"Do you suppose they will choose to make war against lean, solid dogs rather than against fat and tender sheep?"
What my training was supposed to look like... This year I was forced to train much differently for the Heavy than planned. I suffered an injury to one shoulder and both hands that ruled out some of the very training that I intended to rely on, namely pushups, heavy kettlebells (32 to 40kg), and carrying... Continue Reading →
The D-Day Heavy Challenge is in the record books. Before I publish my AAR, this is what I packed. Feet: Rocky S2V boots. I got these on Sgt. Šileika’s advice, and they were champs.Originally I was planning on wearing my GORUCK MACV-1s, figuring “what could be better for an event than a boot made specifically for that... Continue Reading →
The GORUCK Heavy Challenge is 10 days away. For the last month I've trained at extra-high volume, never very intensely but with all the miles and reps I can get in. It's been a stretch, and I'm now definitely in a state of "overreaching," where I've purposely trained a little more than I could recover... Continue Reading →
We’ve all had friends who exerted unhealthy influence over us. They were charismatic and had qualities we wanted to emulate, but in the exuberance of growth we also idealized them for a time and didn’t want to accept that they too were just fragile, finite people with foibles, not all-purpose role models. And so we... Continue Reading →
When Lars Grebnev at Survival Russia talks, I listen. First he got me into jackboots, which I like more all the time because they're weather- and terrain-proof. On slippery rocks, in muck, over a gravelly boulder-scape, in a calf-high stream, the jackboots keep you stable and dry. This time I tried them with snowshoes. My... Continue Reading →
Julien, a lean, solid dog in Canada, asks: I've been thinking of buying a used rucksack (something like https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/british-patrol-backpack-30-litres-black-surplus/3779). Any advice you'd have for someone starting? Also, I saw that you seem to endorse the original RKC book for kettlebells. I got a 16 kg bell, and some extra money, was thinking of buying a... Continue Reading →
From Sgt. Sileika, a lean, solid dog in Vilnius who serves as our resident subject-matter expert in ruck marching and sentence diagramming. Living in the Baltics, he is located at the intersection (to use a fashionable word) of three of our favorite things: kvass, kettlebells, and Varusteleka. Power to you, sir!
Finally, someone who understands why they're called "shorts." At the GORUCK Heavy Challenge, after some refreshing PT, you start the 24 hours with a twelve-mile timed ruck. You need to walk it in 3½ hours or you can be disqualified. Lauren Four Boots and I were discussing this menacing prospect in the middle of a... Continue Reading →
A complete gym in one tidy corner: Kettlebells. One is enough, but in a happy home they multiply. Somebody to swing them. Note the bare feet--that's how you should do it too. Rucksack and boots. Insert kettlebells and start walking. Pavel Tsatouline's classic Russian Kettlebell Challenge (1999), still the best book there is on this stuff. Sledgehammer... Continue Reading →