This is one of the events that, even as I type these words, I don’t know how to describe. It pushed me past my limits, showed me the mental weaknesses that I can usually hide (even from myself). While most events show me where I am, this one showed where I need to go.

I flew in the morning before and used the day to acquire gear locally that I could not bring in (food, basic medical supplies, bucket, drop bin, water, gatorade). The first physical challenge occurred when the wheel fell off of my cart. Load everything into the drop bin and hand-carry roughly 70 pounds to the car.

Pre-registration was that evening. We spent some time meeting new and old friends, having dinner and checking our required gear. There were two challenges: Death by Burpees, doing one burpee the first minute, two the second minute, and on until you can’t keep up, prizes for who can keep up the longest.

I managed 9 in the 10th minute, then sat out. Next was the bucket-head challenge. Blindfolded, with a bucket over your head, you must determine when 15 minutes have passed, penalties for each minute over or under. During this time you must be absolutely silent, any speaking results in elimination.

Add to this people tapping on your bucket, children asking questions, yells of “Cornfed!” (and having to fight off the conditioned response of calling it back). At one point I found myself forgetting about keeping time and thinking very nonsensical thoughts. Not sure if it was due to the bucket making normal breathing difficult, or if I actually fell asleep. When times were revealed, I found I was nearly 8 minutes over. My punishment was 8 rounds of 10 pushups, 10 squats, and 10 situps.

We took care to rest up and hydrate as much as possible before the main event. First challenge was to eat a donut suspended from a string without using your hands.

Yay, free calories.

We then moved to a concrete amphitheater for the official start of the event. The race directors explained the basics of what was going to happen and offered some rousing words of encouragement. They then pulled out some athletes to serve as assistant directors and had the rest of us stand in formation. I had a pretty good idea of what was coming, I know a welcome party when I see one.

We were marched into the pond, and one of the directors tapped random people on the shoulder, saying “You. You. You.” When we were all in the water, we were told those people needed to crowd surf on the rest of us, as though we were at a rock concert.

We failed to get them as high as was requested. There simply were not enough of us to put that much weight overhead. Out of the pond, divided into groups for PT. Squats, duck walks, the tunnel of love.

Some of our group were shivering from the cold water, so we penguin-huddled around them, making jokes that we were keeping the Californians to the inside and the more cold-resistant Midwesterners to the outside. Then we were ordered to move the entire group, in our current formation, to the other side of the pond. We grabbed each others shoulders and moved as one, making it much less difficult of a movement than we had feared.

New instructions: Grab all of your gear, go that way. You have 3 minutes to find Darren, he’s down there somewhere.

Down a creek bed, through a culvert, into a pond, and around and around a circle, bobbing and head-banging to the blaring music from the shore.

Tennis balls marked with names were thrown into the middle of the circle, and it was up to us to each find the three with our own names.

Next was to carry all our gear up a mountain and come back down with a concrete block. I strapped the block into my ruck, which was great for carrying it, but sucked when I got back to this:

Hold your block over your head until the last person joins the formation. If it is in your pack, hold your pack over your head.

We were then separated into two groups. One would take 2 blocks each back up the mountain, while the other moved out for a bootcamp workout. I was in the block-carrying group, and as we moved out I heard one of the directors yell that there were two blocks left behind, and the entire group would be punished if they were not taken care of. I and one other went back for them. I loaded two in my pack and hand carried the third, he strung the extras on a rope and dragged them.

Something went very wrong with my mind during that climb. I was pushing my body to the point that I was about to be sick, and my mind gradually changed from one step at a time, keep pushing, you can do this to…

When we hit the next checkpoint, the only way I could take off my pack was to fall down with it and then unbuckle it. Still fighting back being sick, I found the next test was an eating challenge. Roasted crickets and mealworms (popular snack foods in Asia, not a problem) and some variety of hot pepper (big problem). At that point I lost it and told them I was quitting. They talked to me and convinced me to try to get through it. As expected, bugs were no problem, and the pepper left me as an eye-watering, nose-running, gag-reflex mess.

As soon as I was mostly recovered from that, my right wrist was tied to my left shoe and I was told to move a block down the trail without using my hands. Kick the block, butt-scoot up to it, kick it again.

Toward the end, we were given the option of taking off one shoe and carrying the block the rest of the way, then moved as a group back down the mountain, still with only one shoe.

By the time I made it to the bottom, I had my mind right again, but this had taken a lot out of me.

Next was “Chasing the Squirrel,” a group movement to collect mathematical equations that were posted somewhere along our route. When we got back they would be used to solve a coded message. Along the way we had to go up a culvert pipe that had to have been at a 75-80 degree angle.

The race directors then noted that the tail end of the formation was moving far too slowly, and that steps would be taken to cut the slowest members within the next two hours.

Randomly divided into 5-man teams and told to bring in exactly 500 pounds of whatever we could find from the chapel area. 7 concrete blocks, 6 buckets of water and a bit of broken block made 490 pounds. Penalty for under: 10 minutes of jumping jacks in the water.

Next: a group movement to a start point up the mountain, a race to the top (where an unspecified challenge would be given) and back, with the 5 slowest racers to be cut.

Flatlanders like me tend to have serious trouble making time in vertical country, and I soon found myself solidly in the last five. Kept moving, enjoying the views, encouraging the other stragglers along. First challenge was to learn to tie specific knots. The only one that I didn’t know coming in I picked up quickly (thanks to explanations that involved “the bunny goes around the tree, then says he forgot his car keys and goes back in the hole.” Silly but it works). I made up some time there, but lost it again on the constant uphills that followed.

Upon reaching the top, I was given a poem to memorize on the way down. I usually suck at memorizing things, but the poem happened to be one that can be sung as a marching tune, so I used that to force it into my brain.

When I reached the main camp, I knew there were only three people behind me, so I assumed that I was going to be cut. I ran into a teammate, said hello and told him I had to go check in to DNF. His eyes flashed and he barked at me, “Do not say that yet. Get your ass in there and talk to them!”

It turns out the deadline had been extended and I made it by three minutes. Delivered the poem flawlessly, and was given 7 minutes to refuel and rehydrate. Ran to the car, waving to my teammates that I was still in it, topped off my hydration pack and chugged a water and a nutrition shake while running back.

I was assigned to a group doing “community service,” basically cleaning up the campground. My group got the unenviable task of moving all of the heavy stuff that had been brought down for the 500 pound challenge back up the hill to its original location.

After several trips up the hill with concrete blocks, we were given a time limit to get ready for a run and assemble at the amphitheatre. Anyone late would cause all of us to do burpees before the next challenge started.

The sun on the concrete was the next best thing to a reflector oven. 49 burpees as a group before starting Victoria’s Challenge, a 7-mile run to Dave and Busters, collect 300 tickets, and make it back in under 4 hours. We were invited to drop out if we thought we couldn’t make it, but all but a few of us decided to give it a try.

It was in the high 80s, and the hills heading out of the park were too steep for the downhill shuffle that usually allows me to make up time on downhills. With each step I felt myself having to brake the full weight of my body.

Just outside the park I got confused about what road to take, and a volunteer stopped to show me the way, noting that there were several roaming around to keep an eye on us. She stopped to give me a bottle of water about half a mile later, and a few miles after that two guys pulled over to give me freezer pops. At that point of the run, that was the most awesome thing ever.

As I approached Dave and Buster’s, people who were on the way back showed me a shortcut in. Through the parking lot (confusing the heck out of some parking lot attendants) under a fence and up the back stairs.

When I got inside, I was informed that I had an hour and 15 minutes to refill water, get tickets, and make it back. On a flat course on my best day that is more than I can do, and this was not my best day. I accepted that I was not going to make it and got a ride back with two other DNFs.

A DNF at a road race is handled with a rather cold, matter-of-fact attitude. Yep, got you down as a DNF, dismissed. This was something else entirely. The man who had talked me down from quitting the night before congratulated me on how far I had made it, handshakes and hugs as I turned in my vest. Rather than just recognising that we hadn’t made it, everyone there seemed to recognise and respect that we had given it our best.

I got a quick shower and stuck around to cheer on and hang out with the rest of the team, ended up randomly doing an interview with Athlete on Fire, and took notes about what I was missing so I can prepare for next time. Shooting, fire making, a beyond-brutal bootcamp workout with Coach Hell Yeah.

I watched the remaining contestants move out for their last challenge then caught a few hours of sleep in the car. I slept a bit longer than intended, and everyone was back by the time I checked in. They were required to sew patches from each of the challenges they completed onto their vests, and between cold hands and scattered minds some were having trouble, so I took over for two of them.

I picked up my vest after the awards ceremony the next day. It will be my long-run motivation until I return to do this again.

I got enough questions on this pack from my fellow rucking enthusiasts that I decided to write up my thoughts.

Short version:

Your choice of pack should always be dictated by its intended use. This is not a pack that you want to use for a Goruck event. But for general use and adventure races, I cannot think of a better pack.

Testing:

I used this pack for training rucks of up to 100 pounds:

for the ruck portion at Limit of Advance:

and for the 18 hours that I lasted at the SISU Iron.

Pros:

It hauls. It hauls like hell. I easily carried loads in it that would have crippled me with any other pack that I have tried.

The back opens up butterfly-style over the lower shelf, allowing you to strap nearly anything in. Cases of water, concrete blocks, 5-gallon buckets, whatever.

If you want additional pockets, there are several add-on bags available that zip on to the main pack or attach to the MOLLE webbing.

Top and bottom flaps zip open, allowing more ways to access your gear or allowing oblong objects to go through them and still be held securely.

The inside surface is one big wall of MOLLE webbing, giving you lots of options to tie down whatever you need to carry.

Straps have little Velcro tabs that can be used to bind up extra strap so you don’t have a tangle of loose strap to get caught on things.

While it requires being held upside down to drain, it drains reasonably quickly.

If it is not over-packed, it is small enough to be used as an airline carry-on.

Cons:

The straps that cinch down around the side pockets do not have the Velcro tabs.

Many of the pockets will hold water if you submerge it. I think it easily came back up 30 pounds heavier than it went in (but as stated above it drained quickly upside down, and positioning zippers at the bottom alleviated this for the half of the pockets that have zippers).

While it is worth every penny, it is a little expensive. For a weekend backpacker, it is probably over the top. But I would have paid double to have had it at the SUCK last year.

I was excited to see what this race had in store for its second year, and even more excited when I learned that we were using the same training ground as the US military. Awesome race supporting an awesome charity.

This race did not get the level of attendance that it deserved, and as the elites and 2 and 4 man teams moved out, we realized that the open wave would total under a dozen people. We decided to move as a team to make sure no one got left behind and to help out some of the athletes who were a little unsure of their abilities. The nasty rumors that the ruck was roughly twice the distance expected also factored in to this decision.

At the start line, we received the additional instructions that we were doing a water and ammo resupply mission. In addition to the required ruck weight, each person had to carry either a case of bottled water or an ammo can. Those of us that could strapped it to our rucks, those who couldn’t carried it however they could. We moved out following gravel roads, switching out weights as needed.

The team I ended up with were different from most that I have run with, but also a lot of fun. Silly jokes along the way, stopping for group selfies.

We reached our first checkpoint and were allowed to drop our additional weight and move on with just our rucks. The area we were moving through was a mock-up of a foreign village, very interesting to see the areas where our troops train.

Next checkpoint, drop rucks and move on unloaded. The joking and shenanigans continued as we moved. One of the teammates jokingly said that she needed carried, so this happened:

And then it caught on.

Next checkpoint, receive one of our dog tags and turn around to head back to our rucks. Stopped for a group shot:

and moved out.

Back to the first checkpoint and found out that we needed to carry the gear we had dropped off there back to the start point.

Between the hilly terrain and everyone being a bit tired, this leg of the ruck was the hardest. Several of the group started to break down and the rest of us stepped up to carry their weight.

A truck pulled up to us, the driver offered to take our extra weight, and gave us a warning: He had already received “Warning One,” meaning he had to have this conversation with us. He would shortly be given Warning Two, meaning he had to take all of our extra weight. At Warning Three, he would pick us up and give us a ride back to the start point.

One of the team dropped off their extra weight, and we all stepped up our pace. I was truly proud of some of the weaker of the group. They pushed like hell for that last two miles.

We got no word of further warnings, made it back to the start point, dropped our rucks, and started the obstacle course.

I made it through the stump jump easily and went back to spot some of my teammates.

Next was the Weaver, which only one of our group was able to complete.

The reverse ladder, which most of us were able to complete.

When we got to the Dirty Name, I was able to make it unassisted. The cadre at this point asked if we were a team. I responded that we were “a team in practice, but not in name.” He laughed and said that we could put someone on top to help the rest through, so I climbed up, and others helped from below.

Next was a torture device called the Tough Nut

the low wire crawl

the Tarzan swing

and a series of different height hurdles to go over.

We were next instructed on the confidence climb, told how to complete it while keeping 3 points of contact, and went after it one at a time.

I reached a point where I could not reach the next rung without going down to only one point of contact, so I stopped at that level and went back down.

Made it over the reverse wall and helped get the rest of the team over.

The last obstacle was appropriately called the Tough One. My leg cramped up and I failed to make it up the rope.

After everyone else had had a go at it, we suddenly realized that this was the end of the course and made a mad dash to be the first to cross the last 50 feet to the finish line.

We moved on to the shooting portion of the competition, 10 shots each with .40 cal Glock and AR15, using the Army’s reactive target range.

Pistol was at 20 and 25 yards, and I managed 3 hits. Need practice.

Rifle was at 100 and 150 yards. I hit 7, with all of my misses being close but a touch low. The cadre asked if I wanted to go again. Second time my first shot at each distance went high, but after adjusting the remaining 8 were all hits.

All I can say is that I can’t wait to do it again.

This was my 5th GORUCK Challenge and my 4th Light, so I thought I was coming into this with a fair idea of what would happen. It turns out that there is always something new with each event.

Our Cadre posted specific instructions of how our gear was to be presented when he walked up to the formation, which none of my previous Cadre had done. We were also told to bring blankets that would be donated to a homeless shelter at some point during the night.

As the team members got set up at the start point, I did my best to get everyone into something resembling a formation and several others who had been through this before went around checking that everyone’s gear was laid out as required.

Cadre arrived, went through roll call and general administrative announcements, and started the event by telling us we had 30 seconds to run to a pylon under a nearby bridge and back. We all took off, and while I was near the back of the pack just by ability I stayed back enough to ensure that no one came back to the formation alone.

When I got back to formation, Cadre and many of the first to get back were already moving out, and our gear had been scattered around, forcing us to gather it up before we could move out. (Tip for next time: if you have to display your gear like this, make sure all pockets have been re-closed.)

We followed the rest of the gagglefu… er, um, formation to an open field where the welcome party started. Pushups, burpees, The tunnel of love, a buddy drag that I could barely do, wheelbarrow carries. Slowly we started moving less as individuals and more as a unit, but were still figuring it out when the welcome party ended.

We were then told to form two lines with all our gear (I was team-carrying one of the two bundles of blankets. Not all that heavy, but severely clumsy to carry) while volunteers went off to collect our log and two basketball-sized rocks. We were given a location to get to and a time hack, and moved out.

More than a few of the crew had done this before, and it made a difference. Trading out people under the log, switching out other weights, and especially figuring out where to put people of varying heights along the log went much faster than previous challenges.

We reached our destination, and started part two of the welcome party. Flutter kicks, more burpees, low crawls, etc. We were then told to find a partner that we could lift for buddy carries, and quickly irritated the Cadre by making it more complicated than it needed to be. I started out with someone who I could get up, but as he was much taller than me he couldn’t get low enough to lift me. We switched out hoping to find a better match, and I ended up as part of a pair where neither of us could lift the other. We were given wheelbarrow carries as an alternate. I grunted my way through that, and then had it pointed out that the only instructions given were to find someone you can carry, rather than to find two equally-matched people.

New team leaders, new destination, log up, go.

Made it to the next destination and divided up for a game of Red Rover. Positions were shifted around a bit to give us a chance to review names, and we were informed that the losing team would be punished, and anyone who forgot a name would be punished.

The game was interesting to say the least, and the losing team had to send two volunteers to eat a complete MRE in 5 minutes or less.

We were given a few minutes to rest and refuel, then new team leaders and new destination.

The next destination was particularly fun. It was a park with a large geodesic dome that we went over.

Log back up, move out.

We were allowed to ditch the log some distance later, and that increased our pace considerably. We moved on to the Battleship Memorial…

…where our limited knowledge of historical trivia and one of the team being caught with a watch earned us a PT session.

Back moving, more miles, fatigue setting in. Fewer people stepping up to carry extra weight, but some people showing remarkable resolve. Next destination, divided into two teams. A race to build pyramids from the park picnic tables, with the prize of Cadre buying donuts. Never underestimate the power of donuts for tired athletes.

Moved out to the donut shop, where winning and losing teams were treated to breakfast.

Next destination was the homeless mission, where we dropped off the two bundles of blankets that we had carried for the past 10 hours or so.

At this point, several of us were starting to think that this was going to be an easier-than-normal challenge. Then, just as we were moving out, seven teammates are designated casualties, and we were given a tight time hack to reach our extract point. A few minutes to take packs off the wounded and get someone to carry them, and off as fast as we could manage.

Movements with more than a few wounded flat-out suck, there is no way around it. People start to break down, it gets harder to find a volunteer to carry something/someone, and keeping in any sort of formation becomes difficult. In addition, tempers start flaring and it becomes more difficult to keep the team together.

We missed our time hack, and were given a new time hack to a new location. Cadre also admonished us to keep working as a team, because if we fall apart under pressure now we would be totally screwed.

We made our time hack, and with that the Challenge was complete. We ended with singing “God Bless the USA” and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, got our patches, and headed out to clean up and rest up before the Light.

The start of the Light we had to lay our gear out in formation much like at the start of the challenge, except rather than blankets for the homeless we brought Easter candy to distribute to children we ran into along the way. Rather than scattering our gear, we were given 30 seconds to pack up and ruck up. We all missed the time hack, were punished with pushups, and so began the welcome party.

There were some fun touches thrown into the Light. Singing “God Bless the USA” while squatting waist-deep in a duck pond. (Couldn’t find a shot of during the actual song, but this is just prior.)

Using a poleless litter to move our designated casualty.

A challenge to build something from straws and newspaper that would protect an egg being dropped from the tallest point of the playground equipment. My team tried to shape the newspaper aerodynamically to land on the heaviest padding, while the other team fashioned the newspaper into a parachute. Both ideas worked.

An egg toss competition, teams that broke their egg having to do flutter kicks until the last team broke theirs.

A new world record in the 2-GRT powdered donut eating challenge.

I was made one of the two team leaders for our last movement. We stopped for a photo in front of the falls…

… and moved out to meet our extract team. Something about the instructions we were given didn’t seem right, distance, time hack, how far the end point would be from the start point…

And then the reason became clear. Three wounded (leaving only seven to carry everything) new time hack, and our extract point was back at the start point.

This was one of the heaviest carries I have ever experienced. I either had my ruck and a casualty, or my ruck and two others. Very proud of how the team stuck together and kept working as a team through this.

Our team got cheers from the overlooking balconies as we headed across the last bridge to our end point. As we topped the last hill and entered the park, Cadre called out, “20 seconds!”

“Come on guys, 20 seconds, we got this!”

“20 seconds to get to where?”

“Doesn’t matter, just push like hell for the next 20 seconds!”

Cadre indicated where we were to form up, and announced we had made the time hack, mission complete. Ended with the Pledge of Allegiance and received our patches.

I feel like everyone dug deep and did well on this. There were a few that I had doubts about when I first met them, but they all more than proved themselves.

Notes for improvement: I can buddy carry when I need to, but have trouble keeping the pace under that much load. Something I need to work on for next time.

I usually confine my write-up to the event itself, but in this case I have made a breakthrough that I think deserves to be included.

All of the crazy stuff I have accomplished over the past few years has mainly been due to my sheer stubbornness and refusal to quit. Most of the tasks I took on that required exceptional strength, speed, or athleticism, I usually failed. A friend invited me to a dry run for the upcoming SISU Iron, and while I accepted I took it as a given that I was going to be an “unofficial” finisher (complete the event but fail to make time hacks or otherwise fall short of the standard).

By whatever odds fit, the book that I brought to read on the bus ride happened to have a chapter dealing with self-limiting thinking. How the four-minute mile was deemed impossible until someone was crazy enough to focus on breaking it. How “unsolvable” math problems were cracked by those who had simply not heard that they were impossible. How believing that you cannot meet the standard will prevent you from meeting it.

At that point my mind made the shift from “I can’t do it” to “F*ck it, let’s find out. Game on, b*tches!”

Many hours in bus and car and 2 hours of sleep later, we found the parking lot that was to be our starting point and started sorting out gear and meeting our fellow crazies.

Our cadre, Ande and Rick, lead us through warm-up calisthenics, squats, burpees, flutter kicks, an insane number of mountain climbers, etc.

I had fallen behind the count on a few exercises, but overall not bad. Next was to confirm that we all had our required gear, ruck up and move out.

We moved as a group to a scenic overlook (Starved Rock), filmed 30 burpees to send to Spartan Race, and moved on to the most ungodly set of stairs that I am ever likely to see.

We were given our first challenge: 2 hours, go up the stairs with your axe above your head and back down, each 5-man team had to achieve 75 laps minimum, averaging out to 15 per person.

I kept pace with a teammate who was struggling a bit, we all encouraged each other as we passed, and teammates would check where each of us were to get a running total. I was at 12 laps when my team hit the 75-lap minimum, but I went for two more laps just to know that I could.

We were given a short break to rehydrate and eat before moving out, taking a detour through a culvert, and heading back to our start point/base camp. At his point I found that the buckle of my pack’s waist belt was broken, and jerry-rigged it together as well as I could. It worked, but it still caused the straps to dig into my shoulders more than usual.

Next task had each team tethered together with a length of parachute cord, given a destination and a tire to carry, 90 minute time hack, move out.

Toward the end of this movement, the front man of our team stopped and called, “Hey Rick, get your axe out…”

A raccoon was on his back in the path, feet in the air making twitching movements. As we approached he flipped on to his feet and looked at us defensively. With five of us tied together, this could become a mess easily.

Rick threw a chunk of log at him and flushed him a distance off the trail, and we passed by.

The last half mile to our destination had some rough terrain, and some that we took a detour just to look at.

We reached our checkpoint, took a few minutes to eat and hydrate…

And were told next to fill a bucket with water and carry it to the amphitheater cave that we had passed a quarter mile before. We went through group PT:

We then carried our buckets of water back, and found that the easter eggs that had been part of our required gear were distributed throughout the canyon, and we had 1 hour to recollect them.

Mission accomplished.

Ruck up and head back by a slightly different route. We were told that anyone who had carried a tire on the way in could not carry one on the way out, but about halfway back people started to break down and many of us who had already carried it started taking it again. In particular, Schmitty spent a good portion of that movement carrying two.

The hardest point for me was when, after fighting the tire up yet another set of steep stairs, I asked to hand off the tire and everyone who did not already have one was unable or unwilling to take it. After the first few excuses, Schmitty came back to me and carried two for a few minutes to give me a break, then I took the smaller of the two from him and carried it for the rest of the movement. (The smaller tires were about 20-25 pounds, the big boys were around 35.)

Back to the start point, a half-hour or so break to eat, drink and tend to my feet. The next challenge was exactly what I had been fearing coming into this: a 4.8- mile timed run, when I am already worn out, with a time hack only slightly longer than my usual time when I am fresh. If I missed the time hack, I could continue but would not be an official finisher.

The two turning points were our two cadre, run .4 miles, high-five Ande, run back, high-five Rick, and repeat 6 times.

We shouted encouragements to each other and gave high-fives as we passed to encourage others along. Time hack was 1:05, I made it in 1:02.

I found out after I finished that the fastest few had run extra laps to be given to anyone who was close, to keep them in the game. Love this team…

Next we paired off for an egg toss, anyone who drops the egg must do hand-release pushups until everyone else has dropped it.

Gear back on, down the insane set of stairs yet again, to do 2 hours of moving PT, lunges, bear crawls, inchworms, etc, followed by slow-burn pushups on the park benches just after nightfall.

Next task was a race, with the prize of getting out of the last challenge, which we were warned would “freaking suck”. A set distance in your ruck, maximum number of laps in a set time. I made it 10 laps before I had to stop to sort out a leg cramp.

Last challenge: A competition to hold a wall sit as long as possible. If you drop out before the last person, 50 burpees.

My leg cramped up again in under a minute, so I decided to take my burpees and be done with it, and started helping others with theirs as more people dropped out.

Weight was added to the remaining competitors as time wore on. Here are the final two:

When the last man dropped, 9 of us stepped in to donate 5 burpees each, so he only had to do 5.

And, 15 hours in, we made it.

What I learned from this:

Spare parts for your gear are a good thing to have.

The more structured training plans I am using are reaping rewards. I have gotten a lot stronger and a little faster.

I can embrace a lot more suck than I want to think about when I have to.

Believing that you are not up to snuff (because…umm, why again?) holds you back from more goals than you can imagine. Quit doing it.

I reached the last page of my training journal earlier this week and started a new one. This seemed a good time to look back and see what worked, what didn’t, and what mattered. I thought I would share these thoughts for anyone who might find them useful.

Up about 10 pounds, but max pushups, pullups, and running and rucking speeds have all improved.

Biggest takeaway from this span of my training: having a solid training plan is absolutely essential to consistent progress. Writing out said plan in a way that you can understand and follow it may be even more important.

At the start of this journal, roughly 9 months ago, I would pull random workouts from various sources. It worked, but results were far from consistent. Things got a little better when I started using the Stronglifts 5×5 program for about half of my workouts, continued through the kettlebell challenge and really took off when I restarted the commercial structured training plans that I had bought some time ago, but fallen off of using.

I had fallen off of using them for one reason: My ability to keep records and make sure I knew what workout needed done absolutely sucked. I would also often get confused as far as where I was in the workout. Have I done four rounds of this or only three? Do I need to do the burpees or the mountain climbers next?

What finally solved both of these problems was taking the rounds and sets from the printed training plan, and turning them into a bingo sheet in the notebook:

Marking down every few sets keeps me from getting lost,  I have what needs done today (and what the results of the last test/max/whatever were) with me every time, and I can use rest days to fill out the coming week or so of workouts.

An event that I am doing in May required a written submission of why I am doing this. While I started to type it here simply because the website counts words for me, I decided to go ahead ans post it.

My life bottomed out about four years ago. I had lost nearly everything, spent a few months homeless, and had lost all hope for humanity.

The point that I started to move past that was when I started racing. Starting with Spartan sprints and Warrior Dash, I started to see the better side of mankind, people who will encourage you on when you need it, slow their finishing time to help others through an obstacle, and cheer the loudest for the poor soul who can barely drag himself to the finish.

As I moved into tougher events, I found more and more of the type of people I wanted to be like, and I became more like them. GORUCK, The Suck, ultramarathons, I went after the toughest events I could get into.

So when a teammate invited me to sign up to a 30-hour event in the mountains of California, it seemed like the next logical step on the road to who I want to become.

I hadn’t realized exactly how much happened this year until I started gathering my thoughts for this blog.

About 18 formal events, depending on how you count. Some epic road trips and long plane rides. The feeling that I am finally becoming competent at what I do rather than just muddling along. And perhaps the biggest change, a change of venue and a shift in lifestyle, moving from Fort Wayne to Sioux Falls and adjusting from freewheeling bachelor to family man.

So what to do in the coming year? Keep going, keep growing. Keep pushing into tougher challenges.

I have settled in with gym and home training here in Sioux Falls, and it looks like I have a better training setup here than what I had in Indiana. I have my training plans set up, and I am also posting my workout plans to the support group so we can all go through it together.

Two big points that I have to get right: Maintaining a balance of training and family life, and sticking to a plan once I am on one. I am terrible about starting a plan, then finding what appears to be a better plan and jumping ship. This has resulted in some points of my training being awesome and some being woefully inadequate.

Happy New Year to all my readers. Keep pushing, never give up. May the new year bring you accomplishments that you can’t even fathom now.

I found a 20- workout challenge here (http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/10000-swing-kettlebell-workout) and, while immidately taken with the idea, couldn’t quite figure out how to implement it with the workout plans I was on at the time. With roughly 45 days left in 2014, I decided to throw it in at the end of the year and start the new year with more structured training plans. Kettlebell every other day, rest or run between them, a few days for when things just don’t work out. I am terrible about following the letter of programs like this, but I love getting at the gist of a program and adapting to the abilities and equipment available.

I usually only write up my synopsis of a challenge from my memories of it at the end. This one, I decided to write up events as they happen. Let’s see how this goes.

Post script: This got REALLY long. While I will post the full version below, here is the short version:

This program will do everything it says it will. I have gotten stronger in nearly every way it can be measured. In particular, my glutes and the front points of my hip have gained visible muscle. And with a goal number and a deadline, it will push you to keep going when you really want to quit.

Don’t talk yourself out of it if you can’t do the prescribed weight. Adjust to your abilities, and keep testing your abilities as they grow.

One tip: Buy a kettlebell to have at home that is just a touch heavier than you want it to be. You will grow into it, and it is great to have the option of doing the workout wherever you are with only the one piece of equipment.

Now the long version:

11/18: Had to deviate from the prescribed sets/ reps (15-20-30-35 is what I used to make 100 swings each round.) Started with 14 kg kettlebell, dropped to 10 kg when I couldn’t make it through the 30 swings in the second round, moved up to 12 kg for the last round. Did 2-3 pullups between sets. Total was 500 swings and 44 pullups. 500/10 000.

11/19: woke up with mild soreness in every muscle from my hands to the balls of my feet. This really is a full-body workout. Rest day and work on packing up the apartment. Perhaps centering this challenge around two moves (helping Steph move then moving myself) wasn’t the brightest of choices…

11/20: Stuck at work till 11 pm. Today is not my day.

11/21: Got irritated that I had to miss yesterday, and did 500 swings in as few sets as possible this morning. Managed it in 8 sets. Switching hands within the set helps a lot. Heading out on a bus tonight to help Steph move. Kettlebell in the rucksack. 1000/10 000.

11/22-11/24- Helping Steph move, lots of heavy stuff lifted, but no swings done.

11/25- Morning workout, only had the kettlebell with me, so did alternating sets of burpees and swings. Total of 500 swings and 30 burpees, finished up with 4×4 pullups. 1500/ 10 000

11/26- Rest day.

11/27- Had access to a decent hotel workout room. 5 rounds of 20 swings left handed, 4 lat pulldowns, 20 swings right handed, 3 lat pulldowns, 30 swings left handed, 2 lat pulldowns, 30 swings right handed. I think I will keep this pattern, as it makes right-left balance easier to figure out. 2000/10 000.

11/28- Rest day. I now have 33 days left in 2014, and 16 workouts left. Need to stay on it.

11/29- Schedule went nuts and I didn’t get them in.

11/30- Got to the gym to have various sizes of kbells to play with. Kept the 20-20-30-30 pattern and did 4-3-2-1 sets of goblet squats between sets of swings. Swing weights were 30 pound, 12 kilo and 10 kilo, depending on the set I was on and how I was feeling. Followed up with 5 miles on the treadmill. 2500/ 10 000.

Points of note: One of the plusses of high-rep workouts like this is that you begin to truly understand the exercise and what it does. I can feel changes happening at the points of my shoulders and hips. Pavel described the kettlebell swing as the closest thing to a fight without throwing a punch, and it never made any sense to me. I have finally felt the movement enough to see what he was saying.

12/1- FIghting an ear/sinus infection. Taking the day off.

12/2- Still feel like crap. Really wanted to hit it today, but just didn’t feel up to it.

12/3- I can breathe again! Got 4 sets of 125 swings in before work. 3000/10000.

12/5- No swings, start loading for move to SD.

12/6- Had to get them in to say goodbye to my gym. Doing that before loading up the rest of the apartment and driving 18 hours may not have been the brightest thing ever, but it is what I did. 3500/10 000.

12/7-12/8- The lack of sleep on the drive out knocked me flat, and I took a couple days to recover and set up my new space here. Some lifting and moving as I unloaded the U Haul, but no workout per se.

12/9- Back at it. Not feeling the best, and there are a lot of random things that need done. 20 swings left, 20 swings right, do a random household task, another round of swings, another task. 520 total. 4020/ 10 000.

22 days left, 6000 swings left. Falling behind. Need to step it up a touch.

12/11- hit up a new local gym. Pilates class between rounds 1 and 2, goblet squats with 26kg bell between sets of swings with 10-16 kg. 4520/ 10 000.

12/12- 12/14- Not bothering to write out my excuses. no swings done.

12/15- Needed to be on hand to make sure the kids got up on time, so my morning workout was done at home with a 20# bell. Later in the day I was told some opinions that made me want to work even harder to prove the doubters wrong. (I will write that as its own blog post at some point. Post script- written and posted while this one is still in draft.) I rucked 1.5 miles through snow and 30 mph winds to the gym, knocked out my swings and pullups, and rucked back. 5520/10 000.

I also realized that there are little bonus movements that can find their ways into my workouts. The clean and press when I transition from swings to OH kettlebell squats, the jump up to grab the pullup bar, etc. Will try to work these in as often as I can.

12/17- Went for 2-handed swings and tried for heavier bells. 6020/10 000.

12/18- Went to gym for pilates in the morning, then went back in the evening to get my girevik on. Managed to do it all with the 16 kg bell. Sad that I am excited about finally being strong enough to do the workout with the prescribed female weight, but it is a big improvement from where I started. 6520/10 000.

12/21- Got them in first thing in the morning. 7020/10 000.

12/22- Did an ass-kicking boot camp class, then went upstairs to get my swings in. Was worn out and went down to 10-12 kg bells. 30 left, 30 right, 40 alternating with running between sets. 7520/ 10 000.

A young man stopped me in the locker room to say that he had been impressed by the alternating swings. I hadn’t been aware that anyone was paying attention to what I was doing.

12/23- I had intended on taking a light day, but I’m running out of time before new years, and holiday hours will limit me in the next few days, so I got another 500 in. I surprised myself, still sore from yesterday but was able to do it all with 18 kg or heavier bells. 8020/10 000.

12/24- No time for the full 500 workout, but got 200 in between other tasks. 8220/10000.

12/29- Finishing up cleaning out the old apartment, and it turns out my old gym membership is still good. Pushed into heavier weights. 8720/ 10 000. Feeling sick on the way home, run to the finish will be interesting.

13/30- Still recovering from a sinus infection, but feeling good enough to hit it hard. Running out of time, got 750 swings in. 9470/10 000.

12/31- 600 swings to put me over the top, just in time. Happy new year. 10,070.

Interesting to see the annual stats.

Thank you to all of my readers. I really expected to be the only one reading this, and it is being read in 78 countries.

Perhaps a couple more posts this year, and on to 2015.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,500 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.