GORUCK Canada Day HTL AAR 2017 - Part 2 (The Tough)

Recap: First attempt at GORUCK Heavy/Tough/Light weekend at the Canada Day events. So far, 24 hour Heavy completed, with 4 hours' rest before the Tough.

I catch about an hour nap before grabbing a coffee. It's strange to be sipping a cuppa joe at 7:30pm.

Some fresh faces have added themselves to our parking lot crew, and before we know it, it's time to head out again. Right now, my legs actually don't feel too tired or sore. I may actually do this!

Canada Day Tough - Saturday, July 1 9pm
Cadre Nick, Cadre Jake
Rucksack weight: 25+ lbs

Besides myself, there are 9 others that have returned from the Heavy. We know the feet are starting to get hotspots and blisters, and there's been some chafing going on as well.

During admin and gear check (hockey sticks and The Litter have returned), Cadre Jake is making rounds for the line I'm in. He doesn't bother looking at the stuff I've laid out (because it hasn't changed since the Heavy), instead lifting up my cap a bit and making eye contact, a smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

Another bit that Cadre couldn't have scripted presents itself...

The grins on Cadres' faces spells bad news for this guy

A GRT (he's wearing the Fire Rescue shirt in the pic above) tells us he had packed his ruck and was all ready to go...and locked his keys and ruck in his car. He was ready to do the event without a ruck, and as a temporary solution is given two 15-pound dumbbells. (He later got his ruck out of his car and caught up with us)

We set off and make our way through the crowds milling around the harbourfront. We draw curious stares and a few comments (mostly about the American flag), and we have a time hack to get to a beach. From the few GORUCK events I've done, nothing good ever happens at the beach...

We do not make our time hack and all I hear is Cadre Nick's angry voice yelling at us to get in the water. The class is a bit disorganized here, randomly wandering in the water when it's supposed to be in 2 lines.

Just to get everyone to pay attention, we have to dunk ourselves completely in the water (Lake Ontario, I'm told) It's frigid - less than 68 degrees, I'd gather - and there are many yells of shock as we surface.

Good Livin' in Lake Ontario

I've lost my headlamp, but by retracing my steps I found it in the water, good thing it was still on. (Fact: a Black Diamond headlamp shines on while under water for a spell, and still works fine after submersion.) Next we are low crawling in the sand, but not to Cadre's liking so back in the water we go. This goes back and forth several times until the class starts listening to instructions.

A length of fishing line catches my feet as I'm getting out of the water and it feels like my ankles are caught in those plastic 6-can soda holders. (Folks, please cut those up when you dispose of them). As we are emerging as a formation with linked arms, I can't take steps like the rest of them because I'm kind of stuck. Untangled, we continue on crawling but Cadre Nick is not impressed. More water.

Somehow, I get caught in the same fishing line again. I feel bad making the class stop to get it off (an angry "Why did you guys stop??" sounds from the back of the formation), but otherwise I'll faceplant in the sand.

We find some logs and proceed to go back to where we left the hockey sticks and The Litter (the stretcher). We attempt a head count but the numbers aren't the same - we're supposed to be 29.

You know someone's messed up badly when Cadre drops an F-bomb in their face with enough force to peel their eyebrows off (no it wasn't my face, honestly; however I was next to Cadre when this happened. Myself and the 3-4 others nearby flinch when he yells)

We now have logs added to our stuff to be carried; wet, cold and caked with sand, we head out. I'm glad to get my legs moving to start getting warm. I've got another Smurf crew and we swap out for one of the logs a few times.

We make our way to a park and Cadre is nothing but a headlamp dot in the darkness. First, we bargain to get rid of the logs by hustling/shuffling to the beach nearby, getting in the water and hustling back. (Fact: it's really hard shuffling in the sand.) We find our way back to Cadre Nick and he's on a gentle slope - we have to bear crawl first, then crab crawl up the slope without knees or butts touching the ground.

Normally crab crawls are ok for me, but wearing the rucksack in front makes it difficult, simply because no matter how I try to adjust it on my short Smurf self, the top part with the weight is cutting off my airway. I'm so frustrated it's taking me that long to get up the slope, but my teammates help me out. (Argh!) We see our first drop of the evening.

We head out again at a decent pace but none of the speed-ruck-for-your-life pace we did earlier. So far my feet are holding up ok, no hot spots, just foot bones and soft tissue that are complaining.

During these times when everyone's marching, Cadre are walking alongside and mingling with the class. There's some interesting stories being told. They're also probably checking for people who are zoning out, or are getting pulled into dark spaces ("going internal"). Cadre Jake comes up next to me, points and says, "I haven't heard you say anything during this whole event so far...you don't whine, you just go ahead and do things". Given that these Cadre are not in the habit of easily dishing out compliments - they've said so - I'll take that as a huge boost.

We make our way to a check point, where we can fill our water, grab a bite to eat and most of all, change our socks as they're crusted with sand.

I'll repeat what I read in a guide (by Mettle Forger) for HTL completion, and it's take care of your feet. Air them out when it's possible, change socks, apply lube if needed. Most of us have feet that are a shade of white due to the damp, but just putting on dry socks makes a big difference. Also, don't stay sitting for too long - get up, move around, wiggle those toes and keep the muscles going because chances are there's going to be action to follow. (Also, sitting on the pavement makes The Buttocks numb)

We are divided into 2 teams and are given another time hack to a park. We are also informed that bad things will happen if we do not arrive first.

A push-up competition between someone from each team determines who gets the hockey sticks and stretcher; unfortunately, it's my team. We are capable, I just know it. It also helped we had two guys (Stony and Josh) who knew the surrounding area very well, so we were able to make our way to the park effectively, without any back alley shortcuts. Again, more song playing in my head (How Far I'll Go, Waiting for Love) to chase the early morning demons that are threatening to shut my eyelids, among other things. Ruck to the next street corner...ok, we're there. Shuffle to the 2nd lamppost...got it. Keep rucking until the stoplight. I break things down at times to keep focused.

Valiant push-up effort

We finish just ahead of the other team and are granted a break. PT follows for the losing team, and we brace ourselves to do the same. The sun is starting to come up and people are beginning to awaken; someone else is regaining herself and saying, "I want to curl up in a ball and cry..." Yep, we know the feeling. That time hack was no picnic.

Next up is our community service, which is picking up the trash around the harbourfront area after the Canada Day festivities.  On our way there, we pass by a pile of logs, and a very angry Canada goose that hisses as we go by (they hiss??)

We cover several blocks and gather up quite a bit of junk; the sand that's now dry and caked on our skin creates friction whenever we crouch down. Stony finds $20 and it goes towards beer funds.

This duck was part of the festivities

We get a casualty carry (not any of the small people, obviously) on our stretcher, and it's mayhem as people try to switch out without running off the sidewalk and into the bicycle lane. Cadre Jake sets us straight by implementing an effective system that has a constant flow of swap-outs. We go on for a mile back to the start point. The final challenge is for the four people to overhead press and hold the casualty in the stretcher; this takes several attempts.

Back into formation and we are done. Both Cadre remark how we came together as a team during the casualty carry, and using that same switch-out method it allows sprinting with the stretcher. Not sure if I'm going to attempt that, especially going downhill.

Patched and some crossed hockey sticks to complete the picture

We got through the Tough! All that's left now is the Light, but need some breakfast first.

Check out the conclusion to this HTL weekend with the Light