Monday: GORUCK Recap; Mission Accomplished

I really never thought I'd be laying in murky water in an unknown location at 3 am with a 50 lb backpack full of bricks on my chest, but there I found myself early Saturday morning convincing my body to lay in freezing cold water when I knew I'd have at least 9 more hours of the GORUCK Challenge to endure in wet clothing, socks and shoes.
It's hard to describe all that occurred in those 12 hours but here's some highlights: wading to waist height in water around 3 am trying not to lose a shoe in the deep mud, push ups and flutter kicks in water, backward bear crawls up several flights of steps then forward bear crawls back down, missions to reach locations with penalties like inchworm push ups, buddy carries and wall sits if we missed our time, Indian style running from one location to the next, carrying a fallen tree out of the woods then at least a mile; it was at least 60 ft long and weighed at least 900 lbs (not kidding), lunging across an entire bridge, dropping to stomach and back from standing in the sand at Gray's Lake, alligator crawls over a large distance (or so it seemed), scaling a wall that was over 10 ft tall, running through the skywalk, carrying our backpacks several miles with only 1 strap or no strap at all...all within 12 hours and 18-19 miles.
There were several times I wanted to quit. If you quit they call you a cab and you stay put until you're picked up. I had money in my rucksack for just such an event. To say this was a mental challenge more than a physical challenge is an understatement. My hip flexors were screaming as were my feet and shoulders, but my mind was in constant battle between thinking positive and caving to the soreness and fatigue.The leader asked us to do things he knew we couldn't get done in time he set...there were missions that were set up to fail. I knew I had an inner voice that helped me push through tough workouts but I'd say Saturday gave that inner voice a really good test.
After reaching the Capitol then being told we weren't done yet and had to make to a nearby memorial carrying 3 people in 3 minutes, then making that goal only to have to make it to another memorial carrying 2 people in 3 minutes, only to find out we missed the time goal by less than a minute so push ups were in order, then being told we had 45 minutes to get back to the sculpture garden...my spirits were crushed and my body was quitting. 45 more minutes when I was sure we were about done?! And we had no idea if after that 45 minutes we would actually even be finished. With tears threatening I got my rucksuck on and filed into rank and began to slowly jog/limp. Then the leader stopped us and said the best thing I've ever heard,' Congratulations, you have finished the GORUCK Challenge'. Mission accomplished...dare I say it was even a little fun?? :)