Heavy Thoughts... GORUCK Heavy, that is

One week.
I have a week until I start an event that will challenge me in ways I've never been challenged. I hesitate to say that I'm not sure I can finish because I know what allowing doubt to even flash through the brain can do.

"What the mind can conceive, it can achieve."

I think that quote must also apply to situations of failure. If there's any doubt then there's room for excuses and probable defeat. 

Ft. Lauderdale Tough 7/2016

GORUCK Heavy. 

Click the link and you'll see all the details. The ones that first drew me and lately I've avoided: 24+ hours. 40+ miles. 20 lbs that I'll personally carry (in a ruck with water, food, extra socks and not much else). 50 lbs that the team will carry (at all times, plus all manner of other heavy items we find- large logs, sandbags, each other). And that's just the physical.

The mental challenge can't really be put into words. If you want a taste, take a backpack, add 20-30 lbs and go walk for an hour. Now add a 20 lb sandbag and several more hours. I hate training for these events. I hate walking around wearing a heavy weight on my back.

It's not fun. But it's so worth the experience.

Lots of people have completed the Heavy. It's completely doable. It's just going to give me a very long opportunity to "embrace the suck."

Why?

All Women's Tough 11/2014

The short answer is that it challenges me in ways I don't like to be challenged. It's very uncomfortable. Possibly more uncomfortable for me socially than physically. By the end of each GORUCK event, the strangers you start with are friends. You may not now a whole lot about their lives, but you know they have your back. When you're tired, they carry your weight. When they're tired, you carry theirs. They share their snacks, their wisdom, their life stories. 

This one is different.

I'm going in without bringing a friend. I've met up and trained with others who are doing this event, too. And although I only have met them briefly, I care about them finishing. They will make it through. The GORUCK isn't about me. And that's why.

My first event Miami 1/2013