GORUCK Training: Evolution 1 and Feeling Pumped

Wednesday, 6:45 AM

The sun is just coming up. After several weeks of informal training for the GORUCK challenge, I've logged almost 50 miles of running and worked my way up to a 7 miler with a lightly loaded camelbak (about 8 lbs). That 7-miler was the longest run of my life, so I'm feeling good about that, but it's time to increase my load. Last night I got two concrete pavers out of the backyard, wrapped them in bubble wrap and duct tape, and loaded them into the larger backpack I'll be using from here on out. The pack weighs about 17 lb with the pavers in it.

I get up, get dressed, leash up Lola (my dog), shoulder the pack (which feels noticeably heavier than the 8 lb pack I've been using), and head out for a 3-mile "accelerator" run, which means I gradually increase the pace as I go. For the first 200 yards I'm too sleepy to notice anything unusual. Then, almost immediately, my hamstrings start burning as I hustle up a gentle hill. Five minutes in, I'm huffing and puffing a lot more than usual for this route, and I'm still running at my slowest pace. My legs feel like they're fighting me every step of what is normally a pretty easy run.

I take some short breaks, I try to slow the pace even more, but there's no getting around the fact that it's tough. I'm basically picking a landmark every 1/8 of a mile or so and trying to hold on until I reach it, then I reassess. I get back to the house satisfied that I completed the run, but ticked off that a measly 10 lb made so much of a difference to my legs.

Thursday, 6:45 PM

Just got home from work. My legs are still aching a little from Wednesday morning's run, but I've had a day and a half of rest, and there's only one way I'm going to get used to running with more weight. A front came through so it's about 40 degrees outside and dark. I've  refilled the camelbak in my backpack since Wednesday so it now weighs 18 lb. I put on my shoes, get Lola ready, switch on the headlamp, and head out the door for a 4-mile steady pace run with quite a few hills. I don't expect this to feel good, but it has to be done.

Right out of the gate my legs feel springy. I make it up the gentle hill by my house feeling about the same as I'm used to without any weight. Up some more hills, down some more hills, I keep waiting for my legs to weaken, for my hamstrings to start yelling at me, but nothing happens. I run the first mile at a faster clip than usual, and toward the end I'm starting to feel a little fatigued, but not bad. Lola has to stop to take care of business, so I get a 1-2 minute break. We take off again and my legs feel completely refreshed! We cruise up and down some more hills, running my normal pace even without weight (which isn't all that fast, mind you). Another 1-2 minute potty / sniff break for Lola. Legs feel good again. We cruise through mile 3 along a dark trail, and the main thing on my mind isn't my legs or the weight, but the fact that it's really hard to see because the headlamp reflects off of my condensing breath every time I exhale into the cold air.

Lola and I come to the end of the path, which marks 1 mile to go, and it's all up hill. At this point I pretty much feel like the Bionic Man. I've still got my 18 lb, but my legs feel strong and limber and my cardio is chugging along just fine. We power up the steepest part of the hill feeling amazing. This hill normally wears me out even without weight, but tonight it's just not a big deal. Before I know it we're home and it's time for a warm shower.

Now

I completed Thursday's run at the same pace as Wednesday's (10 min/mi on average), only I added a pound and went 1.2 miles longer over a harder course, in the cold! More importantly, it didn't feel NEARLY as hard to push through as the first run. I expected it to take a while to adjust to the new weight, but it looks like I've done it in 36 hours.

This cold, dark, weighted ruck run was one of the most awesome workouts I've ever done - I just felt invincible afterwards. I'm amazed at what my body can adapt to, and since I'm still so early in my GORUCK training (11 weeks to go until the challenge), I'm feeling VERY good about where I'll be by the time it gets here.

Note: this post was written in mid-January 2012 (when I launched my blog), but is back-dated to reflect the journey I've been on as I train for the GORUCK Challenge.