16 Feb 2024

From Living with a Seal: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet

Whiteout

We wake up to blizzard conditions. Sixteen inches of snow with 30-mph winds and -7 degrees with wind chill. Miraculously my groin feels better. Maybe it was just a cramp?

Repeatedly scrolling across the bottom of my television screen is an “EXTREME WEATHER WARNING.” The local news in Connecticut is advising everyone to “STAY INSIDE UNLESS IT’S AN EMERGENCY.”

“This is fucking perfect,” SEAL says. I guess he considers this an emergency.

He stares at the TV, bobbing his head like he’s listening to Jay Z, only he’s not wearing any headphones.

Finally he says, “We gotta head out.”

We run 3.5 miles in the mountains.

SEAL decides to wear the fifty-pound weight vest. He is out of his mind. […]

When we get home, I think I’m frostbitten. My shirt is so cold and wet it hurts to take it off. In fact, my shirt is actually frozen. When I manage to get it off, it sits upright in my chair.