we've had together, and the times to come.
Firefighters Vince Perez and Tony Valerio, thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
To the friends, families, and members of the SFFD, my thoughts go out to you and I offer my deepest condolences.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Which GORUCK bag is best for the challenge?
I was recently asked this question and after giving it a bit of thought, decided to post my views on the topic here.
I used a GR Echo bag for both Tough Mudder and the Goruck Challenge. The Goruck Website says that most folks find the Echo a bit too small for the challenge, but that is generally because people tend to pack more than they need. I did manage to squeeze everything I needed for the challenge into my little pack and then some with the exception of my windbreaker which I clipped to the outside in its own little pouch. After the challenge I would've liked a little more room to play with as well as the molle webbing on the shoulder straps that the radio ruck has. This would've easily allowed me to attach a molle compatible sternum strap to the pack. Recently, I've heard from another challenge taker that the radio ruck has the internal molle webbing that will allow the bricks to be attached up high. If I had to buy a bag again, and purely for the challenge, this is the bag I would go with.
Now, that being said, I believe any of the bags would work for the challenge. Therefore, I'd recommend purchasing the bag that you think you'll use the most outside of the challenge. Most folks that go through tend to go with the GR1 which seems to be a great all around bag. If I did get another bag, I'd be tempted for any of them really, but the GR1 and GR2 are strong contenders. I like the idea of a large bag that can fit everything I need for an extended trip, yet still fit in the carry-on bin. Outside of the challenge I use my Echo as a laptop/day pack, in which capacity it works great. I was originally thinking of getting the radio ruck for the next challenge, but am now thinking that it might be a bit to close in size to my Echo. Instead, i'll most likely save up and invest in one of the bigger bags, which should serve as a great compliment to the Echo.
In the mean time I've decided to take advantage of the customization options on the Echo and ordered a few molle pouches from 5.11 tactical as well as a few velcro patches from the 9.11 collection (All profits from the 9.11 collection go to the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund and the FDNY foundation). My hope is that the pouches will be the right size and allow easy access to food during the challenge.
I've played around with a homemade sternum strap, but so far the pack seems more comfortable without it. The pack was perfectly comfy during Tough Mudder, and the shoulders didn't start to burn until the late hours of the challenge. Still though, all the bear crawls might've contributed to this. Clasping my hands behind my back and underneath my pack did help to alleviate some of the strain.
Goruck says on their site that they are coming out with their own line of molle accessory pouches, but until then I'll give these a shot and let you know how they work out.
I used a GR Echo bag for both Tough Mudder and the Goruck Challenge. The Goruck Website says that most folks find the Echo a bit too small for the challenge, but that is generally because people tend to pack more than they need. I did manage to squeeze everything I needed for the challenge into my little pack and then some with the exception of my windbreaker which I clipped to the outside in its own little pouch. After the challenge I would've liked a little more room to play with as well as the molle webbing on the shoulder straps that the radio ruck has. This would've easily allowed me to attach a molle compatible sternum strap to the pack. Recently, I've heard from another challenge taker that the radio ruck has the internal molle webbing that will allow the bricks to be attached up high. If I had to buy a bag again, and purely for the challenge, this is the bag I would go with.
Now, that being said, I believe any of the bags would work for the challenge. Therefore, I'd recommend purchasing the bag that you think you'll use the most outside of the challenge. Most folks that go through tend to go with the GR1 which seems to be a great all around bag. If I did get another bag, I'd be tempted for any of them really, but the GR1 and GR2 are strong contenders. I like the idea of a large bag that can fit everything I need for an extended trip, yet still fit in the carry-on bin. Outside of the challenge I use my Echo as a laptop/day pack, in which capacity it works great. I was originally thinking of getting the radio ruck for the next challenge, but am now thinking that it might be a bit to close in size to my Echo. Instead, i'll most likely save up and invest in one of the bigger bags, which should serve as a great compliment to the Echo.
In the mean time I've decided to take advantage of the customization options on the Echo and ordered a few molle pouches from 5.11 tactical as well as a few velcro patches from the 9.11 collection (All profits from the 9.11 collection go to the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund and the FDNY foundation). My hope is that the pouches will be the right size and allow easy access to food during the challenge.
I've played around with a homemade sternum strap, but so far the pack seems more comfortable without it. The pack was perfectly comfy during Tough Mudder, and the shoulders didn't start to burn until the late hours of the challenge. Still though, all the bear crawls might've contributed to this. Clasping my hands behind my back and underneath my pack did help to alleviate some of the strain.
Goruck says on their site that they are coming out with their own line of molle accessory pouches, but until then I'll give these a shot and let you know how they work out.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
GORUCK Tough San Francisco Class 036 - Training and Prep
I've never had any real desire to run a marathon. Matter of fact, I have a fairly strong dislike of distance running. So why on earth did I sign up for an event that was billed as a grueling 15-20 mile running tour of the city while wearing a backpack filled with bricks? Well that just sounded like fun.
It all started around 8 months ago when I signed up for the Nor Cal Tough Mudder. There was a link on the side of the page for something called the Goruck Challenge.
http://www.goruck.com/2010/09/class-001-takes-the-goruck-challenge-san-francisco-california/
I found out about it a week too late, but was definitely intrigued by it. The above post and group suffering made me nostalgic for my wildland firefighting days. Wildland fire can be absolutely miserable; being comprised of long hours of grueling, hard, dirty work. The saying is "You haven't been on a wild land fire until the shower water runs black." If you aren't absolutely covered in dust, dirt and grime and tired to the bone afterwards, you can't say you've been on a wildland fire. The thing about wildland is the crew makes the experience. There's nothing like persevering through challenging and adverse conditions with a group of people that are motivated to do the same. A good crew can make the misery downright enjoyable. We would find ways to enjoy the little things in life like cracking open an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) together, seasoned with a light sprinkling of dust and ash (they just don't taste right without it). And we would smile as the terrain got steeper, the work got harder, and the hours longer, all adding a notch or two to our beloved misery index. Hey, the higher the misery index, the better the story afterward. Yup, good times.
So when I saw the above post and the smiles of the folks going through the challenge, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. I emailed Jason, the founder of Goruck, and asked if I could meet up with the team for the Tough Mudder. He said sure thing and added me to the email list for team info and meet up details.
The day before Tough Mudder I found Goruck staff setting up their booth at Bear Valley. Jason outfitted me with an GR Echo backpack and a Tough Mudder Velcro patch to go with it. When I asked about the Goruck Tough patch on his hat, he smiled and said that patch wasn't for sale. It had to be earned.
http://www.goruck.com/2010/10/goruck-tough-patch-not-for-sale/
Yeah, from then on I was hooked. I ran Tough Mudder with my Echo filled with bricks and beer. It was a fun and challenging experience, that I'm looking forward to doing again. Still, though it left me wanting something more. I wanted to earn that patch.
Skip to a few months later, after seeing pics of challenge after challenge posted on the Goruck website, they announced a return to San Francisco. I signed up right away. As the challenge got closer, excitement quickly turned into nervousness, especially after reading a few reviews. This one in particular caused a butterfly or two.
"http://benogrady.com/goruck-st-augustine-review/
Yeah, remember that whole thing about not liking distance running? So okay, maybe three butterflies. Two months before the challenge I caught a nasty cold that sidelined my training for 3 weeks. Enter butterfly number four. I had been reading Tim Ferris' book "The Four Hour Body" for a while, and remembered the chapter "From 5k to 50k in 12 weeks." I liked that there was a large strength component to the program, as well as a big focus on interval training. This was right up my alley. The book stated in most ultra endurance events that people's tendons, ligaments and joints tended to fail long before their cardio. This is another reason why marathons and ultra endurance events hadn't really appealed to me before; it always seemed like a lot of the athletes that participated in these events would wreck their bodies for weeks after the events. In this chapter they talked of running marathons and lifting heavy a week after. That made this program sound like a good way to get ready for the rigors of the challenge.
With 5 weeks left before the challenge, I started the program. I had to scale some of the workouts to my fitness level, and make a few substitutions here and there. I wanted to strengthen the stabilizer muscles in my shoulder so I substituted double bottoms up floor presses with 8kg bells. Other substitutions usually involved kettlebells or my TRX. I followed the first 4 weeks of the program and then week 12 to allow for recovery time. This was necessary, because some of the workouts, (most of the workouts) in the program are pretty brutal. I was getting stronger and faster with better endurance. Still though, my feet and shins would ache on the longer runs. A few weeks in, I realized this was in large part due to running on the treadmill. The foot and shin pain was far less pronounced when I went for a few runs through my neighborhood. While my fitness was improving, I was still pretty nervous and constantly wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. I didn't want to be a burden to or slow up the team. I knew I'd be okay under the load of the pack and doing buddy carries, but was still unsure about the running component.
Two days before the event, we met up at a local pub for the ruckoff. It was great to finally meet everyone. The common threads through all of us were wanting the bonds of camaraderie forged through shared suffering and hard work, and wanting to earn the patch. These were exactly the types of folks I was looking for with the challenge.
I got off work and finished up some last minute packing and prep before the challenge. On the official packing list, they recommended wrapping up the bricks to keep them from tearing up the inside of the bags. I took mine to fedex and had them wrapped up in bubble wrap and packing tape. I later reinforced them with duct tape. Snacks were put in a ziplock bag. Beanie, gloves, extra socks and shirt were put into a dry bag. The Echo only had enough room for the bricks, snacks and dry bag, so I clipped my windbreaker to the outside with a carabiner. With everything just barely fitting, I headed out to meet up with the team.
As for the challenge itself, now after it's all over, I realize that the biggest part of this challenge is dealing with the unknown. For this reason, I won't give a detailed explanation of what we did or where we went. Each challenge is its own experience. Our class, 036, was different than the class 035, which went just a few hours before us. All's I will say is we started at 6 pm and saw the sun set and then rise, Lou was an excellent cadre leader, and all the members of 036 were a great group of folks to share this amazing experience with.
Now, while the unknown is the biggest challenge, it is by no means the only challenge. So for anyone thinking of doing this challenge in the future here are a few tips
1. Find and stick to a good strength and conditioning program. The one in "The Four Hour Body" worked well for me and I plan on doing the full course before the next GRC. Make sure to do at least some of the runs with a pack,and on varied surfaces such as concrete, asphalt, grass and sand. Add in hikes at a good pace. For an idea of a "good pace" refer to the Forest Service Wildland Firefighter Pack Test. In order to pass this test, the applicant must hike 3 miles with a 45 lb. pack, in less than 45 minutes, no running allowed. This is a good place to start. This will teach your lower limbs to better absorb the shock and impact of moving quickly while under a load.
2. Meet up with your class and develop team strategies from the beginning. Class 036 was lucky to have Joel "the Godfather" who was on his third GRC that week. He was a wealth of information. He emphasized the team concept and told us to check our egos in the beginning. The goal is to get everyone through to the end. If anyone's hurting, they have to let their team and their cadre know so that the team can slow the pace, carry their pack, or carry them if need be. This is a long event. Everyone will have times throughout the challenge where they feel stronger than others. It's the responsibility of the individual to communicate to the team those times when they're not feeling quite as strong, and when they are feeling strong to help out those that aren't.
3. In addition to the normal cardio and strength training, add in a liberal dose of bear crawls, more than you'd normally think necessary, and for longer distances than you' think necessary. Then add in a weighted pack. The pack adds a whole new dimension to the bear crawl. If you don't keep your back level and butt low during the bear crawls, the pack slides up towards the neck, putting more strain on the neck and shoulders. Gloves help out a ton with bear crawls since we were doing them on various surfaces. They kept the gravel and debris from grinding into my palms. I used a set of Mechanix work gloves which were light enough to run in and held up to the abuse.
4. Practice the technique for firefighter carries and add a liberal dose of these into your training. Again practice this for longer distances than you'd normally think necessary, minimum of working up to 100-400 yards, practice going up hills and carrying people that weigh more than you.
www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Fireman's-Carry
One technique that helps me on the firefighter carries is I put a shoulder right into the persons hip joint to ensure I have enough of the weight of the person's torso evenly balanced across my shoulders.
5. Invest in a good set of shoes. You're going to be spending a long time on your feet so treat them right from the beginning. I used a set of Solomon XA trail running shoes (not the gore-tex ones, but the kind that easily drain water) Montrail heat moldable insoles, and Wright running socks that stated they guaranteed against blisters. All worked quite well.
6. Get the right pack for you and outfit it well. I love my little Echo, but for the challenge I would make a few changes to it. A little bit of molle webbing on the straps would've been helpful to attach a chest strap to cinch in the front of the pack and take some of the pressure off of my shoulders. After doing the challenge, I think the Radio Ruck would probably be the best bag for me for this event. They mentioned wrapping the bricks in order to protect the inside of the bag, and also to make the load more manageable. I knew that I didn't want to use t-shirts or towels or anything that would absorb water and add weight. I took mine to FedEx and had them packaged together to limit movement within the pack, then wrapped up with small bubble wrap and packing tape. I later reinforced this with a few wraps of duct tape. This worked like a charm. In the bigger bags, past challenge takers have mentioned keeping the bricks high in the pack makes them easier to carry for long distances. Some folks have used either long zip ties or webbing attached to the molle straps in order to accomplish this. I just picked up this super strong Velcro strapping from REI called StrapAll. I plan on using this in the Radio Ruck for the next challenge. The bricks barely fit into the Echo, so keeping them high wasn't too much of an issue. Another item for the pack was the Platypus Big Zip Hydration bladder. This worked great and was very easy to fill without having to take it out of the pack. Also have a spare supply of carabiners and webbing for any "coupons" you happen to pick up along the way. The StrapAll might work out quite well for this as well.
Another advantage of having my pack in advance was that I knew exactly where it contacted my body and all the potential chafe points. Taking another bit of advice from our ruck off, I applied large patches of mole skin to my shoulders where the straps rubbed, and to the small of my back where the bottom of the pack came in contact with me. I gauged this both in the standing and bear crawl positions. Because of this, I had no problems with chafing from my pack.
7. Hydrate and eat early and often. I started hydrating with a gallon of water and half a gallon of pedialyte the day before the challenge and another combined gallon before the challenge. Be sure to hydrate with both water and an electrolyte solution. One bit of advice from the ruck off that helped quite a bit was to keep hydrating and eating during the challenge before we would get hungry or thirsty. I strongly believe this helped to sustain my stamina and muscular endurance through the long hours. Keep your snacks easily accessible at the top of your bag or in a jacket pocket. The harder they are to get too, the less likely you'll be eat early and often. Have some sort of food with you that you enjoy eating. It can go a long way for moral in the wee hours of the challenge. Peanut m&ms and Montana Huckleberry Hammer gels were a big pick me up on the challenge.
8. After the challenge was over I took a hot bath filled with Epsom salt to reduce inflammation and muscle soreness. The day after the challenge I had minimal muscle soreness, mainly in my shoulders from the pack straps. I believe this quick recovery was due to the workout regime and the Epsom salt.
9. And my last little bit of advice is to either stay close to the event, carpool, or have a friend drive you home. I am no stranger to sleep deprivation and operating in a sleep deprived state. I felt awake and wired after the challenge was done, but once I hopped in my car and started to drive home, the tiredness hit suddenly and like a ton of bricks. It'd be a shame to mar the joy of earning the patch with a car wreck, so plan accordingly.
So there ya have my two cents. Any out there who have been through a challenge and have anything to add, or anyone that has any further questions, please feel free to leave a note in the comments section. This was an amazing experience and within hours of it ending I was already thinking of the next one. The challenge has a 98% pass rate of those who do decide to attempt it. Our cadre leader Lou mentioned that for women it's been 100%. More info can be found in the FAQ section of the challenge website.
http://goruckchallenge.com/faq/
I'm somewhere in the middle of the group in this video.
If you are at all inclined to this sort of thing I highly recommend it and hope to see you out there.
Update August 13, 2011
One of my 036 classmates posted his experiences here
http://www.rotarypayphone.com/post/8009552475/goruckchallenge
It all started around 8 months ago when I signed up for the Nor Cal Tough Mudder. There was a link on the side of the page for something called the Goruck Challenge.
http://www.goruck.com/2010/09/class-001-takes-the-goruck-challenge-san-francisco-california/
I found out about it a week too late, but was definitely intrigued by it. The above post and group suffering made me nostalgic for my wildland firefighting days. Wildland fire can be absolutely miserable; being comprised of long hours of grueling, hard, dirty work. The saying is "You haven't been on a wild land fire until the shower water runs black." If you aren't absolutely covered in dust, dirt and grime and tired to the bone afterwards, you can't say you've been on a wildland fire. The thing about wildland is the crew makes the experience. There's nothing like persevering through challenging and adverse conditions with a group of people that are motivated to do the same. A good crew can make the misery downright enjoyable. We would find ways to enjoy the little things in life like cracking open an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) together, seasoned with a light sprinkling of dust and ash (they just don't taste right without it). And we would smile as the terrain got steeper, the work got harder, and the hours longer, all adding a notch or two to our beloved misery index. Hey, the higher the misery index, the better the story afterward. Yup, good times.
So when I saw the above post and the smiles of the folks going through the challenge, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. I emailed Jason, the founder of Goruck, and asked if I could meet up with the team for the Tough Mudder. He said sure thing and added me to the email list for team info and meet up details.
The day before Tough Mudder I found Goruck staff setting up their booth at Bear Valley. Jason outfitted me with an GR Echo backpack and a Tough Mudder Velcro patch to go with it. When I asked about the Goruck Tough patch on his hat, he smiled and said that patch wasn't for sale. It had to be earned.
http://www.goruck.com/2010/10/goruck-tough-patch-not-for-sale/
Yeah, from then on I was hooked. I ran Tough Mudder with my Echo filled with bricks and beer. It was a fun and challenging experience, that I'm looking forward to doing again. Still, though it left me wanting something more. I wanted to earn that patch.
Skip to a few months later, after seeing pics of challenge after challenge posted on the Goruck website, they announced a return to San Francisco. I signed up right away. As the challenge got closer, excitement quickly turned into nervousness, especially after reading a few reviews. This one in particular caused a butterfly or two.
"http://benogrady.com/goruck-st-augustine-review/
Yeah, remember that whole thing about not liking distance running? So okay, maybe three butterflies. Two months before the challenge I caught a nasty cold that sidelined my training for 3 weeks. Enter butterfly number four. I had been reading Tim Ferris' book "The Four Hour Body" for a while, and remembered the chapter "From 5k to 50k in 12 weeks." I liked that there was a large strength component to the program, as well as a big focus on interval training. This was right up my alley. The book stated in most ultra endurance events that people's tendons, ligaments and joints tended to fail long before their cardio. This is another reason why marathons and ultra endurance events hadn't really appealed to me before; it always seemed like a lot of the athletes that participated in these events would wreck their bodies for weeks after the events. In this chapter they talked of running marathons and lifting heavy a week after. That made this program sound like a good way to get ready for the rigors of the challenge.
With 5 weeks left before the challenge, I started the program. I had to scale some of the workouts to my fitness level, and make a few substitutions here and there. I wanted to strengthen the stabilizer muscles in my shoulder so I substituted double bottoms up floor presses with 8kg bells. Other substitutions usually involved kettlebells or my TRX. I followed the first 4 weeks of the program and then week 12 to allow for recovery time. This was necessary, because some of the workouts, (most of the workouts) in the program are pretty brutal. I was getting stronger and faster with better endurance. Still though, my feet and shins would ache on the longer runs. A few weeks in, I realized this was in large part due to running on the treadmill. The foot and shin pain was far less pronounced when I went for a few runs through my neighborhood. While my fitness was improving, I was still pretty nervous and constantly wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. I didn't want to be a burden to or slow up the team. I knew I'd be okay under the load of the pack and doing buddy carries, but was still unsure about the running component.
Two days before the event, we met up at a local pub for the ruckoff. It was great to finally meet everyone. The common threads through all of us were wanting the bonds of camaraderie forged through shared suffering and hard work, and wanting to earn the patch. These were exactly the types of folks I was looking for with the challenge.
I got off work and finished up some last minute packing and prep before the challenge. On the official packing list, they recommended wrapping up the bricks to keep them from tearing up the inside of the bags. I took mine to fedex and had them wrapped up in bubble wrap and packing tape. I later reinforced them with duct tape. Snacks were put in a ziplock bag. Beanie, gloves, extra socks and shirt were put into a dry bag. The Echo only had enough room for the bricks, snacks and dry bag, so I clipped my windbreaker to the outside with a carabiner. With everything just barely fitting, I headed out to meet up with the team.
As for the challenge itself, now after it's all over, I realize that the biggest part of this challenge is dealing with the unknown. For this reason, I won't give a detailed explanation of what we did or where we went. Each challenge is its own experience. Our class, 036, was different than the class 035, which went just a few hours before us. All's I will say is we started at 6 pm and saw the sun set and then rise, Lou was an excellent cadre leader, and all the members of 036 were a great group of folks to share this amazing experience with.
Now, while the unknown is the biggest challenge, it is by no means the only challenge. So for anyone thinking of doing this challenge in the future here are a few tips
1. Find and stick to a good strength and conditioning program. The one in "The Four Hour Body" worked well for me and I plan on doing the full course before the next GRC. Make sure to do at least some of the runs with a pack,and on varied surfaces such as concrete, asphalt, grass and sand. Add in hikes at a good pace. For an idea of a "good pace" refer to the Forest Service Wildland Firefighter Pack Test. In order to pass this test, the applicant must hike 3 miles with a 45 lb. pack, in less than 45 minutes, no running allowed. This is a good place to start. This will teach your lower limbs to better absorb the shock and impact of moving quickly while under a load.
2. Meet up with your class and develop team strategies from the beginning. Class 036 was lucky to have Joel "the Godfather" who was on his third GRC that week. He was a wealth of information. He emphasized the team concept and told us to check our egos in the beginning. The goal is to get everyone through to the end. If anyone's hurting, they have to let their team and their cadre know so that the team can slow the pace, carry their pack, or carry them if need be. This is a long event. Everyone will have times throughout the challenge where they feel stronger than others. It's the responsibility of the individual to communicate to the team those times when they're not feeling quite as strong, and when they are feeling strong to help out those that aren't.
3. In addition to the normal cardio and strength training, add in a liberal dose of bear crawls, more than you'd normally think necessary, and for longer distances than you' think necessary. Then add in a weighted pack. The pack adds a whole new dimension to the bear crawl. If you don't keep your back level and butt low during the bear crawls, the pack slides up towards the neck, putting more strain on the neck and shoulders. Gloves help out a ton with bear crawls since we were doing them on various surfaces. They kept the gravel and debris from grinding into my palms. I used a set of Mechanix work gloves which were light enough to run in and held up to the abuse.
4. Practice the technique for firefighter carries and add a liberal dose of these into your training. Again practice this for longer distances than you'd normally think necessary, minimum of working up to 100-400 yards, practice going up hills and carrying people that weigh more than you.
www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Fireman's-Carry
One technique that helps me on the firefighter carries is I put a shoulder right into the persons hip joint to ensure I have enough of the weight of the person's torso evenly balanced across my shoulders.
5. Invest in a good set of shoes. You're going to be spending a long time on your feet so treat them right from the beginning. I used a set of Solomon XA trail running shoes (not the gore-tex ones, but the kind that easily drain water) Montrail heat moldable insoles, and Wright running socks that stated they guaranteed against blisters. All worked quite well.
6. Get the right pack for you and outfit it well. I love my little Echo, but for the challenge I would make a few changes to it. A little bit of molle webbing on the straps would've been helpful to attach a chest strap to cinch in the front of the pack and take some of the pressure off of my shoulders. After doing the challenge, I think the Radio Ruck would probably be the best bag for me for this event. They mentioned wrapping the bricks in order to protect the inside of the bag, and also to make the load more manageable. I knew that I didn't want to use t-shirts or towels or anything that would absorb water and add weight. I took mine to FedEx and had them packaged together to limit movement within the pack, then wrapped up with small bubble wrap and packing tape. I later reinforced this with a few wraps of duct tape. This worked like a charm. In the bigger bags, past challenge takers have mentioned keeping the bricks high in the pack makes them easier to carry for long distances. Some folks have used either long zip ties or webbing attached to the molle straps in order to accomplish this. I just picked up this super strong Velcro strapping from REI called StrapAll. I plan on using this in the Radio Ruck for the next challenge. The bricks barely fit into the Echo, so keeping them high wasn't too much of an issue. Another item for the pack was the Platypus Big Zip Hydration bladder. This worked great and was very easy to fill without having to take it out of the pack. Also have a spare supply of carabiners and webbing for any "coupons" you happen to pick up along the way. The StrapAll might work out quite well for this as well.
Another advantage of having my pack in advance was that I knew exactly where it contacted my body and all the potential chafe points. Taking another bit of advice from our ruck off, I applied large patches of mole skin to my shoulders where the straps rubbed, and to the small of my back where the bottom of the pack came in contact with me. I gauged this both in the standing and bear crawl positions. Because of this, I had no problems with chafing from my pack.
7. Hydrate and eat early and often. I started hydrating with a gallon of water and half a gallon of pedialyte the day before the challenge and another combined gallon before the challenge. Be sure to hydrate with both water and an electrolyte solution. One bit of advice from the ruck off that helped quite a bit was to keep hydrating and eating during the challenge before we would get hungry or thirsty. I strongly believe this helped to sustain my stamina and muscular endurance through the long hours. Keep your snacks easily accessible at the top of your bag or in a jacket pocket. The harder they are to get too, the less likely you'll be eat early and often. Have some sort of food with you that you enjoy eating. It can go a long way for moral in the wee hours of the challenge. Peanut m&ms and Montana Huckleberry Hammer gels were a big pick me up on the challenge.
8. After the challenge was over I took a hot bath filled with Epsom salt to reduce inflammation and muscle soreness. The day after the challenge I had minimal muscle soreness, mainly in my shoulders from the pack straps. I believe this quick recovery was due to the workout regime and the Epsom salt.
9. And my last little bit of advice is to either stay close to the event, carpool, or have a friend drive you home. I am no stranger to sleep deprivation and operating in a sleep deprived state. I felt awake and wired after the challenge was done, but once I hopped in my car and started to drive home, the tiredness hit suddenly and like a ton of bricks. It'd be a shame to mar the joy of earning the patch with a car wreck, so plan accordingly.
So there ya have my two cents. Any out there who have been through a challenge and have anything to add, or anyone that has any further questions, please feel free to leave a note in the comments section. This was an amazing experience and within hours of it ending I was already thinking of the next one. The challenge has a 98% pass rate of those who do decide to attempt it. Our cadre leader Lou mentioned that for women it's been 100%. More info can be found in the FAQ section of the challenge website.
http://goruckchallenge.com/faq/
I'm somewhere in the middle of the group in this video.
If you are at all inclined to this sort of thing I highly recommend it and hope to see you out there.
Update August 13, 2011
One of my 036 classmates posted his experiences here
http://www.rotarypayphone.com/post/8009552475/goruckchallenge
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Humbled by the Knee Pushup
Monday was the third day of my 72 hours at work and was fairly easy as far as workouts go, but still surprisingly difficult.
For as long as I've been coaching, I've prohibited my volleyball kids from doing knee pushups. The kids learn very quickly to never call them girl pushups in my presence. So you can imagine I wasn't to thrilled about starting step three of the Convict Conditioning pushup. Still, I want to be as fair to the program as possible in determining it's efficacy.
I performed the following reps
Knee Pushups 3x30
Bent Knee raises 3x30
Keeping my elbows tucked in tight to my ribcage worked my tris, lats and delts more than the standard wide pushup. In fact, my tris were decently sore the next day.
For the bent knee raises I again focussed on keeping the small of my back pressed into the floor to maintain the hollow position and further work my abs.
Later that day I got in a little bit more of a workout carrying a sick patient down a narrow flight of stairs. My crew member and I performed a "sit pick" where I wrapped my arms around the patient's torso and my crew member grabbed the patient's legs. The best thing here was the patient waited until the bottom of the stairs to puke, only getting a little bit on my gloved hand.
For as long as I've been coaching, I've prohibited my volleyball kids from doing knee pushups. The kids learn very quickly to never call them girl pushups in my presence. So you can imagine I wasn't to thrilled about starting step three of the Convict Conditioning pushup. Still, I want to be as fair to the program as possible in determining it's efficacy.
I performed the following reps
Knee Pushups 3x30
Bent Knee raises 3x30
Keeping my elbows tucked in tight to my ribcage worked my tris, lats and delts more than the standard wide pushup. In fact, my tris were decently sore the next day.
For the bent knee raises I again focussed on keeping the small of my back pressed into the floor to maintain the hollow position and further work my abs.
Later that day I got in a little bit more of a workout carrying a sick patient down a narrow flight of stairs. My crew member and I performed a "sit pick" where I wrapped my arms around the patient's torso and my crew member grabbed the patient's legs. The best thing here was the patient waited until the bottom of the stairs to puke, only getting a little bit on my gloved hand.
August 22, 2010 - Post Fire Mini Tri
We spent about 5 hours at the fire. Once we got back to the station I figured might as well just go ahead and get my workout in then since I was already all sweaty. I performed three exercises back to back for 15 minutes each to simulate a mini triathlon.
First up 1 arm swings
16 kg bell
Viking Warrior 15:15
Exercise Bike
15 minutes, random hill program, level 11, 15:15 interval
total distance 4.88 miles
average speed 19.2
Stair climb
15 min, 15:15, interval program, level 13
I'm glad I hopped in the weight room when I did, because it would've been a lot harder to muster the motivation if I had let myself sit down for a bit once we got back. The machines aren't the greatest, but are the closest I can get to sport specificity for tris and stair climbs while at work.
First up 1 arm swings
16 kg bell
Viking Warrior 15:15
Exercise Bike
15 minutes, random hill program, level 11, 15:15 interval
total distance 4.88 miles
average speed 19.2
Stair climb
15 min, 15:15, interval program, level 13
I'm glad I hopped in the weight room when I did, because it would've been a lot harder to muster the motivation if I had let myself sit down for a bit once we got back. The machines aren't the greatest, but are the closest I can get to sport specificity for tris and stair climbs while at work.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
August 22, 2010 - 3rd Alarm Structure Fire
Sunday I did a last minute trade and worked for a coworker on another shift. That morning after we finished our morning station duties, we went out and trained a bit on rig placement and walked a roof of a building in our first due. Rig placement is important because once an incident gets under way, more rigs arrive and hoses are put down and charged, it becomes increasingly harder to move the rigs. It's much better to set ourselves up for success from the beginning of the incident.
After figuring out the best spot for the truck, we raised the aerial ladder to the roof of the building. I and a few other members of the crew climbed the ladder to get a better look at the roof. We saw that one side had about a 5' drop from the parapet wall to the roof while the other side had a two foot drop. If there's a fire in this building we may have to take an additional ladder to the roof to climb down the parapet, depending on which side we raise the aerial ladder to. Additionally, one of the engineers pointed out a drainage pipe at the base of the building under the side of the roof with the bigger drop off. The roof was slanted to allow for water runoff, thus causing there to be a bigger drop on one side than the other.
Just when we were wrapping up our training, we dispatched on the 2nd alarm to a fire in San Jose's east side.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15860272?source=most_viewed
Once on scene we were assigned as the Rapid Intervention Company (RIC). Sometimes when people see larger fires, they don't understand why there seems to be quite a few firefighters standing around, apparently not working. Well, RIC is one of those jobs. RIC companies were established to be a readily available resource incase any of our personnel become lost, trapped or incapacitated inside the structure. If we were engaged in other activities at the fire when someone became trapped in the structure, that would delay our response to that person by precious minutes. Still though, standing outside the structure in full gear for two hours proved to be physically challenging in its own right.
Other reasons people might seem like they're just standing around is because we rotate crews throughout the incident, and also to allow for a "cool down" period once the main body of fire is knocked down. We rotate crews after about 40 minutes usually so that we can make sure the crews are staying properly hydrated, give them a chance to cool off, and monitor their vital signs. Working in superheated conditions while wearing 75 lbs. of gear for 40 minutes can be pretty arduous work, that can get your heart rate and blood pressure up in a hurry. At fires, all of us want to get in there, work and help out as much as possible, sometimes to our own detriment. Overexertion/strain was listed as the number one killer of firefighters from 1990-2000.
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-220.pdf
This is why they mandated rotating crews during an incident. The "cool down" period also allows crews to get a break, while letting smoke and fire gasses vent from the structure, and gives us a chance to reevaluate the structure for structural stability and any other hazards that we might not have initially seen while engaged in the firefight.
After close to 4 hours as the RIC, we were assigned inside the structure to salvage what belongings we could, and to overhaul (find and extinguish any hidden or smoldering fires).
After figuring out the best spot for the truck, we raised the aerial ladder to the roof of the building. I and a few other members of the crew climbed the ladder to get a better look at the roof. We saw that one side had about a 5' drop from the parapet wall to the roof while the other side had a two foot drop. If there's a fire in this building we may have to take an additional ladder to the roof to climb down the parapet, depending on which side we raise the aerial ladder to. Additionally, one of the engineers pointed out a drainage pipe at the base of the building under the side of the roof with the bigger drop off. The roof was slanted to allow for water runoff, thus causing there to be a bigger drop on one side than the other.
Just when we were wrapping up our training, we dispatched on the 2nd alarm to a fire in San Jose's east side.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15860272?source=most_viewed
Once on scene we were assigned as the Rapid Intervention Company (RIC). Sometimes when people see larger fires, they don't understand why there seems to be quite a few firefighters standing around, apparently not working. Well, RIC is one of those jobs. RIC companies were established to be a readily available resource incase any of our personnel become lost, trapped or incapacitated inside the structure. If we were engaged in other activities at the fire when someone became trapped in the structure, that would delay our response to that person by precious minutes. Still though, standing outside the structure in full gear for two hours proved to be physically challenging in its own right.
Other reasons people might seem like they're just standing around is because we rotate crews throughout the incident, and also to allow for a "cool down" period once the main body of fire is knocked down. We rotate crews after about 40 minutes usually so that we can make sure the crews are staying properly hydrated, give them a chance to cool off, and monitor their vital signs. Working in superheated conditions while wearing 75 lbs. of gear for 40 minutes can be pretty arduous work, that can get your heart rate and blood pressure up in a hurry. At fires, all of us want to get in there, work and help out as much as possible, sometimes to our own detriment. Overexertion/strain was listed as the number one killer of firefighters from 1990-2000.
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa-220.pdf
This is why they mandated rotating crews during an incident. The "cool down" period also allows crews to get a break, while letting smoke and fire gasses vent from the structure, and gives us a chance to reevaluate the structure for structural stability and any other hazards that we might not have initially seen while engaged in the firefight.
After close to 4 hours as the RIC, we were assigned inside the structure to salvage what belongings we could, and to overhaul (find and extinguish any hidden or smoldering fires).
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