Originally published in July 2013
SealFit has had my interest for around 3 years. Over that time, I have considered going to the Kokoro camp and also tried to arrange a 20x challenge in Chattanooga for me and all my friends. For lots of reasons and conflicts, I have not been able to make this happen.
On Thursday, I was talking to my wife about our fall break plans. Our 3 children go to 2 different schools and their fall breaks overlap but are not the same. While discussing the plans I noticed that there was also a gap where nothing was scheduled on Oct 26-27. These were the camp dates.
I asked my wife if it would be ok if I went and she said yes, my kids thought it would be cool and all of the sudden I had the green light to go do something that had been a dream of mine.
Excitement, motivation and fear all were experienced at once as I completed the online application and hit the submit button. I was in now, no turning back.
The website has alot of good information. I reviewed the gear list and then the minimum physical standards which are listed here:
“We have published updated Kokoro Camp Standards to help you understand just what you are getting into when you start your training for Kokoro. We don’t want there to be any confusion as to what we are doing here. This is not a “SEAL experience” alone…it is an event unlike any other that will test you to your core. We want to prevent injuries as well as people holding their team back. The work-load at Kokoro camp was described by an Iron Man athlete as “3 back to back Iron Men races, without rest.” Prepare well.
Prerequisites for a graduate certificate will be tested within the first few hours of the camp. They include:
50 push ups (40 for women) in 2 minutes, 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes and 50 air squats in 2 minutes, with 2 minutes rest in between each.
10 dead hang pullups for men, 6 women
1 mile run in boots and utility pants on road in 9:30
Body Armor (aka Murph) with 20# pack (15# for women): 1 hour and 10 minutes minimum
Endurance standards to guide your preparation (not tested for performance, but completion):
10 mile run in less than 1:20
20 mile ruck hike with load in less than 6 hours
Two event failure (PFT/Murph) will result in drop from course and refusal to perform any event will be considered a non verbal drop. Note we highly recommend that you ramp up your endurance and stamina training. A standard CrossFit or SOF Prep training regimen will not suffice. You should run a marathon or half Iron Man and spend considerable time rucking with load. Please contact us if you are not clear about the physical demands of this program. Should you fail to meet the standards and are rolled you will receive a certification of attendance, not a Certificate of Graduation with accompanying SEALFIT Black Shirt. You will be invited to train with your new knowledge and come back to challenge Kokoro Camp again in the future.
Black Shirt graduates have the potential to pursue intern positions and the SEALFIT Mastery program, as outlined on our web site.
Good luck! – Coach Divine”
I am capable of all the physical standards at present, but I know I have ALOT of work to do before Oct 26, particularly in the rucking area. I felt as though I did not prepare enough for the Goruck and told myself that I would spend ALOT more time under load preparing for the next event. My running is not up to par either and I need to increase my mileage greatly and be confident running 12-15 miles without problem.
My plan is to continue my morning workouts with the guys 5 days a week, but also throw in additional work in the day of 10 mile rucks, 10 mile runs, lots of plank work, weighted dead hang pullups, sled pulls, hill sprints and lots of walking lunges. I plan to do all of this in boots and tactical pants to break in both and get used to moving in pants and boots.
I signed up through a link of Brad Mcleod’s www.sealgrinderpt.com site which included free coaching from Brad up to the event. I need all the help I can get, so I immediately sent Brad an email to which he responded right away. Brad suggested that I send him my benchmarks and also my time from a 1 mile sled pull.
I will track my training here and on the facebook page, but since I am just now catching up, here is what I have done since making this decision:
Wednesday
Determined that I could do this and got green light from my family
Thursday
Jerry workout in pants and boots
5×10 pullups deadhang
Reviewed and completed pushup, pullup, squat standards
Made the decision and signed up online
Friday morning
Hotshot 19 workout in pants and boots 39:24
9 mile ruck with 30 pound pack 3:00:00
10 set of 10 weighted pullups
50 pushups in 1 minute x 3
Saturday
Sled pull 1 mile afap with Rogue Dog Sled and 1 45 pound plate 16:02
3×10 weighted deadhang pullups 30 pounds
3×10 deadhang pullups unweighted
Swimming and breath holding practice with my kids in the pool
Big lifting day with 4,900 lbs across squats, snatches, and jerks, followed by 12 minutes of Rahoi intensity. This log details reps, rounds, and results with a focus on high performance.