Congrats to Archive and Crunch on completing the “Lucky Number 7” April 2019 #ruckingchallenge! Below is a wall of text illuminating some of the thought process that goes into someone become unstable enough to want to do this on the regular. If you’re like me, come find us for whatever May’s challenge is! Monday is RUCK DAY. #EmbraceTheSuck!
— Ruckaholics Anonymous Helpline —
Hello, Yes. I’m calling because, well, I might have a problem … Yes, sorry, Captain Crunch. … Yes, that is my “real” name… No, it’s not on my birth certificate.
Well I started this #RuckingChallenge thing for the Month of April. I’d seen a couple go by and was sad I hadn’t jumped on it. And this one was only 7 days, so I figured I could do it even with April already being half over. With these guys I workout with on Thursdays and Saturdays I’m the “crazy guy who rucks on Mondays” so I gotta keep my cred up. It can’t all be Burpee Mile / Merkin Mile, rinse/repeat.
Day 1 + Day 2:
- Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Ruck Squats / 10 Ruck Push-ups / 10 Russian Twists)
- 5 sets (10 Walking Ruck Lunges / 10 Plank Pull Throughs / 10 Overhead Press / 200m Ruck (AFAP))
So, I upped the weight from 25 to 30, despite having never done any of these other challenges, and I wanted to make up for the missing the first half of April… so I did both Day 1 and Day 2 together. … Yeah, that seemed like a normal enough thing to do. … Well see I normally ruck for 45 min and Day 1 was like a 25-30 min workout. I’d been planning on doing both days, I had gone to the track specifically because of Day 2’s 200m sprints, but I was pretty wiped. So I figured I’ve got some time, I’ll just try Day 2 to see how bad it feels. The first set went okay, so I tried another. Then it was close to quitting time, but I was already 2/5 of the way done. I didn’t really want to reset that and need to come back the next day. It was only three more. It was so easy to keep going knowing I was already almost half way in. So I ended up staying a bit longer than I meant to, but I could just get ready for work a bit quicker. I got both done! It went pretty well, I felt pretty prepared for it. Pretty wiped afterwards. … … Okay yeah, I guess it’d be smart to dial it back some and maybe just do a day at a time. … Sure, thanks. … Yeah, I’ll check in again after Day 3.
Day 3 + Day 4:
- Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (50m Suitcase Carry / 10 Ruck High Pulls / 25m Bear Crawl)
- Ruck 1 Mile (14 min pace) + 10 sets (10 Thrusters / 25m Bear Crawl / 10 Ruck Swings)
Hi, this is Captain Crunch checking in again… So… I went out for Day 3 + Day 4 with a buddy of mine. Better to have company on the road, right? … Huh? oh yeah… we did say just one day at time … Yeah, I think I can remember that next time. So we did Day 3 on some soggy tennis courts because that gave us the proper distance markers. Most of it wasn’t so bad. We do a lot of bear crawls in our normal workouts, so what’s adding another 30lbs resting on the back of your head, right? … No we don’t normally do 250m of them, I guess … So, I guess I should probably mention, too, that I noticed a blood blister on my right hand after Day 3’s bear crawls, but we were already right there and planning on doing both days, so… I went ahead and did Day 4’s bear crawls… Yeah another 250m. … Is that weird? … Uh huh … yeah, I guess so. I figured it would heal up okay, and it went away later that day, so no harm done? … Okay yeah … My buddy and I did agree to stick to one day at a time for the rest of it, though. We were both pretty gassed.
Day 5:
- Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Russian Twists / 10 Pushups / 10 Overhead Squats)
Hi, this is Crunch, checking in again after Day 5. This day felt a bit more moderate. I can see the point of just doing one day at a time. Still plenty of work. My buddy and I got through the whole set and figured we had time enough to hit Day 6 somewhere else in the week and wait until the next Monday to do Day 7. … That’s good progress right? “Just dial it back a bit”, right?
Day 6:
- Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (100m suitcase carry / 10 Ruck Squats / 10 Ruck Swing)
Crunch again, checking in from Day 6. … Okay so this was a solo workout, and it felt a bit weird. So, I took the day off, mostly to get some things done around the house, but I had a spare window after lunch and just figured I should fill it productively, so I went out and rucked Day 6. I always workout in the morning while the sun is getting up, so it was really weird to be out in the full sunlight. I think I prefer the Gloom. It feels right. Anyway this one was probably my least favorite, but not the hardest, I don’t think. That 100m carry was long, even with jogging it. … well, yeah I didn’t want to take it too easy, so I jogged it. … it made sense at the time, but yeah I guess it would be easier if I slowed down. Easy isn’t really the point, though. … But yes, just one. I told my buddy I would wait for Monday for Day 7…
Day 7:
- Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Dead Lifts / 10 Walking Lunges / 10 Ruck Push-ups)
Hey! Crunch again. Challenge Complete! We wrapped up the last day in the pouring rain and I was just walking in the door as the thunder was close enough to shut us down anyway. It felt good to be out there in the rain. It wasn’t going to be comfy anyway, might as well bring it on, right? … Yeah, I’m glad I did it. … I think I might dial the weight down a bit for the next challenge, depends what it is. … Yeah. … Yeah, I was already planning on doing the next one, but they haven’t said what it is yet. … Yeah, I figured I’ve got a whole 48 hours off before May 1st… Sure, yeah, I can keep checking in, if you think that’d be necessary…
F3 Wheaton 