I have never had Military Training, but I have read the Book ” ON COMBAT: The Psychology on Deadly Conflict in War and In Peace” by Dave Grossman.
In the book, he describes two types of people….
#1. SHEEP
#2. Sheep Dog
I am a Sheep Dog.
Really, not bragging, nor grandstanding.
I have run ‘into the fire’ to save some dogs chained to a building on fire.
Really, it is no big deal…. it is just the way I am made.
I will without thinking run towards the gun fire, into the building on fire, or the scene of a crash.
Someone needs help.
I can help.
If there are cuts or blood, I will pass out, or throw up after the event is over, but I will be there in the ‘heat of the battle’.
October 6, 2018 at 6 am, I and my son Joshua began participating in a 100 Mile 6 Man Relay in the Children of the Cane Ultra Event in Port Allen Louisiana.
This event completed almost 24 hours later for our 6 Man Team.
The youngest Team Member was 24 years old.
A couple of the fellows were maybe 35-39 ish…. ( I think that may be a little young for them, but I want to be ‘kind’ here…)
The others were 25-29 ish.
I am 63.
My first ‘leg’ to run was 10 Miles in the heat of the day, and had a Thunderstorm about half way through that stung with sideways rain that blew under the Metal Gazebo while accompanied with Lightening strikes all around.
( this ‘map’ is the entire course…)
After that Storm passed, I shared the narrow mud packed road with Sugar Cane Harvesting Monster Equipment ‘fishtailing’ and throwing mud as they continued with the gathering of the Sugar Cane.
I deferred to their passing back and forth at ‘high speeds’ because in spite of being a pedestrian, I was also an unwelcome distraction to their employment.
( the wheels were almost as tall as I was…)
I was probably a issue with their companies Insurance Policy. I am not sure.
I did not want to become a ‘part of the harvest’.
(this is a ‘clump’ of mud thrown off the wheels of the Harvesting Vehicles as they passed to and fro after the Storm. It reached almost my knee ‘in height’, but remember, I am only 5’8”…)
I did return to the starting point, and ‘hand the baton’ as it were, to Joshua my youngest son.
Later that night, no, early the next morning at about 2 am, Joshua and I met on a Levee on the Mississippi River, after he completed 8.5 miles with the River on one side of the route going out, and coming back, where he ‘handed the baton’ to me, and I completed my last 6 mile ‘leg’ of the Relay, and then ‘pass the baton’ to Brandon to complete the 13th and final ‘leg’ of the 100 Mile Relay.
( look close… that is me on the left in an orange shirt, and Josh is on the right in a white shirt. This picture was taken at waters edge on the RIVER SIDE of the Levee. The ‘black bottom’ of the picture is the actual Levee, the gray ‘top’ of the picture is the night sky….)
I made my last ‘leg’ ok…
Even though I was met on top of the levee ‘one way’ path by a vehicle coming at me,
… got lost as soon as I was down the side of the levee,
recovered to get ON the Rail Road Tracks for a number of miles and not find a Train coming at, nor behind me,
run through totally dark Sugar Cane Fields …
… on dirt/mud path ways while trying to find direction flags the size of a book of Matches, that were not driven over during the day by the Monster Harvesting Machines during the day,
I was glad the reminders that I was in a Sugar Cane Field, or else, I might have forgotten….
go onto another set of ‘LIVE’ Train Tracks that included this stretch two bridges with a stream running under the tracks…
(see my foot on the bottom of the pic?)
… then see my direction flags tell me to enter a pathway that looked like a entrance to a HORROR MOVIE set so short, I had to bend over to go through.
That was to spookiest yardage of the entire event.
The entire time, i was ‘hearing’ Jim Stafford’s song ‘I DON’T LIKE SPIDERS and SNAKES’ in my mind….
Some have shook their head and said I am too old to have done this, and that am crazy for putting myself into these ‘several’ CRAZY situations.
They may have reason to be justified on the issue of CRAZY, but I take Issue with the ‘too old’ thing.
Old is something in the thoughts that ‘run’ through the mind.
I dispel those thoughts.
Since my ‘wake up call’ in September/October 2015 with the Heart Attack I have studied these and other issues like ‘NUTRITION’ and a lot of Science surrounding this expanding field of Human Knowledge.
It has been, and continues to be a game changer.
I will not do anything to myself to contribute to ‘getting old’.
I may be CRAZY, but I am not STUPID.
I do not want to be ignorant either.
When the day comes, that I do die, I DO NOT want to look back, and discover that…WOW!! I COULD HAVE DONE ALL THOSE THINGS!!??
I want to look back and grin, and say WOW!! Look at all that neat stuff I DID in these last years of my physical life on this earth!! MAN was it FUN!!
Was COTC 2018 dangerous, was it crazy, was it off the charts??!!
Yep, it was. I hope it will be next year.
(waiting for Josh to come back, and hand me the race)
I will be back to Children of the Cane Ultra in 2019.
At this time I am looking at the FIFTY K Run… and I hear some voice saying, ”Ray, what about that other event…”.
Did I hear …. ‘that’?
Hang on folks, cause we gonna find out!
Peace out Brothers!
Run Bold, and You Don’t EVER have tocount calories, nor ever have to measure protein, and DAMNED SURE NEVER FEAR a CARB!
I burn CArbs … i DON’T fear them.
Carbs are MY BITCHES.
oldmanskinandbones.com
(This Blog was not proofed by www.thecraftyproofer …. I am publishing without her gracious ‘proofing’ of my errors….
…. but if you need PROOFING work done for your things, CHECK OUT HER SERVICES ! She is the best!)