Pre-9/11 HTB (Midwest, Who Dares Wins II, Stairs, Boone, Biking)

Monday, Aug 16:

"Chipper" with 20# in 5:15, followed by Week 2 Rucklympics in 23:28.  Added 75 4-ct flutter kicks in 2 min to fill out the time a little.  Need to support the PATHFINDER group!

Afterwards, flew back to Sioux City.  

(Did this to remember where I parked, because walking laps around a parking lot after a long trip is not fun!)

(In the line for the security gate, I noticed that there was a piece of the Twin Towers at the CLT airport, which was cool to see as I was mentally preparing for the HTB.)

(Hero Clip FTW!  I don't like putting my stuff on bathroom floors.)

Tuesday, Aug 17:

After work, my "workout" was doing 1 hour of max pushups, followed by 1 hour of max squats, for Rucklympics.

This is how I kept track of my totals for pushups, since I needed breaks between efforts:

And this is how I kept track of squats, since I didn't need breaks there, and just kept track of 100 rep marks by making knots in my shorts' drawstrings.

This was my view for the squats.  Not bad at all!

I ended up with 350 pushups and 886 squats.

I enjoyed some good food and drink afterwards:

Thursday, Aug 19:

After work, I went on a slick hike at Stone State Park in Iowa.  I covered 906 feet of elevation gain and explored whatever different trails I could find, taking me through a variety of ecosystems.  It was active recovery from the squats, and I appreciated the opportunity to see more of the area while I was in town.

I hadn't brought a fanny pack with me on this trip, but I was able to attach a pouch to my belt loops with carabiners.  Hey, it worked!

Saturday, Aug 21:

This was the second annual "Who Dares, Wins" Basic Simulator put on by "Terry GRT" from Fort Mill Ruck Club, in honor of his dad, who was in special operations in the Greek army.

It was similar in format to the "Tough Love" basic sim that I had done with Terry previously, with rucking, coupons, stops for PT (45 minutes cumulatively).  

We stopped at a war memorial to lay flowers and pay respects.  We did some exercises at a baseball field.  We did some more exercises in a parking lot by a park.

At the end, we hung out for a bit and enjoyed some beer, including glittery "Unicorn Farts", which someone was kind enough to bring and share.

Sunday, Aug 22:

I did the Rucklympics Week 3 workout with 30# in 15:12 (not going for speed), followed by a 2 mile strict ruck in 22:08 to redo the earlier un-strict ruck.  After that, I added in the Beginner BW Bomber workout with a ruck added, for another 26:44 of PT.

Monday, Aug 23:

I did the "HIIT: Oh S**t" BW workout in 25 min, which included lots of waiting around because it was a TABATA (which is not my favorite because of all the waiting).  After that, I did the SRT "Macho Man", which did jack up my HR a lot in 20 minutes, using a 30#R and 45#SB.  After that, I did a 3 mile ruck with 30# in Ballistics, but I need to wear taller socks next time.  I'm doing all of these PATHFINDER brand workouts to earn Rucklympics points.

Tuesday, Aug 24:

I went for 4 strict rucking miles with 20# as part of the Rucklympics races, using the Speed Rucker and wearing the Altra Torin Plush.  I covered it in 43:19, after hitting the range with SB.

Wednesday, Aug 25:

Someone posted about wanting to meet up to ruck parking decks in preparation for the 9/11 anniversary events, so I created an event for the ruck club.  It was F3 guys who showed up.  We moved with a purpose and covered about 5.5 miles in 1:38:30.  I wore 30# in the speed rucker, with MACV1s.  We went from deck to deck and hit different stairs in each one.  It is a pretty unique workout, and the views you see along the way are interesting.

I'm glad that they knew where we were going, and I'm glad that our cars weren't towed.

Friday, Aug 27:

Visited my sister in Boone, NC.  She really enjoys playing board games as a way to relax.  That, Netflix, and napping on the couch.

Saturday, Aug 28:

We did a 4.5 mile slick hike at Linville Gorge, with 900 feet of gain.  It was surprisingly hard.  I'm glad that I hike slick when the technicality of the terrain is unknown.  I can't imagine doing that one weighted.  Jumping down big steep steps with a bunch of weight can't be a good idea.

The views were pretty unique.  There's a waterfall that flows into a big, perfectly rectangular pool area.  You can see the falls from many different angles.

We met my sister's friend and her dog there.

Sunday, Aug 29:

We hiked 3 miles slick at Crabtree Falls, which took a while to find.  There's a seemingly random spot on Google Maps that says it's the falls, but it's not.  We came across a "gold mine" along the way, and we enjoyed the view but didn't go in.  We covered 500 feet of ascent at the falls.

Monday, Aug 30:

I did Rucklympics Week 4, which is designed as a 20 min EMOM, but I made it an AMRAP, because EMOMs and TABATAs aren't my favorite.  I want to feel like I'm working out.  I followed this up with the HDT March Madness "Finals - The Dance" 25 min AMRAP using a 45# SB.

Tuesday, Aug 31:

I met up with SB to try out my new MTB.  I didn't have a real bike helmet yet, so I used a roller hockey helmet that my uncle had given me when I was little.  I rode on the roads when I got there early, and then rode some more with SB.  She encouraged me to go down what looked like a steep grassy bank, although it wasn't really that steep.

I'm glad that the bike can fit into my trunk, so that I don't have to mess with hitches.

Afterwards, following a 1-mile ruck in 17:15, we led a ruck packing seminar in preparation for the HTB, and put it on FB, too.  The most common mistake is probably over-packing.  

Wednesday, September 1:

I joined the Fort Mill Ruck Club for 3 miles around Baxter.  We took turns with a 40# and 60# SB, and I volunteered to be one of the coupons for guys who had to ruck quarter miles while doing a buddy carry for HDT.  We had beer near the end.

Friday, September 3:

Blackstone had a members night with shooting, axe throwing, and a beer tasting.  

(I did pretty well with the G43X that day... I don't normally do that well)

Afterwards, Self Love Yoga with Adriene for 50 minutes.

Saturday, September 4:

Rucklympics Week 5 with 1 round in 20 minutes (decided not to do 3 rounds), since that was enough for me with the HTB coming up.  I followed it up with the "Ruck+ Add it Up" PATHFINDER workout.

After that, I did "Total Body Yoga - Deep Stretch" with Adriene, which was a good one.

Sunday, September 5:

I did 3.5 miles of biking around the neighborhood to see how steep the inclines were.  It wasn't too bad.

Monday, September 6:

When tapering for an event, it's mentally helpful to find ways to occupy yourself so that you don't feel like you should be working out.

For me, that meant range time,

Adventure Racing gear gathering

and construction 

(trekking tow rope)

and HTB Gear Prep

(rather than trying to replace the zipper pull, I just added a second, longer one, made of paracord.. it's actually quite nice to grab because it's so long)