Oh Ruck

May 9, 2012

Yesterday I signed up for GoRuck Light in Philadelphia...on May 18th. For anyone mathematically challenged, that is 10 days from now. To further humiliate myself I will be undertaking this endeavor with a friend, who is active-duty light-infantry in the Army and has already completed the more difficult version of this event (oh, and 4 tours of duty).

After completing my ill-conceived and impulsive registration,  I went to the gym last night and took the Army PT test. 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minute break, 2 minutes of sit-ups, 2 minute break, 2 mile run. Then your results are converted to a formulaic score based on gender and age. 26 push-ups, 48 sit-ups, and I didn't even finish the run. I failed.

Failure is not an experience with which I am entirely unfamiliar, but that does not make it any less frustrating. I have no shortage of readily available excuses...I had a baby five months ago, my ankle is fractured and with a ligament injury, I haven't had time to properly train between work and the kids. But I was raised by an Army officer and know better; excuses are neither to be offered nor accepted.

So, tonight, I set out for the track after finishing up at my second job, cooking dinner, and getting the kids fed, bathed, and in bed. It was 9:45pm before I even left the house.

The Workout Plan:

4 sets of:

400m run
50 squats
40 walking lunges

with 3 minutes to rest between sets, then

3 sets of:

100m run
50 m bear crawl
20 x 4-count flutter kicks
1 minute Front Leaning Rest (FLR's)

with 3 minutes to rest between sets.

All of the local high schools in our DC suburb were busy with spring sports...lacrosse, baseball, softball, soccer, tennis...and so I found myself on an unlit elementary school track at 10 o'clock. I measured out the distance (an elementary school track requires 5 laps for a mile instead of 4, so I had to use the Nike Run app to determine the quarter-mile mark), and then placed a forgotten soccer ball at mark. I started my music, Eminem station on IHeartRadio, started the clock, and then started my first set.

I knew during my first rest break that the second half of the workout was not possible, and seriously wondered if I was even going to make it through all four sets of this workout. The running sucked, I hate sprints. The first 25 squats didn't hurt and felt like a break from running, but by 35 I was straining. The walking lunges were the worst part, I had to keep catching my balance because my gluts and quads were so tight.

Like most life challenges, the mental was significantly more difficult than the physical. I finished. When I got home I could barely make it up the stairs and my shower was little more than leaning against the cool tiled wall while the steaming water loosened my muscles.

Set 1: 5:50.5
Set 2: 6:33.5
Set 3: 6:53.7
Set 4: 6:43.7

In total, 1-mile, 200 squats, and 160 walking lunges in 26:01.4.

It is 11:35pm now, and I suspect I will have no trouble sleeping tonight.

Final thought: Oh, Ruck! What did I get myself in to?