GoRuck Light: Veteran’s Day (November 14, 2015)
After my first GoRuck event, the Mog Mile Light, I essentially slumped home and signed up for the next event. Below, behold my (long-winded) experience with the Veteran's Day Light on November 14, 2015 in NYC, which was even more special with my big sister at my side. Photos from Facebook event page, taken by Phocus Martin, Norma, and Annette.
0900: Anxiously twiddle my thumbs and wait for my sister to arrive in the city. Stuff down some oatmeal with fruit down the gullet.
0915: We are united and proceed to bite our fingernails and double check our packing lists. I scroll through the event's Facebook page, and after a minor heart palpitation, proclaim VERY LOUDLY: "OUR CADRE IS NOT JASON J. OUR CADRE IS NOT JASON J." We both gasp. I check my email and shriek: "OUR START POINT JUST CHANGED." We were certain that we'd find ourselves in blisteringly cold water with Cadre Jason J, with an overall "Expect the worst, hope for the best" mantra (have you seen Reddit?). Needless to say... bittersweet relief? Our new Cadre: Mocha Mike.
1000: We depart for our newly minted start point (which, before 8:52 AM, was the Fort Greene Park Prison Ship Martyrs Monument) of Brooklyn War Memorial. We pray that the 6 and R trains are slightly operational this morning, because, you know, The MTA.
1100: We emerge in Brooklyn Heights and find a Starbucks to kill time, to eat a banana (I know, Bananas are Lame), and to use the restroom. Too bad the restroom’s out of order. R U SRS. Head to Brooklyn War Memorial then.
1130: Public restrooms at the Brooklyn War Memorial? Thank you, Jesus. We then idle next to the growing group of ruckers and decide that everyone looks like a badass veteran. Guy with comfortable American flag shorts? Check. Guy with EXPONENTIALLY LARGE RUCKSACK? Check. Girl with Winnie the Pooh "Zero Bothers Given" patch? Ya, check.
A nice gentleman named John introduces himself to the quivering sisters: "First one for you? Me too!" as I stare at his 14.5 million patches. Ha, ha! Our team weights also emerge: a most amazing Captain America painted kettlebell, the largest hose you've ever seen, and a hip assault bag filled with 15# of rock and wood chips from a rucker's local Veteran's Cemetery. I place my eyeballs on the adorable kettlebell.
1200 and beyond: Cadre Mocha Mike ambles out of NOWHERE and rounds us up. Rank up, roll call, intros. He dedicates the event to a few of his fallen friends. For the Veteran's Day GoRuck events, each rucker brings a photo of a veteran to share and celebrate their story throughout the entire day. Only about 10 minutes into this event - it's already so humbling. (Details of the veterans I celebrated on this day: see end of post.)
"Pushup position." Dammit. A few rounds of pushups and squats, then the assignment of our first team leaders (TL) for task number one: form two ranks, and get to the other side of the memorial in 45 seconds. Fail. After ten steps, Cadre sweetly calls us back for leaving our team weights AND FLAG BEARER behind. We improve for try #2.
A few rounds of hustling to one side of the memorial and back. Each round is interspersed with PT. I finally experience the iconic human centipede pushup plank (person in front of you plops their shins on your back). I can normally plank and pushup until the cows come home, but the addition of a 180# man's legs on my back? NOODLE ARMS. For one round, we also recite the Pledge of Allegiance! Cadre also leads a moment of silence for those lost in the horrendous Paris attacks of the day prior.
It's time for Movement #1. TL and ATL (Assistant Team Leader), with the help of an appointed Navigator, inform us we need to hustle to Fort Greene Park (hey, our original start point). We rank up and trot. In the right direction? Question mark? Oh, and we have a casualty (read: someone carry this very heavy man).
TL appoints me as a Road Guard to prevent vehicles at crosswalks being "so New York." Here I go! Wait at crosswalk and monitor traffic lights. Stare at cars and swoop arms around to inform the team to hustle across. Sprint back. Sprint forward. Repeat. Shin splints. It's all good.
Our Navigator is killing it. We arrive at Fort Greene Park, and now all I do is stare at the SET OF STEPS looming in the distance. We approach and I expect to hear something along the lines of "Just a few sprints up and down for 20 minutes, team!" but after the jog up, WE'RE GOLDEN!
Cadre splits us up to Alpha and Bravo teams, and says we have two minutes to plan and three minutes to execute a 7-foot pyramid. A what? A human pyramid. GREAT. Let's go, Alpha! Heaviest guys on the bottom, then. Lighter ladies up top, then. Bravo over there is doing some fancy alternating double layer thing. For our pyramid, I end up on the third level, and one brave gal scrambles on my back as the fourth and final level. The poor bottom levels start to wobble and grunt. It's all good; TEAM ALPHA WINS. We topple apart victoriously.
Next task at Fort Greene Park: sing a melodious song for two ruckers, Rich and Georgina, to celebrate their anniversary! What a special moment. We're allowed to whip out our phones to find lyrics to Heatwave's "Always & Forever." I think a few pigeons are scared off, but nonetheless we belt out the love song. Cadre explains that he loves incorporating singing at his events, because when he served around the world: what's one thing that can break the ice or bring people together no matter the language barrier? CCR!
PT time again. Rucksacks in a circle. Squats. Pass around the rucks. More squats. Luckily, Bravo has the exponentially large ruck mentioned earlier...
After a restroom break (Cadre Mocha Mike is awesome with these nicely planned restroom breaks, man.), our new team of TL, ATL, and Navigator is up. Movement #2: We gotta hustle to Grand Army Plaza. Cadre also casually mentions we should learn everyone's names in our teams. I grab the amazing Captain America kettlebell. (And I finally catch up with one of my buddies, Tommy, whom I met at the Mog Mile Light last month! Fist bump.) My sister wrangles up the hip assault bag. We lead the two ranks, and off we go. And we are HUSTLING. Each block is now a run. I learn about five names out of 25. *wheeze*
Again, our TL/ATL/Navigator do pretty darn well at getting us to our destination without any hiccups. Still in Alpha and Bravo teams, we plank up side by side. And I'm chosen for "The Name Game." DAMMIT. I stand up as my team continues to plank. Mocha Mike points to a gentleman on my team. I say with gusto: "This is Mike!" (Wrong.) Mocha Mike points to the next gentleman. "This is Dan! (I shake my head and mouth 'It's not Dan.')" (Wrong.) Mocha Mike points to the next. "This is Lloyd! (Head shake)'"
"Okay, people," Cadre says. I mentally curl up into a tumbleweed. If it means anything (it doesn’t), the next 5 or so people in people - I totally knew all THEIR names! Cadre gives us three minutes to learn everyone's names. Both Alpha and Bravo teams go around in our circles, then start to chant, then move around and re-learn and re-chant, and THANK YOU JESUS after three minutes, Cadre chooses someone else for the real name test. Both Alpha and Bravo go head to head, and our Alpha gal kills it!
Movement #3: Get to Brooklyn Bridge Park within 45 minutes. Our new TL is hella clear and concise (Hey, wasn't this the friendly guy in the beginning of the day? Yup!), and we are off. Except, we're starting to get casualties. DAM-MIT. A couple of burly men are down, and now the ladies must carry two ladies. For the duration of our movement, the gals switch off with 3-person carries (one up front handling the casualty's legs, two in the back to each support a shoulder). I take turns being the casualty and being shoulder support.
20 minutes into the movement, Cadre says our rucks' straps are now not functional, so surprise! Figure out a way to carry everyone's stuff without using the straps. Fantastic. Can I also mention that the guy with the exponentially large bag? He's carrying the hose. And the hip assault bag. And he's totes fine. We actually take a short pit stop at the Korean War Veterans Plaza, which is close to our start point of the morning. During this breather, we take another moment commemorate those fallen.
So close to the end. It's another 10 minutes to Brooklyn Bridge Park, and we plod along until Cadre says the casualties and rucks have been revived. GLORIOUS! Rucks back on, we make our way into the park against the sunset.
1700: Final round of PT. We cap it all off with the Tunnel of Love, in which everyone planks closely side by side, and each person low crawls underneath to the other side, one after another. Alpha wins again. Bravo Team's slap on the wrist is more PT.
In true Mocha Mike form, we end with Sinatra's "New York, New York." We whip out our phones for lyrics. We scare off some pigeons again. The shadows, who have followed us the whole way and have captured every moment with their cameras, are our musical judges. "FAIL," they decide. "50 squats or 50... uh... burpees?" Cadre asks. HA?! 50 squats later, we complete the Veteran's Day Light event at around 1730. Group photos. High fives and hugs.
Another wonderful event with a great Cadre and great group of ruckers. To all veterans of past, present, and future: we thank you.
And thank you, GoRuck, for another memorable day.
I'm moving overseas in 2016, so for the next one... GoRuck Normandy in June 2016, perhaps? Never say never.
On my ruck: Tom Deierlein. I met Tom in 2007, when I started my first job as a junior graphic designer out of college. I first knew him as the COO of my company. Little did I know that just a year prior, he had been recovering and rehabilitating for nearly one year after being critically wounded by a sniper in Baghdad. His service, beginning as a graduate of West Point, to his incredible efforts through his TD Foundation today, is absolutely not of this earth. I'm honored to have met him in the corporate world, and I'm honored to share his story. Read about his extraordinary background and efforts at TD Foundation here. On my ruck: Steven T. Little. Before even THINKING about pursuing fitness as a part-time career, I barely even knew the "boutique fitness industry" existed. I dipped my toes into this world with indoor cycling out of curiosity. And purely out of randomness, in 2012, I took my first Flywheel Sports class with Steven at the helm. Did I ever imagine, that three years later, I would have connected with indoor cycling to the point where it'd be part of my career? It's safe to say that Steven's leadership on the bike and words of encouragement after were a definite part of starting what is now a huge piece of my life. Before conquering the fitness industry, Steven served in the Reconnaissance Force, which I learned about at around the same time after reading "Generation Kill." (That book, by the way, helped open my eyes at a civilian and I mentally reference themes in there to myself ALL THE F****** TIME. I digress.) I'm honored to share his photo on my ruck.
