GoRuck Training

The thought of being unprepared for GoRuck is something that weighs on me daily. I know that on their website they say, "Don't take the Challenge so seriously, Go for a run or two, have fun, and just do it. It's all mental." However after seeing all the videos on Youtube and reading some blogs, I think I'm going to have to do a little more than that.

Grenadier Pond in High Park

I recently picked up an Arc'teryx Axios 35 and it's doing a great job of carrying bricks, water and clothes for when I'm training. It's the first pack that I've used where the waist belt actually takes some of the weight off my shoulders and brings it to my hips. The temperature has been ranging from 10° to -15°C in Toronto recently, not counting wind chill. Probably a bit colder than what it's going to be like during the challenge in April, which has been a good and bad thing. Good because I'm a proponent of winters being cold instead of the eerie warm ones we've had in the last few years. Bad because the year that we actually get a cold one, is the year that I want to dump a bucket of water on my head then go for a walk.

We learned very quickly that late night log carries in the city will get you a lot of weird looks.

Anyway, training so far this year has been commuting 30km, five days a week with my 30lbs pack on my bike. As well, I've been going for long walks once a week with my pack which include push ups, sit ups, chin ups, fireman carries, flutter kicks and other such exercises to get my body ready. When I can, I'll grab a log and carry that around for a while. I'm definitely learning where my weaknesses are, but it's better to find out now than during the challenge! I think I'm going to check out The O Course down at The Docks soon. Looks like my kind of suck!