How an Elite Rucker Trains While Balancing a Career and Life

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What does it actually take to train for one of

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the toughest hybrid fitness races in the world

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while balancing a full-time career, family life,

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and everyday responsibilities? If you've ever

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wondered how elite athletes structure their training,

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stay consistent for years, and keep pushing their

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limits into their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond,

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today's episode is going to give you a behind

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-the-scenes look. My guest today is John Ross-Wiley.

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John is a competitive hybrid athlete who

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has podium finishes in DEKA Ruck events and

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has competed in some of the toughest obstacle

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races out there, including the brutal Spartan

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Ultra 50K. But what makes John especially interesting

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is that he's not a professional athlete. He's

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a full -time elementary school principal, a father,

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and someone who has built elite performance into

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a busy life. In this conversation, we talk about

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what his training week actually looks like, how

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he balances work, family, and competitive racing,

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what DEKA races involve and how to train for

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them, the injuries that nearly stopped his season,

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and why doing hard physical challenges changes

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how you see everything else in life. Whether

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you're training for a race, building your rucking

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routine, or just trying to stay consistent with

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fitness, there are a lot of lessons in this conversation.

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You're listening to the Rucker's Edge podcast,

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the show all about rucking that is designed to

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help you improve your rucking routine, lose weight,

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and ultimately gain your strength and energy

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back. Each episode dives into the science, stories,

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and strategies behind rucking. You'll learn from

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top ruckers, coaches, health experts, and performance

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specialists who break down what it takes to train

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smarter, recover faster, and stay ready for the

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next challenge. So whether you're new to rucking

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or an experienced rucker that's already logged

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hundreds of miles, this is the show for you.

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I'm your host, Spencer. Thanks for listening

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in. Before jumping into today's conversation,

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I wanted to take a second and ask for a favor.

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If this show has helped you in any way, it would

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be amazing if you could drop me a quick review

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and rating on whatever app you're using to listen

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to this podcast right now. It helps me bring

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new episodes every week, and more importantly,

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more people looking to improve their fitness

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will be able to discover the podcast so you can

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help someone else start or improve their rucking.

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Thanks so much. All right, here's my conversation

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with John Ross Wiley. John, thanks so much for

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joining me here on the Rutgers Edge podcast.

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I'm really excited to hear. I have a lot of questions

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about your training that you do for all these

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DECA events that you're doing and I'm really

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excited to kind of dive deep into how you prepare

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your body for those events. So welcome to the

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Rutgers Edge podcast. Thanks so much. I really

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appreciate you having me on here. Oh yeah, absolutely.

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I see you have your waterproof headphones on

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right now. I saw a post on Instagram that you

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posted. Was it either today or was it yesterday

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where you were just like absolutely drenched

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and those suckers were covered in sweat? I was

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like, those can't be working anymore. Yeah, yeah,

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yeah. There were a couple of those this week

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that were just real sweat fests. And yeah, they

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really hold up. So these are my tried and true

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H2O Audio headphones. Nice. Yeah. And I saw,

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I think DECA used one of your photos for a promo

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for a DECA event in Ohio. Is that right? Uh,

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Chicago. Yeah. I was super pumped. I've always

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seen those promos every year and I always thought

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it'd be really cool if one day it was, it was

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me in the promo. And then before I saw it, someone

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in our, our frontline athletic group chat said,

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Hey, we know this guy sent it to me. So yeah,

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I was excited, especially because this year I'm

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actually going to that particular race. Awesome.

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Yeah, so I want to talk about these Decker races

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that you're competing in. Before we get to that,

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I mean, so I know of a few top three finishes

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that you've had in Decker Ruck events, but I

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know a little bit about you and that you're balancing

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work, life, family responsibilities. I'm just

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so curious, someone that's performing at your

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level, what does a normal week actually look

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like for you? Oh, yeah, it's a good question.

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My kind of, I guess, run of show, if I put it

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that way, for me is, you know, it starts typically

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with the alarm at five in the morning. And that's

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when the kind of the day gets going. And it's

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either the alarm or the dog, one or the other,

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but always right around five and then, you know,

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head down. And I'm very fortunate that over the

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years I've been able to put together a pretty

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nice little home gym in the basement. So most

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times I'm going just downstairs, which is nice.

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Sometimes I'm going to a gym in Port Chester,

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New York called Elite Fitness and Performance.

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Great gym. Do that to mix it up sometimes. But

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yeah, it's early morning workout. Try to wrap

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that up by 6 .30. And then it's usually a really

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quick shower because I always push it with the

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workout. Squeeze a little too much out of it

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in the morning. Yeah, get a little too into it.

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Quick shower, and then I head to work. And I'm

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an elementary school principal at an all -girls

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school, actually. So my days are busy, but a

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lot of fun as well. And yeah, sort of the typical

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after -school wind -down kind of thing. And sometimes

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I'll sneak in another mini -workout there with

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the dog walk. I'll throw the ruck on and make

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the mile or so a little bit of a low -key. Cool.

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Bonus workout. And then I guess the other thing

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is, I'll just say that the night ends with laying

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out the workout gear for the morning. That's

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kind of one of my go -tos is to have everything

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set up so that when I wake up in the morning,

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it's right there and I have no excuse. All right.

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So I'm curious a little bit about your athletic

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background. You mentioned in our pre -call that

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we had prior to starting the podcast that you

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were a former lacrosse and football athlete,

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I think it was in high school and college. So

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I know what you were doing kind of in high school

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and college around your age. And then you started

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doing some, some decade events in the 2020s.

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I think it was, what was, what was your fitness

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like between those two timeframes? So after college,

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I was trying to find ways to stay active, kind

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of running from time to time, nothing really

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formal, no real program. And I kind of, I wish

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some of the things that I was, I do now were

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around at that point because it would have been

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just great. But yeah, no real, no real program.

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Just tried to say a little fit, a little pickup

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basketball here and there, things like that.

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And then eventually I ended up finding a men's

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lacrosse league that was sort of done by age

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group. And so I jumped back into lacrosse a little

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bit for a while and that was fun. got me active.

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It wasn't super, super, I mean, the level was

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good. The level was definitely competitive, but

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it didn't really scratch that itch that I was

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looking for. And then Spartan races came into

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the picture for me. I did a couple other smaller

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series of obstacle races, but Spartan was the

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main one. And my first one was in 2014. And yeah,

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I just started doing Spartan races, did it for

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fun to check it out and slowly made the progression

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from there to... hey you know this is this is

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fun too i think i'm getting a little bit better

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at this and it's really fun to train for these

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and if i do these certain things the races are

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i can be a little bit more competitive and then

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yeah it's kind of progressed through that got

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into like the age group more competitive races

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and started to you know kind of get in that top

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10 area and that once i was in there it was just

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really hooked into it met some great people And

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then that transitioned after Spartan. It made

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its move towards the hybrid fitness with Deca

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and High Rocks to a lesser extent. Cool. Now,

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I think you've done, was it the Killington Ultra

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Spartan? Yeah. So that's the 50K with something

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like 50 obstacles or something ridiculous. Is

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that right? Yeah, if I'm remembering correctly,

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because I think I mostly have. like blocked it

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out because it was so hard, but it was, it was,

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I originally, I think I may have told you this

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on the pre -call. I originally signed up for

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the beast, which is basically like the half marathon

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ish type distance. And yeah, maybe she's in the,

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I'm probably misremembering this, but like 25

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obstacles, something like that. And the Tuesday

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before the Saturday race, I just thought, you

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know, this is going to be really hard no matter

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what. So. Let me just I can't really call it

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upgrading it, but I guess upgrade my registration

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to the to the ultra and just make it. And so,

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yeah, it was it was basically two of those loops

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with a little bonus loop in there in the middle.

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And yeah, you know, 50 plus obstacles probably.

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And there's a I think it was maybe a 14 hour

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or something like that time cap. And I literally.

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Used every single second of it. At the halfway

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point where they have you check in and you can

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fuel up and things like that, I was well ahead

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of schedule. And I was like, I got this. This

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is no sweat. And then second half just was brutal.

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And every little time hack, every couple of miles,

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I was getting closer and closer and closer to

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not making it. I want to say I finished the race

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with maybe 10 minutes left. Wow. Started in the

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dark and ended in the dark. Wow. Yeah. Yeah,

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that's unfathomable. Humbling, to say the least.

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I could imagine. So you said it's comprised of

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maybe two loops or something like that? Yeah,

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it was the beast course twice. Okay. Plus they

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worked in a little evil bonus section that I

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remember just being so steep. Did they shock

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you in that one? Don't they have like a gauntlet?

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No, that's tough. Oh, that's Tough Mudder. Yeah,

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that's right. That's right. For those of our

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listeners that aren't familiar with obstacle

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courses, what sort of obstacles do they have

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set up for y 'all to do? So some would be as

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sort of straightforward as getting over a seven

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foot wall, right? So you're approaching it, you

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have to jump up and basically do like a, almost

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like a muscle up over it. And there's different

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techniques to do that. So those are sort of more

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straightforward. They're more like technical

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grippy type works, obstacles that they have.

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Everything from monkey bars at different levels

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to different grip holds that are on a rig that

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you're swinging from one to the next, kind of

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like a, almost like a trapeze type situation.

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There are some heavy carries like the, the, the

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Killington's has, you know, the, you get this

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bucket. I don't even know how much it weighs,

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call it at a minimum 50 pounds, but I know, I

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know it's heavier and you're just carrying it.

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up this of this course sandbag same thing carrying

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it up the course it's just super heavy trying

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to think what else the the big thing at the end

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is the the finish line well it's only about a

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two foot jump but you jump over fire to finish

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and that's a pretty cool feeling so makes for

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a pretty cool photo i would imagine too oh i

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had i had a whole series of a kind of like a

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quote -unquote signature jump i was doing with

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like a full You know, spread eagle over the top

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of it. And the photography was always great.

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They always had someone right there. So I have

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like about five or six that came out really great.

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Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. So doing

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that, that Killington 50K Ultra, did that experience

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teach you anything about yourself or your training

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or how you should start adjusting your training

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or anything like that? Yeah, that's a great question.

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All of these races and the Ultra certainly did

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this. but all of obstacle course racing and the

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training for it, it's kind of that sort of that

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saying of like, you can do hard things. Yeah.

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So it, it really changes. These races have kind

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of changed my entire reference for what feels

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challenging and that you can apply that across

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any, anything. So it's, you know, it's silly

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things like. I don't know. I'm in traffic. This

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is awful. You just go into that different mindset

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of I've done things way harder than this. I've

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been in a situation that's uncomfortable for

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14 hours. I can be in this situation for 20 minutes.

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It's going to be okay. That might be a bad example,

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but it's the kind of thing where it's applicable

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across a lot of areas of life. It also taught

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me to check my ego a little. Just seeing like,

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ah, I'm sure I could just, why don't I just double

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down on this race and jump into it? I don't know

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how smart that was to be. But in the end, I made

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it through. Yeah. You're not that 19 -year -old

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lacrosse player anymore. Exactly right. So I

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know with the amount of training that you're

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doing for DECA and the amount of training that

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you were doing for all those obstacle courses,

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did you ever get injured? Because, I mean, you're

00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:39.629
kind of putting yourself in some pretty difficult

00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:43.039
situations. injuries come along with your training

00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.399
or those events? Yeah. Interestingly, I, I have

00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.879
had a couple injuries, but what's none of them

00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.440
have actually come in a race knock on wood, which

00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.960
has been great. One happened. I had a tour of

00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.620
my meniscus on a, on a hike one time, just a

00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:02.840
fun hike. I just felt it's one of those deals

00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.539
where I just said, and I do all this crazy stuff

00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:08.840
all the time and I'm fine. And I go out on this

00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.539
hike and terrible, you know, it was just. Oh,

00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:14.419
man. I was so upset. Ultimately, I was able to

00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:16.559
move through that with PT and no surgery, thankfully.

00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:19.399
And then the other sort of, I guess I would call

00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:21.659
it major, although in the grand scheme of things,

00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.679
not major. I herniated a disc in my back and

00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.320
that was during a training session. Really, it

00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:32.259
came down to essentially just going too fast

00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:36.240
and not being mindful of form. It was one of

00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:39.330
those deals where I was doing, you know. deadlifts

00:14:39.330 --> 00:14:42.269
and a few other things for time. And I just got

00:14:42.269 --> 00:14:45.470
sloppy with it and, you know, nothing acute.

00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:48.429
I didn't feel it in the moment, but the next

00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:50.889
day it was like, I did something yesterday that

00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:53.230
wasn't good. And it ended, it sort of showed

00:14:53.230 --> 00:14:57.230
itself as what felt like kind of sciatic nerve

00:14:57.230 --> 00:15:01.429
pain. And I had had that before, so I didn't

00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:04.769
give it a whole lot of. attention but it just

00:15:04.769 --> 00:15:07.129
wasn't going away and it went to the doctor and

00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:08.330
they said yeah the reason why you're getting

00:15:08.330 --> 00:15:10.929
this pain shooting down your leg is not from

00:15:10.929 --> 00:15:13.809
your sciatic it is from your sciatic nerve but

00:15:13.809 --> 00:15:15.750
it's because you have this disc just sitting

00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:19.529
on it because it's herniated oh yeah so that

00:15:19.529 --> 00:15:22.129
was not fun and it came right a couple months

00:15:22.129 --> 00:15:26.330
before deco world championships so it took me

00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:29.049
out of the game for that which was what year

00:15:29.049 --> 00:15:34.409
was that that would have been let's see 23 okay

00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:38.210
gotcha yeah what was there i would imagine you

00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:39.889
probably had to stop training for a certain amount

00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:43.169
of time to let that heal up i did i just had

00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:47.009
to shut it down for for a while i was able to

00:15:47.009 --> 00:15:49.350
do some you know minor things i was going to

00:15:49.350 --> 00:15:52.230
pt i could you know doing some walking and things

00:15:52.230 --> 00:15:55.769
like that and it was driving me crazy that took

00:15:55.769 --> 00:16:00.129
a lot of patience and i just i i really tried

00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:03.009
to Be smart about it. Listen to the doctors.

00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:06.730
Because I wanted to come back as fast as possible

00:16:06.730 --> 00:16:10.490
and not push it. I did ask when this all happened.

00:16:11.169 --> 00:16:13.549
I did ask the doctor. I said, do you think I

00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:16.289
can do this world championship in two months

00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:18.769
from now? And she asked me what was involved

00:16:18.769 --> 00:16:22.070
in it. And I explained all the different deca

00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:26.110
zones. And she all but laughed at me. And I was

00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:30.029
like, there's no way you can do this unless she

00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:32.529
said, unless you want to ensure that you're going

00:16:32.529 --> 00:16:36.570
to, we need to have do surgery. Gotcha. Yeah.

00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:38.610
And it obviously that's not the road I wanted

00:16:38.610 --> 00:16:42.169
to take. Right. No, no, definitely not. So yeah,

00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:45.090
obviously bounce back. I'm curious. What do you

00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:47.629
think helped you bounce back and, and get back

00:16:47.629 --> 00:16:50.210
to competing? Just your patients like you alluded

00:16:50.210 --> 00:16:53.649
to before. Yeah. Not jumping the gun. Yeah. I

00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.019
mean, I just, during that time, I, I, Again,

00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.940
I was reminded how important it is to be able

00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:02.519
to move my body like that and to be intense with

00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:04.599
my workouts and in competition and all of that.

00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:08.119
Again, kind of reset my perspective on it. And

00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.640
so I took my time with a goal of making it back

00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.799
to world championships the next year. So with

00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.079
that really kind of tangible and concrete goal,

00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:20.019
it was easy to focus and say, I'm basically not

00:17:20.019 --> 00:17:22.559
going to do anything at this point unless it

00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:27.279
is toward that goal. So no kind of frivolous

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:29.240
workouts. You know, I have a couple of friends

00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:32.119
who will suggest, let's go do this, fill in the

00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.380
blank, whatever it is. And typically I'm always

00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:38.240
sort of down for whatever. So like one of those,

00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:40.440
like, I think it's on a napkin. You see it like,

00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.400
that sounds like a terrible idea. What time should

00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.180
I be there? Let's do it. Yeah. One of those.

00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.880
So, so I tried to, I'm trying to like really.

00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:50.450
Pull back on those things and stay focused on

00:17:50.450 --> 00:17:52.849
the goals. And then it's the, you know, the kind

00:17:52.849 --> 00:17:56.450
of community of folks that I sort of surround

00:17:56.450 --> 00:17:59.549
myself with that got me back to it as well. That

00:17:59.549 --> 00:18:02.690
year when I was hurt, I still went to world championships

00:18:02.690 --> 00:18:06.789
for the full weekend and volunteered and acted,

00:18:06.829 --> 00:18:11.130
you know, acted as a judge. And I actually, and

00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:13.450
I really mean this, I came out of that weekend

00:18:13.450 --> 00:18:18.609
nearly as fulfilled as I would have been. If

00:18:18.609 --> 00:18:21.750
I competed, because it's really about being around

00:18:21.750 --> 00:18:26.369
those people. And in my experience to date, that

00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:31.549
whole kind of DECA universe is one of the places

00:18:31.549 --> 00:18:34.190
that I feel like is just sort of universally

00:18:34.190 --> 00:18:37.910
positive. More with John in just a moment, including

00:18:37.910 --> 00:18:40.380
why he started rucking in the first place. But

00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:41.960
I want to take a quick break to say thanks for

00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:44.240
listening to the podcast. Please text this episode

00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.119
with a fellow rucker that might find it interesting

00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:47.839
or a friend that could benefit from rucking.

00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.099
Sharing this episode would help the show grow

00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:51.980
and help more people improve their health and

00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:56.099
lives. Okay, back to it. So you only started

00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:58.640
rucking just a few years ago, right? I think,

00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:03.700
was it 24? Yeah. 25 maybe? So what inspired you

00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:06.240
to start rucking? So it was kind of this new,

00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.279
I always like to kind of... see what the next

00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.160
thing might be. The new, like, you know, new

00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:16.119
challenge could be for me. And I was at a DECA

00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.740
event that had both the regular DECA fit and

00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:23.619
the DECA fit ruck event. And I registered for

00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:29.579
both and I competed in the, in the DECA fit.

00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:32.460
I want to say on that, I think that day, I think

00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:36.809
maybe I had a fourth place finish, which. These

00:19:36.809 --> 00:19:40.650
days, if it's not top three, I'm not happy anymore.

00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:43.309
Yeah, I get that. I try to get some perspective

00:19:43.309 --> 00:19:47.529
over it. It was okay. But then that afternoon,

00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:53.470
I did the ruck and I kind of went at it with

00:19:53.470 --> 00:19:57.210
a different approach because it was brand new.

00:19:57.289 --> 00:20:00.690
I had no zero expectations. I'd say I went at

00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:03.710
it with a decent effort, but definitely not anything

00:20:03.710 --> 00:20:05.569
that was at the level I'd done that morning.

00:20:06.589 --> 00:20:09.410
And partly it reminded me that I can have a lot

00:20:09.410 --> 00:20:12.589
of fun with these races when I pull back expectation.

00:20:13.529 --> 00:20:16.529
I was just kind of almost felt like I was, I

00:20:16.529 --> 00:20:17.769
know I was going faster than this, but almost

00:20:17.769 --> 00:20:19.710
felt like I was jogging around the track and,

00:20:19.730 --> 00:20:22.809
you know, seeing people like all my buddies from

00:20:22.809 --> 00:20:25.809
the circuit and all that and just taking things

00:20:25.809 --> 00:20:28.589
slower and really being kind of present in that

00:20:28.589 --> 00:20:30.980
whole race. And then by the end of it, you know,

00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:33.559
I was definitely those, those 20 burpees at the

00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:35.859
end with the weighted burpees with the rock on,

00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:39.000
I was definitely torched. I mean, don't get me

00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:40.539
wrong. I was, I didn't go a hundred percent,

00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:44.740
but by the end of those, I was a disaster. Yeah.

00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:47.539
Done. But I looked at my time and I was like,

00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:51.740
it's kind of in the, in the mix for people, my

00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:55.240
age group. And I was like, well, that seems like.

00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.000
I enjoyed that. I can definitely go harder next

00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.940
time and maybe I can be competitive in this.

00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.519
So I guess it was kind of that realizing that

00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:07.539
there's definitely fun in racing. I have to always

00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:09.519
remind myself, have fun when you're out there

00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:11.380
because my expectations for myself are so high.

00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:14.680
And so that got me into it. And then I kind of

00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:17.019
committed to it after that, especially after

00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:24.079
DECA moved to having the Masters division. Because

00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.720
I knew realistically, again, I was kind of getting

00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.000
used to being in that competitive group. I knew

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:33.279
realistically that at that time, I guess being

00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:37.339
50, I could train as much as I wanted to, but

00:21:37.339 --> 00:21:41.359
it was going to be a real challenge to hit some

00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.380
of the times that some guys a couple decades

00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:47.839
younger than me were hitting. And that's not

00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.579
to say that there are other people who are pretty

00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:53.220
close to me in age two who are. unbelievably

00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:56.519
fast that I'm chasing as well. But those times

00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.579
were just on another plane. And so once it moved

00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:01.819
to this master's division, which was 45 and up,

00:22:01.859 --> 00:22:04.099
and I kind of looked at my times against other

00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:05.900
people and that I said, you know, I can definitely

00:22:05.900 --> 00:22:09.059
be competitive here. So I kind of then committed

00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:13.140
to it. That's awesome. Now, a little insight

00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:16.339
into these DECA races. From what I remember,

00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:19.640
I think you've placed top three in two RUC events,

00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:21.839
third in the DECA Strong RUC World Championship,

00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:25.500
and third at the DECA Fit RUC in Austin. Yeah.

00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:30.539
Both in 2025? Yes. How much weight are you carrying

00:22:30.539 --> 00:22:33.059
in those? How long do those events typically

00:22:33.059 --> 00:22:35.720
last? And can you give a brief description of

00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:37.920
those 10 different zones? Yeah, sure. I'll try

00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.589
to run through it quickly. DecaFit is still,

00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:44.809
it's under the Spartan umbrella. So Spartan Deca

00:22:44.809 --> 00:22:49.250
is an event. And then it's got, I guess, three

00:22:49.250 --> 00:22:52.769
basic domains. There's DecaFit, DecaMile, and

00:22:52.769 --> 00:22:56.569
DecaStrong. All of those three events have the

00:22:56.569 --> 00:23:02.250
same exact, almost exact zones to them. And then

00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:04.650
there's the ruck division, which you do those

00:23:04.650 --> 00:23:07.269
same things, just you add the ruck. For men,

00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:11.119
it's a 30 -pound ruck. And for women, it's 20.

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.420
And then with DecaFit, you're running 500 meters

00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:18.380
before each of the 10 zones. So by the end, you've

00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:22.519
run a 5K and done 10 workout zones. DecaMile,

00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:27.220
you are running 160 meters or a tenth of a mile

00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.960
before each of the zones. So you run grand total

00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.859
a mile. And then DecaStrong, there's no running.

00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:35.839
You just go through the 10 zones back to back.

00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:38.859
For the zones, I'll just go through them quickly.

00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:43.059
The first zone is reverse lunges. So here I'm

00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:46.099
picking up a 55 -pound ram, it's called. It's

00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:49.819
a cylinder made from recycled rubber material.

00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:53.359
And you hold that and you do 30 reverse lunges

00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.559
with it. So in the ruck division, you're doing

00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:57.680
that 55 plus you have 30 on your back to begin

00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.779
with. It's kind of a tough way to start. And

00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:06.099
then zone two is 500 meters on the rower. Zone

00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:11.319
three is 20 stepovers over a box. Zone four is

00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:15.579
sit -ups. And in most of, in the deck of fit,

00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:18.299
you're taking a med ball and you're doing a sit

00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.000
-up and touching the ball or throwing the ball

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.279
to a target. And then going back down, you're

00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:27.420
doing that 25 times. In the strong and mile,

00:24:27.660 --> 00:24:30.259
you're just doing sit -ups, no target with the

00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:33.079
med ball. And then in the ruck, If you're doing

00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:34.759
it, no bed ball at all. You just take your ruck

00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:37.900
off and do the sit -ups with that as the weight.

00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:41.859
Okay. Zone five is 500 meters on the ski erg.

00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:46.200
Zone six is a farmer's carry, 260 -pound dumbbells.

00:24:47.059 --> 00:24:50.240
Zone seven is 25 calories on the assault bike.

00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:53.819
And that's the make or break zone, pretty much.

00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:56.460
I sort of say that that's just where the rubber

00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.279
hits the road, depending on how you could manage

00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:02.539
that. Eight is taking a dead ball and taking

00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:05.160
it and putting it in fit. You're putting it over

00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:08.619
a small little wall back and forth, kind of like

00:25:08.619 --> 00:25:12.200
a little yoke. You put it over in the mile and

00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:13.759
in the strong, you're taking it and just throwing

00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:17.160
it over your shoulder. So shoulder overs. Nine,

00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:19.400
you're pushing something called the tank, which

00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:20.940
is basically like a sled, but it's on wheels

00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:24.559
and it's got a magnetic resistance to it. Pushing

00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:27.279
it and pulling it. back and forth five times

00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:31.160
for a total of 100 meters. And then you end with

00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:34.500
20 weighted burpees with, again, you're using

00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:38.240
that ram. This time it's 44 pounds and you're

00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.700
doing burpees with that. And it's chest to the

00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:45.500
ground, chest to the ram on the floor, and then

00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:47.599
full extension overhead. And then when you're

00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.140
done, you place it down and go across the finish

00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:53.769
line and go into what they call zone 11. which

00:25:53.769 --> 00:25:57.569
for me is typically full fetal position. No shame

00:25:57.569 --> 00:26:02.750
at all of just writhing around in pain. Goodness,

00:26:02.809 --> 00:26:07.930
that is intense. Yeah, I can't imagine myself

00:26:07.930 --> 00:26:11.390
getting through all of that alive, let alone

00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:13.910
making the podium. That's phenomenal, John. Holy

00:26:13.910 --> 00:26:17.130
cow. What keeps you going back to that starting

00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:20.549
line for these DECA rec events? Yeah, it's definitely

00:26:20.549 --> 00:26:25.000
the competition. It's that being able to have

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.920
something really measurable to go after. It's

00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:29.119
one of the things I love about deck. It's so

00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.460
standardized that I can train for it. And effectively,

00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.960
I know basically how I should do at these events

00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:39.279
if everything comes together because I've done

00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.279
it before. There's no surprises. The other thing

00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:44.460
that keeps me coming back definitely are the

00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:48.119
people. Like I said before, so many great people,

00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:50.960
in particular, a lot of the guys who are in my

00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.789
age group. Because we compete against each other

00:26:54.789 --> 00:26:57.750
all the time. So we know each other from lining

00:26:57.750 --> 00:27:00.309
up against each other. And of course, each of

00:27:00.309 --> 00:27:03.049
us has our goals and we want to, you know, win

00:27:03.049 --> 00:27:07.109
or play. So that kind of thing. But everyone

00:27:07.109 --> 00:27:10.069
also is super supportive of one another. So on

00:27:10.069 --> 00:27:13.990
any given day, if I best somebody, they're going

00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:17.839
to high five me. On the next day, if they get

00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:20.160
me, I'm going to high five them. Of course, we'll

00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:22.160
all be disappointed with our own thing for a

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.420
second, but it's kind of like, I'll get you next

00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:28.740
time. There's a friendly competition, which is

00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:31.660
great. And I met a lot of really wonderful people

00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:34.740
that way. That's great. It sounds like it's kind

00:27:34.740 --> 00:27:38.279
of like. Kind of like a shared suffering and

00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:40.819
camaraderie included in those events. That's

00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:43.059
really cool to find something like that. And

00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:44.960
you also mentioned being part of the Frontline

00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.519
Athletic community. What role has that group

00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:50.099
played in your journey? So this is relatively

00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:54.000
new. So Frontline Athletic is the official RUC

00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:57.119
partner, along with a company called Titan 6

00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:00.920
Actual. They're kind of in the RUC division sponsorship

00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:06.650
area for DECA. And so Frontline makes the rucksacks

00:28:06.650 --> 00:28:09.890
that I use. They have other products too, which

00:28:09.890 --> 00:28:14.630
are awesome. But I had a different ruck prior,

00:28:14.930 --> 00:28:18.109
saw Frontline at an event. They were loaning

00:28:18.109 --> 00:28:20.289
some out to people who came to the event, wanted

00:28:20.289 --> 00:28:23.450
to do the ruck event, but didn't bring their

00:28:23.450 --> 00:28:26.349
own to the event. And I know a lot of people

00:28:26.349 --> 00:28:28.490
were really happy with it, how it felt, super

00:28:28.490 --> 00:28:32.410
comfortable. And so I kind of reached out to

00:28:32.410 --> 00:28:34.349
them and had a great conversation with their

00:28:34.349 --> 00:28:38.569
owner and founder, Drew. And we just really kind

00:28:38.569 --> 00:28:41.369
of saw eye to eye on a lot of things. And this

00:28:41.369 --> 00:28:44.930
is right after World Championship 2. And I was

00:28:44.930 --> 00:28:46.349
kind of like, you know, this is going to be my

00:28:46.349 --> 00:28:49.990
thing now. And I would love to be associated

00:28:49.990 --> 00:28:55.269
with the Ruck company that is connected with,

00:28:55.329 --> 00:28:57.680
you know, another. brand that i love so much

00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:01.380
which is deca and so that all kind of came together

00:29:01.380 --> 00:29:04.660
and i officially came on as one of their ambassadors

00:29:04.660 --> 00:29:07.819
and that's been great i'm really happy to that

00:29:07.819 --> 00:29:09.819
we have a small little group chat that's really

00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:11.880
supportive again that's what i was saying before

00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:14.440
where they saw me saw a post with me on it and

00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:16.160
posted it immediately like they were they're

00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.819
proud of their teammate kind of thing which is

00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:21.579
nice awesome yeah and uh and so that's great

00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:25.279
and it sounds like they're based out In the Midwest.

00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:28.660
And so it looks like a bunch of folks from Frontline

00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:32.240
are going to be at the Chicago DECA event. So

00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.039
we'll get a chance to meet some of the folks

00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:36.099
that I've only talked to online and have a great

00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:39.839
team moment. Yeah, no, that's great. So what

00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:42.240
is it about the Frontline pack that you like?

00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.940
You said it was comfortable. Anything else specific

00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:47.599
to it that really shines in these DECA events?

00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:52.460
Yeah, yeah. Super comfortable and... In every

00:29:52.460 --> 00:29:56.519
kind of way. And that really matters because

00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.980
you don't want to be thinking about your equipment

00:29:59.980 --> 00:30:03.640
in the race. Right. And previously, I was aware

00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:07.339
of, you know, the rucksack. I was aware, like,

00:30:07.460 --> 00:30:11.559
this is bugging me or this is chafing. Like,

00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:13.759
I could feel it. You know, like, those are distractions.

00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:17.079
And literally from the material they're using,

00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:21.019
any place that... What has contact with the body

00:30:21.019 --> 00:30:26.859
is this great material that is just softer, kinder

00:30:26.859 --> 00:30:30.720
to the body. I don't race this way, but you could

00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:33.680
probably go shirtless and wear it and not experience

00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.720
any discomfort, which wasn't the case before.

00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:38.259
I would have, you know, my back would have been,

00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:44.059
you know, tore up. So super comfortable. And

00:30:44.059 --> 00:30:47.950
I've been able to. you know, figure out the right

00:30:47.950 --> 00:30:51.349
setup for me such that when I'm doing things

00:30:51.349 --> 00:30:53.589
like the burpees at the end, it's, you know,

00:30:53.589 --> 00:30:55.210
it's really sitting tight on my back, which is

00:30:55.210 --> 00:30:56.650
important because if you don't have the right

00:30:56.650 --> 00:30:59.950
setup, you go down and do a burpee and that weight

00:30:59.950 --> 00:31:02.950
comes over the top of your head and, you know,

00:31:02.970 --> 00:31:06.130
you have a 30 pound ruck plate hitting you in

00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:10.670
the base of your skull is not great. So it's,

00:31:10.670 --> 00:31:12.829
I think that's the key is that when I have it

00:31:12.829 --> 00:31:15.269
on, I'm aware of the weight, but I'm not aware

00:31:15.269 --> 00:31:19.529
of the pack itself, which is gives me a huge

00:31:19.529 --> 00:31:21.769
peace of mind. It's like an extension of your

00:31:21.769 --> 00:31:23.390
body at that point, right? That's the ideal.

00:31:23.609 --> 00:31:25.029
You don't want to have to think about it when

00:31:25.029 --> 00:31:28.069
you're trying to attack any of these zones. When

00:31:28.069 --> 00:31:29.769
you started rucking, I kind of want to go back

00:31:29.769 --> 00:31:31.730
to your training with the ruck for the first

00:31:31.730 --> 00:31:34.890
time. Did you notice any? Did you notice that

00:31:34.890 --> 00:31:37.269
any physical changes when you started training

00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:39.849
with a ruck as opposed to previous training when

00:31:39.849 --> 00:31:43.089
you weren't? Yeah, I definitely noticed a couple

00:31:43.089 --> 00:31:45.029
of things. I was doing a fair amount of sort

00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:49.029
of like incline sustained walks with it. And

00:31:49.029 --> 00:31:51.890
I just, I could really feel the difference, particularly

00:31:51.890 --> 00:31:54.519
like through my calves. I could tell that there

00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:56.880
was extra work happening. Certainly, I could,

00:31:56.960 --> 00:31:59.720
you know, you think about you're carrying a fair

00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.259
amount of weight up on your shoulders and to

00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:04.440
some extent on your hips because, you know, I

00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:06.680
wear it with the hip belt to sort of balance

00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:09.599
that all out. But yeah, feeling a lot and my

00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.500
legs have gotten a lot stronger without sort

00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:15.779
of dedicated leg days in the gym, which is...

00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:19.480
which is great. I really, really want to protect

00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.559
my knees. So, and what I've found is doing workouts

00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:25.440
with this, along with a few other things, I've

00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:27.299
really been able to strengthen the muscles around

00:32:27.299 --> 00:32:29.599
my knees and that's keeping me healthier, which

00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:34.980
is great. I've also noticed that everything else

00:32:34.980 --> 00:32:39.059
I carry is a lot lighter. So the bag I carry

00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:42.079
to work is a backpack also. Typically, if I've

00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.579
done a ruck workout in the morning and then I

00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:45.039
throw that over my shoulder to go to work, I

00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.660
just have to double check to make sure my laptop

00:32:47.660 --> 00:32:50.880
and everything's in there. Do I have everything?

00:32:52.140 --> 00:32:54.900
So that's, again, it's one of those, that's kind

00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:58.339
of the metaphorical part of it, right? Carrying

00:32:58.339 --> 00:33:00.500
heavy loads makes everything else feel lighter.

00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.380
So that's kind of in real time, that's what's

00:33:03.380 --> 00:33:05.900
going on. And to some extent, the other thing

00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:09.039
I would say is I think it's helped me with my

00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:12.779
overall And I think that has to do with the core

00:33:12.779 --> 00:33:16.099
strength that comes along with what your body

00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:18.200
naturally has to do to support that extra weight

00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:22.180
on your back. Sure. For someone who trains regularly

00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:25.880
but has never signed up for an event like one

00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:28.079
of these DECA rec events, what would you say

00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:29.460
to them? Would you encourage them to sign up

00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:33.420
and do it? For sure. I think DECA in particular

00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:38.480
has a lot of great sort of entry points. And

00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:43.019
I think that I might say that you could start

00:33:43.019 --> 00:33:45.400
with kind of one of the team events, which is

00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:48.059
great. So you can kind of split up the work a

00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:50.220
little bit and get a taste of everything. Might

00:33:50.220 --> 00:33:52.660
be a great way to start. And then just get familiar

00:33:52.660 --> 00:33:55.859
with the movements without the ruck first. And

00:33:55.859 --> 00:33:58.539
then you can, you know, if rucking is part of

00:33:58.539 --> 00:34:03.019
your other workouts and things to start to build

00:34:03.019 --> 00:34:06.599
those. that into the training as well. And I

00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:10.219
would say starting with a lower weight than competition

00:34:10.219 --> 00:34:12.500
weight to start, because there's a lot of movements

00:34:12.500 --> 00:34:14.340
in there, like the box step overs and things,

00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:17.800
you know, you're putting yourself in a position

00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:20.920
where you could potentially have an injury if

00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:24.380
you're just jumping into it. And I think there's

00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:27.139
the first time I did the box step overs with

00:34:27.139 --> 00:34:30.760
the full weight, it was just so clumsy. It was

00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:33.420
so, my mechanics were all off. And that's when

00:34:33.420 --> 00:34:35.300
I do it without the ruck, it's one of my fastest

00:34:35.300 --> 00:34:37.920
zones. Cause you can be really agile and just

00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.199
sort of just jump over it. And this was just,

00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:43.860
I can't do that. So it was good to, good to learn

00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:45.920
that. So I'd say it's, it's one of those things

00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.739
where you can build into it and all of the zones

00:34:48.739 --> 00:34:55.380
are, are doable for folks. There's nothing I

00:34:55.380 --> 00:34:57.840
should say, say for, for most folks, most folks

00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:01.170
are able to. To do it, there's nothing where

00:35:01.170 --> 00:35:05.150
you're going to come up against a sled that will

00:35:05.150 --> 00:35:09.030
not move unless you can push 400 pounds. It's

00:35:09.030 --> 00:35:11.630
not that. The tank that you're pushing in DECA

00:35:11.630 --> 00:35:16.210
is on wheels, and you can move it. It's got magnetic

00:35:16.210 --> 00:35:18.510
resistance. The harder you push it, the more

00:35:18.510 --> 00:35:21.710
it resists. So you can go faster, but it's harder.

00:35:21.889 --> 00:35:23.789
And so that's where the strength meets it. But

00:35:23.789 --> 00:35:26.090
for someone like me, it typically takes maybe

00:35:26.090 --> 00:35:29.170
two and a half minutes to do that zone. someone

00:35:29.170 --> 00:35:30.949
who's just starting out maybe it takes five minutes

00:35:30.949 --> 00:35:33.190
to do the zone but you can do it you can you

00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.389
know if you're jumping into into it to learn

00:35:35.389 --> 00:35:37.190
it and not worry about so much about the time

00:35:37.190 --> 00:35:39.369
and have fun with it it's definitely a great

00:35:39.369 --> 00:35:41.530
place to start and and the team way the team

00:35:41.530 --> 00:35:45.349
is super fun you mentioned agility with a rucksack

00:35:45.349 --> 00:35:47.769
on i'm curious are you training with more weight

00:35:47.769 --> 00:35:50.130
than 30 pounds that's required for deco events

00:35:50.130 --> 00:35:56.469
yeah it depends on the day but most days most

00:35:56.469 --> 00:36:00.329
days yes Most days I have, and it's not by much,

00:36:00.389 --> 00:36:04.849
but I usually use like a 30 pound plate. And

00:36:04.849 --> 00:36:08.969
with the weight of the rucksack itself, I'm looking

00:36:08.969 --> 00:36:11.889
at probably around 32 ish pounds. So it's a couple

00:36:11.889 --> 00:36:13.829
extra pounds, which doesn't seem like much, but

00:36:13.829 --> 00:36:16.670
it is at the end of the day. I could see how

00:36:16.670 --> 00:36:19.429
that could move the needle. I mean, yeah. So

00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:22.590
then when it comes down to race time, I switch

00:36:22.590 --> 00:36:26.329
that out and go to a 25 pound plate. and then

00:36:26.329 --> 00:36:29.369
kind of fill in the ruck with you know t -shirts

00:36:29.369 --> 00:36:32.110
and things like that to get it like dialed in

00:36:32.110 --> 00:36:35.989
like i don't want to yeah i want it 30 .1 you

00:36:35.989 --> 00:36:38.730
know maybe 0 .1 just to be safe but i don't need

00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:40.530
to carry any more weight than that for the race

00:36:40.530 --> 00:36:43.130
and then there's other things you know where

00:36:43.130 --> 00:36:45.449
i'm doing something now that just kicked off

00:36:45.449 --> 00:36:48.809
in march called ruck race league Yeah. I did

00:36:48.809 --> 00:36:50.329
want to ask you about that. Tell me about that.

00:36:50.329 --> 00:36:52.329
Yeah. I'm super psyched about it. It just started

00:36:52.329 --> 00:36:55.789
March 1st. They launched the first workout and

00:36:55.789 --> 00:36:58.809
the registration for the league closes on the

00:36:58.809 --> 00:37:01.789
31st. So you can get it anytime this month. The

00:37:01.789 --> 00:37:04.210
first workout, which is you don't have to join

00:37:04.210 --> 00:37:07.110
to know it, but you need to join to be on the

00:37:07.110 --> 00:37:09.170
leaderboard and qualify potentially for their

00:37:09.170 --> 00:37:17.489
in -person finals is 75 minutes with 25%. of

00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:20.949
your body weight in the rock for max distance.

00:37:22.389 --> 00:37:25.690
Okay. So again, this is one of those, like you

00:37:25.690 --> 00:37:28.110
can walk for 75 minutes, you can mix it up, do

00:37:28.110 --> 00:37:29.530
whatever you want. Some people are going to,

00:37:29.530 --> 00:37:32.309
you know, the top, the top guys are going to

00:37:32.309 --> 00:37:35.510
blow it out of the water and can, you know, they

00:37:35.510 --> 00:37:38.409
can run pretty fast with 25 % of their body weight

00:37:38.409 --> 00:37:41.250
on. So for me, as a reference, when I do this

00:37:41.250 --> 00:37:44.030
workout, it's going to be 47 pounds on board.

00:37:44.650 --> 00:37:48.280
Cool. For 75 minutes, see how far I can go. Are

00:37:48.280 --> 00:37:50.000
you going to give Giovanni a run for his money?

00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:52.380
I think he made finals last year, Adam, on the

00:37:52.380 --> 00:37:54.940
podcast. We were talking about it. And he's in

00:37:54.940 --> 00:37:58.679
the frontline crew. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't

00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:01.659
know. I might have to start something up with

00:38:01.659 --> 00:38:03.860
him. I have to see. I'm not sure if he registered

00:38:03.860 --> 00:38:05.460
this go -around. I'd be surprised if he didn't.

00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:08.260
And yeah, again, yeah, some friendly competition

00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:11.199
there. But I'm going to give it a shot. And here's

00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:12.840
another example where I reached out to a guy

00:38:12.840 --> 00:38:16.190
who I know from DECA who's in it. Just he, Mark

00:38:16.190 --> 00:38:19.750
Jones, awesome guy. Yeah. Set the record, you

00:38:19.750 --> 00:38:22.610
know, you know, and reached out to him and I

00:38:22.610 --> 00:38:24.550
was like, what's a, what's a good distance for,

00:38:24.610 --> 00:38:27.989
you know, someone like me, he knows me. And so

00:38:27.989 --> 00:38:30.730
we were kind of batting it around and then he

00:38:30.730 --> 00:38:33.849
just kind of gave me how he was going at it.

00:38:33.949 --> 00:38:35.869
For me, I was like, I'm going to throw the 47

00:38:35.869 --> 00:38:37.769
pounds in and just go for it and see what happens.

00:38:37.869 --> 00:38:40.710
And he had a whole other kind of, we have the

00:38:40.710 --> 00:38:43.949
whole month. you can build like build into this

00:38:43.949 --> 00:38:46.789
like there's ways to i was like that's this is

00:38:46.789 --> 00:38:50.409
why you are who you are i would have just gone

00:38:50.409 --> 00:38:52.789
for it and wrecked myself and meanwhile he has

00:38:52.789 --> 00:38:54.690
a real well thought out plan that will ultimately

00:38:54.690 --> 00:38:57.630
probably give him like a really great time along

00:38:57.630 --> 00:38:59.510
obviously with his whole life's worth of training

00:38:59.510 --> 00:39:02.750
but you know you don't need to post your a great

00:39:02.750 --> 00:39:06.030
time until you know march 30th so right take

00:39:06.030 --> 00:39:09.070
the time and do it right have you have you done

00:39:09.070 --> 00:39:12.780
your first attempt at it yet I haven't because

00:39:12.780 --> 00:39:15.280
I did this big interval workout the other day

00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:18.199
and it really kind of blasted my hamstrings and

00:39:18.199 --> 00:39:20.539
they've been tight the last couple of days. And

00:39:20.539 --> 00:39:23.960
I know because I've done this before, I've pulled

00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:26.400
a, this is another injury I actually had doing

00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:28.500
one of the things I shouldn't be doing is that

00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:34.239
tight hamstrings and running under load is a

00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:37.639
bad combination because the hamstrings are so

00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:41.869
tightly wound. And one wrong step can really

00:39:41.869 --> 00:39:44.150
do some damage. So I'm waiting for them. They're

00:39:44.150 --> 00:39:46.650
almost back to where I want them. And I think

00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:49.309
I'm going to start the training and try to give

00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:52.349
a really good go, maybe somewhere mid -March

00:39:52.349 --> 00:39:55.269
at it. Take a look at the leaderboard because

00:39:55.269 --> 00:39:58.090
I'm a sucker for a leaderboard and see if I'm

00:39:58.090 --> 00:40:00.550
comfortable with where I'm sitting. And then

00:40:00.550 --> 00:40:03.929
maybe just give it one last go, you know, the

00:40:03.929 --> 00:40:05.769
last couple of days of March and see if I can

00:40:05.769 --> 00:40:08.110
bump up, bump up a spot or two. That sounds like

00:40:08.110 --> 00:40:10.400
a good plan of attack. Well, I have one last

00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:12.840
fun question for you that I asked all my guests,

00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:14.659
but I just want to say this has been a lot of

00:40:14.659 --> 00:40:16.539
fun. I really appreciate you coming on to the

00:40:16.539 --> 00:40:19.840
podcast and sharing your story with your obstacle

00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:22.840
course experience and now these decade events

00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:24.860
that you're doing. Yeah, my pleasure. Really

00:40:24.860 --> 00:40:27.940
happy May time. Thanks, John. Happy May. Absolutely.

00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:30.420
Okay, last question. It's fun, kind of silly,

00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:32.760
but if you could create a bumper sticker about

00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:36.900
rucking, what would it be? Oh, if I could create

00:40:36.900 --> 00:40:40.989
a bumper sticker. It would probably be, let's

00:40:40.989 --> 00:40:44.650
see. It might just be literally like ruck colon.

00:40:45.210 --> 00:40:47.889
You can do hard things. Yeah, that's, that's

00:40:47.889 --> 00:40:49.949
kind of, that's, that's, that's where I am these

00:40:49.949 --> 00:40:52.170
days. Like throw it on there, do hard things.

00:40:52.389 --> 00:40:54.449
That's a great message. All right. We'll end

00:40:54.449 --> 00:40:56.070
it there. Thanks, John. Appreciate you coming

00:40:56.070 --> 00:40:58.369
on, man. Good luck with ruck race league. Good

00:40:58.369 --> 00:41:00.750
ruck at the decade event in Chicago. Thanks so

00:41:00.750 --> 00:41:03.570
much. Thanks for having me. All right. That wraps

00:41:03.570 --> 00:41:06.090
up my conversation with John Ross Wiley. You

00:41:06.090 --> 00:41:08.469
can connect with him at John Ross Wiley on Instagram.

00:41:08.710 --> 00:41:10.670
If you're curious about the rucksack he uses

00:41:10.670 --> 00:41:12.929
from Frontline Athletics, I added a link in the

00:41:12.929 --> 00:41:14.829
show notes so you can go check it out. I also

00:41:14.829 --> 00:41:16.730
included links to a few other products that John

00:41:16.730 --> 00:41:19.130
uses in his training, like those waterproof headphones

00:41:19.130 --> 00:41:21.429
we talked about early in the episode. If you

00:41:21.429 --> 00:41:23.150
want to reach out to me, head on over to theruckersedge

00:41:23.150 --> 00:41:26.289
.com or on Instagram at theruckersedgepod. If

00:41:26.289 --> 00:41:27.829
you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to follow

00:41:27.829 --> 00:41:29.789
or subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast

00:41:29.789 --> 00:41:32.809
app so you're notified of new episodes. Okay,

00:41:32.869 --> 00:41:34.570
that's it for today. Thanks again for listening

00:41:34.570 --> 00:41:36.510
to this week's episode of the Rutgers Edge.