Andy Weaver Preps for 60 mile race

Andy Weaver has been coming to the garage for about 7 months and has used our training to help prepare for a 60 mile trail race which is coming up soon.  Andy was nice enough to answer a few questions in case any of you freaks wants to give something like this a try.  We wish Andy luck and will catch up with him after the race is over to gather a little more info on how someone might prepare, finish and recover from a race like this.

TR: Hey Andy!  Tell us about the race you are getting ready to do.  

AW: It is the Rock Creek Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race, and it's part of the Salomon Trail Series. It's a three day event that covers three mountains and 60 miles. Friday is 18 miles on the mountain bike trails of Raccoon Mountain, Saturday is 22 miles on the Lula Lake Land trust and Covenant College trails of Lookout Mountain, and Sunday is the bear. 20 miles on Signal Mountain staying mainly on the Cumberland trail.

TR: Have you ever done it before?

AW: Yes. I ran it in 2012. It is still the hardest race I have ever run. It is so demanding, because you have to keep waking up for three days and running again. I remember waking up the second morning thinking there is no way I can run 22 miles today, but I did. It took about 3-5 miles to work the muscles out but once I got moving I felt great. Signal was just flat out tough. The stretch from mushroom rock up to signal point was hell. It was very rocky and extremely technical, very hard to settle into a rhythm. It was 96 degrees when I finished the race on Sunday and I started feeling very cold. I had a temp of 104 and stayed sick for a week. Wait, why am I doing this again?

TR:  What have you done to prepare for this race?

AW: I have trained a lot of different ways this time. Since the last time I did this I have incorporated CrossFit into my training. It has taken my stamina and endurance above what I imagined I could do. I ran 3-4 times per week with 1-2 days of CrossFit. I did a lot of extra leg work as well.

TR: Have you changed your diet?

AW:  Not too much. Just try to stay away from white bread and refined added sugar. I eat a lot of fat and protein.

TR: How many miles per week are you running?

AW: About 20-40 depending on that weeks intensity.

TR: How much road vs trail miles?

AW: Most of the weekly miles were on the road. My weekend long runs were all done on the trail, except for the 20 miler I did when I ran to your house for the Jon Atwater fundraiser.

TR: What shoes are you using for training and for the race?

AW: My road shoes are brooks pure cadence, trail shoes are brooks pure grit, and probably come Sunday I'll pull out my Hokas

TR: How are you planning your nutrition for the race?

AW:  I’m just going to make sure I eat every 30 mins. That's my body's perfect time for refueling. I'll be eating fruit and nuts and m&ms or really whatever i can grab from the aid station.

TR: What advice would you give someone who wanted to do this race next year?

AW: Just allow yourself 3 months or more of training. The key to any long race is getting in plenty of long runs. You need a long run to where you feel like you can't take another step, then run 3 more miles. It's all mental. You just have to convince your body that it's capable of way more. Easier said than done.

TR: Do you have a goal time?

AW: In 2012, I did it in 11 hrs and 16 mins. My goal is to shave 45 mins off my total time.

TR:  Thanks!  Good luck on the race.  We will talk to you and get a second interview after the race.

Ruck PT

Great to have Trey back with us after his North Pacific trip.  Yesterday, he brought his son, Grady. 

This is how you scale a workout.  Smaller ruck, smaller sandbag, same exercises.  Good work Grady and Trey!

---

Warmup:

Box Breathing 5 minutes

30 overhead squats with PVC

10x each: Pushups, Situps, Dips, Pullups, Burpees

---

Skill: Jump Rope 3 minutes

---

Core:

Sit-up progression x 5 rounds

Take 30% of your max 2 minute score and hit that number every minute on the minute for 5 minutes.  On the 6th minute, work the entire minute for max reps

---

Workout: A.

Ruck PT

With a 45 pound ruck or 45 pound sandbag complete the following for time:

50 Walking Lunge Steps

50 Pushups with ruck on

50 Squats

50 Sit-ups

50 Thrusters using the ruck or sandbag

50 Sit-ups

50 Squats

50 Pushups with ruck on

50 Walking Lunge Steps

---

Workout B.

10 minutes of Gratitude

---

Post times, reps and/or loads to comments

---

Happy Birthday Michael Miller!  How did you like the 60 pound ruck? 

By RRL tradition, we wear a weight vest on our birthday, despite the workout.  Sometimes it is no big deal, others make for a birthday that you will not soon forget.  Instead of putting a vest on under the ruck today, Michael decided to bump up the ruck weight from 45 to 60.  This makes a big difference on a workout like this.  Happy 37th!

This one took me 18:14 but I was only using a 45 lb ruck.  I liked it and feel like we definitely need more work on lunges and walking lunges. That is a tough movement, but one we will encounter alot in Selection.

We ended the day with 10 minutes of gratitude meditation.  This is a powerful way to start the day and remain in a state of gratitude.  Focusing on breathing while laying in the dead man pose, we think about everything we are grateful for and then end with clearing our mind of all thought...or at least attempting to.

This is an outstanding practice, highly recommended.

Have a great weekend.

Update: Several guys came over this afternoon so we hit this one again.  I was able to do it in 15:47 with 45 pounds, wet ruck, wet boots.  Good times.

Run/Ruck

My son Turner, 16, and Navy Seal Brad McLeod of SealFit and SealgrinderPT, celebrate after Turner finished the SealFit 20x event in Trenton, GA

---

Warmup:

Box Breathing 5 minutes

30 overhead squats with PVC

10x each: Pushups, Situps, Dips, Pullups, Burpees

---

Skill: Jump Rope 3 minutes

---

Core: Lying Hip Swing x 30

---

Workout A:

Run 400 m

30 pushups

30 situps

Ruck 400 m with 90 pounds

AMRAP 30 min

---

Workout B. 

Front Squat 5-3-1

---

Post times, reps and/or loads to comments

---

When preparing for Selection, I feel like we need to be able to do a ton of situps and pushups, run, and ruck.  In fact, I am not sure that we can ruck enough in preparation for the event.  Today, I created a workout that had us moving for a 30 minute smoke session and incorporated simple movements that I am sure we will be doing plenty of in Selection.

My calf is still bothering me.  I felt it a bit on round 3 so I immediately went to the rower instead of rucking or running any further.  Laying off running for close to 2 weeks has not solved the injury so I will probably go see Wayne Stephens and see if he can help me. 

Planning a workout for this weekend to include lots of water, mud and long rucks is definitely starting to take shape.  Greenway Farms may be a good spot for good creek access and plenty of trails.  It is also close by which is important.

If you are reading this or coming from the Facebook page or website, please leave a comment so I know that this thing is working properly.

Thanks

---

6-11-14

Nuts to butts! Kokoro 30

Warmup:

Box Breathing 5 minutes

30 overhead squats with PVC

10x each: Pushups, Situps, Dips, Pullups, Burpees

---

Skill: Jump Rope 3 minutes

---

Core: Lying Hip Swing x 30

---

Workout: A.

2 Min Max Push-up to Army Standard

---

Workout B. 

2 Min Max Sit-up to Army Standard

---

Workout C.

Run 5 Miles

or

Row 40 minutes for max meters

---

Workout D.

Push Press 5-3-1

Post times, reps and/or loads to comments

---

For Selection, the minimum requirements for the pushups are 55 and the situps 65.  The pushups are no problem, but we are all cutting it close on the situps.  The number seems high to me and I think that ALOT of the 275 people signed up for this event may have trouble with this one event.  Fail it...go home.

I will not fail the situp test, I will make sure of that, but I can easily see how someone might overlook it in favor of alot of rucking or other work and end up in a bad spot.  6 or 7 months of training could easily be thrown away on the second event in the first 15 minutes of Selection and I am sure that it will happen to some people. 

65 situps in 2 minutes at Navy standard is not difficult at all, but the Army requires you to keep your hands locked behind the head which makes for a MUCH more difficult and thus far lower rep count.  65 is pretty tough.

My score today was 96 pushups and 69 situps.  I am focusing on consistently hitting 100 pushups and getting my situp numbers to consistently 80's.  I am planning on getting no-repped despite perfect form (mind games) and I want to make sure that I have plenty of time to get in 65 perfect reps.

My calf is still bothering me a bit and I believe it to be a slight tear in my gastroc.  I had a torn soleus 2 years ago and when I ran on it too early it developed into a serious tear that prevented me from running for 8 weeks.  I can not risk that type of injury so I might even lay off again next week despite REALLY needing and wanting to run.

Mike, Jay, Blythe and I rowed 40 minutes today which was challenging but went by quickly because of the company.  I commented to Cynthia about how lucky I feel to have such an awesome group to support the training and to call friends.  These guys are all super solid individuals.

I am trying to plan a 4 hour workout for Saturday to include full submersion with rucks packed with the Goruck packing list contents.  I want to try to see how much that will all weigh and start to refine our packing and waterproof/draining ability with the rucks.  This is very important and could easily be overlooked.  It will not be overlooked by us!  

The Road To Goruck Selection

120 lb Goruck Sandbags ready to crush our souls and make us cry "Uncle"

First post today.  I dont know if anyone will read this but I am going to document my progress towards Goruck Selection on this blog. 

Our workout today:

"Feed the Courage Wolf"

Partner workout.  Each man with a 45 lb ruck

Ruck 1 mile together with 120 lb sandbag and rucks, switch as often as needed...sandbag never touches the ground until pushup/situp or 20 burped penalty
250 pushups with ruck on as a team
250 situps as a team…no ruck
50 pull-ups…non working partner holds sandbag while other partner does pullups
Bear crawl the length driveway x4
Ruck 1 mile with 120 lb Sandbag
50 pushups with ruck on
As many sit-ups as possible in the remaining time

70 minute cutoff

This was challenging but probably similar to something we might encounter in Selection.