Benogrady.com

GoRuck: Interview with Todd Garrett, Class 033 San Diego

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of interviewing Todd Garrett, a recent veteran of the San Diego GoRuck Challenge, class 033. Todd is 46 years old and lives in Los Angeles. He’s normally a marathon runner and can do a 3:40-3:50 marathon while training 30 – 35 miles per week. I connected with Todd after he found my initial GoRuck review and inquired about training and the overall difficulty level of the Challenge.

I often get emails from guys who are wondering the same thing, so I’m hoping this interview will shed some light on the endeavor and encourage more guys and gals to sack up and drink the GoRuck kool-aid. I remember I was in the same position…I was curious and wanted the hardcore experience, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to handle the physical punishment of carrying weight a marathon distance, so I dilly dallied for a while before finally being talked into signing up.

(more…)

Dear CrossFit, Add Heart Rate Training To Explode Your Performance

Building on my post about periodizing CrossFit, I want to explore an idea for adding heartrate training into the sport. Just to give a bit of background, I’ve been a professional rowing coach for many years at various levels (high school to elite), and specific aerobic training is critical to our performance. I’d like to see if heart rate training can be a benefit to CrossFit.

NOTE: Glassman on the definition of fitness and training, where he rips on heart rate training…full videos if you have a Journal account. John McBrien also addresses this on a conceptual level in this Journal video: CrossFit Endurance, Intro to Programming.

To kick this off, we need a quick primer on the energy systems and how they apply to training. There are three energy systems: aerobic, anaerobic, and ATP-CP. Common knowledge, right? But, what you may or may not know is that the energy systems break down into smaller bands–by bands I’m referring to % of heart rate max (HRM)–and each of these bands can and should be trained. Most importantly, all three of the energy systems are intertwined and need to be trained in specific ways in order to get the most benefit.

(more…)

4.16 Seventy Pounds Sucks A Fat One

I plan on participating in the Tampa GoRuck Challenge the weekend of November 19. To see the exact Challenge dates, go here. Prior to GoRuck, I’m also signed up for the Megatransect ultrahike on October 1. Never heard of Megatransect? Neither had I until recently. Mega is a 26 mile run/walk/hike/crawl over Eagle Mountain in Central Pennsylvania, limited to 850 entrants. My batshit crazy friends, the same ones who roped me into GoRuck, got me to sign up for Mega. We’ll be rocking it with our GoRuck packs and hats.

(more…)

WTF is GoRuck Challenge and Why Should I Do It?

GoRuck recently launched a new website specifically for the GoRuck Challenge, with a list of Challenges going on in US cities for the rest of the year. See the event calendar here. I fully plan on participating in either the Tampa or Jacksonville events in November.

I often get asked what exactly is GoRuck and why anyone would want to do it. Is it a race? Is it a night time marathon? How physically demanding is the thing? Do you have to be batshit crazy to do one? Do you really carry bricks in your backpack? My answer is this… (more…)

Training for the GoRuck Challenge

I’ve been getting a lot of emails since I published my GoRuck St Augustine Review from guys and gals who are looking for advice on training for the GoRuck Challenge. In this post, I’ll review the training I went through, what I thought worked and what didn’t, and offer some suggestions.

Here’s a summary of the workload for GoRuck Class 007 in St. Augustine, Florida: 23 – 24 miles of distance, most of which was done Indian-run style. Running was done primarily on sidewalk or pavement, with a couple of bridges thrown in, and about 6-7 miles were on soft beach sand. All participants had a GoRuck pack loaded with 3 bricks (approx. 20 lbs) and whatever extra gear and food/liquids they needed. I estimated my pack, fully loaded and dry, weighed about 32 lbs.

(more…)

Review: UCF Iron Knight and Warrior Dash X2

I finished off my rockin January with a pair of races on a gorgeous and warm Saturday. I was scheduled for a third race on Sunday but had to bag it due to lingering injury issues.

First competition was the UCF Iron Knight. Iron Knight is a military-style run + PT around the UCF campus and is put on by the UCF Army ROTC program. The total running distance is 4.5 miles with exercises stations posted every half to quarter mile–8 stations total. The stations included: pushups, situps, pullups, tire flipping, Hummer push, stretcher carry, equipment carry for time, and a weird traverse-the-minefield exercise that pretty much everyone failed. This is a team event with each team having four members. I competed in the Pro (adult) Co-ed division with three of my rower friends. This was my second year doing Iron Knight and I have to say I LOVE this competition. It’s super challenging, well organized, competitive, exercises are cool, the campus is interesting to run around, and the weather was perfect both years. In fact, we were bitching about how hot and sunny it was at race time. Go figure.

(more…)