Goruck Tough Class 057 - Training and Prep

I did something a little crazy to prepare for this GRC. In order to get ready for a 15-20 mile 12 hour endurance event, I decided not to do any running at all. To prepare for my last Goruck Challege in May, I noticed that my major limiting factor during the runs were pains in my feet and shins.

nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2011/05/goruck-tough.html

This was further proved during the Down-N-Dirty Half Dozen where I completed 18.6 miles in 6 hours with a 30 lb. pack. After about 15 miles, my feet far more than my endurance were holding me back.

nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2011/07/goruck-echo-mods-and-setup-field.html

Therefore for the upcoming GRC in New York I decided to once again follow the "5k to 50k in 12 weeks" program in the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris, but this time around I substituted biking and jump roping for the running portions. If I had continued to run despite the aches and pains, there was the potential to develop an awkward and unnatural gait. This had the potential to lead to long term injuries and problems that would far outweigh any short term gains I would have made. My livelihood as a firefighter depends on my mental and physical fitness and health. Therefore my goal is for all of these events - Gorucks, Tough Mudders, and whatever else comes my way - to make me stronger and fitter rather than tear me down in the process.

Before altering the workout program in this way I knew that I had a solid background both in strength and operating while under load. As a wildland firefighter I spent several seasons hiking and working with packs weighing from 25-40 lbs.

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In my current job as a structural firefighter my personal gear weighs around 75 lbs. before I add on tools, hose or whatever I else I might need to get the job done. Both of these jobs have done a great deal to help develop useable fitness which works great for things like GRCs.

Given this background and knowledge of how to move while under load, I focused my training on building muscular endurance and strength through biking, and training my shock absorption through jump roping.

I also incorporated the tips from this video into my workouts after finding it in Riff's (Mark Reifkind) blog.



I added the calf stretches in to the GTG (Grease the Groove) portion of my workouts. Overall this plan worked out pretty good. My feet definitely felt better than the last GRC, with no pains in my shins. I still had some cramping in my arch and a little bit of pain under the ball of my foot. My plan for the next GRC will be to add in runs on soft sand to further strengthen my feet.

While foot strength was my perceived limiting factor, proper hydration turned out to big my biggest challenge this time. I began hydrating with a minimum of 4 quarts of water a day 4 days before the challenge. I knew the 9 hours of travel time out to NY from California would be pretty dehydrating and wanted to counteract that. In the day before and the hours leading up to the challenge I added in pedialyte to maintain proper electrolyte balance.

Starting the challenge and for several hours into it I felt great. My pack had the sweet set up this time and felt great throughout the challenge.

Pictured are petzl e+ headlamp, windbreaker, road ID, mechanix work gloves, protec knee straps, wright running socks, GR Tac cap with GRT patch, 2xu compression top and shorts, board shorts, solomon xa 3d shoes, radio ruck with cinch straps, bricks wrapped in bubble wrap and duct tape, yoga brick, 5.11 tactical 9.11 tribute patch, fog rugby ball, fire engine key chain, arnica cream, mole skin, assorted snacks, NS6 t-shirt, platypus big zip 1.8 L hydration bladder, camera in pelican case, extra socks, cash, 5.11 tactical watch cap, and dry bag. Not pictured is a sternum strap taken off of a camelbak and attached to the MOLLE webbing on the shoulder straps.

The temps were warm through the night, generally around mid to upper 70s. This was fine by because I like and tend to operate well in the heat.

What I didn't count on was the humidity. I had been doing a decent job of keeping up with my water intake until the humidity dropped late in the night. Once that happened I suddenly felt as though I had to pee every 5 minutes. As a woman during one of these challenges that can be a bit problematic. Places to pee for us can at times be few and far between. By this time we had started carrying our log and railroad tie around. I of course wanted to take my turn under the log and support my team as much as possible, but after a while it felt as though the log was sitting directly on my bladder.

So again I further reduced my water intake. Mistake. Shortly before dawn when the night was stretching out into its wee hours, the temp raised back up to 75 degrees with 75% humidity. I began sweating profusely without increasing my water intake. My mood took a sharp turn for the worse resulting in one of the biggest internal hissy fits I've had in a long time. Not until I got back to my usual cheerful self after a few sips of water did I realize that I had been significantly dehydrated.

A bit later when we took a refreshing cooling dip in a fountain I realized just how hot my core had become.

Normally I'm a big fan of compression tops, but in the humidity it wasn't able to wick away moisture and sweat like it normally would. In this case it turned into more of a wetsuit adding to the heat stress and dehydration. As a testament to the power of teamwork, through it all my feet kept moving buoyed by the spirit and momentum of the team. While I was downright miserable for a bit there, my awesome battle buddy Brie, the rest of the women in the group (there were 5 of us) and of course all my boys kept me motivated and going strong throughout. Within hours of finishing I was already looking forward to the next one. Thank you all for an incredible experience 057.

The 5 women of Goruck New York Class 057