Green Beret Fitness (GBF) Operation OCALA ’23

2023.01.14 17:00:00

Training and Preparation

Generally, I have been fit and continuously working out leading up to Ocala. In October I participated in a running relay (No Shortcuts TT) where I covered ~22 miles in ~1 mile fast segments on a team of 7. I also completed the GORUCK Marine Recon HTB in November. Arguably I didn’t ruck enough in my training, but that didn’t affect my output. Besides running and the occasional hike/rucks, I worked out 5-6 times per week at my gym, a Crossfit-esque gym. Most days have a strength portion + a WOD (more endurance based than a standard CF WOD), one day is longer solo IWT/grinder, and Saturdays are long team cardio days. I usually walk ~1.7 miles to/from the gym daily. Honestly, I have felt stronger, fitter, and better prepped for most events following this programming. I also try to do 20 minutes of stretching/mobility daily, which truthfully ends up being closer to 5 days per week.

Nutritionally, I have been off my rocker. But, it’s ok, life happens. The week leading up to the event I drank a lot of water and liquid IV, upped herbal supplements knowing endurance events take a toll on your body, lowered my alcohol intake, and ate enough to feel energized. My sleep was decent and refreshing.

Reflection: I would absolutely put more ruck miles in, but keep the gym cycle. I could have easily achieved this by adding weight to my ruck for my pre/post-gym walk. I would likely use heavier than event weight. Instead of some running, hiking with weight would be a good alternative.

Travel

I took a redeye from LAX to MCO on Thursday night, arriving in Orlando around 7:00 AM. I took two natural, light sleeping aids and slept a solid 90 minutes on the flight. From there, I took a shuttle to a hotel in Ocala. Thank the rucking gods, the hotel had one room available at 9:30 AM when I arrived. I managed to get another 2 hours of sleep. Based on the start time, I may have flown in on Thursday to get a full night of sleep, but because Admin began at 4:00 PM on Saturday, I felt comfortable with less sleep on Thursday night.

I checked a large bag with all possible gear I might need. Like, I way overpacked. But, I was in a better state of mind with more gear than needed than not enough. Additionally, I carried on my event ruck and a bullet ruck. I bought the extra food I needed at a convenience store but traveled with things I like to have (Clif Blok, Liquid IV, Sport Beans).

Reflection: I got lucky with the hotel room, but everything travel-wise worked out well.

Gear

Pack: VOG Global Assult Ruk

• This was my first time ever using this pack (bad Sam)! I would likely have used a GORUCK Rucker (or possibly bigger) but didn’t have any outside pocket attachments. Accessibility is extremely important with the time hack.
• I bought this pack at an extreme discount, otherwise, I probably would not have had it. It’s an awesome pack and sits well. But, there was really no good location for the 10# plate that I had to add to meet the required 25# dry weight. It will be great for hiking/backpacking and can hold a lot.
• I wasn’t sure where to stash my water bladder in my pack, but that didn’t really matter. It didn’t move around a lot.

Starting Outfit

• Hiking pants w/snacks, chapstick, whistle, phone, and wallet in pockets
• Top base layer
• T-shirt
• Baseball cap
• Gloves (on and off for first few hours)
• Spandex
• Sports Bra
• Ininji Toe Socks + Darn Tough Socks
• GORUCK Mac-V Boots
• Whoop
• Headlamp

Packed

• Accessible: Vog Global hoodie jacket & winter hat
• Drybag 1: Patagonia puffer jacket, socks
• Drybag 2: extra top base layer, t-shirt, more socks, sports bra
• All required items on GBF list (emergency shelter, med kit, headlamp, etc)
• 10# plate to meet the 25# minimum dry weight requirement
• Other things: sunglasses, hand warmers, eye drops, extra contacts, pocket knife, utility tool, tape, chapstick
• Food & Water (see nutrition below)
• 2 local beers – I like to have a beer that goes on the trek with me that I can crack after. I added a second to make sure my weight was good.

Tip: these chargers from amazon are absolutely awesome. I brought two but only needed 1 to keep my phone charged for the entire event. It still had ~50% juice after finishing.

Reflection: I’ll likely start to ruck more with this pack to get used to the snags and rubs, but all in all, no complaints.

Nutrition

Pre-Race

• Friday night: spaghetti & meatballs, a few beers, water, body armor, chips
• Saturday morning: water, body armor, cereal, yogurt, ½ banana
• Saturday lunch: water, coffee, BBQ plate w/smoked chicken, mac and cheese, corn fritters, corn bread

Race

• 3L water bladder (almost full)
• 1L Nalgene mixed with 2 liquid IV (full)
• Packed 3 candy bars, 4-5 sport beans (some caffeinated), 2 Clif Blok, 1 Poptart packet, 3 protein bars, Swedish fish, 2-3 extra liquid IV packets, Salt Tabs

Note: there was water + some mix of chewy bars, bananas, candy, and trail mix at CP1-4. I didn’t eat any of my protein bars, only a few bites of a Pop Tart, a few Swedish fish, ~4 sport beans, 2 Clif Blox, and all 3 candy bars. I also ate a few chewy bars, a ½ banana, 1 pack of trail mix, and some candy from the checkpoints.

Reflection: I would probably add something like pretzels to my pack, which I was going to buy and didn’t. I was way more hungry than I expected.

Admin

The Ruck

SP to CP1

We started in the back of the pack, the trial was somewhat narrow, and I wasn’t trying to burn out fast. The first few miles were great as a warm-up. I kept switching between my gloves being on and not. Spirits were generally high from everyone around us, but you could tell we were headed into a long and cold night once that sun started to go down. I was drinking water regularly and snacking here and there. We kept going back and forth to rucking with other people and not. The plan was to be quick at CP1. I was going to throw on a jacket to warm up, chug a bottle of water, switch into a warmer hat, go to the bathroom, eat something easy, and remove the jacket. The banana was like a smoothie because it was so cold. We moved quickly and got rolling.

Reflection: One mistake was putting my gloves on the ground instead of in a pocket. I would have also eaten whatever bars they had available and taken a few for quick grabbing.

CP1 to CP2

Oh. This was the biggest lake in existence. But, when you look at the map, it’s really not. It’s pretty tiny – like it’s probably a pond. Anyways, a good chunk of this leg was spent moving with Crosby. I think this is where I almost tripped and fell at one point but luckily caught myself. There were a lot of roots, but this was a vine deeply rooted in the ground. Ouch.

We ran into a human who was not doing the race. He checked that everything was okay because the group of guys in front of us was yelling “hey bear” every so often. He came out to verify that no one was being attacked by a bear. Good guy.

We had some time when we moved with a group of 4 “hey bear” guys (who also spent some time with them between CP4 and CP5), which was mostly around the pond and to CP2. I think Peanut greeted us before arriving at the checkpoint. Yay dogs.

Overall, my body was feeling pretty good, but it was cold. We needed more time at CP2, so the plan was to spend a little more time than at CP1. The plan was warm jacket on, pee, refill bladder, chug water with salt tabs, rearrange anything, get hand warmers out, grab more food, take the jacket off, and go. This more or less happened, but Gregg told us we took way too long at this CP. The culprit was that I could not find my hand warmers. I knew I had two packs of 2 hand warmers, but couldn’t locate my “easy to find” pack, so I had to get down to the depths of my pack to find the other one. Turns out, the hand warmers were in my front pouch, which I had planned to be very easy to access. I used the pack I could find and gave one to Crosby. To be honest, having the one gave my mind a little stimulation to swap them back and forth. Dumb, but you would understand if you were there.

Reflection: Know where your shit is. I packed my bag very particular but forgot one of the important pieces. Overall, this might not have slowed us down all that much, but it was a frustrating few minutes.

CP2 to CP3

Alright. CP2 to CP3 was a ride. Crosby was getting quiet. I knew it and he knew it. Quite a few times in the first few hours, we would lose some distance between each other, and I stopped being able to see his headlamp without waiting. At some point while we were still together, I was like, “fuck this, I’m so cold, I’m putting on my jacket.” My core was warm, my hands were curled up inside my gloves, and my arms were the coldest they’d ever been. We talked about how water bladders freeze when you ruck in Kentucky and Ohio in the winter. Luckily my bladder was fine as long as I kept drinking, so I did that. I ate quite a bit – I was constantly hungry. At a certain point, Crosby told me many times to go ahead. I actually did.

want to fall off the trail. At this point, Crosby showed up, it couldn’t have been more than 5ish minutes (my split pace was 28 minutes for this mile), but he insisted it was probably more and that he was slowing me down.

So, I was right originally, and we crossed back over the log, which was now a little damp (sorry for anyone behind us)! Crosby reiterated that I should just go ahead. I trusted that he would find his way out of the woods (physically and mentally), so I wasn’t concerned about leaving him. I continued to push on and couldn’t see his headlamp anymore and wouldn’t see it again. CP3 was around 44 miles (on my AllTrails), so I did the last ~7 before CP3 alone.

My time alone in the dark was not planned. Like any sane person, I have a general fear of wildlife, especially in the dark. It’s like sharks in the ocean, you know they’re there, but not sure where. At least in this situation, we’re on land. Anyways, after the creek incident, I actually felt confident. I knew what I was doing – I could navigate the trail. Scariest part? Having to go to the bathroom alone. To be fair, this fear didn’t change too much in the daylight but maybe for different reasons. Men, you really have it so much easier. About 5 miles out, I had a minor freak out because I was following the orange trail markers, but the AllTrails route was wayyyy different. I stopped for a few minutes, recollected myself, and remembered I had the GPS coordinates for all of the checkpoints in my phone.

My plan for CP3 was pretty standard. Chug water (oh yeah, my bladder has been frozen for a few hours now and my liquid IV Nalgene is a very icy slushie), take a 12-hour Aleve (I promised myself I could once I got to CP3, I’m feeling a lot of things right now), grab more food (that’s all frozen solid, so I put a bar in my sports bra), go to the bathroom, and rearrange my pack around for easier access to things I might need.

water to thaw my bladder or hand warmers. I thought it was a joke and that I might be disqualified if I took them. I still don’t know if it was a real offer or not. I probably should have asked.

Reflection: The AllTrails map lines are correct, but the route isn’t. Follow the orange trail markers and use the map lines. Maybe take Aleve a little earlier.

CP3 to CP4

After a few minutes, I stopped to send a quick picture and text to my husband of the sunrise and me. I do this a little for self-motivation, but also to let him know I’m alive. About 20 minutes in, I see a little pond. The air is so cold that there is this beautiful view with the sun shining so I took a picture. Not even 3 minutes later, there is just water, no trial, just water. I think I said out loud “is this a fucking joke?” Luckily the group of guys I know are in front of me, so I can at least navigate what is the “best” path. The water probably went up mid-shin or so. It definitely wasn’t above my knees. Anyways, the trail is relatively easy to follow moving forward, you just have to pay attention. My water unfroze at some point here. There were quite a few water-covered areas that either you had to bushwhack alongside or get a little wet. I did both. I also had my pocketknife on hand for a good part of this trail, I don’t know why I was uncomfortable, but I had a little bit of unease and this made it a little better.

My GPS shut off for a little over a half mile around ~47 miles. And shortly after I ran into the “hey bear” guys, now a group of 3, at a picnic bench. I grabbed food out and shedded my jacket. They said I could hike with them and I was content to do so. It was nice to have some friendly faces and people to chat with. I was with them for at least an hour, but definitely, not more than 2 hours based on the location text we were required to send to Gregg every 2 hours (on the odd hour). Moving to CP4 I was definitely slowing down in comparison to the first 30 or so miles and picked it back up a little more when I was alone again on the last few miles into CP4. The plan was similar to CP2, plus some aleve again and actually refilling my water (but not too much). I ate a lot at CP4. So. Hungry. I apparently took a little long here too, which I agree with. But, my mindset was that I found out I was in 4th (mindblown). And the guy ahead of me left just before I got to the checkpoint. I didn’t feel good enough to push and try to catch up, plus I knew I had time, so yeah, I took a little extra time for myself and sat on the ground with other humans around.

Reflection: More training miles will improve pace. That’s just the fact.

CP4 to CP5

failing now (besides some act of God). I was tired but hydrated. I could not stop going to the bathroom. Maybe I needed some more salt? I kept thinking of a quote that I read from a Humans of NY story “If you can take another step, take it.” I did stop a few times to bend over and give my body a little break but knew I shouldn’t stop or sit for too long. I was hurting but knew the goal was near. The only plan for CP5 (unmanned) was to clip my card and get to the finish.

Reflection: I was lucky that when I was looking at my phone a few times I didn’t trip or do something dumb. Don’t do this.

CP5 to Finish

I thought one driveway was the end, but it turns out it was a few more up. Gregg walked the last short bit with me. I saw Crosby and videographer Jay (@jayknickerbockermedia if you’re in Tampa and need a guy, he’s awesome). I was trucking for that last 0.1 miles to get to the end. I finished at 15:33 (22h33m, 4th place out of 7 finishers, out of the 27 starting) I asked Gregg for the Finish stamp to close out my Checkpoint card and my time. The first order of business was to use a real bathroom and clean up, eat pizza, and crack that beer!

Helpful Links

• AllTrails Navigation
• Split Times

Personal Reflection

This was the hardest thing I’ve done. Why?

1. Length. Grand Canyon R3 was just under 50 and had way more elevation. But this distance is brutal.
2. Weight. 25# dry is not a bad weight, but when you add water, which you absolutely need, and food, you’re probably carrying closer to a low 30#
3. Cold. Florida should be warm, even in the winter. Word on the street is that it got down to 25 degrees overnight. I’m originally from Buffalo, NY. But there is no acclimating to being outside for that long unless you have an outdoor job in a very cold city. You can’t fight off shivering.
4. Headspace. You can easily get into your own head. It’s a long time to be moving and possibly alone.

Biggest Learnings

1. Put in the work. I needed to put in more miles and weighted miles in November-December. My running was strong leading up to November, but I was burnt out and tired. I got lazy and it definitely is affecting my recovery time and body.
2. You can do it. It takes some confidence though. Not a blind, ego confidence. But a true belief that you are capable and have what it takes.
3. Take in the moments. Despite the cold, the frost and freeze overnight were actually beautiful.
4. I’m never retiring. After I do any Type 2 fun, I always say it’s one and done. But let’s be honest. I’m already looking into 2024.

Final Thoughts

They’re telling you to trust yourself and your abilities. Pretty cool.

If you think you can do it you probably can, with the right training. If you get into your own head, the monster will consume you. I’m by no means a superhuman, we are so much more capable than what we do day to day. I make sure to smile often, not just for the camera, but for myself. A little positivity will bring you a lot longer than you know. I have changed my mindset from Don’t Fucking Quit (DFQ) to Keep Fucking Going. This shift didn’t happen overnight in the depths of the Ocala National Forest but over the past few years. Whether they’re said to someone or yourself, words matter.

Until the next. ❄️🍊🌅

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