Giovanni Svette: From CrossFit to Ruck Race League Finalist

WEBVTT

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What did that victory mean to you personally?

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That was like a stamp of approval for everything

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I've been working for. All the time spent, all

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the 5 a .m. getting up because I've got, you

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know, a kid, a year and a half year old. I've

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got to do everything before they get up. And

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just everything just fell in line and it was

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all worth it. Welcome to the Rucker's Edge podcast,

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a show all about rucking that is designed to

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help you develop a rucking routine, lose weight,

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and ultimately gain your strength and energy

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back. Whether you're an office worker with lower

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back pain, a fitness first -timer, or a new parent

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trying to get back to your pre -kids weight,

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this is the show for you. I'm your host, Spencer,

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and today I sit down with Giovanni Civetti, a

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CrossFit athlete who has made the leap to competitive

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rucking and is now heading to the Ruck Race League

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finals. We talk about how his rucking training

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evolved from moderate miles to structured event

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prep and how he dug deep and used familiar terrain

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and a determined mindset to win the Stairway

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to Heaven event, which consisted of rucking over

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5 ,000 feet of elevation with 10 % body weight

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in just two hours. He also opens up about dealing

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with back pain, how he discovered rucking, and

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how he is preparing for the Ruck Race League

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Finals in November. All right, here's my conversation

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with Giovanni Savetti. Giovanni Savetti, welcome

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to the Rucker's Edge podcast. It's really nice

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to have you here. Yeah, thanks for having me,

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man. I've been following you on social media

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for a little bit, and you've been posting some

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pretty incredible workouts. And then I saw that

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you made the Ruck Race League finals and have

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been wanting to get you on the podcast to have

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a chat. So I appreciate you coming on for sure.

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Man, I really appreciate it. Absolutely. So I

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guess I kind of want to start in the beginning.

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Before you started rucking, you were pretty deep

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into CrossFit. And I'm just curious, what drew

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you to that style of training in the first place?

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So, you know, randomly dropping my kid off and

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actually, you know, on the way to the car from

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jujitsu, which the CrossFit gym had like a little

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jujitsu gym on the side. And that co -worker,

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actually a manager of mine, Tripp McCall, was

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like, hey, man. You know, I teach CrossFit here

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and I was like, oh, I've always wanted to get

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into CrossFit. But, you know, man, you guys are

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in way better shape. You'd kill me. He was like,

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no, no, that's how you get better at it. Yeah.

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And I explained to him, dude, I had a back issue

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from lifting a bunch of UPSs. There was over

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like 100 UPSs that were about between 50 and

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70 pounds that I just installed for work. And

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I tweaked my back. Told him about that. He was

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like, I'll work around it. Just meet me at 5A.

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And two years later. No, no, three years. Wow.

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So three years. So UPSs, those are like backup

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batteries? Yeah, universal power supplies. Gotcha.

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OK, very cool. So, yeah, you're doing some exercise

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on the job and then you started doing some workouts

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after after working. So I'm curious, like how

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has the back been since CrossFit? Have you I'm

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guessing there's been a lot of improvement since

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you're still doing it three years after the fact.

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I have I have absolutely no back pain anymore.

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It's amazing. Yeah, that's really cool. You know,

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I've noticed something similar. So I have a desk

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job. I sit at the desk all day and my posture

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definitely could be better. And I find myself

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hunched over a few times when I'm trying to read

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something small on the screen or whatever. And

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at the end of the day, I would feel like, you

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know, some lower back pain. But this is all pre

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-rucking, post -rucking. It's kind of just like

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cured it. I don't know if it's it's fixed by,

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you know, pulled my shoulders back. It's fixed

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my posture a little bit. And yeah, no, no back

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pain here either. But it's cool to hear other

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people have the same experience. How did you

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first get introduced to rucking? So, yeah, I

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was actually introduced into rucking because

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of Dave Castro's Instagram post saying that,

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you know, hey, CrossFit is sponsoring with GoRuck.

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So I immediately was like, OK, I need to go ahead

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and get a ruck. And come to find out in about

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November, December, they had the long range rucker

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on sale for about a hundred and something bucks.

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So I sent that link to my wife and then forgot

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about it. And then she surprised me for Christmas.

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And it's been rucking ever since, man. That's

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awesome. I absolutely love that ruck. Cool. Yeah,

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it's great to have a support system like that,

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too. That's really awesome. What year would that

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have been? So it was about a two year and a half

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ago. Twenty three. OK, cool. And what was that

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first ruck like using the new rucksack? It killed

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me. So it was after it was after like a like

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a double under workout. So my shins already done.

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And then I actually had like some pretty bad

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shin splints. Because I went straight for the

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35 pounds. Naturally. Yeah, like everybody does,

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I'm sure. I'm guilty of that too. And that was

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not a good idea. Who did you, did you go with

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the crew? Did you go just with the coach? Oh,

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no, no. I just went by myself down downtown Albemarle,

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up and down. We have five points, which is uphill,

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downhill, uphill, downhill. And then you do another

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400 meters and that's a mile. So I did that about

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three times. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So you, yeah, you

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strapped the 30 plus pounds. Plus you were going

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up and down hills for your first rock. That's

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like, yeah, let's get this. Yeah. It humbled

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me pretty quick. Well, yeah, I bet. And so you

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obviously came back, you enjoyed it enough. You're

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like, you know what? I'm going to, I'm going

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to get back to doing this. I'm curious, like

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what in rocking do you find so appealing that

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you, that keeps you coming back? Uh, just the,

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just the easy, uh, ease of use. You just put

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on the backpack. You can go anywhere with it.

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It goes with you. You never have an excuse anymore

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not to work out. Like there's been several times

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where I've had like a little lunch break and

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rucked in the gym. Awesome. Yeah, that's a really

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good point. Yeah, as long as you have the rucksack

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with you, you can get a workout in. At what point

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did you realize rucking was going to be more

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than just an occasional workout? Like when did

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it click? Like, okay, yeah, I'm going to keep

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doing this. Dude, it's going to sound pretty

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crazy, but after I started rucking, I noticed

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just my overall performance whenever we log what

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we're doing in CrossFit. All my numbers just

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shot up. Running got better. I guess it's called

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VO2 max. That's gotten better. It's just overall

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just peaked everything. I feel like I'm getting

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sore less. That's great. Yeah, I mean, that was

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sort of, you know, when I started doing this

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podcast, I was thinking of different names. And

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one of the things that I had also noticed when

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I started rucking was like it was giving me like

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that extra boost, I suppose. And so that's how

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it came up with the Rutgers Edge. I guess it's

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safe to say it's kind of given you an edge up

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on competition through completing all these different

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events with CrossFit and some of these events

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that I'm about to start asking questions about

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because I'm so curious. You have... quite a few

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competitive events under your belt. Uh, you've

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completed in several go rec events and a Spartan

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DECA events, possibly multiple, if I, if I remember

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correctly, but, um, which one of those events

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stands out as the most challenging to you? Uh,

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well, not one in particular, they were all challenging.

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Um, one in particular that I was humbled with

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and, uh, uh, quick story about it was, uh, my,

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I told my wife whenever I signed up for the DECA,

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I was like, you know, I think I'm going to do

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the DECA, but I'm going to do it with a ruck.

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She's like, shouldn't you do the DECA without

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a ruck? I was like, no, no, no, no. I'm the ruck

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club leader at the time. I was like, I'm going

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to, I'm going to, I'm going to wear the ruck

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and I'm going to get a podium finish. And she's

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like, maybe you should just focus on finishing.

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It's like, no, no, no. I got, I got this. I got

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this. And then I get there, man, and we're all

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lining up. And I don't know these guys from Adam.

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And they split us up into two. And then the main

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leader of, like, the whole DECA, he's pretty

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famous. He's on Instagram. His name's fleeting

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me at the moment. But he was like, hey, you know,

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who's trying to win this? Because you guys are

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going to be on first string. And nobody raised

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their hand. I was like. I'm going to try to win

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it with the rucksack. He just looks at me and

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kind of smiles. It was like, okay, you're in

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first string. Awesome. Dude, whenever we went

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off, uh, I got humbled really quick because I

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kept up with everybody. The first, the first

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lap, right? So I'm already pushing myself and,

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uh, we get past the first, uh, the first workout.

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And then that's when it's settled in. So within

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that event, man, one guy that I was right behind

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was Mark Jones. I don't know. I think he might

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have won that event. And Bubbles, too. I didn't

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know who Bubbles was. I forget his real name,

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but he goes by Bubbles. He does like 50 cows

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in 30 seconds. But you had some humdingers in

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Concord, right? Mark Jones. Don't know if you

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know who he is. Yeah, yeah. He's actually agreed

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to come on in a few weeks. Oh, cool. Cool. Nuts.

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Humble, humbly up, dude. But he not only finished

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it, but as I'm doing the burpees, he's like,

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hey, you're the guy. The guy right behind you

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is is 11th place. So if you hold him off, you've

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got 10th. Let's go. And gave me the little bit

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of push that I needed, man. And afterwards, he's

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like, yeah, you're in this. You're going to be

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back. That's great. So that was your first DECA.

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Yes. Yeah. And you're like, yeah, you know what?

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Don't know what the rec set never done before,

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but I know I'm doing it with the rec set. And

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so how did, how did you finish? Uh, dude, it,

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it took everything. I had all the, all the, but

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what helped me was, uh, having my family there,

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man, that support system, uh, my wife, my kid,

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um, my little girl at the time do the like best

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support system in the world. Oh, that's great.

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That is so awesome. I have not competed in any

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of these events. I don't do I don't do CrossFit.

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I'm just a dad with a day job that rocks and

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does workouts in the backyard. So seeing you

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all compete at that level and, you know, set

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those times and accomplish what y 'all are is

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it's pretty amazing. And I bet having your family

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there gave you that extra push to to to really

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do as best as you could. That's awesome. What

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has been your proudest ruck -related accomplishment

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so far? Dude, definitely qualifying for the Ruck

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Racing League final. Yeah, that is an accomplishment.

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That is so cool. Yeah, let's start talking about

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that. So how did you find out about the Ruck

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Race League? I think the same outlet, man. I

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think Dave Castro shared it out, and then I started

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seeing it in different areas. And I'm like, what?

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is this how would this even work and then i was

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kind of thrown off with you know uh the the whole

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uh i guess the whole model behind it because

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i'm like okay i'm paying a hundred dollars it's

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virtual i could just do these on my own but then

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i'm like but then there's still that competitive

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out yeah there's a leaderboard So I was like,

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okay. I told my wife, I was like, I know this

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is a lot of money, but if it's over five, I can

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either do the DECA or this. So that's whenever

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I chose to not do the DECA and do this instead.

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And I'm glad I did. More with Giovanni in just

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a moment, including how he prepared for the Ruck

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Race League. But I want to take a quick break

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to say thanks for listening to the podcast. Please

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text this episode with a fellow rucker that might

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find it interesting or with a friend that could

00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.340
benefit from rucking. Sharing this episode would

00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:44.220
help the show grow and help more people improve

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their health and lives. Okay, back to it. So

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walk us through your training prep starting back.

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I think you started training in February of this

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year. Yeah, yeah. So training preps, just been

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doing CrossFit, try to get in there five days

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a week. the, the go rock training. Uh, so you've

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got go rock tribe on, uh, beyond the whiteboard.

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Okay. So doing a little bit of those workouts.

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Um, I actually in between that, I, I'm pretty

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confident. Uh, I did also heavy drop training.

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Yeah. Uh, so I did a session of that and actually

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they got a leaderboard on that. So me and my

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partner won that session. So we go like, Oh,

00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:32.860
nice. I think we get like 80 % off the next session

00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:35.960
or something like that. That was, that was, that

00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.919
was effort in itself, man. I think within that

00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:42.340
session, there was like a mile of, uh, bear crawls,

00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:48.100
uh, a mile of broad jumps. There was some really

00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:52.159
cool events in that heavy drop train. Okay. That's,

00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.940
that's really cool. And so ruck race league has

00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:58.179
six events. Is that right? Uh, they have five.

00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:01.200
OK, so there are five events in the regular season.

00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:04.440
And then how do you qualify to get into the finals?

00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:09.200
So you can either. So from what I've I've seen,

00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:11.879
this is the first year. So what I think happened

00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.440
is, you know, you've got your standings, the

00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:17.960
top 10 in each men, women division. And then

00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:22.460
you have five spots for each workout winner.

00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.620
And that's how I got mine was not the standings,

00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:29.210
but I won the stairway to heaven. which was max

00:14:29.210 --> 00:14:32.710
ascent that you can do with, I think it was either

00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:36.049
10 or 15 % of your body weight for two hours.

00:14:36.309 --> 00:14:40.289
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I channeled everything, man.

00:14:40.350 --> 00:14:45.809
I was praying. I was like visualizing my, my

00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:49.929
kid. And then I actually just recently lost my

00:14:49.929 --> 00:14:54.049
cousin and to some drugs and drug dealer gave

00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:59.600
him some, some bad stuff. And I appreciate it.

00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.779
But looking at the messages, I'm horrible with

00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:05.200
follow up and keeping up with family. But the

00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.080
last thing I was talking to him about was he

00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.539
actually had some back pain and he was unfortunately

00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:15.539
using pain medicine and to get rid of it. And

00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:18.639
he asked me if working out might do it. So I

00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.460
gave him a big, long story. I was like, hey,

00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.419
dude, meet me here. And I just never followed

00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:27.679
up with him. So I kind of did everything I could

00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.940
for him because he couldn't. Yeah. So I just

00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:34.379
channeled every one of that and I didn't stop

00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:38.399
at all. Wow. Okay. Yeah. And so let's see, your

00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:43.539
final scoring was 5 ,314. Now that's feet ascended.

00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:49.360
Yep. Yep. Wild. That is wild, man. Walk us through

00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.440
that. How, what did you do? How did it go? So

00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.679
so I used the front line back. I actually got

00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.419
with the owner and talked to him about his front

00:15:58.419 --> 00:16:02.539
line bags, because at the time, like GORUCK really

00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:05.940
didn't have like a light bag. I was like, OK,

00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:09.639
any little edge. Right. And then I just I got

00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:13.159
a GORUCK shoes, brand new shoes, because the

00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:17.460
prep all month was going up that hill. And that's

00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:20.919
actually the same hill I use for my my rut club

00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:24.139
that we started. Thanks to Kelly, the owner.

00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:28.200
She actually I reached out to her. I was like,

00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:31.980
hey, why don't we why don't we start like like

00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:37.100
a rucking club? And that's one of the main hills

00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:41.899
I love for that club meeting. And yeah, it's

00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:44.879
just running up and down that hill as much as

00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:48.139
possible. And using that lighter rock definitely,

00:16:48.179 --> 00:16:52.440
definitely helped. I can see that. And so I think

00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.279
the parameters were max elevation and two hours

00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:59.039
at 10 % body weight. So is that what you did?

00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.320
You did two hours and at 10 % body weight? Nice.

00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:07.680
Yep. And then you could only use, so you couldn't

00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:10.920
use any poles either. Thanks to Dave Castro.

00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.920
He was like, it's funny seeing the guy who programs

00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:18.230
the CrossFit. The CrossFit Open and all things

00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:21.789
CrossFit really steamed the lines. It's like,

00:17:21.869 --> 00:17:23.930
I guess he played the athlete, right? I was like,

00:17:23.970 --> 00:17:26.369
well, you didn't necessarily say you couldn't

00:17:26.369 --> 00:17:30.829
use poles. He actually used poles for Atlas,

00:17:31.069 --> 00:17:36.809
which was funny. But so the owner, Bill, he cracks

00:17:36.809 --> 00:17:38.789
up about it. He's like, well, I'm going to call

00:17:38.789 --> 00:17:43.210
that the Dave rule. I did see that implemented.

00:17:43.390 --> 00:17:45.920
Yeah. That's probably going to be another rule

00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:51.259
in the in the finals as well. So what did that

00:17:51.259 --> 00:17:54.720
victory mean to you personally? So that was like

00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.059
a stamp of approval for everything I've been

00:17:57.059 --> 00:18:00.519
working for all the time spent, all the 5 a .m.

00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:04.920
getting up because I've got, you know, a kid,

00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:11.039
a year and a half year old. I've got to do everything

00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.660
before they get up. And just everything just

00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:19.279
fell in line and it was all worth it. That's

00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.519
awesome. I'm really happy for you. Congrats again.

00:18:21.579 --> 00:18:25.839
That's so cool. And OK, so, yeah, you're headed

00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:29.339
to the Ruck Race League finals. What's your mindset

00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:33.099
like going into an event like this? Dude, I'm

00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:35.200
just going to get at everything I have. Like

00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:38.000
I've already been humbled once with the DECA.

00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.190
So I know. I know what I'm going up against.

00:18:41.309 --> 00:18:44.630
I'm going up against the best of the best. We

00:18:44.630 --> 00:18:47.190
all deserved, obviously deserved to be there.

00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:51.089
And I'm just trying to train the best I can,

00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.329
try to get more miles. That's another thing is

00:18:54.329 --> 00:18:57.569
I have no idea what the event's going to partake,

00:18:57.569 --> 00:19:00.670
like whether or not sandbags are going to be

00:19:00.670 --> 00:19:03.430
in it, whether it's going to be several little,

00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:05.490
is it going to be like the whole Ruck Racing

00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:08.890
League events all in one day? Or is it going

00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:12.690
to be one big distance? So I'm trying to train

00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:17.289
for all of it. I've actually, my wife is kind

00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:20.170
of pushing me now because I mentioned going over

00:19:20.170 --> 00:19:25.829
to like URI trails and they have a 11 .5 loop

00:19:25.829 --> 00:19:31.029
that has like 11, 1100 foot elevation. And I

00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:33.750
was like, yeah, I probably need to do that like

00:19:33.750 --> 00:19:35.829
twice before then. And I was like, well, why

00:19:35.829 --> 00:19:38.200
don't you just do it tomorrow? I guess I got

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:42.660
two. That's so great. Yeah, that's like I guess

00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:45.079
that's sort of like the there's like a mystique

00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:46.799
around Ruck Race League, right? Because they

00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:49.779
don't announce all the events before the regular

00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:52.559
season starts, right? They announce them. Correct

00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:54.460
me if I'm wrong. I'm pretty sure the events are

00:19:54.460 --> 00:19:56.500
announced like the first day of the month and

00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:58.319
you have that entire month to complete the event.

00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:01.660
And then results are posted. Yeah. So you can

00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:05.359
either spend that time prepping a training or.

00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:10.400
You know, trying that event, seeing what you

00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.119
need to work on, trying to prep for it and then

00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.799
go after it again. Yeah, that's cool. So you

00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:17.920
could like try to do the event multiple times

00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.640
and I guess you can submit your best time. Yep.

00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.619
Cool. Oh, that's that's great. All right. So

00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:27.200
what would success look like for you at the finals?

00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:30.339
Is it about winning or is it is it about something

00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:32.700
else? Do you have anything to prove or are you

00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:34.960
just just really excited and happy to participate?

00:20:35.849 --> 00:20:39.690
I would like to prove to myself that I, I belong

00:20:39.690 --> 00:20:44.829
in the top 10. Um, that would, that would be

00:20:44.829 --> 00:20:47.890
really great. So out of 15, if I can place, you

00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:51.190
know, like better than better than last, um,

00:20:51.250 --> 00:20:54.849
just, I just don't want to quit. Um, yeah, I

00:20:54.849 --> 00:20:58.609
don't think I will. And just, just really honestly,

00:20:58.809 --> 00:21:04.220
like just enjoying the moment. Yeah. socializing

00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:07.220
with the best of the best, like how often would

00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:10.279
I have a chance to actually talk and like swap

00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:13.480
stories and maybe get some training advice from

00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:17.400
the big dogs? Yeah, that's going to be a really

00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:20.400
cool experience for you. Wow. Yeah, I'm excited

00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.359
for you. I'm going to be pulling for you. Let's

00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:28.279
move on to community aspect that you're trying

00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:31.259
to facilitate through your rec club. I know you're

00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:34.140
trying to grow it, it sounds like. Why is that

00:21:34.140 --> 00:21:37.000
important to you, and how is that going? Dude,

00:21:37.019 --> 00:21:41.420
it's going absolutely awesome. I think it's brought

00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:46.480
not only the wrecking aspect, it's given an outlet

00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.680
to the CrossFit people because they always try

00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.279
to talk to each other before the workout, but

00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:56.569
not all of them get there super early. It's really

00:21:56.569 --> 00:21:59.410
nice to hear, OK, what events are you shooting

00:21:59.410 --> 00:22:02.549
for? What goals do you have? And it kind of I've

00:22:02.549 --> 00:22:05.569
noticed it even pushes other CrossFit elites

00:22:05.569 --> 00:22:09.970
at the gym to maybe partner up because like we

00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:12.329
don't really talk to each other outside the gym.

00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:15.609
And just building that whole community of like

00:22:15.609 --> 00:22:19.730
just awesome people that want to do the next

00:22:19.730 --> 00:22:23.549
big thing is pretty cool. So how often are y

00:22:23.549 --> 00:22:25.869
'all meeting up? Are y 'all y 'all rucking before

00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:28.589
each workout every day or once or twice a week?

00:22:29.009 --> 00:22:32.690
So we're doing twice a month on a Saturday and

00:22:32.690 --> 00:22:36.250
it's right before a workout. Most of the time.

00:22:36.710 --> 00:22:39.650
There's been maybe one or two weeks that maybe

00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:43.190
they've done like Wadapalooza or another event

00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:45.230
that they got to travel to. So we didn't have

00:22:45.230 --> 00:22:47.809
everybody there, but anybody that wanted to do

00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:51.079
a workout, we've done a workout. And then we've

00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:53.920
also done what's called a go -ruck takeover at

00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:57.339
the gym, too. I got with Bianca and the guys

00:22:57.339 --> 00:23:00.180
over there at go -ruck. And they sent us some

00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:04.059
patches over and gave us a little bit of, like,

00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:08.819
media out. So we might be able to get a few people

00:23:08.819 --> 00:23:12.680
from outside the gym. But that was good to lead

00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:15.059
some CrossFit people into, like, a boot camp

00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:18.279
workout. And they enjoyed it. Your Instagram.

00:23:19.710 --> 00:23:22.529
I guess, handle is rucking dad. I'm so curious,

00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:24.650
you know, what do you hope your son takes away

00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:27.109
from seeing you train and compete at this level?

00:23:27.549 --> 00:23:30.710
I just, I just hope he, you know, he can, he

00:23:30.710 --> 00:23:32.910
can do everything, everything he puts his mind

00:23:32.910 --> 00:23:36.750
to it and not to ever give up. And with your

00:23:36.750 --> 00:23:39.029
rucking experience and at your level, I'm just

00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:42.170
curious if, if, if someone listening wanted to

00:23:42.170 --> 00:23:44.109
start rucking today or wanted to improve their

00:23:44.109 --> 00:23:47.819
rucking, what advice would you give them? The

00:23:47.819 --> 00:23:51.160
best piece of advice I can give somebody that

00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.920
wants to start wrecking is just grab any backpack.

00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.000
You don't need a go wreck. You don't even need

00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:59.339
a front line, even though front lines really

00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:03.720
hitting that best bang for your buck outlet now.

00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:08.720
But you just need just need dumbbells or even

00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:15.099
brick like rocks. And you can buy a bag of sand

00:24:15.099 --> 00:24:19.000
at Lowe's for. Nothing. Maybe like three, four

00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.980
dollars and just start walking, walking with

00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:26.259
weight. That's great advice. Now, if one advice

00:24:26.259 --> 00:24:30.579
I'd have for somebody for improvement is it took

00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:35.440
me a while to learn this, but socks, socks are

00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:38.880
really, really, really important. And merino

00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.819
wool is where it's at. What's your go to sock

00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:46.750
these days? Uh, so my go -to socks are the, the

00:24:46.750 --> 00:24:49.710
go -ruck Marina wools. Uh, I've, I've got a bunch

00:24:49.710 --> 00:24:53.210
of them. Uh, the wreck, um, mud gear actually

00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:58.170
makes a pretty awesome sock. Um, darn tough makes

00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:00.930
a, uh, a good sock, but it's kind of loose for

00:25:00.930 --> 00:25:05.299
me. Might be less loose for somebody else. But

00:25:05.299 --> 00:25:07.940
I definitely start playing with different socks.

00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:11.180
And actually, I've I've got a side project that

00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:13.799
I'm working out with a sock mill and hopefully

00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:17.900
designing my own sock soon. Cool. Oh, that's

00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:19.920
exciting, man. Yeah, I'd like I'd love to hear

00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:21.619
more about that some other time whenever you

00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:23.279
whenever you get the chance. That's pretty interesting.

00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:26.279
Absolutely. Well, we're getting close to the

00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:29.140
end here before we jump into the rapid fire round.

00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:31.660
Giovanni, I wanted to thank you again for coming

00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:33.619
on the podcast and talking about your rucking

00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:35.940
experience. I'm crazy happy for you. Congrats

00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:39.259
again on making the finals. And I can't wait

00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:41.980
to follow along in your journey and see how things

00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.980
turn out for you. The best of luck to you. I'll

00:25:44.980 --> 00:25:48.259
be pulling for you. I appreciate it. Absolutely.

00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:50.359
You know, if people are interested in following

00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:52.799
along in your journey, where should they where

00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:57.819
should they go? Yeah. So just follow me on. Most

00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:00.799
social media, I've changed them all to at Rucking

00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:04.859
Dad. Cool. Okay. And I'll put a link in the show

00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:07.500
notes for everyone to click and go straight there.

00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:11.720
Okay. So we're going to finish this up with a

00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.380
rapid fire round. You've already sort of talked

00:26:14.380 --> 00:26:15.960
about your first rucksack, which is really cool

00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:19.380
to hear about. If you could only ruck one trail

00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:21.299
for the rest of your life, what trail would that

00:26:21.299 --> 00:26:26.680
be? Probably the URA trails. Where's that? Uh,

00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:31.000
so it's right off of, uh, like Troy, Troy, North

00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:35.000
Carolina, Montgomery County. Uh, it's, it's free

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:37.599
Austin trail. They have a big four wheel trail.

00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:41.660
I didn't know that it was in my backyard. That's

00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:45.480
awesome. Okay. Well, that's convenient. What's

00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:49.619
your favorite non -rucking workout? Uh, probably,

00:26:49.700 --> 00:26:52.200
well, I guess that's kind of a Chad would be

00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:56.859
my favorite workout. Gotcha. You can do it with

00:26:56.859 --> 00:26:58.460
the ruck, but you can do it with the vest too.

00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:04.000
Gotcha. And so you go on some pretty long rucks.

00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:06.279
You have the headphones in, you have the headphones

00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:08.319
out. And if you're listening to anything, what

00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:10.819
are you listening to? I've got the headphones

00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:15.640
out and just completely unplugged. Cool. And

00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:19.000
lastly, bucket list rucking trail. What's yours?

00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:24.539
Actually, I'm listening to, what is it called?

00:27:25.870 --> 00:27:30.490
Cameron Haynes' new book, Undisputable, Undeniable,

00:27:30.789 --> 00:27:34.210
something like that. But he's talked about during

00:27:34.210 --> 00:27:37.269
his podcast, one of the reps that he does is

00:27:37.269 --> 00:27:40.970
he actually does what he does every day, which

00:27:40.970 --> 00:27:46.009
is I think it's run, lift, shoot. So him and

00:27:46.009 --> 00:27:49.230
whoever he's doing a podcast with is running

00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:55.089
up Pisgah, Mount Pisgah. And I want to do Mount

00:27:55.089 --> 00:27:57.250
Pisgah. It's only like three and a half hours

00:27:57.250 --> 00:28:01.089
away. So like that, that's within reason. I can

00:28:01.089 --> 00:28:03.289
go do that. I might actually do that for the

00:28:03.289 --> 00:28:08.769
prep. Nice. Yeah. Have you seen a side note?

00:28:08.829 --> 00:28:11.650
Have you seen his son, what he's accomplishing

00:28:11.650 --> 00:28:14.690
wearing jeans? Truett is absolutely amazing.

00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:19.539
He's inspired me to do something with some origin

00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:23.140
jeans. That's another local company that's over

00:28:23.140 --> 00:28:26.640
here in Asheboro, North Carolina. And he just

00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:29.559
released some cotton jeans that are all American,

00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:34.559
all made here in the United States. Everything

00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:40.369
from buckle to everything. It's nuts. Cool. Cool.

00:28:40.450 --> 00:28:44.089
Well, Giovanni, I think that concludes our conversation

00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:46.269
today. I really appreciate, again, taking the

00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:49.589
time to have this chat with me today. And best

00:28:49.589 --> 00:28:51.890
of luck to you at the finals, man. Going to be

00:28:51.890 --> 00:28:54.170
pulling for you. Absolutely. I appreciate it.

00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:58.250
And I just want to give a quick shout out to

00:28:58.250 --> 00:29:01.609
God, man. It's the only reason I'm able to do

00:29:01.609 --> 00:29:06.650
everything in the CrossFit. Albemarle owner,

00:29:06.910 --> 00:29:10.250
Kelly, and my family. They're the best support.

00:29:10.670 --> 00:29:13.450
That's great, Giovanni. Well, thanks again, and

00:29:13.450 --> 00:29:17.170
I'll be following you on Instagram. See ya. See

00:29:17.170 --> 00:29:19.349
ya. All right, that wraps up my conversation

00:29:19.349 --> 00:29:21.970
with Giovanni. You can connect with him on Facebook

00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:25.029
or on Instagram at rucking underscore dad. I'll

00:29:25.029 --> 00:29:27.490
drop those links in the show notes. If you want

00:29:27.490 --> 00:29:29.289
to reach out to me, head on over to theruckersedge

00:29:29.289 --> 00:29:32.859
.com or on Instagram at theruckersedgepod. If

00:29:32.859 --> 00:29:34.579
you enjoyed today's episode, make sure you follow

00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:36.839
or subscribe to The Rucker's Edge so you're notified

00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.400
of new episodes. All right, that's it for today.

00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:41.559
Thanks again for listening to this episode of

00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:42.460
The Rucker's Edge.