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."