My girlfriend, Sandy, lives in the woods. She’s not really a girl, or a friend. Sandy is a 60 pound sandbag that sleeps next to a downed tree in Lone Lake Park. Today’s workout brought me to those woods to lift Sandy from the snow, and carry her up and down a few hills, lift overhead, and drop (repeatedly). Hill climbs, squats, push-ups, lunges, more overhead carries, box jumps, and bear crawls made up my lunch hour today. With only four weeks until the Challenge, I feel the need to step up my training efforts. Experienced Ruckers have said that squats, push-ups, and shoulder presses are good areas to focus. That’s good to know, because my upper body strength is probably lacking.
I added my 70 ounce hydration bladder to the GORUCK GR1 this weekend, and it added a bit of weight, bringing my total pack weight to about 38 pounds. I used a short length of twine to secure the hydration tube; I should probably look for something more durable and permanent before the event.
The Minneapolis Challenge teams are planning a mini-ruck this weekend, a great gear test and a 3-4 hour taste of what the Challenge will offer. It will be interesting to do a full load and see how it all fits and carries.
Monkey with Chainsaw 