Fitness, Fellowship, Faith
Fitness, Fellowship, Faith
It was a cold and drizzly morning, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the 10 guys who showed up for Ruck U. The air was filled with a mix of anticipation and grumbling as we started with some basic instructions. Among the crowd was Gasparilla, still muttering pirate jargon under his breath, and Chastain, who tried to charm the kettlebells into being lighter with a wink.
We dropped our 30-pound sacks (though some jokers had 40, and Tron, ever the overachiever, had a 45-pound monstrosity). After a quick warm-up lap, which was essential to prevent any “old backs” from giving out, we circled up for some upward and downward dog stretches, much to Deadwood’s horror—he believed the yoga poses summoned spirits.
With the gear ready, I assigned partners at random. The pairs, with their varying levels of enthusiasm, grabbed their assigned equipment. As usual, Soggy found a way to incorporate a water balloon into the mix, sneaking it into someone’s ruck for a splashy surprise later.
2 by 2, we began our march. Leading the way were pairs with 50 and 40lb kettlebells. The 100lb (well, 96.6lb to be precise) Tomb Stone followed, carried by a duo that included Hatchet, who had a thrilling time pretending he was in an extreme sports competition. Sandbags were next, and somewhere along the way, Damascus was seen debating with a Jerry Can about its historical significance.
The heaviest gear set the pace, with the front pairs switching equipment and partners rotating to the back after their turn. This continued until everyone had cycled through the gear.
We double-timed it to the turf field, where everyone pulled out their ruck plates. Tron’s ruck turned into a clown car as he unloaded not just the required plate but also another plate, a brick, and some other mysterious items. “Damn man, 30 is the requirement, lock it up,” we joked as he sheepishly repacked.
We rifle-carried the length of the field and held the plates at our chests through the end zones. Back at the start, we reloaded the plates into our rucks and lined up on the goal line for some T-merkins every 10 yards. Deadwood, bless his soul, could only complete the exercises after each kitten in the vicinity was cleared out.
At the 50-yard line, we did 50 butterfly sit-ups, 25 American Hammers in cadence (Gasparilla led with an “Arr”), and 15 more sit-ups before heading back to the goal.
RUCK up! We did an Indian Ruck around the field, with the group walking and the guys at the back double-timing it to the front. This was Rainman’s favorite part as he called out weather predictions for the next few minutes.
After several rounds, we left the field and found our gear. We finished as we started, rotating through the equipment two by two. As the session concluded, we held a 1-minute 20-second ruck plank, while Dasher, true to form, zipped around doing extra laps.
Foundation was kind enough to let us use his Tomb Stone sandbag, weighing about 75lb but expertly enhanced by Chastain to reach a formidable 97lbs. Special thanks to Zinfandel for the Jerry Can, which turned out to be surprisingly manageable. In my opinion, the farmer carry with the 50 and 40lb kettlebells was the worst.
Well done, guys!