It's really happening

I did some shopping today.

Bricks are only 45 cents! SCORE!

After a week of blinding panic over GORUCK, I  woke up this morning feeling somewhat calmer and resigned to my fate. Relatively speaking of course. 

Several people I've told about GORUCK have assumed I'd spend all day today sleeping, which is what my fellow crazies are doing. One of my very few flaws is that I really can't nap, or sleep much during daylight even in the morning. Oddly, this excludes going to bed at 8pm in the summertime. I considered staying up really late Friday night and trying to sleep as much as I could today, but I had a feeling that would backfire me into staying up all night and then laying in bed panicking because I couldn't fall asleep all day.

So I got plenty of sleep last week, slept great last night, plan to chug some coffee after dinner, and bought chocolate covered espresso beans for the challenge. Here's hoping it works. 

Besides, I anticipate being a lot of pain tomorrow. After my 50 miler, I had to pick each leg up individually and set it on the floor to get out of bed. It took me so long to walk the ten steps from the bathroom to the couch that by the time I got there I'd have to go again. I'm expecting tomorrow to look like that, except instead of just my lower body being affected, it will be everything. Also, I'll be on no sleep.

Today was spent making it so tomorrow can devoted entirely to sleeping and moaning in pain. I did all my grad work, cleaned the house, did the laundry, packed my lunch for Monday, etc. If I need to, I can sleep from the time I get home tomorrow until Monday morning.

Packing was no simple task either.

This wasn't even everything, I had to add more stuff after the picture. Let's talk about some of the more....surprising items?

• Yoga mat: That wasn't just there because I'm a slob who can't put away her things, it was to cut up and wrap around the bricks so my back doesn't turn into a bloody mess. I tried to find foam padding in Home Depot and had a really fun time explaining to the salesperson what I needed it for. 
• A million ziplock bags: It's supposed to pour the entire night, plus all of the challenges feature being submerged in water, in this case most likely the Annapolis harbor. I'm looking at it as open water swim practice! Anything you don't want soaked needs to be waterproofed. It was recommended that we bring a jacket for after the dunking, so we are all bringing our treasured Hot Chocolate 15K jackets, since we don't really give a crap if they get destroyed.
• Duct tap: to tape the bricks together. Obvi.
• Money: To call a cab in case you just can't hack it. Of course, I'm only doing this because it's required (they won't let you participate without it), because if I truly can't make it, that $ isn't helping me. No phones are allowed (I'm leaving mine at home) and I live more like a $200 cab ride than a $40 cab ride away from Annapolis, not that I'll even have a house key. Basically, we'll defer to Katniss again here - the options are keep up or die.
• Liquor: Previously, all my athletic endeavors have been separate from my drinking life, but once again, GORUCK is a unique experience. Drinking is not only allowed, but encouraged, and everybody is bringing a flask or something with liquor to the challenge. Us girls plan to bring spiked diet coke (that's what the crown is for) and I'm using the almond espresso flavored vodka to spike my coffee on the way down. This is pretty much the only thing giving me any peace of mind. 

Just to give you an idea of where my head it, the 52nd email today (that's not an exaggeration) between the four of us girls doing GORUCK referenced how excited I must be for some epic dessert on Sunday, and I can honestly say I haven't even thought about it. Chew on that. 

Pretty soon I'm headed to Jackie's house, and after dinner her husband will be taking the four of us down to Annapolis. Eric is driving down to pick us up tomorrow morning, and what happens in between will be sure to be interesting. 

Please, when you're lying in bed tonight, cross your fingers and think of me submerged in the harbor or doing pushups in the mud.