Ruckin Good Time

Well, the burpee challenge failed (see below). I could say the Rock n Roll Marathon got in the way. But, no excuses.
Time to move on to the 100 Ruckin' Miles Challenge. I will finish this one. No excuses. I'll update this post with my progress.

4/1/12 - 5 miles. 95 to go.
4/3/12 - 3.25 miles. 91.75 to go. I think I might start rucking to work.
4/5/12 - 5.25 miles. 86.5 to go.
4/6/12 - 3 miles. 83.5 to go
4/8/12 - 0.65 miles (trip to the grocery store). 82.85 to go.
4/9/12 - 6.25 miles. 76.6 to go.
4/10/12 - 3 miles. 73.6 to go. Over a quarter of the way there!

Fun With Maps

The potential logo for GRC Fairbanks. Thanks to GORUCK Headquarters for the GR logos. And thanks to the Census Bureau's TIGER data for the Alaska shapefile.

5,000 Burpees

I'll be posting my progress towards 5,000 in this post.

Current Total: 333
Burpees Left: 4,667

Thanks to Jon for signing onto this. I'd been debating whether or not to do this and have therefore wasted four days. My goal will be 200 a day which should have me finishing in 25 days.

1) Only 108 today. Fell 92 short of my goal. Looks like I have some catching up to do.
2) 125. Still short of my goal of 200, but making progress.
3) 100. 5,000 is looking a long way off.

March Madness!!

March is here, and that means it's time for March Madness! And no, I don't mean basketball...who really cares about basketball anyhow??? Folks, this is *real* March Madness: Tom and I have signed on to Mud Run Maniac's 5,000 Burpee Challenge. The goal, complete 5,000 burpees in 31 days. What's a burpee, you ask? It's a simple, yet devilishly ass-kicking exercise that is performed as follows:

1. Begin in a standing position
2. Drop to a squat
3. Kick your legs out and get into push-up position
   3.5. If you're a real badass, do a pushup here. Probably not for those going for the challenge...
4. Hop back into squat position
5. Pop back up to standing position, and follow through with a jump
6. Repeat

The entire process should take no more than a few seconds, especially if you leave out the push-up part.

Doing these in sets of 25 is a great way to get started, and even if you can only do 5 or 10 at a time, give it your best shot and see just how many you can do by month's end...I bet you'll be surprised at how far you can come in such a short time!

Best of luck!

GR Echo

Recently, I decided that training for a GRC with a North face backpack wasn't cutting it. The straps would loosen while running with a full set of bricks, and it didn't sit well on my back. Also, since I now use my GR1 for just about everything, I figured it might be a bad idea to stank it up while training. I wanted to train with another GORUCK product, and after checking out the specs of the GR Echo, it looked like it would fit six bricks which was all I needed. I wasn't disappointed. It's like a mini-GR1, the back is comfortably padded, and the straps don't loosen or slip while running. It's a tight fit for the six bricks, but it works. I went for my first ruck since GRC: DC using the Echo, and I realized I have a long way to go to get back to GRC shape before Alaska in July. 

Starting the Day Off Right

One thing I fail to do on a regular basis is start my day off with a good breakfast. I'm usually either in a hurry to get out the door and go to work, or I sleep so late that by the time I actually get around to making some sort of food, it's more of a lunch-type thing instead. What I've discovered, thanks to my new blender, is that all of the random fruits and veggies in my fridge that normally go bad before they get eaten can actually come together in a delicious way. Today, I give you my Green Breakfast Smoothie.

First off, I have to thank Mustache Man for the inspiration for this one. Second, this doesn't necessarily have to be a breakfast smoothie; it's great any time of the day, even more so after a solid workout. Add a scoop of your favorite protein powder (I'd recommend vanilla) and you're good to go!

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 cups baby spinach (I use a good-sized handful)
2 clementines or mandarin orange
1/2 medium (7-8") banana, sliced (I only use half, as the flavor can be rather overpowering if you use a whole one)
1 cup skim milk
4 or 5 ice cubes
dash of cinnamon

Peel the citrus and divide the sections, removing any seeds you might find. Put the ice in your blender, use the "crush" setting to turn it into a nice snow, then add the other ingredients. Pulse on high for about 30 seconds and then you're good to go. This makes roughly 20oz of fluid.

Nutrition info
Calories: 300
Fat: 2g
Carbohydrates: 77g
Fiber: 15g
Protein: 21g
Lots and lots and lots of vitamins and minerals.

New and Improved!

So, now that we've all enjoyed a nice lengthy holiday break from training, it's finally time to get back in the saddle. Tom emailed me the other day and suggested a few ways to spruce up the blog, the major parts of which you're looking at right now: exciting colors, fancy fonts, and a fun new picture to illustrate (even if it's just a little bit) what it is we've decided to start putting ourselves through. We also have a new links section for some of the activities we participate in, as well as the charities they support in conjunction with their participants. We will also be adding links to other training blogs so you can see just what the other crazy ruckers out there are up to...first one to check out is Mud Run Maniac, hosted by Paul, a fellow GORUCK Challenge Class 093 participant. He's got a lot of awesome training tips (not to mention his own pretty darn good write-up of our adventure) so please check it out and give him some love.

We're both hoping to keep this a little more active, maybe by posting weekly workout summaries, some of our own training tips, and most importantly, telling you all what it is that motivates us to do all this wild and crazy stuff....and trust me--it is pretty freaking crazy but I already love it.

So, thanks to Tom for the suggestions, and thanks also for convincing me to sign up for GRC back in December. It's helped me start down an exciting and ultimately incredibly positive new path in my life and I'm proud to have you as my battle buddy.

Let's make with the Good Livin'!!!