Beyond the Blog: The Carolinas CAN Ruck For Autism

Concord, NC - Of course, I don't really hate this but I'm in the last two weeks of peak training and I'm exhausted, cranky, sore, and have a lot of stuff going on in the other parts of my life.  So when I'm looking at 5 hours of ruck training on Saturday and Sunday....yeah, I hate this.

  Me and Coach Jeff having a post-workout conversation at the 300 gym.  I really like the strength and stability work he is putting me through, its a great break from the miles. Concord, NC - Going to be a short one today as it's already Tuesday Feb 23rd.   Last week we bumped the mileage up to 20-mile workouts, which is taking me about 4 1/2 hours. Sometimes 5 hours if I need to take a break.   I'm having to break up some of the runs with bike work to keep my feet from hurting too much.  It helps a lot.   Another new twist is that I'm training with Slappy in my ruck instead of the 25 lb weight vest in the bag.  Slappy is BIG, as you can see from the treadmill pic, and very bulky.   He pulls back on my center of gravity and it is a lot harder to run or ruck than I imagined.   I've got to find a solution for getting the ball up higher on my back, because its kind of painful bouncing off my lower back.   My ch...

  Concord, NC - Finished this block of three 19-mile rucks but I am WIPED.   Today (Sunday) was a combo ruck-run-ruck with Ted and Charlie starting at 6:30.   Rucked 4 as a warm-up, ran 12 in the rain (each running mile is 1/2 of a rucking mile, in my own twisted calculus), then rucked 9.   The last leg was horrible...freezing rain and I completely bonked about 5 miles in.  I forgot to eat and need to remember how that creeps up on you.   Ted's wife Cyn took care of me with a plate of chocolate chip cookies, which are the closest thing to miracle recovery food that I know. Yesterday (Saturday) was more freezing rain so I ran on the treadmill, watched two movies and ran the last mile outside in the rain like a lunatic. Tuesday I almost cried when my alarm went off at 2:30.  That is an absolutely stupid time to wake up and run for 4 hours.   BUT, it was a nice morning with temps in the high 40's and by the time I got home at...

  Concord, NC - This week the mileage has increased to 18 miles of rucking 3 times a week, and the distance is starting to take a toll.    My pace has slowed down to about 13 min/mile so each run is taking almost 4 hours.  If I want to be home by 7 am that means a 3 am start!  In other whining news, my feet are starting to really hurt...its not planter faciitis, just general inflammation from all that pounding.   Cheryl had a great idea to interject riding with my running, so here I am during the SuperBowl last night, with my bike parked next to the treadmill.  1 hr run, 30 min ride, 1 hr run, 30 min ride...rinse and repeat.   Pretty boring actually, but I finally got to watch "Django" in its entirety.   Love that QT! We still need drivers for the event..anyone? Anyone? Please reach out if you are interested, we can't do this without a ride!

This weekend was the annual F3 Gremlin Event, a 5 hr sufferfest to honor our brother Rick Pinto.   Gremlin was an F3 Mint Hill Pax member who passed away after a running workout in January 2018 due to a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Tonya, and three beautiful  daughters: Sophia, Gabrielle and Alina.  This CSAUP (Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless) event, will be in his honor and forever memorialize his name. We will also be honoring several of our other brothers from the greater F3Nation and FiA PAX who left us too soon. It will be the toughest thing you will ever love to do with 100+ of your closest, sweaty friends.   I ran 17 miles on the treadmill today (Sunday) because it was totally crappy out but at least got caught up on a few movies that Cheryl won't watch with me (any horror movie, any war movie, any dystopian dark movie, all of which I love).   This wednesday we up the mileage to 18....so far, so good!

Training Update II Concord, NC- Just finished this weekend's set of 16 miles Sat/Sun.   Yesterday (Sat.) was Charlie V.'s birthday so we celebrated with a 7 am cupcake before heading out.  Charlie, Ted and I have been running together for almost 20 years, and friendships like that are worth celebrating in their own right. When I do a combined run/ruck, I count 2 miles running for 1 mile rucking.  So yesterday I rucked 7, ran 12 (=6 ruck), then rucked 4 for a total of 17 rucking miles.   This morning I was tired, slept in until 8, and then did 14 on the treadmill and finished with 2 fast miles outside.  At least I got caught up on Netflix... Stability Stability is something I don't have.  Coach Jeff has a comprehensive routine to help me address the imbalances in my biomechanics.  From one-legged squats to pistol squats, we are working on getting my core balanced.   Today was fun, doing one-armed thrusters on a bosu ball, which I've ...

  Concord, NC - Some of you have asked about my ruck sack, so I thought I'd share some of the details of my very close friend here.    Okay, actually, none of you have asked about my ruck sack but I'm still gonna share details because it's cool. I use a modified 5.11 tactical ruck, meaning it's designed for heavy use in the field.  Its reinforced at all the seams and designed for quick on and off.    It's not the only ruck out there, but until someone sponsors me, I'm not going to name them off.   Anyway, I like this one alot and I've added a few modifications: * Quick release chest and waist strap (amazingly, these were not part of the original gear) * Front and back flashing lights * Zip-tied phone carrier  I need to add an accessible carrier for liquids.   The ones on the side work well if you are hiking, but when I'm rucking they are just out of reach and I look ridiculous flapping my arms to the side trying to move the bottle u...

  I've decided to count down to May 1, our launch date, so we are at 15 weeks out!  That's not to say I have only 15 weeks to get ready, as I've been training for a few months already.  But its good to have a counter to keep that sense of urgency.   My big challenge right now is not the training itself, it's finding the time for training.  Today, I had to get up at 3 a.m. in order to get in 15 rucking miles, which takes me 3 hrs of movement and 20 minutes for nutrition and potty breaks and gear/clothes changes.  This photo was taken just after my return at 6:30: Still fitting in strength and mobility training to address the imbalance in my legs.  Coach Jeff has me doing some surprisingly tough movements, such as doing leg kicks on the balance ball, which seems to get everything: arms, shoulders, core, and legs: That's all I got for now.   We are making progress with logistics and planning, and I'm close to finishing with the new route t...

Concord, NC - This weekend was a 14 mile/day ruck for 3 days in a row.  But the Afton F3 guys were hosting the Mt Afton Challenge on Saturday, and I wanted to do well, so I saved Friday for a Coach Jeff workout and jumped into the fray early Saturday for the race.  It was an awesome event, well organized and benefiting a local family who is challenged by their son's medical condition.  The event was a 2 hour "run as far as you can" on a 1 mile loop, with the loop circling up to the top of road winding through the neighborhood and local shops.  Its a whopping 70 foot climb, so the "Mt Afton" is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The race started early and temps were in the low 30's, maybe even high 20's, but with the right layering, it was fine.  I ran with my friend and competitor "Kojak" for the first hour (he's in the blue cap) but actually felt stronger the second hour, especially as it was warming up. There were runner and rucker divisions for t...

  Me and Ted at the start of our virtual Frosty Fifty. Do not, repeat, do not compliment him on his shirt.  It will just encourage him. We do the Frosty Fifty every year, it's one of our favorite races.    The 50k (31 mile) course loops several times around Salem Lake in Winston-Salem (NC).   Always run on the first weekend of the new year, its a very chill race with a good vibe.  Literally, it can be very chill.  A few years back it was about 10 degrees. This year, of course, everything is different and the race is virtual, meaning you could run the 50k wherever you wanted.  Ted convinced me that driving up to Winston-Salem to run around a muddy lake may not be the best choice, and he was right, so we ran a few loops at University.    General hilarity ensued until about mile 22, when we started gassing out.   Ted finished at 25 and I stayed on the course to finish at 4:51:33 run time, 5:05:33 total time. I'm happy with th...