I am at the point where I can keep track of the days until I participate in my first GORUCK. For week 5, the training plan calls for embracing the suck. Week 4 wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Week 4 included a lot of rucking. There was also some plyometrics and speed work involved.

My run for time during Week 4 included a jaunt on the rail-trail by some of my favorite graffiti.

I think the best part was running for time. It was like a race against myself, a check of my progress. My mile times are about a minute faster than my training runs prior to starting the program. 

And it may have transferred over into competition. During week 4, my family participated in our annual end of the season race, which I hope to do a race report on later this week. I walked the race, using Mountain Kid 3 as my ruck.

Mountain Kid 3 and I rucked a 5k with me carrying him on my back.

My goal was to keep our minutes under 15, since that’s the time GORUCK wants you to aim for. And according to the official time (47 minutes, 35 seconds) we did it. I wish I could take MK3 with me so he could motivate me through the harder parts of the ruck.

Workout additions: This week, I added a sit up challenge to my workout routine. The bottom tier goal is 10,000 sit ups in 90 days. This added a bit more to my training and in some ways puts a little more spring in my step. I think it’s because when I register how many I do, I can see how many I’ve done and how many I need to achieve the other goals of 20,000 and 30,000. If I can do a little over my target every day, I may be able to catch up with the 20,000 group. It get my workout nerd juices flowing with thoughts of how to make the leap to the higher tier.

Equipment update: I  tried adjusting my backpack straps during Week 3 to make things more comfortable, but it did the opposite. So I’m still messing with it. I have a back injury from a high school (note to other weightlifters: Always have a spotter.) It really doesn’t bother me, except when I’m doing stuff with my back for hours on end. So I hope by making the pack more comfortable to wear, I can avoid agitating the injury as much as possible.

I’m still getting my supplies together for my ruck. Sandy, my sandbag, is going to be replaced. I don’t have the money to get the awesome gear GORUCK offers, so I’m going to get some bricks from my neighbor who has a bunch stacked in his yard. I need 20 lbs. worth of them, about 4-6. I think I can space them out in the pack and it won’t be as bulky as Sandy.

I’ll let you know how well I embrace the suck of Week 5. I have some sinus issues going on, which hopefully won’t become something serious.

So it’s one more week of fine tuning and getting as prepared as possible. Then I take it easier and wait for the big adventure.