10 Mile Ruck With A Bacon And Eggs Chaser

Had an outstanding morning here in Comal County, America. There are now 68 days until the Mountain Man Memorial March in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The group training, as far as the actual rucking is concerned, is beginning to get a wee bit taxing mileage wise. Good news is though, the rucks will get only longer as the weeks progress.

When I think about trying to "Live In The Arena", a significant portion of that involves interacting with like minded individuals. Hanging out with friends and good people to put it simply. If I'm going to get up at 0500 on a Sunday morning to go train for the next "mission", it sure is nice to do it with friends. When I got out of the Army back in '98, it did not take me long to realize the camaraderie you sense in the military is tough to come by in the civilian world. As a civilian, you really have to go search for it. I was lucky to find Comal CrossFit, because of the genuine camaraderie to be found there.

We are taking a big group to the Smoky Mountains in April, and a full dozen of us were able to make it for the training this morning. This course started at Brandon Bonser's house just like the last training did. We all finished in good time, and Brandon even invited us in his home to cook breakfast once we finished. A ruck followed by bacon and eggs. It was a good morning.

Twelve Ruckers for 10 Feb 2012: Photo By Ryder Bonser

It is no doubt that our tech-infused society has changed us. We communicate all the time through electronic devices, but the face to face human contact with other individuals has diminished. Email, texting, Facebook, blogs (even this one), and all that other stuff is good...but heck, some old fashioned face to face time with one another is even better. That's one of the great things about training for the Mountain Man Memorial March. You get to spend time with some good people. It is all about the process.

When we scheduled these rucks on Sunday mornings, we thought it would be good if we had a short devotional and prayer to get things going. A fellow rucker, Todd Burgess read this morning about how life is, in a sense, a race. We just need to ensure that we are running for the "big prize" so to speak. It sure would be unfortunate to break our backs racing up the ladder of life, only to discover it is leaning against the wrong wall.

It's my sincere hope that we all do our best to run the good race, and that we are blessed enough to have some good folks around us to run the race with. So until next time, let's run to win.


"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize."

Unlock The Door Please.....

I took a personal day from work on Thursday so I could tend to some important personal business. I'll be sure to fill you fine people in on that business at another time. Anyhow, I was able to finish up my appointment by 3:00PM so that meant I would have a few hours to spend with my lovely wife. One catch though, we would have Monsters, Inc, The Trilogy with us.

I refer to all of my sons as "Monsters". My stepson Daniel, was a monster when I began to date Leigh back in '99. He's the original Monsters, Inc. Matthew is a monster too. He's Monsters, Inc Part 2. And little Zachary is the most terrible monster of them all. He is Monsters, Inc, the The Trilogy.

Leigh wanted to head over to Comal CrossFit so she could get a workout in. All good, since I could watch Zachary while she exercised, then we could head over to pick up Matthew from school once she finished. It was a beautiful Comal County late afternoon. Leigh got to do her thing while Zachary and I walked around the property throwing rocks and doing all those other things that toddlers like to do.

Once Leigh got done, I let Zach play in the Tahoe while Leigh and I shot the bull with some of our friends. I could keep an eye on him in the vehicle, and the weather was nice and cool so he would be good to go in there. We decided that we needed to go, and walked over to the Tahoe. Zach is in there playing like crazy and having a good time. I try to open the door, but it's locked. It's locked and Monsters, Inc, The Trilogy is holding the keys. Not only is he holding the keys, but I am completely sure that he is taunting Leigh and I. We're saying; "Press the button Zachary. Unlock the door.....", in the sweetest parental voices we can muster. It's funny. I can't lie. It's funny because of the way he is actively taunting us. He's pointing at the lock as if to say, "What? This???", and smiling in the way that those 2 1/2 year old monsters smile. He's in heaven playing in the vehicle.

Monsters, Inc, The Trilogy and his cookie.

This goes on between 5-10 minutes, and finally we decide to ignore him for a while so he will get bored with the whole game. Tommy Williams is coaching the class that is taking place while all this is going on, and he decides to give it a shot. Ten seconds later the door is open and Monsters, Inc, The Trilogy is out of the vehicle. You see, Tommy is a firefighter for the city of San Antonio, and hard as it might be to believe, Zach is not the first monster to lock his parents out of the vehicle. According to Tommy, they have gotten 911 calls from parents that can't get in their cars because of their monsters. An old firefighter trick is to simply ask the monster if they want some ice cream or a cookie. Tommy's offer of a cookie was just too much for The Trilogy to pass up. He opened the door and wanted his cookie. Leigh and I laughed about this incident on the way home, but we both figured we better deliver the cookie just in case this ever were to happen again.

I figure we all have some doors we would like to have opened, and promises of cookies might not always work. If not, we can always follow this advice:

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

Dog Vomit And One Bloody Nipple

As a high school World History teacher, I like to start off my class by going over what I call the "Ancient Proverb of the Day". What I do is have a proverb from some ancient civilization written on the board when the students come into my class. They are to write the proverb down while I take attendance, and then we discuss what they believe the proverb to mean. As a master of classroom management, I have found this to be a very effective way to begin class in an orderly and structured manner.

One of my favorite Ancient Proverbs that I use at some point in time every school year is from an ancient Hebrew text: : "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." I don't really know why I like that proverb so much, but I go over it at least once a school year. The kids get a kick out if it, and the message is simple. You are a fool if you make the same mistakes over and over.

Like many people, I pride myself on learning from my past mistakes, and do everything I can to ensure they don't happen again. We had our first raining ruck this past Sunday. We have quite a few new people that are going to compete at the Mountain Man Memorial March this spring. They are mostly all CrossFitters, so they work out, but we still thought it would be smart to start off with a relatively short 7 mile ruck. No problem.

I am aware that I am a strong rucker. Not really a skill that is highly sought after in our modern civilian society, but I can put a heavy pack on my back and get after it. Last year when we did the Bataan Memorial Death March, me and my buddies from Comal CrossFit pretty much had it figured out by the time that race day came. Much of it was trial and error, but at the end of the day there wasn't much we didn't know about this type of physical activity. This training paid off, and we killed it at Bataan. (If you happen to be a new reader, check some earlier posts about Bataan)

My lucky Comal Crossfit shirt. Nipple blood visible.

Needless to say I wasn't real worried about the ruck as we all met at Brandon Bonser's house Sunday morning for the 7 mile ruck. I could ruck 7 miles in my sleep. When I arrived and we all began to mill around and prep the water for the turnaround point, I heard Mike Hoge mention something about taping up his nipples to prevent the awful chafing that a wet shirt can inflict on a man's nipples when he runs. We learned this lesson last year, and each man developed his own way to prevent the nipple chafe. You can use scotch tape, athletic tape, band aids, wear a tight fitting Under Armour type shirt, or many other things. Whatever works best for you. I had thought briefly about it the night before in preparing for the ruck, but for a measly 7 miler. Why even bother to mess with it?

Anyway, Jason Mosely and I drove down to the 3.5 mile turnaround point where I left my truck with all the water in it. I hopped in with Jason, and we headed back to the Bonser residence where everyone was stretched and ready to go. We shortly strapped on the rucks and away we went.

I felt real good and set a fast tempo, but it didn't take long to realize how humid it was. The weather felt good and all, but I was real sweaty after 15 minutes of running. By 30 minutes my favorite (and lucky) white Comal CrossFit shirt that I have literally rucked hundreds of miles in was drenched. I didn't care though because I was back to rucking with a great group of friends! Out in the Creation, and it was a fine morning!

I got to the turnaround point, slammed a Gatorade and water, then hit the road for the 3.5 miles back. My pace was real good, and I didn't want to slow down at all. I figure it was about at the 5.5 mile mark where I began to notice the discomfort of a sweaty shirt rubbing on my bare nipples. No worries though, only a couple of miles to go. I pressed on at a good clip, dealt with the increasing discomfort of my right nipple being chafed, and finished the 7 mile ruck in 1:12:38. Not bad.

Lucky shirt inside out.

I went ahead and took off my ruck where I could change into a nice dry shirt. As I took off my lucky white Comal CrossFit shirt, I noticed some bright red blood on it. I thought I must have chafed real bad on my back, but I didn't feel anything. Then I looked at where the blood was on the shirt. Could it be? My nipple chafed so much it was bleeding? Yep.

Moral of this post: Who was the dog that returned to his vomit this past Sunday morning? This guy. Lesson learned, and my nipples will never go uncovered during a ruck again. I should have known the Good Book was always right.

That One Hippie Song

I remember hearing some old hippie song that talked about there being a right time and place for everything. That there are cycles to life, and in due time what needs to happen will in fact happen. It's a pretty cool song. Well, I got to thinking about that song a while back when my friends and I from Comal Crossfit began to kick around the idea of doing another heavy marathon. That is, completing a marathon with a 35 pound ruck sack on our back. We had considered doing the Bataan Memorial Death March again, but we figured that we could all use a change of scenery.

The Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

After talking it over, a big group of us, nearly 20 in all, have decided to head east this time to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. There is a race there called the Mountain Man Memorial March. It's the same as Bataan in that it is a full marathon with a 35 pound ruck on, but it is held every year to honor a younger generation of Americans.

Anyway, my beautiful wife insisted that the old blog get dusted off and fired up again since I want to step in the Arena. I guess that time has rolled around once more. The season of rucking is here. There were literally dozens of people that read my blog last spring so what the heck. Here it goes again. I just wish I could remember the words to that old hippie song.

For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die. 

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.