Figured I'd give a little update.

I got my tail handed to me during the Welcome Party at Light due to poor cardio and conditioning and dropped out - a mistake I will NOT be making at Challenge. I'm bringing the pain train to Challenge this time and kicking butt every day I train.

I'm up to rucking 3x per week right now as I'm 56 days out from Challenge. I ruck 7+ miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays and long distances on Sundays.

Today's ruck was 20.7 miles with 5:25:19 time in motion. Current training ruck weight is 47.5 pounds (added a 10-pound steel plate, extra water and stuff). Added in 160 pushups for extra fun.

I try to stay consistent with what days I ruck but things come up so I had to ruck Friday instead of Thursday. Did 8.3 miles in 2:06:55 with 110 pushups thrown in. On short days I also hit a few laps up a steep hill to a park and back down with no rests in between for some elevation change.

I carry Clif Shotbloks in my pocket for an on-the-go snack and take 2 Hammer Endurolyte electrolyte pills every hour. I carry a 3-liter Source hydration bladder and generally try to stay well hydrated. The Source bladder is fuggin' BOMBPROOF, love that thing. I've rucked it well over 250 miles so far. I ordered the last of my gear a few minutes ago from REI (pants, jacket, another bottle of Endurolytes pills and a Petzl Tikka 2 headlamp).

Gear list consists of:

GORUCK GR1 bag
6 bricks wrapped in foam and duct tape
Mechanix Fastfit gloves
boonie hat
Merrell Moab Mid hiking boots (Columbia Drainmakers just didn't work well for me with the low tops)
Swiftwick Aspire 2 socks
Powerstep Pinnacle insoles
Pelican case for my iphone
Under Armour Heatgear t-shirt and shorts
Columbia Rebel Roamer pants
REI Windstill jacket
snacks (cookies and stuff)
photo ID, $20 cash
BodyGlide on feet/shoulders etc...
spare socks (x2)

The gear I've selected is good stuff, no doubt, but gear will only get you so far. Attitude will carry you farther than you ever thought in an event like this. The $20 cash is for cab fare back to your start point if you don't make it. My $20 will be a piece of paper that says "I OWE ME $20". I have no intention of needing or using cab fare, NOT gonna happen.

After Challenge on December 14th, I'm planning up doing a Heavy (24-hour version) in March or April with another guy who's about to do Challenge. They don't have those everywhere so not sure yet where I'll have to travel to do that. Got another guy coming to ruck Tuesday with me who's in for December, wants to see where he stands.