You’re absolutely correct about the training: if you’re in reasonable shape – especially mentally – you can do this.

However, I’m almost 50 and I wasn’t willing to leave anything to chance, so in the weeks leading up to the GORUCK, several times a week I would run 4 miles with my bricks, stopping every mile to do 25 each of pushups, situps, squats, and lunges, using my bricks as weight. Other than smoking my arms with the log, I had no problems with the physical aspects. The biggest challenge for me was staying awake on the drive back to Ft Sill after it was over.

It was interesting and as good a way to kill a day as any, but I didn’t find it a life-altering experience. Everything I needed to complete the GORUCK I learned on Parris Island 30 years ago.

Parris Island: Now THAT was life-altering!

-Class 398

As for myself I wanted to quit many times. I was the eldest of the group (53). The youngest was 20. Some of the activities were too much for me. My legs were giving out. I could barely walk. Many had to help me get up after doing an activity were I was on the ground (remember I had 45 lbs. on my back). One of my teammates actually carried me on his shoulder while I had on my backpack and he had on his! These men and women were freaking BEASTS!

So why did I do this? In early 2011 I was diagnosed and treated for stage 3 cancer. I underwent 8 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. I had to be fed through a tube in my stomach. I lost over 75 lbs. The treatment was brutal. It was not only physically challenging but mentally challenging as well. I wanted to give up. Doing this challenge was for a challenge to myself to continue to grow and to stay strong. Not only physically but more mentally. In fact this challenge is 90% mental (although my body will tell you differently right now).

What an experience. Everyone pulled together as a team. I learned so much about myself and about being part of a team. This challenge is NOT a race but it is about teamwork. It is about helping each other out and helping EVERYONE compete the challenge. I could have not made without everyone in the group. I cried at the end. Yes I was in pain. But I also completed something amazing. I’m now an alumnus of a very small but special group. I’ve met some amazing new brothers and sisters.

At the end of the program one of the participants Matt said it was not about the patch you earn when you complete the program. And at first I thought it was about getting the patch. But I do believe now it is much more than that. It is about working together. It is about teamwork. It is about learning more about oneself and pushing yourself to limits you thought you could never reach. It is about realizing that it is OK to ask for help and to rely on others. It is an experience I will never forget. And the weird thing is that even after all of the physical pain, I want to do it again!

Best quote that should motivate any man.

Sounds like fun…if I can get my lazy butt of the couch a bit more, maybe I’ll take a stab at one.