Last year, GORUCK introduced "ruck club callouts" where the first ~200 ish GRTs from participating Ruck Clubs could try to complete a given challenge first. Competition was fierce, and ruck clubs would start organizing as soon as the challenge dropped on facebook. My local ruck clubs only attempted 1 or 2, as far as I'm aware. I would've liked to try to participate in more, but the one I did do (Rain Ruck) was a lot of fun, even if we didn't end up securing a patch in the end.
Building off of that kind of enthusiasm, GORUCK brought back its Resolution Ruck virtual challenge. For this year, the challenge was to complete 50 rucking miles within the first 15 days of the year. It's a good balance of tough but doable, if you are intentional about it. You'd get a free patch if you completed it, and whether you completed it or not, giving it your best would be a great way to start the year off right.
The maker of the website Ruck.Beer concurrently came up with ruckingchallenges.com, and for $10-12 / mo, you could do a virtual challenge with a guaranteed patch, which addresses the main drawback of the Ruck Club Callouts. Their January challenge was to do 20.19 miles some time in January. Ideally, you'd do it all at once, but in case you're not ready for that yet, you could break it up. It's all up to you - you get the patch no matter what.
Tuesday, Jan 1
Since I had the day off on Jan 1st, I took advantage of it to get a good start on the Resolution Ruck, and I wanted to try to knock out the 20.19, too. A rucking friend was going to a "Two States, One Hike" event on the border of SC & NC, so I jumped in. That event was only going to cover 5 miles, but it was held at Kings Mt / Crowders Mt, so it's part of a larger trail system, allowing for a natural extension of the ruck.
After some initial confusion about whether the start point was in NC or SC (the facebook event had gotten it wrong), we met up with the group and started off. I had rucked on these trails before. It was a nice little walk. We went from SC up to NC. When we got to the destination, one of the guys working on a 10-mi Mountain Ruck for Pathfinder headed back to get his 10, and one crazy ultra-endurance guy decided on the fly that he'd join me on my 20.19 journey.
This was only the second time I've attempted a 20 mile ruck. Going into it, I suspected that this one would be tougher than the previous one, since this would be on trails with elevation changes, whereas the previous one was on flat sidewalk. It ended up being the opposite, though... it felt much easier on my legs this time, perhaps because the ground was softer. I'll definitely be planning on trail rucks in the future, if given the choice.
We went from the Kings Mt SC State Park Campground to the Crowder Mt NC Boulder's Access, up to somewhere close to Pinnacle, and then back to the Campground. It ended up being almost perfect... we hit 20.19 after an extra lap around the parking lot.
I ate a Nutella sandwich after 5 miles, I had a bar at the 10 mile mark, and drank about 1.5L H2O total. 20.19 in 420 minutes, 20:48 ave pace. My legs were feeling it in the last 5 miles, in my quads and in my feet.
Thursday, Jan 3:
It had been almost a week since my last run. I wanted to run, but I also wanted to do a strength session (which was also long overdue), but I also wanted to ruck. Once I got to the gym at work, though, I was happy with not running, since I wasn't feeling it. I decided to do a strength + ruck combo, with the "Six is Sexy" ruck workout. I had discovered it during Pathfinder training and liked how well it was designed, hitting different muscle groups just the right amount to be challenging. And, it got me 6 rucking miles afterwards.
The workout took 55 min, and the rucking took 107 min (17:49 ave).
Saturday, Jan 5:
More rucking... Blue Blaze Brewing was sponsoring a series of hikes in January, at the Whitewater Center. They gave free beer at the end. Rucking and Beer? Yes, please! We went on the Parkway Loop and the Parade Loop, since the main trails were closed due to muddy conditions. A big group showed up, since the weather was great, and people are into starting the new year off right.
(I'm in the red, in the upper middle, standing on a big rock)
After the group hike, I continued on to get some more miles, and finished up with 7.0 in 142 min, 20:19 ave.
Sunday, Jan 6:
I should be in my final month of marathon training, but I haven't done any long runs yet! So, I tried to get back into it on this day. I went to McAlpine Creek Park, since they have some long and flat trail options that more closely resemble the terrain in road marathons. 15.6 in 2:24:00, 9:14 ave. I explored the other half of that park (Campbell Creek Greenway), in addition to covering the ground that I've explored there in the past. I went without water or food and only started craving it in the last couple of miles. It was a decent run.
Tuesday, Jan 8:
More running. 6.0 in 49:35, 8:16 ave.
Wednesday, Jan 9:
More rucking. 7.5 in 2 hrs, 15:59 ave. I pushed the pace a bit more this time. For the purposes of the Resolution Ruck, I don't care how fast I go. However, I am planning on participating in a couple of GORUCK Star Course events, and I want to be able to keep up with the group, so I do need to build up a bit of rucking speed. I had my MAC-V1s in my car, so I wore these as I rucked around my workplace's campus.
Saturday, Jan 12:
The second event of the Trailblazer's Hiking Club was held on me and my buddy's b-day, so we made it a birthday ruck. We did the same Parade Loop and Parkway Loop with the group, then added on another Parade Loop for a bit more mileage and to get some Pokemon. 5.6 in 95 min, 16:56 ave. Afterwards, we had lunch at River's Edge.
After lunch, since I was already there and felt refreshed again, I decided to finish off the 50 mile challenge by going for another 5.0 in 110 min, 21:59 ave. Much slower, but it was a nice, relaxing ruck. There was a good chance that I'd be moving from Charlotte, so I wanted to savor the USNWC's trails while I could.
I'm not normally a hat person... I'm a visor person because I like the air flow better. But, it was cold, and I wanted to feel in a rucking mood while celebrating NC.
On Sunday, my mom flew into town. I had a b-day dinner with a friend/colleague on Monday.
Tuesday, Jan 15:
I was done with the 50 in 15 3 days early, so I could focus on running again. 5.0 in 41:01, 8:12 ave. I had expected it to be a strong run, since it had been a week since my last run, but it wasn't spectacular. The muscles outside of my lungs were cramping up, although that might've been from the string cheese and chocolate I had eaten beforehand. I stayed late at work because I care, and I had only had a donut for lunch amidst the busy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment