Daniel Camp GORUCK Heavy Interview

SGPT: Tell us about yourself?

DC: I am a 50 year old criminal defense attorney working for Santa Clara County. I served 7 years in the Navy, serving in the Phillipines, Antarctica, New Zealand, and then Pt. Mugu California.

I graduated from UCSB with a degree in Philospohy, and then went to law school in San Francisco. I have a wife and 2 kids, age 12 and 8.

SGPT: Did you have an athletic background growing up?

DC: I did, i played baseball, football, wrestled, and dabbled in basketball. When i left the USN i went back to college and played football at UCSB as an outside linebacker. Going back to school at 25 years old and playing with the 18 and 19 years old, made me the ‘beer guy’ but was also very challenging.

SGPT: How did you train for the GoRuck Heavy event?

DC: I got a training program from Mountain Athlete which was very ruck intensive. I also did SGPT workouts on top of that. I am a strong proponent of making the workouts harder than the event, and I tried but training by yourself has its limitations.

SGPT: Tell us a little about the event? Where was it?

DC: The event was in San Francisco and started at Lalane’s fitness on Howard St. We had a 2 hour fitness evaluation first, which included a 25′ rope climb and about 7 other tests. Then we headed out on a fast ruck with our packs and team weight and the night was underway.

SGPT: What was hardest part of the event?

DC: The hardest part of the event for me was knowing that no matter how fast or strong I was, it didn’t matter because we were all a team. There were times when i wanted to go faster or i worked hard and felt like others weren’t working as hard. That mindset is not conducive to a good teammate and my impatience and attitude was hard to control. I have to work on making that better.

SGPT: What is one thing you wish you would have done to get ready for GoRuck Heavy?

DC: I should have done more work without food. Right up front, our food was taken and i spent a lot of time wondering if I would be ok without it. I made it with just water and i learned that you can make it with just water, but i was fearing cramping up.

SGPT: Any tips for up and coming athletes that want to do GoRuck Heavy?

DC: Do lots of rucking with weight. I would say 20-40 miles a week, at least.

Not a lot of running involved, but i did spend a lot of time carrying an 60lb, or 80lb GORUCK sandbag, in addition to my pack.

In the last several hours of the event, i also was tasked with moving a 200lb sandbag with a partner, in teams.

So you should be ready to carry lots of weight.

SGPT: What kind of boots did you use for the event?

DC: I used the 5.11 Tactical A.T.A.C. boot.

This is one area where you have to be comfortable.

Break the boots in and get the sock and foot issue worked out before hand.

Its nice to not have to think about your feet, and to be able to just go.

SGPT: Did you use double socks or body glide on your feet to prevent blisters?

DC: No double socks, i used the Nike Elite socks
with lots of lube on the feet and in between the toes.

SGPT: What kind of ruck did you use for training and the event?

DC: for the ruck i used the go ruck gr1. this is a no hassle, no fuss pack. Pay once and never worry about it. Tough as nails. No issues

SGPT: What book are you reading now?

DC: currently i am reading “Unforgiven”. Talk about tough. One thing about these events, and this book, is that when I look back, or think back about the event, i don’t remember much. I think it is probably because I am thinking about getting thru the thing I am doing at the moment, and never thinking about the big picture. Kind of like the character in the book: thinking about how to get thru now and not how much longer he has to go or when he will be thru.

SGPT: Many thanks for the interview Dan

DC: Thanks for the help with my training, both physical and mental. Doing the SEALgrinder PT warmup before every workout has been key. One last funny story: during a prior go ruck Challenge, when we were at the edge of the ocean and just before sun up, the leader said we were going to do calisthenics and it was going to hurt and not be fun. He called out the first exercise and it was squats.

Because i had done all the SGPT workouts, they were no problem. Next exercise was mountain climbers .. same thing. I was confident because of all the ones i had done in SGPT workouts. There were like 7 more exercises, all of which i had previously done by following your workouts. Having that confidence that i had done the work gave me a big mental advantage. Thanks for all your help.