Author Archive The Shore

Straight Shooting

7 pax showed up on this cold February morning to run – straight out and back.

The Thang:

Those who show up at 5:15, go 3 out and 3 back. The 5:30’ers go down 2 and back.

The Moleskin:

Finally we’re actually running without the rucks at the Devil’s Turn. We’re all lightweight and free. I seem to have forgotten how to go fast though.

It was great to welcome back/in the runners, especially those we haven’t seen in a while.

Mall Cop and ZipADee are training for the BRR. Turkey Leg is getting ready for the Corporate Cup half marathon in a couple weeks (his first?). Bird Hole I think is just always fast and ready to run (#oldmanstrong). And Baked Beans is just getting started (though with a flurry – 6 posts in 8 days right out of the gates!). Meanwhile, 49er and I are just trying to recover from the GoRuck challenge (49er seems to still have something left in the tank).

We do miss RayCharles though. And Strange Brew. Hope you brothers are doing alright and well on the way to recovery!

If you’d like to join the South Charlotte’s Blue Ridge Relay team then contact Mall Cop. He’s in charge. If you’d just like to get faster, join us next week – same time, same place.

Tapering Fun

2 pax ran 4 miles and 5 GoRuckers played in the mud to wet the appetite for Saturday.

The Thang:

PBQ and The Drill took in a quiet 4 miles without their faithful friend Ray Charles (we missed you brother, hope you heal up soon!)

Strange Brew and The Shore took in an easy 1 mile before the real fun…

The Real Fun:

Ball of Man jog. With Flag. No Coupons.

Elephant Walk. Inch Worm Push-Ups. Tunnel Crawl. Bear Crawl.

Woodsy jog.

Return to Base.

The Moleskin:

Ray Charles had an MRI yesterday. Pray for fast and good healing. We hope to see you out in the gloom again soon!

Did you read the Thang? Did you notice Strange Brew was out there at 5:15 running extra? One man is working harder than everyone. And he’s gaining ground on you all!

Bugeater lead us into a dark crevase this morning. Sink holes, logs, and slippery slopes were everywhere. It this had been a real invasion, perhaps an ambush would have spelled our doom. But in the spirit of the GoRuck, our leader lead, and we followed.

Those packs feel lighter than they did a month ago!

Announcements: Saturday 10pm (9:30 arrival!) GoRuck. 10:30 – snow? (we can only hope).

Thursday (next week): 5:15am or 5:30 am – back to running at the Devil’s Turn!

See you then!

Ruck Run

12 men showed up to explore the woods of the McAlpine Greenway and do some cardiovascular exercise.

The Thang:

Indian Run in formation with Flag, Team Weight up front. About a half mile.

Packs off. Indian Run – packs were passed back, when last man had 2 packs (one for each hand) he sprinted to the front. Flag up front, Team Weight passed back with all the packs. About a half mile.

Packs-on scramble. 10 seconds to get any pack on. I think only Strange Brew ended up with his own pack.

Indian Run. The line did lunges, the runner did the Karyoke. Quarter mile?

Team option: Creek or Rock pile. Everyone but Dolphin chose the Rock Pile.

Pick up rocks. One coupon per man.

Run (about a mile of this). Alternated between rocks overhead and Rocks held out in front of you – on top of man’s pack in front of you (tight formation required).

Coupon drop. Team penalty – no straps. 2 hands – one for pack, one for rock.

Ditch rocks, wear packs. Team sprint to the finish line – sub 4 minute goal for probably 3/8 of a mile. We did it in roughly 2+ minutes.

Moleskin:

Triple claps to Simba and Rapunzel for showing today. They didn’t know what they were getting into, and even had to have the GoRuck Challenge explained to them, but still hung tough with the team. Great job! YHC overheard more than one guy at the end volunteering their pack if either wanted to try one out on their own back.

Dolphin likes to be wet, but alas we skipped the creeky tunnel this morning. Truth-be-told, even if we went in the water, we were still going to be picking up those rocks.

There is so much fun to be had out there in the woods. We didn’t even make it up the big hill this morning. I’ve got lots left over for next week.

Next week we will have one more GoRuck style workout at the Devil’s Turn, then turn our attention to training for the Spartan and Mud Run Races. #speedwork

Remember, GoRuck brothers, No Morrow Mountain excursion this weekend. Look for a Ruck-friendly workout in your own neighborhood.

Gear Check

17 men showed up to the Devil’s Turn this morning to find out just how tricky the Jersey Devil can be, disclaimer not-withstanding.

The Thang:

3 sane pax showed up sans ruck and ran a simple 3 miles and back.

The rest of us had all the fun:

Street Crossing.

Creek traversing.

Deep water crossing.

Deep woods scramble (including gully climb).

Creek walk.

Simple jog.

Creek run.

Ice cold squats, merkins, and dolly/flutter.

Deep woods wandering.

Hill climb (rucks overhead).

Woodsy trail run (no shoulder straps).

Simple jog back to base.

Moleskin:

Where to start? YHC probably should have started with the disclaimer this morning, but hey, if you thought this was CSAUP, just wait until we get 11+ more hours of it on Feb. 16.

Air temp this morning was about 32 degrees. Water temp, maybe 33.

This fun run was meant to test out our GoRuck gear. For example, my wool socks (thank you GOPC) kept my toes relatively warm. The synthetic glove liners on the other hand had my fingers freezing in no time. Shoes should drain water. Straps should be duct taped down. Etc… Others learned simpler lessons such as cotton absorbs cold water and keeps it close to the body. Shorts also don’t seem to work too well when joging through the prickers.

Thanks to all the Devil’s Turn FNG’s this morning: Peleton, Black Jack, Moby, Gandalf, Turkey Leg, and Strike Out. Not sure they knew exactly what they were getting into this morning, but it was great to have you out.

Next week we do it all over again, so come on out and enjoy the fun!

Tomorrow on the other hand, don’t miss the launch of Kevlar. 5:30. Somebody help me out with the location (its the same place as SkunkWorks – Tiger Rag’s 2.0’s school).

 

With Rucks, in the Muck, embracing the Suck

11 men showed up in the rain to have some fun out on the McAlpine Greenway this moring.

The Thang:

The Drill, Ray Charles, and PBQ showed up early to get their full 6 miles in. Thanks for waiting on the COT in the rain while the rest of us caught up!

8 others, 7 with rucks marched in formation throughout the greenway and woods to push ourselves and become one with the muck. The basic story was thus:

Dora lead – Run to rock pile, pick up 4 rocks.

Run Stopper lead – Run to log pile, pick up 2 logs (all hands on deck). Run to top of hill.

Half the group – 49er lead – Run logs down hill and back up (about 1/2 mile).

Other half – The Shore lead – Bear Crawl rock across soccer field. Then Snipper run to exhaustion (“He sees me, I’m down”).

Flapjack groups.

Dolphin lead – Return logs. Return Rocks. Return to base.

The Moleskin:

YHC hadn’t meant to get too wet this morning (that is reserved for next week), but it turned out to be a great opportunity to test out the new gear. Smartwool socks and top from GOPC held up well. Thanks to Blue for organizing a very worthwhile event last night.

Overheard up on the hill was Bugeater stating the obvious, “My new ruck is getting dirty.” I have to believe he was saying in with a bit of pride.

We had 7 of 12 pax from South Charlotte getting ready for the GoRuck this morning (props to Thin Crust for coming out and hanging in even without the ruck). Those who couldn’t make it – you know who you are.

Next week we’re planning on a more intense march through the woods, creek and obstacles. This will be a great test of whatever gear you plan on using for the Challenge. Hopefully, all our pax will make it and whoever else wants to join in the fun.

Hills, logs, rocks, rucks and fun

14 pax entered the gloom. 14 returned.

The Thang:

7 pax showed for an early 1.5 miles at 5:15. The rest joined us for about 3.5 more at 5:30.

During our group run, 10 of us had rucks, and all of us shared coupons: the American Flag, a 25 lb Kettlebell, a good sized rock, and a good sized tree trunk.

Moleskin:

We’re now up to 10 of the 11 pax from South Charlotte joining us this morning for our GoRuck training. Only Dolphin no-showed. I guess he was resting his abs in the fartsack.

Many fresh faces today including the 4 without rucks: Abacus, Deep Dish, and Big Bird and his newly name 2.0 – Tweety (Cross-country runner extraodinaire). Thanks for coming our guys. Strong work. Hope you enjoyed the coupons.

Not much chatter once you get to carrying that log. Fellowship through adversity is just as strong a bond as fellowship through conversation though.

Bugeater looked like a kid at Christmas with his rucksack looking like it was just out of the box.

When I was carrying the log with Haggis, he positioned himself near the center of the log at first. The thing was nearly teetering on his shoulders, leaving practically no weight for YHC. Haggis was happy to move forward though and share the burden.

Headcounts need work. With 2 lines it becomes more complicated and I don’t think we ever really got good at alternating the count from one side of the line to the other and up to the front. We’ll keep working at it though. Don’t want to leave any man behind!

A Rucking we will go

10 pax showed up (including 7 of the 11 Charlotte South GoRuckers) for some early morning fitnes, fellowship, and good livin’.

The Thang:

Ray Charles and The Drill must have showed up at 5am or so to do their standard 6 miles. By time we finished Ray Charles was still there to greet us. The Drill was flying away for more important buisness.

ZipADee, Far Side and YHC set off at 5:15 to get 1.5 miles in, and returned just in time to join the rest of the crew for some GoRuck style training.

Our single file march took us through the woods and over hils; rucks, 25 pound KB, the American Flag and one fallen tree in tow. We probably covered just over 3 miles in about 45 minutes.

Moleskin:

This was a great start for most of us. 7 of 11 south Charlotte GoRuck pax isn’t bad, but we’ll be shooting for more in the coming weeks. I could swear Runstopper emailed me he’d be there this morning. He must have gotten lost on the way over. See you next week Mr. Swan.

The “No Guts, No Glory” award goes to Strange Brew. In just a few short months he is attempting a remarkable transformation. From upchucking sloth to fit, inpiring stud. Keep up the hard work SB! It’s great to have you aboard.

It was nice to see some of the non-Ruckers not scared away by the threat of a few bricks. ZipADee was truely embracing the moment and even got to try on a ruck for himself by the end of our trek. Feels good doesn’t it?

Between the New Year’s break, yesterday’s Indian Run inspired lunge/squat-a-thon, and today’s work, I’m feeling a little sore today. And yes, that does feel good too.

 

The Indian Run/Hop/Crawl/etc.

18 men entered the dark gloom for some Indian Run style activities.

The Thang:

2 lines – Standard Indian Run, 1/4 mile

Karyoke Indian Run, 1/4 mile

Backward Run Indian Run, 1/4 mile

Australian Peel Back (APB) – the line lunges, the peel backer bear crawls, 50 yards

APB – the line backward lunges, the backer peels/bear crawls up front, 50 yards

Line – elbow plank, backer hops the legs to the front, close to 100 yards

APB – the line squat walks, the peel backer crab walks, 50 yards

APB – the line backward squat walks, the backer peels/crab walks to the front, 50 yards

Line – a$$-up plank, backer low crawls through the tunnel to the front, 100 yards

Buddy-Up Indian “Run” – the line wheelbarrows, the back Fireman’s Carry’s their way to the front

COP – each man runs around the circle, one at a time, exercise changes with each lap

Plank, Left hand high, Left leg high, Left hand high, Plank, Right hand high, Right Leg high, Right hand high, Regular, Recover, LBC, Flutter, Dolly, Rosalita, Bicycle, LBC, Russian Twist x 2

Indian Run 1/4 mile and back to parking lot

The Moleskin:

YHC had much fun devising this one for this morning. Hope all enjoyed the work.

Welcome to two FNG’s this morning! Luther, EH’ed by the Mighty Lance, named after Lex Luther. And Elliot, brought in by Stone Cold, encouraged by Ice Hole, and named for his alma mater’s namesake crossing of the Delaware and said effect on the Revolutionaries fingers and toes. Great to have you both aboard. It only gets easier from here.

The wet weather made for some sloppy play. I think it was Young Love who took a spill while encircling the COP providing some much needed comic relief during a time of struggle.

The Buddy-Up Indian Run did not go as smooth as I had hoped (at least 2 more rounds were planned). Not sure which part through us off, the wheelbarrow or the Fireman’s carry. Both need work though

50 yards may not sound like much, but in an Australian Peel Back, the front of the line keeps whittling away and so progress is slow indeed. It seems like we could have kept lunging in one place forever, but I guess that’s the point when your line is attacking the enemy and you need to maintain a constant onslaught of fire.

Reminders:

Devil’s Turn tomorrow morning, 5:15 or 5:30. GoRuck team training (though rucks are not required, all are welcome). Miles will be covered, coupons will be carried

Saturday, Area 51 is on at 7am. The Rock is off. And Stonehenge officially launches at 6:30 somewhere near those big stone statues in Ballantyne.

Marching Along

7 pax showed up this morning for a 3.5 mile fellowship run. A 25 pound KB was brought along for the ride and the American Flag led the way. The Shore was the only one to come 15 minutes early for an extra 1.5 miles.

Moleskin

Great having fresh faces out. Short Sale, Field of Dreams, Harley and Ice Hole might not have known what they were getting into when they showed up, but, bricks in tow, they added nicely to our marching line.

Ice Hole held up quite well, proving that those F3 workouts really get a man in shape. As our War Daddy this morning he ran over 1 mile for the first time in about 30 years. One would never know he’d been such a slouch over these years.

Short Sale gutted out the mileage with a sore back. Also kept pace well with plans on keeping going the rest of the week.

Don’t forget the North Convergence this Saturday (caravan leaves the Rock at 6am sharp), and the late start for the Matrix – Christmas Eve special at 6:30 lead by Short Sale.

God Bless…

Rucks and a coupon

7 men ran 3.5-5 miles, rucks, bricks, 25 pound kettlebell and American flag in tow.

Moleskin

It was a beautiful morning to run. Quiet and crisp. Glad to have all the men out there to run with this morning.

I just came to me this morning how The Drill got his name, being that he works in the dental industry. He also seemed to speed up the pace when Anesthesia was mentioned in casual conversation. I can not recall thoughhow Pretty Boy Quarterback was unfortunate enough to get his name.

As much to make a list as to know who is not pulling their weight so to speak, here are the South Charlotte Pax who are doing the GoRuck Challenge. This morning only YHC, 49er, Stone Cold, and Donkey Kong showed. The rest, whose company we anxiously await: Dora, Far Side, Haggis, Bugeater, Tiger Rag, Strange Brew, Runstopper, and Dolphin. That’s a strong group, but a team is only as strong as its weakest link. Go Ruck!