A few years ago, I was at a fundraising dinner seated next to a Vietnam veteran who self-admittedly suffered from severe PTSD. While discussing his condition, he said to me, “that stuff never goes away.” My response wasn’t what you might expect. I told him that while the memories bothering him won’t disappear, the …
Back in 2018, I had been training to attempt my first HTL in September in Pittsburgh alongside my sister and quite a few other Steel City Ruck Club GRTs. I’d been in the best shape of my life since having my two sons in 2011 and 2013. Then I found out I was pregnant, and …
For those of you who did the D-Day Heavy in DC with me, many of you got to hear about this man right here. For those of you who didn’t, I am excited to tell you his story. This is my neighbor John. He just turned 100 this year and he is a World War …
A new book argues carrying weight for distance—not running—is what made us human Last fall I found myself standing on the Arctic Tundra. I was about 120 miles from civilization and taking the first steps of a rather epic ruck. One hundred pounds of caribou filled my pack, with four-foot antlers bursting from its top. …
Honor is a tricky sentiment. It’s not as clear cut as the movies or novels often portray. Over the course of my life, there have been times when I felt that I fell short of being honorable. I have regrets over things I did or did not do. There exists a complicity amongst the living, as …
Author’s Note: As I’ve stated before, nothing I state here is prescriptive. I am not a doctor, a psychiatrist, or a neuroscientist. I am someone who has lived with chronic anxiety for over a decade and chronic illness for the last five years. As a result, I’ve proactively sought out and personally tested numerous neural …