…Everything is bigger in TEXAS, except the GORUCK patches…

The GORUCK Texas Triple:

The GORUCK TOUGH  is a 10-12 hour endurance event.  You start the even typically in the evening around 9:00 PM and continue the event until the following morning. The Texas Triple was complied of THREE consecutive GORUCK TOUGH events that were back-to-back-to back.  What made this even more challenge…. The first event was held in Houston, Texas, the 2nd event was hosted in Austin, Texas right after the 1st event, and the 3rd event started/ended in San Antonio, Texas right after the 2nd event.

The Why:

Eric, John, and myself (pictured above) have completed the Triple Heavy, Triple Light, and the Triple Scavenger. Logically it only made sense if we completed the Triple Tough! Collecting triple patches from each of the offered events is something that NO ONE in the GORUCK community has done….until WE did it.

Another hidden meaning… 

Despite really wanting to collect all of the bolts, the Texas Triple has another special meaning for me.

The start of the first Tough was scheduled for March 9, 2017.   March 9, 2006 is the day that my mom passed away. So every year on March 9th, I traditionally light a lantern, say a prayer and a few words to my mom, and reflect on my life as I watch the lantern slowly drift into the darkness of the sky.

Each year, I have had to light the lantern alone…until this year…

I had some of my closest friend by my side to help me and be apart of this special moment.

Well… I can not forget how we almost burned down Houston, Texas…

But Lucky for me… I had brought TWO lanterns so one lantern was successfully launched into the night sky.

So for me, completing the Texas Triple was not just to earn the patches. I wanted to do these events in honor of my mom. She was a women known for giving back to the community. As a child I remember doing an abundance of community service events and donating my own toys/clothes to those who were less fortunate. I can say that my mom helped me to see the true meaning of “it could always be worse” and to appreciate the things and opportunities that are received.

The cadre

CADRE DAN! The creator of the GORUCK Heavy. A senior cadre who shows no mercy when it comes to carrying weight during one of his events.  If you plan on doing one of his events plan to be under A LOT OF WEIGHT! He favors sandbags (and sand babies) and lots of miles. He is also a fair cadre and will teach you some pretty cool tactical skills.

Cadre Karl is newer to GORUCK, If you do his events plan to be on the off beaten trails (not in the city, maybe lost in the woods or on some city trails). He also favors a lot of weight and long miles.

Houston…we have a problem….

Houston was by far one of the difficult (mentally) toughs that I have done. The path that we took was direct. When I say that I mean…when you looked down the trail and saw nothing but a straight trail for MILES….you knew that is where you were going…. alllllllll thhhhhhhheeeee waaaaaaaayyyy toooooooo thhhhhheeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnd of that trail. Typically during a event you zig zag across paths, neighborhoods, or whatever route the cadre pick for you. So having this type of route, and watching your team slowly inch towards the end of the route made it difficult embrace.

Oh…we also walked through MILES of ankle to knee deep swamp water. Yes there were bugs, snakes, and anticipated alligators…

We also lost speaking privileges for a long portion of the event. Walking long miles and not being able to talk for sure presents mental hurdles. But, the team we had was very proactive and helping when needed and did what they could to try to help keep people’s spirits positive.

Overall H-Town left me muddy, swampy, and itchy. I have done “X” amount of events (seriously I do not know…I stopped counting… LoL).  I have NEVER had the terrible skin rashes that were acquired from the Houston Event (and probably a slight mix of the other cities… but this was the event with the most environmental factors).

Austin, Texas

Austin is a beautiful city! South by southwest (a huge musical festival) was also going on this same weekend. I was keeping my fingers crossed that we would be able to navigate to the capital and be around some of the awesomeness of the festival…

We spent 100% of the time on a trail.  Which is NOT a problem, but it was raining and the trail was made of pebbles and stones.  The concern for one of my team mates falling and getting hurt because a harsh reality when my Midwest sidekick Meghan slipped on some rocks and twisted her ankle. As a team we put her on the litter and carried her out of the trail so our support staff could pick her up.

The Austin trail was dark, raining, and to be honest you really could not appreciate the beauty of the trail because it was so dark. I researched the trail after the event and I am sad that I was unable to really enjoy the fullness of the trail since the bulk of the event was done at night and in the dark.

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, the home of the Alamo. The home of Texas revolution and the river walk. San Antonio has so much history and so many things that can be explored and enjoyed.  Sadly, we did not get to enjoy any of the history of San Antonio during this event.

We spent our time on the River Walk BUT on the outside boundary of town.  For those of you who do not know, the River Walk is a man made shallow river with walking path that dissects the city of San Antonio.  The River Walk leads up to the Alamo and a lot of the down town restaurants and shops. It is a beautiful city monument and is  well built and maintained. It provided a nice path for us to follow providing minimal environmental hurdles for us to deal with during the event.

We stayed on the trail and got to enjoy the lights of the city from the distance. Lost of miles, lots of sand bags, and still lots of smiles.

Overview 

I was really expecting to get to see and experience the depths of these three major cities in Texas. Cadre Karl and Dan immediately made it known that they wanted us to explore the wilderness of Texas…and that is exactly what we got to do.  I am not saying this was a bad thing! It was very interesting to get to see a different side of Texas.  BUT, I was slightly disappointed that we did not get to see the city or at least the capital of Texas.

The team overall was GREAT! There was very little (if any at all) bickering or arguing.  Everyone seemed to get along great and we moved well as a team (although the cadre may feel other wise). Courtesy of Cadre Dan we were able to keep the sand babies for the duration of the Texas Triple.

The Texas Triple was bitter sweet for me because it was the moment that Eric, Jon and I achieved something that NO ONE in the GORUCK community has done. Although it may be a small victory it was a goal that we wanted to achieve and I could not have asked to do it with a better group of people by my side.

One more thing…

Pictured above: Connor (top left), Meghan, Stephanie (me), Chris, Jon, Jill, Eric (2nd row left), and Dan.

When doing an event you have to make sure to acknowledge and thank your support crew!!

Sam (a GRT from Oklahoma) volunteered his time and his weekend to shuttle us around in the Funk Wagon (the name we gave the van for obvious reasons). THANK YOU SAM for taking time to get us to Texas, around Texas, and back to the Midwest safely! He also took some awesome pics for us during portions of the event. If there was  an all star shadow award, I would totally give one to Sam!