Ryan Burns  0:11 
Hey gang. Welcome to this episode of Under The Log the podcast full of interviews with folks who recently participated in go ruck events. In today's episode we're talking to Chad Malone is a husband father, Jujitsu black belt, Doctor of Physical Therapy and a small business owner. And on top of that, he's the sole Finisher of GORUCK selection class zero to two.

Ryan Burns  0:43 
You know, before we get into today's episode, we need a moment of honesty.

Ryan Burns  0:48 
Most of us, we're never going to go participate and go ruck selection. Much plus finish it. But we all get inspired by people like Chad who conquered this beast of an event and we find ourselves wanting to push a little harder. That's why I'm excited to let you know that Chad has agreed to share some of his training workouts on our sister website. ruckwod.com ruckwod.com has free daily ruck based workouts and in November, we're going to be dropping some of the workouts that Chad programmed for himself to train for selection. So head on over to ruckwod.com and sign up for our daily emails and keep an eye out for Chad's workouts to drop. And if you're listening to this interview sometime in the future, just head over the site, use the search feature and type in Chad's name and you'll find his workouts. Well, with that. Here's our interview with the one and only Chad Malone.

Ryan Burns  1:50 
All right, well, hey, Chad. Thanks a ton for coming on the podcast today. At the time of this recording, like we're not even like two weeks out from you having completed go ruck selection class zero to two, man, just like the first question I have for you is like how are you doing? Man? You all right.

Chad Malone  2:11 
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me on the podcast. Is this fun? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty. I'm feeling pretty darn good. It's kind of

Chad Malone  2:20 
I feel like I should feel worse. I've done like I remember my first recovery for my first HTL

Chad Malone  2:28 
and in my last attempt selection was recovery is a lot worse. But man I feel pretty good. I started lifting again this week

Chad Malone  2:38 
and working out so yes, not not too bad. Not too bad. No, no injuries. I got fortunate, no injuries, couple abrasions and stuff, as you expect crawling around on the ground or whatnot. But, but nothing nothing serious. Wow. That's awesome, man. It's great to hear. We'll obviously talk a lot more about selection and in just a minute and tons of questions. Can't wait to hear your story. But before we get into all that good stuff, can you just take a minute and like Introduce yourself? You know, tell us a little bit about who you are outside of the GORUCK world like you know, who is Chad? Yeah.

Chad Malone  3:47 
working for myself basically my buddy and I Paul opened up a jujitsu mixed martial arts gym about seven years ago or so so up until recently I've been doing both things part yeah, I guess both part time so physical therapy and then coming in coaching in the evenings so but you know got permission from from the boss lady did actually quit my job and go full time here so so now you know pretty much self employed working you know coaching classes at the gym. When I'm not here I got three kids at home twin girls, they're five and my big boy who is a B nine no Wow. twin girls huh? Oh yeah, yes. Awesome. That's yeah, yeah. So now that I'm just working one job gives me a lot more time to to be at home and hang out which is my favorite thing to do. That's awesome man. That's that's pretty cool. Like the going from, you know, being a full time PT to make that transition into to be in a small business owner and full

Ryan Burns  5:00 
Time coach. Yeah. So you said you did that about a year ago? How's that

Chad Malone  5:04 
been? Yeah, not even a year. It's been I think it's been about when I quit in in like, March, okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's been going good. Like, you know, the experts will say, I didn't pick the best time to do this.

Chad Malone  5:22 
Yeah, so like, we, we moved we our gym was was pretty small, we were in a small spot, and we actually signed a lease. And the day after we signed the lease, the the national pandemic was declared, and then everything started shutting down. Oh, and our landlord is like, hey, you know, you guys still want to move in here, you know, they gave us opportunity to, to not do it. And I was like, man, you know, if, if ever time to take a chance, I think this is a good time to take a chance. So we rolled the dice and, you know, made it through through the shutdowns. And then pretty much in in April, we moved into this new spot, and, you know, down in this area, and we're in Virginia, and Lauren and Virginia, so the, the, what do you call it like the some of the restrictions were just starting to loosen up and as soon as that happened, you know, we our business started to turn around you know, being there full time it's a big difference you know, big difference between like being a part time entrepreneur and a full time entrepreneur you know, a lot a lot more risky obviously, but you know, the reward is a lot higher. So, you know, is going good, you know, much happier, it makes a big difference doing you know what you love? Yeah. And and having the time to do you know, things outside of work also, plus, you know, I can hardly call this work,

Chad Malone  6:46 
exercise and play with people all day long. And every now and then I have to, you know, do some be asked to do some business stuff every now and then, you know, books and pay people and stuff like that, but 90 90% of the time I'm playing around all day long, which is awesome. Do that. That sounds like a blast. And you're you're a Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt, correct? Yeah. Yeah. So I finished that. Or achieve that. Maybe about three or so years ago. Okay. So how long have you been like practicing jujitsu? It started jujitsu, officially back in 2007. With with another gym. Started with this small gym back in 2007. Then I joined Dan with the affiliation that I'm with now capital MMA elite fitness started with him in 2008. So I've been with him ever since. And then prior to that I wrestled so I grew up wrestling. Okay. I'm a middle child. So my older brother got cut from the basketball team or didn't make the basketball team and so so back in my back when we were in middle school, like the the wrestling coach would be on the sidelines on the last day of basketball tryouts. So if you don't make the basketball team, you just walk over and talk to the wrestling coach, you come on to wrestling. So that when that happened to my older brother, basically, so then we started wrestling then so I wrestled I was sure he's two years older than me. So he was 11. I was I was nine when I started wrestling kind of unofficially, okay. And then and then started officially in middle school. That was all the way up to college.

Chad Malone  8:22 
And then then jujitsu. So

Ryan Burns  8:25 
yeah, like that wrestling. I never did it but the more I've like been around you know, CrossFit and different endurance challenges and even like watching documentaries and stuff on like military selection and things like there's there's something special about wrestlers like they're just a certain breed of crazy that they can really dig into pain that that other people can't Yeah, it's it's a special breed.

Chad Malone  8:56 
Yeah, it makes it it makes a difference is not good for like team environments. You don't really get that you don't get that the full on team experience. Say like a football player like football players, you know 100% team like I'm not going anywhere without my team wrestlers. You got your team but when it's time to compete, you're out there by yourself. Yeah, yeah.

Ryan Burns  9:17 
Yeah, I'm sure we'll we'll kind of dig into some of that psychology when we get to stuff about selection but, but like, when did you even discover go rock and like, you know, when like, When was your first event like, why did you even sign up to do anything like this?

Chad Malone  9:34 
Yeah. So when we opened up this gym with Paul, we're in Lorton Virginia and we are a stone's throw away from Fort Belvoir. And so we were just kind of brainstorming ways to be active in the community and and gain membership and you know, like teaching, owning like a martial arts gym like you're It's a big community thing. Like you're, you're not, you know, I'm never gonna sell my company for millions of billions of dollars. But like once you get that good community foothold, like that's what makes your business grow. So you know, you got to be community minded. So we were trying to figure out what we could do in the community. And so Paul is his former he was in the army. So he was like, Hey, let's we can do these ruck marches.

Chad Malone  10:30 
10 mile ruck marches. And we will do them for Veterans Day Memorial Day. I never heard of this. Like, I'm like, what we're gonna put a backpack on and just walk. Alright, that sounds pretty boring. But okay. So I took my what I have my North Face backpack from from from grad school that I will wear at through some I don't remember what I use for weights to start off with, I could probably just do like a kettlebell or something in there. And just wear sneakers, or I will wear sneakers because I don't have boots. And we just go we go for like, 10 miles, we will do five or $10 every Memorial Day, Veterans Day. And we did that for a couple years. And then

Chad Malone  11:10 
and then. And during one of these rocks. I remember Paul was telling me about selection. And he was like, oh, yeah, you know, there's this thing called Go ruck selection and, and, you know, they're gonna make you get a water and they're gonna, you know, it feel your backpack up with water. And I'm like, that just sounds stupid. Why would anybody do that? And, and so then a few years, you know, down the road, GORUCK comes into town and does the first star course. Okay, on the 50 miler, and so we were like, well, you know, we're both working part time. Neither one of us are like big salespeople, like, we don't like to pitch people on anything like you either want to do it or you don't want to do it. So we're like, you know, if we can do, you know, finding donations and doing fundraisers and stuff with these ruck marches, like, we could just get people to, you know, donate towards our cause. And then we will do this the go rock star course the 50 miler. Now,

Ryan Burns  12:04 
was that the was that the DC?

Chad Malone  12:08 
Very first? Yeah, the very first one. Oh, yeah. Okay, so so we were like, Alright, cool. Let's do it. So we got a group of people from our gym together. I think it was like a team of like, five of us. And we're all fit. Like, we were in good shape. And you know, everybody can walk 10 miles and get out and run and everything. So, you know, I again, have no idea what I'm doing. I think I bought a pair of like police boots. Two days before. And I got my by this time I upgraded from a north face to a 511 like, whatever they call their 12 hour pack, whatever I got, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. overpacked, I think what I think your weight limit for that was like 20 pounds, and I'm pretty sure I packed at least 3030 30 pounds worth of shit in there. And so we head off on that one. And as you know, As the legend goes, everybody knows how that how that night went. The coldest night in in DC, like on record for that time of the year, rained all night long. And, I mean, as far as if my foolish, so So again, wrestler, not quite the best team player, go out there and you know, everybody's rocking and it sucks and the rain gets going, it's cold. And at some point in time during the night, I just like put my head down. I'm like, as long as I keep moving, I'm warm. So I just put my head down. And I'm just walking and not paying attention to anything. I think I had my headphones on. I was listening to podcasts or something. And then the sun comes up, and I look over my shoulder and nobody's there. And, you know, my team, I think so, you know, a couple of them got injuries, a couple of people dropped out and I'm like, Well, fuck it. Like I at this point for me. I was like, I don't know how far in I am. I think like we've gone down the C and O Canal. I'm coming off the C and O Canal. So I'm like, alright, well, I'm just gonna keep going. And I'm just gonna finish this. And so I catch up with my teammates say, you know, let me know everybody's fine. So I cool I'm uh, I'm gonna keep going. I meet up with you guys at the at the end. And I'm going and I'm Mark a few other way points. And then I get a message from Big Daddy on on my on the Instagram is like, where are your partners? You need to take pictures with your partners. And I'm like, yeah I think his responses sound like well find a group and stay with them something like that. So I, I start I start tracking. I'm also not the best piece of people person. So I start tracking like this, this group and I'm like kind of shadowing them. Like I don't know how to break is like hey guys cannot walk with you, you know, 12 hours or whatever. And so I finally like get up to him like, Hey, I don't have a group. There's two of you guys do you mind if I walk with you guys so I end up walking with them and it kind of was fortuitous for both of us because the the pair that I latched on to one of those guys was going to drop out he wasn't doing well. The other one was was gonna continue so so I got with my man and and so now we're a pair and then we we finished it up and like you know random of course you know you walk 5050 miles or something with a random stranger and now we're friends. Yeah. So so so I got him so still still have him on Instagram. Now we chatted from time to time so that was that was my first event the 50 miler and then like afterwards, like reconvene with a group and we're like, hey, that's much easier events we could do then there. So let's

Ryan Burns  16:02 
well, that that event, I mean, that was one of the like most epic 50 milers it was it was like the first star course there were hundreds of people there and like you said, I think go ruck hadn't figured it all out. So they sent like, hundreds of people down the C and O Canal in the middle of the night and it was like a monsoon and like you see in front like, epically horrible stories come out event. But I mean, impressive. Nonetheless, to say that like, all you had done is ruck like maybe like 10 miles. And so you overpack you go to the worst star course in the history of star courses. And, and manage to finish like, like that, that kind of sets the tone for the resolve that you have. And so you you said you like y'all started realizing like there's some other stuff that you could do. And so yeah, I assume you did like some some tufts and heavies and stuff like that.

Chad Malone  17:02 
Yeah. So after that one. I think after that, I hit a tough, and then I hear about that we hear about the HTML. So like, Oh, what's that? So HDL, and you know, you do all three of them back to back. I'm like, Alright, people do that. I guess I'll do it. So. So do you know, do a couple of those. I think I did like a tough and a tough in a light first and then HTML. So that was that was basically my entry into it. And

Ryan Burns  17:32 
so what, at what point in that journey? Are you like, you know, what I'm, I'm gonna, I think I'm going to do this selection thing.

Chad Malone  17:41 
So, at this point, I were still thinking, like, I'm still thinking selection is crazy. Like, why would why would you do that? That makes no sense. But, like, for me, I'm pretty hyper competitive. So I look at the events, and I'm like, Hey, do people do this, and people finish it. That means I can do it. So. So the thought process was me and my me and my buddy, Paul. And we obviously he's gonna come up a lot because we see each other like, all the time. So. So we were gonna do selection together. And we're, we're out one night. So this was when I attempted selection the first time it was 2019. So this was, this was in and we were doing like a little we have a ruck club and we don't like a bar crawl, ruck. And I've been training, I think for like, I think I just finished the HTML, I'm training for something I don't know. And Paul was like, Hey, man, you've been training for for selection. And I'm like, not that we're gonna do that next year together. And, and Paul's like, Nah, I think he you know, pause his knees, give him issues a lot. Um, yeah, ACL repair and whatnot. So, if I remember correctly, you know, his knee was bothering him at this point in time. He's like, Yeah, I'm not doing that. Like, my knees are bad, whatever. He's like, go ahead and do it. So I'm like, Alright, cool. I guess I'll do it. So. So I give it a soft clear with my wife real quick. And she's like, Alright, cool. So I sign up for it. And, and start training, don't still don't really know, you know, what it entails? did a whole bunch of like, you know, YouTube research and went down the rabbit hole as far as like finishers and what to expect and stuff like that. But I've never done anything like this before. Obviously, I was never in the military. And all of the sports I've played are well, you know, the sports I've been involved with have been you know, grappling and stuff like not stuff where you're on your feet. So that makes a big difference in your training. So so my first attempt, you know, trained like a wrestler overtrained for it. Did a lot of things wrong But that was that was my first go at it was kind of spur. I won't say 100% spur the moment because I was definitely committed to it. But definitely didn't know how to train correctly or something like this the first time around.

Ryan Burns  20:16 
And so that was in 2019. You you sign up for selection you sort of you train, but you don't really have a clue what you're doing to train. Now I remember I remember looking and watching that selection class. And, and seeing you in there. And I remember seeing you at the 24 hour mark and just like how good you looked like you You look like you were doing good. And then I remember like checking in, like an hour later. And it was like, and you're gone. Yeah, yeah. So what what happened? Like you you voluntarily withdrew, right?

Chad Malone  21:01 
Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So I mean, to start off with, I've been really good poker face. So I look like I was doing. But I was not doing good. No. So yeah. So for for me. So a couple things come into play, as I like, look back, and I analyze it now. So the reason why I would Drew was because I felt like I had symptoms for Rhabdo. And the issue with that is is you know, I'm I'm a physical therapist. So I have like a medical background. And I've had Rhabdo before. So So I retrospect, I should have just let the I say this, but people have told me this is not the right choice. But I if I had to donate again, I would have just let the the Cadre pull me when shit got bad, if in fact, it was Rhabdo. But what I felt was somewhere along the around around like right before the 24 hour mark, we're doing just, we're just rocking like the the force. I don't know if you'd call it force March weren't really going that fast, but they're rocking us. We hit a few miles, maybe like three miles or whatever. And my legs are just not recovering. And I felt like I was falling further and further behind. Which for me, is a very unusual thing. Because, you know, I'm usually in the front. And so I'm feeling like I'm not recovering. And so I'm pushing myself to make it to the 24 hour mark. So I know that that's coming up. So I get to the 24 hour mark and I eat pretty much everything in my pack. I think I like to mrec Drink all the carbohydrate solution. I'm like, again, I I watched a lot of video. So I saw on in the selection that Doug finished, that he chose to eat, you know, all of his food versus just eaten one MRE and so I'm like, alright, well, that kind of makes sense. Just you know, load yourself up with calories. And that's going to help turn it around. did not have that effect on me. You know, I came out of that. And now my legs is still not under me. And I feel like I wouldn't say nauseous but you know how like, when you eat a big meal like after Thanksgiving and then you got to get up and walk and you're just not you're just not there. So then we come out of that, and it's Murph, and I'm just falling like more and more behind. Actually they made us do a race first. Like we race to see who is going to be able to the winner got the RPC carrier versus wearing the Rucker for for Murph. And I'm looking around and again hyper competitive and I'm like, I'm the fastest person here. I should win this race and bro, I got smoked by everybody. And I'm like, oh shit, that's not good. So go into Murph and again starts off with that run and I'm falling further and further behind. And shit is just not feeling good. My legs never felt this bad before. But I made it through Murph just out of sheer screw you Cadre. Because I was I was getting some attention at this time out. I had left my rucksack open. So they dumped my rucksack out and getting special attention. And it's not that bad. But like, again, I'm very stubborn. So at that moment, I'm like, Well, I'm going to finish Murph just to just to, you know, screw you Cadre. I'm going to finish Murph. So I finished it, but it was not good. Everything is kind of going downhill. And then the spot that we are at at the campground at that time. It has a toilet there. So I ate all that food. So it's got to come out. So I'm like alright, I can I use it. Can I go use a toilet so I go go to take a dump. And I noticed that my pee is red. Oh, so that immediately like gives me some panic. You know cuz I like that. Physical Therapist, I have a little bit of metal medical background and, and I've had Rhabdo before so I'm like, Alright, this is Rhabdo This is not good. Start the next evolution. And I'm wavering in my head, I'm like, you know, I could go on and and this could get worse. And I still have you know, 24 hours left or I can just call it and and not end up in the hospital. So. So that's like, yeah, let me I'm just going to call it, you know, so So I, you know we did I think the evolution was like squat and sandbag tosses. So I did like to not like, Yeah, this is not getting better. So I just called it. So that was it. Like they say it's like you, you tell me you quit and you're telling me you're done. You're done? Like no take backs. That was it.

Ryan Burns  25:51 
So so like that, that has to be. It doesn't have to be but like that could really mess with your head like I made it that far. I did that well. And then like, just my body wouldn't keep up with it. Like, it sounds like you're mentally there, but just your body was breaking down. So So what's the like? What's the process of going through that and trying to decide if you're going to do this again, like that? You're I mean, you made it more than 24 hours like you You went through the wringer. You know what it feels like, you know what you have to do again? So how do you how do you process that, like, I dropped out? And when did you decide and how did you decide to do it again?

Chad Malone  26:40 
Yeah, so So the Cadre they sent me because I was like, you know, I didn't want to go to hospital, because I didn't feel like I was dying. I just didn't feel like I didn't feel right. So they sent me to one of the GRTs houses, and I'm there, you know, overnight, I'm on the couch, everything hurts. Everything's like really painful. And in my head at this time, I'm like, Yeah, I'm never doing that. Again, this is dumb. Like, why would I do this again, and my wife gets in town, and she has kids with him and man, like, again, my recovery for this one is awesome. The recovery for that one was awful. You know, my, my skin was one hole abrasion. And I couldn't walk for like, I couldn't walk properly for quite a while a few days. Wow. And so at this point in time, like I was telling, you know, I told my wife, it's like, yeah, I'm not doing that again, no way. And then the day we got back in town, probably like that Sunday or whatever. Already, like in my head, I was like, Yeah, I've got to do that. Again. You have God I got to do it was it at this point in time was pretty much just in my head. And I let it settle for a little bit. And then eventually, I told my wife that I was gonna do it again. So for me the the there were two, two points in my head that I knew that I needed to get past number one, I needed to get through a 40 hour non stop event, there's a difference between your HDL goes about 40 hours, 48 hours, but it's not nonstop. So I needed to get through a 40 hour nonstop event. So that's where a team assessment came in. And then I realized, you know, also I need to do a whole lot more work on my legs. Leading into my first attempt, like I I hadn't, I hadn't been in an actual gym as far as barbells and dumbbells and stuff for four years, probably they probably been five years since I had been in an actual gym and got under a barbell. So so I decided then also when I was you know, decided I was gonna do it again. I was like, Alright, I got to change arm training. If the legs are what failed me the first time, then then I've got to get these things right. So planned on doing pre team assessment and in started getting under a barbell and get my leg stronger.

Ryan Burns  29:11 
So right so talk talk about that a little bit. Talk about your, your training. You know, obviously you had a little bit of a longer ramp up this time because the the 2020 there was no selection. So you've got a two year break. Yeah, what you're in the gym, you're doing some barbell stuff, but what what does training look like for you during this this time?

Chad Malone  29:39 
Um, so So I remember it was it was after selection, and then they post it Jason had posted they they weren't gonna do 2020 selection. At that point. I had made my mind up that I was going to do it again. So I was pretty bummed. But then, you know, I wrap my head around it and I was like, you know, I committed a bunch of times. towards training for this attempt, you know, I have two years now, I know where my weaknesses are. So this basically gives me two years to attack my weaknesses. So I put two dates on the calendar, I had a team assessment on a calendar, and I had selection on the calendar. And then it was just go time. I, the first time around, I pretty much tried to do everything myself, you know, I did my own research, you know, followed a few different programs to try to train this time around, I got with a buddy of mine, who is way better at at programming and training than I am for for things like these. And gave me some advice. And you know, what I, you know, things things to work on the one of the big things for me was recovery, like I wasn't taking enough time for recovery. So that was one of the first fixes. training schedule for me. Started off pretty much every day, really, every day for the past, like four years or so four or five years, I even prior to selection, I started waking up early and I do a morning workout, I started doing that just because of the kids. Because you're not going to get a workout done after you get done work and the kids want to play with you. So So I have my 5:30am workout. I hit that. That is you know it by the last 12 weeks. It was it was pretty. It was pretty awful. As far as the volume that I was hitting for the last 12 weeks of the cycle during the my 530 workout. But timeline ranges roughly about be a couple hours of training for that. That's mainly my strength work.

Ryan Burns  31:57 
So that's like that's like in the gym and like barbells and weights and stuff like that. Are you also doing like ruck or sandbag work or things during that time?

Chad Malone  32:07 
So yeah, so I added in the biggest changes I'd say regarding like implements is that I added more barbell work. So out of I'm training six days a week. Three of those days are barbell days. And you know, basic you know, basic movements like nothing crazy. squats, deadlifts, presses, yeah. And different variations of that. And then those those will be my am workouts three days a week, two days a week worth focus on rockin sandbag. So pretty much all of the crazy stuff they make you do and an event namely in selection is is what I'm doing with the rock in the sandbag. So, you know, bear crawls, crab walks, squat presses, sandbag tosses, all that stuff, rocking with the sandbag all that.

Ryan Burns  33:07 
Let me ask you a question there. Just, you know, I think about this sometimes, like when you're, there's something so different about training by yourself versus having somebody tell you what to do. So like, like, I know, you know, when I train for like HTML or whatever, you know, I'll go out for an hour, two hours and all set up, you know, a workout to do. But the two hours with Cadre, giving the cadence and telling me the reps and telling him what to do is just so different. So like, how did you like when you had that two hour workout? It's the ruck and sandbag Do you just, you know, you write your workout and you just do it nonstop for two hours or, or

Chad Malone  33:52 
so. I have the opposite problem of what most people have. So most people when they like make their workouts, they make it less intense, okay, and what they're capable of right? My workouts are awful. Like my workouts like I write I write my workout on Sunday. And no joke when I do it on Wednesday and I hit up my homeboy BJ who helped me out I'm like, bro, like, Stop telling me to make my own workouts. Like this is crazy. Like my workouts are no joke. So so i i I have to cut back on the amount of work I do. And then you know I'm super competitive. So you know sometimes I work in my sandbag days I work in the workout that that is on the the SRT group, and I'll look at you know what the numbers are. And I'm like, Alright, I'm gonna beat that and just go after it. So I the only my my main weakness, I'm not fast. So my biggest thing that I had to push was, you know, my rucking pace and my running pace. I had, I had some training partners, some remote training partners. So my buddies mark and Joe, down in North Carolina. So we got together a couple of times and did some, some workout sessions. And then we communicated throughout. So we're kind of each pushing each other to see like, you know, way, what are you doing today? And this is what I did today. And they kind of feed off each other that way. But,

Ryan Burns  35:27  
yeah, that sounds that sounds really helpful. Like, like, even just like you said, with the SRT, being able to see what people's times are, and being able to push against that to get a little more uncomfortable. Because Because like I said, when I when I do it by myself, like, the only measure stick that I have is, is me, right there. So to know, like, somebody pushed hard enough to do this, and 20 minutes, like, and this is where, like, I gotta I gotta go. That's yeah, that that's helpful for that's helpful for me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Gotta use what you got. So So I was just gonna say so. So your your training, you said yet, you know, you identified your weaknesses, you got a lot more serious, you got under the barbell more. And you realize that you have to be able to do something for 48 hours straight. So you sign up for Team assessment. And I mean, I love your team assessment story. Like, basically, you're the you're like they rewrote the rules of Team assessment, because of because of you. Like, like, you broke so many teammates that they were like, Look, dude, just do this by yourself.

Chad Malone  36:45  
Yeah, yeah, I was fortunate. I have a special special place in my heart for for Jason and Mike for mocha Mike for letting me finish like, I because I told mocha at the fireplace, I was like, Man, I, this was after my, my second teammate withdrew. I'll say, Man, I just want to finish the event. Because for me, this was a training event like this was a stepping stone. And in my head, I was like, if I can't get through this, I'm still going into selection with a variable of how my mind reacts to 48 hours worth of work. So I just need and this is practice for me. So. So when they came back to me, they were like, hey, put your ruck on and stay close to another group now like, sweet, let's go. Yeah.

Ryan Burns  37:32  
Now, did you? Did you ever do pre selection?

Chad Malone  37:36  
No, no, I never did pre selection. Because I mean, for me personally, pre selection, you know, 24 hours, and it's super intense for 24 hours. I know I can do 24 hours. That's that's not the issue. And the intensity is is not the issue because one of the strategic Lee one of my issues for my first attempt selection is like, I was kind of going too hard. I came out the gate like a bat out of hell. So like, I know, I can go hard for 24 hours. I had already done that. So. So pre selection was, you know that that wasn't one of my stepping stones from my journey.

Ryan Burns  38:16  
So you Yeah, but you would say the completing team assessment was was a big stepping stone and moment for you to know that like, going into selection, like you've got, you've got 48 hours of hard work. available to you.

Chad Malone  38:38  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Like, is obviously a two different events like, right, majorly different. But, but you know, they have similarities, you know, both of them 48 hours with the ruck on Yeah. So if you can make it through, like, Alright, I know mentally, like I can keep I keep my I keep my head together for 48 hours. And I know how I need to hydrate and I know how I need to feel my body to make it through that. Those 48 hours. So now, let's just keep that in our back pocket, and then get, you know, attack the rest of these weaknesses.

Ryan Burns  39:19  
Okay. So so let's talk about selection class zero to two like you You've obviously, you spent two years working hard training, you have tons of experience you've demonstrated your ability to, to last for 48 hours. Like, you show up. It's selection time. It's it's admin time. Like what's what's going through your head. Hey, gang, I hope you've enjoyed hearing Chad's backstory. After this break, you're going to hear what happens when two years of focus and determination get unleashed on GORUCK selection but A podcast wouldn't be a podcast without a break in the middle of it for some shameless plugs. So I just want to remind you that sometime in November, we're going to be dropping some of Chad's very own workouts on our sister site. ruckwod.com. If you want to check them out, then head on over, sign up for our daily workout emails and keep an eye out for Chad's workouts to drop. That site again, is ruckwod.com. And now that that's done, we can get back to our interview with Chad

Ryan Burns  40:37  
you show up, it's selection time. It's it's admin time. Like what's what's going through your head.

Chad Malone  40:47  
Um, you know what, absolutely nothing. So, I competed a lot in my life. So I got I find tuned a mind for for competition. So for me, this is just another competition. So generally, for me, about about one week out, I start to shut down. So, you know, like, the emotions get a little bit more with the word flat, my effect changes, and, you know, I can still put it on, I can still be social and I have to, but the the emotion start to get a little bit flat. So and you start to hear about LW s in my head, leading up to the vent about 24 hours, you know, I, my wife knows at this point, like, she'll send me a, you know, just send me and I love you, you're gonna be great. And I'm just gonna send her back an emoji. So I and and that's when she knows that, you know, it's, I don't need to talk to him anymore. I'll talk to him after at the end of this, and then, you know, we get there. And, you know, if somebody comes up to me, I'll say hi, and I'll be nice. But at, in my head, it's just, it's, it's nothing. Just getting ready for, for what they're going to throw at you next. So, you know, because you don't want to, for me, I don't want to worry about you know, you know, what, what evolution is coming up next after this. So where are they going to ask me for? And how am I feeling and and like, it's just what's in front of you at the time. So I'm just waiting for, for us what's gonna be next. So if the if next means, you know, lining up and and in, get ready to get your number, then that's just what you're doing at the time. Because you get caught up you're like you're stressing yourself out worrying about you know, did I pack the right things? Am I should I be drinking water now yada yada, like, just do what you know you're supposed to do? I would say the one thing. The one thing that did throw me off was I have asthma. So I keep my inhaler with me. The bait in preparation for this one for me was like, do I keep it in my pocket? Or do I put it in my ruck for keeping in my pocket, all those low crawls and stuff on the ground? Like our A they're uncomfortable because inhalers digging into you and plus it might break. So I'm like alright, let me put it in my ruck to start off with because I keep it but I usually don't need it. So I put in my ruck. And and so we're going through the checklist they asked you if you have any life saving medicine, so I have to declare my inhaler. So like alright, let me see it. And I'm like, Alright, cool. Go my back. I know exactly where it is. Go to reach for it. And it's not there. Oh, so I'm like, what the entire hell. So now, you know people are already getting barked at from holding up the line. Yeah, like shit. I'm one of those guys. So I have to like pretty much empty my rug to find it that Hitler had dropped all the way down to the bottom I ruck and they're not like, you know, they're like, you know, get out of the line. Fine, find it go through the process and stuff and everything. You know, everything is up being fine, of course. But one added stress I didn't even plan for Yeah, but then you're

Ryan Burns  44:06  
like in that stressful moment. Because, you know, we've all watched the welcome parties, we've seen the bag dumps and all that stuff in that. And that's all just to induce that, that stress component like, like when you go and you look in your inhaler is not there, like, like, does your heart just just drop and like, or are you in that moment able to just be like, stay calm? Get it? It's gonna be fun, like,

Chad Malone  44:33  
yeah, so this is where the poker face comes in. Because like the heart dropping, you can't do anything about that. Like your, your heart rate is gonna go up and all that stuff, but like, I know I had it. It's just a matter of like, where is it? So like, if they're going to like, give me a legit bag dump and all that special love right now they're like, of course I don't want that to happen. But fuck it, we signed up for this thing. So if they're gonna do it, then do it. If not, then all right. Just find your inhaler. So found it. And then as soon as that moment is over, like you got to get over it, you can't, you know, you can't worry about that anymore.

Ryan Burns  45:10  
So I remember talking to Mark clim years ago after, after he did his and, and I've seen it various selections through the years that they, you know, they have a lot of it pays to be a winner, ultimately, you know, you finish first you get more rest than the rest of the folks there was, was that we didn't get a ton of coverage of yours, but there was, was there was there much of that it pays to be a winner. During this one,

Chad Malone  45:38  
I will say they it worked out better this time than my experience last time. So I mean, it honestly, like you people got to play that how they, what works best for them, what the way that I saw it was for me. As far as being number one, it didn't pay to be number one for me. Because I know that if it's competitive as I am, if I'm competing against my neighbor, every time, I'm going to try to win, and and then I'm just taking fuel from the gas tank. And this is a marathon like this was 48 hours, this is not a you know this two hour evolution like, yeah, you might be a winner this time. But you're, you know, you blow your wad on this evolution, and then you're a loser for the rest of them. So that's not very smart. So my strategy was, you know, just stay in the middle front of the pack. And just not be like, I just didn't want you know, I didn't want eyes on me. So whatever I needed to do to not get eyes on me, then I'm then I'm good. It just so happened that, you know, some evolutions I'm good at, like, I know what I'm good at. And I know what I'm not good at. So if it came down to, you know, the the five mile a day made us do at the very beginning, or even a 12 mile or like, I know, I can keep pace, I'll be in the middle, I'm not going to be in the front, I'm not fast, but you know, the low crawls and the in the, in the frickin like bear crawls and stuff like, through all my, you know, the years of jujitsu and stuff like I'm good at moving my body like that. So those ones I can I can I can move a little bit faster and not worry about killing myself.

Ryan Burns  47:25  
So with us not not seeing a whole lot of the selection evolutions and stuff. I think what blew me away is, you know, I popped online. And I saw that y'all were doing Chad. And like, I have actually not done the full chat. I've you know, I've done I think one day I just went out to the backyard and did like 650 step ups with 45 pounds. And it was ridiculous how hard that was. And I looked at that and I'm like, holy crap. They're doing Chad in the frickin middle of selection. Like, this is insane. And then obviously, it was intense because I think there were there at that point, there were maybe five or six guys with you. And they all none of them made it through Chad. Like, like, that workout alone is gonna crush most normal people. And I think they even had you guys doing it. Like I think you were carrying a sandbag on top of your rock.

Chad Malone  48:31  
Yeah, we had a was it 60? Yeah, we had a 60 with us. And ruck.

Ryan Burns  48:38  
Like talk me through that evolution like what's and I think I think I've heard since then like before that y'all were doing like a bunch of lunges or something. Oh, yeah,

Chad Malone  48:47  
like right before that. We had our ruck and 80 pound sandbag one launch every 10 seconds for two hours. Oh, yeah. And so this was led by JC Cadre JC and I remember like, he's he, you know, we we went there and we're lunging and he starts you know, he starts doing his thing and he's like, Man, y'all are gonna just keep doing this until two or three of y'all quit and in my head you know, I'm like well, great. I know to like I'm looking around like I know I can see who's gonna quit and I'm like great let's go let's go ahead and and get these guys quitting so we can be done and so so the guys quit like the you know what happened happened and you know I'm not laughing at those guys are quitting but what happened happened yeah, and and then we're but we're still lunging. I'm like you're a liar You said we're gonna do three people quit three people quit we're supposed to be done. Like, you know, I did popped up in my head. And then you know, it is what it is like he He tells you to lunch, you go to lunch, he tells you to come up, you go to come up. And so my, one of my mantras the whole time was like, you know, this waiting for the move itself, like, you're here to do what they say to do for this amount of time you said you were going to do it, they're telling you to lunch, you have a sandbag on your back. So, lunch, um, the, you know, my training preparation for that, like, you know, I done barbell lunges with, you know, way more weight than that, I think was that 45 plus 8125, I was doing barbell lunges with a couple 100 pounds prior to so I mean, obviously not for two hours, but But you know, your, your, your preparation gives you confidence. In my head, I'm like, I know, I can launch this, this is this is less weight than what I launch on any given day training. So just do what you have been doing. So so that's what you do. So then they, you know, we're done, and we get a little bit of a break, and then we're in on chat. And for me, number one, like Chad is, for me mentally though, one of the worst things is that monotony. And so it wasn't Chad, it wasn't physically strenuous for me, at all, really. It was it was the monotony of it. So we get up there in and so number one, so I, I try to find the bright side of things, right? So like, all right, you have your ruck on here, the 60 pounds tan bag to do your your step ups with, and I'm like, great, it's not an 80 litre gave you 80 So my cool, I'll take it give me the 60. And in during my training, you know, I'm stepping up on a 25 inches or whatever. And this is not 25 inches. So, so I'm like, Alright, cool, you know, less weight and what I have done a lower step up than what I have done. So just do it. Hmm. And then, but the monotony of it. And so and the Cadre know that so they're, they're playing games, and they're, you know, saying, you know, alright, you're at 100, only 900 more. So I'm like, Cool. So I tried to play back with them. So after everybody else dropped out of that, and I'm counting, they're like, alright, at first JC was giving us our cadence. And then once everybody else dropped down, he was like, alright, you just count out loud. And, you know, don't stop moving, sir. All right, cool. I'm trying to try to fuck with him on like, how I count. So I'm like counting like, I have fun. Like, I'm having fun. And then when I get to, you know, special numbers, I announced those a little bit more prominently. So like that for 20 a yell out for 20. Really. Anytime I say 69 b 169 269, whatever, I'm gonna yell out the 69 really loud. And it's kinda like, you know, make it seem like, you know, I'm a good old time. And then, I don't know, obviously, it's not bothering them. But in my head I am and in my head because I'm acting like I'm having fun. Like your mind is eventually started telling you that you are having fun. So, but you just go through it. And like, this is one these are 1000 steps for this event. You know, how many times have you taken 1000 steps? So now you're just doing it all at once. That's all it is?

Ryan Burns  53:33  
Sure. That's, that's that's crazy, man. That's awesome. Was there like, like, like, what were there some like particularly grueling evolutions, like, Man that just stand out is like Dude, that was horrible.

Chad Malone  53:51  
I'd say for the whole thing. There were think 12344 Things four evolutions in the whole thing they like gave me pause during the 12 miler I got like a really bad cramp in my quad during my one and so that panicked me a little bit but kept my cool and just you know, stay hydrated and never went away was there the whole time. But I just managed it put it in the back of my head that wasn't a big big one. The Chad was was tough mentally for me. But the again I found a bright side for it. And then I also knew like this is eating up a lot of time. So if I start this at you know, whatever time it was nine o'clock I know when I get done it's going to be after 11 o'clock. So a find the bright side about that. The the evolution that really got me in I was I mean, I never second guessed finishing but I was like oh man, like Business, I'm going to get some marks on my ruck for this one was the moving the the sand buckets, up and down the money, he'll have the worst. All the worst evolutions were with JC now that I'm picking up all the worst evolutions were JC as I'm moving the sand buckets up and down this muddy Hill. And the reason why it it was really funny to me at first was because prior to that one where I'm going in and out of the the river at the bottom, and Jason comes in has a chat with me. He's like, Hey, man, like you're sliding on your butt to get into that water and you're gonna mess around and break your ankle, sprain your ankle, and then not be able to finish this event. Like I gave you a rope to get down here safely use the rope. So so I'm using the rope. So I'm like, Alright, cool. They they're worried about my safety. That's so sweet. And so, so then we get to this evolution. And JC is like, yeah, move these heavy ass buckets filled with sand up and down this hill. And oh, I'm gonna spray with water. And the more time you take the muddier is gonna get. I'm like, what the hell this is not safe. So that's, that was my main thing. I was like, this is not safe. And so then I'm moving. So I move them down and obviously taking them down. It's not a big deal. But then I'm moving them up. And, and, and I I have the sandbag. I have a 40 pound sandbag with me and I have the bucket. And I'm trying to get up this hill. And like, there's just no way I'm not finding any traction anywhere. And I'm digging in. And you know, I'm a, I'm a pretty big guy. So I'm like, alright, well, maybe if I just pushed down into the ground hard enough. I'll make indentations and I'll be able to climb up from that. And so I'm pushing down and under underneath of all the mud on that hill or rocks. So so that's what my knees got pretty tore up. So there's one point into that evolution. And I'm still on trying to get my first bucket up the hill. And JC and Ts are like they are they're getting after me. And they're like dumping me with water and stuff. And I'm not hearing them. Like I hear their threats and stuff. I'm like, fuck it, like I'm gonna finish this. I'm just trying to figure out how to do this. And then at one point in my head, I'm like, There's no way they actually expect you to get these up and down this hill. Because I think he said he wanted he wanted to lapse like all three buckets and the sandbag down all three buckets and the sandbags up two times. And I'm thinking I'm on my first bucket bring up I'm like, There's no way he actually wants me to bring this back up the hill. And then I was like shit, he really does want me to bring this up to here. I'm thinking like, I just need to keep trying and keep moving and I'll be okay. And now like man, I really got to figure out a way to get these up. And like, figure out a way eventually. But that one was that one was super frustrating. It wasn't the most difficult but it was frustrating. I tell you

Ryan Burns  58:18  
what was there was there an evolution that you were like Dude, that was just that was the best that was the most fun I had an all a selection

Chad Malone  58:28  
you know what? Yeah, every time we got in and out of the water, I loved it. Because I knew I knew we were going to get wet and I spent a lot of time you know doing ice baths we got we got a cold plunge down in the gym. So the water for a cold plunge gets down to 45 degrees and and I would top off all of my showers for the past three months I would top off my showers with a cold water for the last couple of minutes. So So I had my whole relationship with cold water had changed. And then I realized like every time I get into cold water like my legs are sore, but when you get out it feels good. So So anytime they told me getting a warrant I'm like great I'm in there like I'm diving right in no no worries.

Ryan Burns  59:20  
Well, so obviously to take on selection you got to be in tremendous physical shape but the other huge component and you've touched on it some is that mental aspect of it. Can you take just talk a little bit about the mental side and I guess I guess what I'm what I'm interested in is one was was like mentally What was it like through the event? Like you mentioned some mantras that you had like what what keep kept you going mentally but then I think I'm also interested in like, like, how do you prepare that mentality? Like, like, how do you how do you get ready to be yelled at for 48 hours to be in physical motion for 48 hours like mentally How do you? What can you do to train that aspect? Like there's no barbell for that?

Chad Malone  1:00:09  
Yeah, I mean, I think every everybody is different. So overall, everybody needs to, people need to find their own one thing. For me, you know, it kind of all started the center of the Snowball was my experience with 2019. And like that, that regret, like whether you call it a like a cautious withdrawal of voluntary withdrawal, or med drop, whatever you call it, like, you got to live with that shit. And it doesn't go away, like you hurt during these events, like you hurt for 48 hours. But the hurt ends, eventually the hurt ends after 48 hours. And if you quit, like, you got to live with that. And some people can, you know, some people, you know, deal with that different ways. But my mind doesn't work like that, like I can't, I can't do something, fail at it, and then not conquer it later. So that was in prior to selection. I mean, that's one of the big growth moments and learning points and actually failing it the first time like, I hadn't failed anything in a long time. And so in most things that I had undertaken came relatively easy for me. So this was the first thing that like, I failed it, like hands down, no, no, putting in any other words, it I failed, I didn't finish. And so it wasn't going anywhere, and I had to get dealt with. So like the center of the Snowball was, you know, this is a 40 hour event. And if you don't finish it, like, now you got to live with this twice. And who knows whether it's going to come back like they they they took away, we didn't do it in 2020. Who's to say that they're not going to do it every two year intervals from now on? Oh, who's to say that it doesn't come back, like this is your one chance to get this off your chest. So let's get this done. So that that was the center of it for me. And then you know, there's a lot of different things. You know, one to one thing, like the big thing is, like just taking away everything from each moment, other than what you have to do at the time. You know, it's raining, and they're telling you to throw, you know, a sandbag up and down this. I don't know how long it's 400 meter course or whatever. You're just going back and forth. And you're throwing the sandbag and it's raining and nothing else is going on. It's just that All right, well, like what do I need to do right now I need to take two steps to get to the sandbag. I need to pick up the sandbag I need to throw the sandbag. And it's raining. Alright, so what you were already sweaty. So it's not like you're not wet already. Plus, the rain is cool, you were hot, it's cooling down. So take two steps pick up the sandbag and throw it. And that's just it. I think a lot of people just not with this event or just you know, just trying to accomplish goals in general, you, you look at too much at one point in time and it looks daunting. Like, you just have to deal with what's right in front of you. So that was one big part of it. Also,

Ryan Burns  1:03:24  
you know, I feel like there's a theme that I'm kind of hearing and some of the things that you're you're saying and you seem to find those little glimmers of, of positivity. Like even just then you were talking about you it's raining. Well, you found that bright like, oh, it's cool. And you off. That's great. You know, you're you're doing chat and you're like, Oh, well at least it's not an 80 pound sandbag. It's only 60. Like, and and I was just gonna say like, from what I've seen of you over the years, whether on, you know, social media, or in event footage and stuff like that, like, I feel like you always have a smile on your face. And I don't I don't know if it's that poker face or like genuinely, like you're just a positive person that can in moments like that, find those positive things like would you would you would you say that that's true, like you're a positive person and tend to be more of like, what is the positive in this situation?

Chad Malone  1:04:29  
Yeah, definitely. I'm definitely an eternal optimist. So I chuckled at my little 12 hour interrogation with Jason. And you know, I know he's gonna ask you, you know, on a scale of zero to 10 How are you doing? And like you can look at it from like, mentality perspective. Of course, you're not going to say your five Of course, I felt like you know, I felt like gum on the bottom of a shoe. At that point in time. I didn't feel good like I had a cramp in my left leg. My feet hurt. Just you know, general uncomfort. And in I would rather be eating pizza at this point in time. But are you going to say that like, No. And so like, in my head, like, I keep repeating, like, I'm a 10. But I know I know also, like, if I say my 10 to him, he's not gonna, he's not gonna let you have that. So, but um, I don't want to say I'm a nine, either, because that's like, there's a difference between a NINE and a 10. So I'm like, Alright, I'm a 9.5. And, and like, he, you know, he pushes back on it. And, like, I remember he said something about oh, like false optimism. And in my head, I'm like, Hey, shit, any optimism is better than no. So yeah, you know, there's no point in it, like, like, why worry about the bad shit, like the, if it's gonna happen, the batshit is gonna happen, there's nothing you can do to stop that, like, like, just, you know, take the good, and leave the rest behind.

Ryan Burns  1:05:59  
That's good. I like that. You know, they, they talk a lot about an events like this, and, you know, the, in selection, they yell at you this question a lot, but, but asking, like, what is your why? And that's a question that I always have trouble with. Even even in the events that I do, like, you know, I'm, you know, walking into that tough of an HTML. And it's the middle of the night. And I'm like, I'm asking myself, like, why are you doing this? And like, I don't know, this is I got no good reason to be doing this. Idiotic. So but, so, like, do you? What was your why? And like, you know, how did that help you keep going?

Chad Malone  1:06:46  
Yeah. So in one word, you know, it. When they asked me that, at the end, I tell them as you know, I'm doing it for my family. Big picture. You know, it's like, you're, you're just not by yourself, man. Like, I had so much support, like, even you know, from the time that I attempted this, and, and, and failed, and 2019 like, so many people, like, in my community are like, right, you know, willing to help, you know, you know, talking about, you know, my training my recovery and keeping me positive, and not letting me get down on myself. And, you know, that's where it starts. And then, and then, you know, leading up to the moments, and, you know, I have guys, friends slash members, students at my gym, who will come in and like, you know, ask me how I'm feeling leading up to it. And I'm, like, you know, I'm feeling good. And they're just like, you know, they're feeding into you, you know, oh, man, you know, not the cliche, like, you got this type stuff like that stuff rolls off my head. That stuff doesn't affect me at all. But like, they're really there for you. Like, Hey, man, you do need anything to help train you, you know, do you want me to count your push ups, anything like that, like that stuff. So it's like, you're not in this alone. And then you know, I, I got to take out, you know, take off work to come and do this event for for three days, I'm missing classes, and I shoot a message to, to one of my coaches, like, hey, I need you to cover all of my kids classes while I'm gone. And all they sent back is okay, like, no questions just okay. No, like, shit, like, I don't have to worry about anything. And then on top of that, then it's the family. It's like, man, for the past two years, I'm telling you, like, I don't see it from my perspective, because I'm locked in. But like, you know, I'm waking up in the morning, working out, which means I'm not helping the kids get right into more, I'm not doing breakfast, I'm not doing lunches. I get home if I don't get my workout at the gym, because remember, this started and I was I was working two jobs. So like, if I wasn't able to get the workout at the gym at that point. So like, my second workout of the day was after I got home, and that's for most people, that's family time. So like, I'm getting like, bare minimum done as far as like, socially, I'm not going out. You know, when I spend time with the kids is, you know, it's pretty limited. And then in the whole time in the back of my head is like, alright, you should be training. This is what you're going to be doing next when you train. It's just it. So all of this takes away from you know, all of the other things that are important in life so, so again, on this day, like when you're there, it's like alright, 48 hours of work, versus all the time you took away from your kids, from your wife, all the things that you you know, the vacations and stuff that you could have gone on that you didn't go on because you needed to be able to train, you know, you do go on vacations and you're bringing sandbags and stuff with you, like all of this extra shit, and you're gonna quit after 40 hours. After you put everybody through all of this hell for three years, like three fucking years versus 48 hours So that is like, that's a non negotiable. Like, this has to get done this we're not going through this again.

Ryan Burns  1:10:09  
That's, that's, that's intense man. Like so. So what does it feel like when that pays off like you, you you've, you've, you've sacrificed, your family has sacrificed your friends have sacrificed your co workers have sacrificed? And you did it? Like what's what's what does that feel like?

Chad Malone  1:10:36  
Um, it's weird because you think like, oh, I'm going to Disney World and I'm excited like there was no, like, there was no moment of like, I feel like I want to jump up and down, like the emotions. When I finished number one when I finished I wasn't sure if we were done because they you know, our ending this time was was different than the previous endings. So like it, I wasn't sure, I was like, alright, well maybe we're gonna like, go to the top of the hill. And, and, and I'm gonna get some more fun. So it wasn't until they put the patch in my hand that that I was done so then you know, it's just kind of like a wave of relief at that point in time. Very proud of, of being able to, for as far as for the Cadre, like all of the Cadre, they were there at that event, like, I know them ranging from like, pretty darn well to having had done a few events with him, but all of them through the years of like, training everything I have, you know, admiration for them, and respect for them. So obviously very proud for that. Man, my wife pops up and I didn't even know that she was I knew she was coming. But I didn't see her and I was like peeping out for any time. I went on top of the hill, and then she pops up. So I'm like, Alright, cool. That's super happy. I'm not like a super mushy guy. So like, like seeing her like, Hey, she's here. Cool. That's, that's the extent of my machinist emotions. And then, you know, crack the beer, and, you know, that's cool. And then, and then at the end of that, it's like, it's weird, man. Because, like, you do these things for like, super personal reasons. Like, I would have gone through selection, it was just the Cadre and I and nobody else showed up at the end of it. So at the end of it, once it's done, like, all of your, your friends and the people who competed or not competed with you went through the event with you and stuff, and they're there and they're helping you and they're, you know, they're excited for you and stuff. And I want to be as excited as they are. But I'm just not. I'm just you know, I have, you know, an immense sense of, of pride and, and incompletion. But I'm not jumping up and down. Excited. It's kind of kind of different. And, for me, I kind of it's kind of a consonant. For me, I'm always like that when I achieve something, it's like, Alright, cool. That's done. So what's gonna happen next? Yeah, so the the biggest thing like the Note, most noticeable thing for me in the past couple of weeks is like, like, I literally feel like I had a real life weight lifted off my shoulder, because that the weight of that event was so heavy, for so long, that I didn't even realize like, how much pent up stress I had for that time. So now that that's done, like, big relief, happy, you know, get to spend time, more time with the kids and stuff, but then in the back of my head, it's like, all right. What's gonna happen next? What are you gonna do now?

Ryan Burns  1:13:48  
You looked at my, my notes right here because that's, that's the big question is like, like you. You have had something on your radar for so long and devoted so much time and energy to it. Like, I can totally understand what you're saying with that, that weight just like it's not looming anymore. Like it's done. It's, it's, it's, you've checked it off the list. And like, Are you the type of person that has to have some big something looming all the time? Or is it like, you know,

Chad Malone  1:14:20  
yeah, so previously I would say like Prior to this I would say that I have to have something on the radar all the time one lesson I learned in this is like, it's cool to like, relax, like sit your ass down and just relax. So right now you know the My main goal right now is not to let the gains I got mentally and physically training for selection be a waste. So you know, when you're young you like train for an event. You finish it, and then you sit around and eat pizza and beer for for three months until so I I'm not going to do that. So I'm making sure that I don't do that. So I got back into training, you know, lifting and stuff this week. I'm sure I'll do something. But I like my the two things that I will never do again, I will never well, I won't say never, I'm not, I'm not planning on doing anything that requires that amount of commitment. anytime soon. That was a lot of commitment. And it's not fair for my family, or, or my friends to commit to something that takes that much time, anytime soon. So I'm sure I like to do, I like to do one hard thing a year, you know, something. So I'll have something next year. But it'd be something that I can train for, like, on my own time, like a regular person, like, you know, one workout a day. Without all of the extras, go do the thing. It'd be hard, but it's not going to be a 2% pass rate hard. It'd be, you know, like a triathlon or something like that. I'll do that.

Ryan Burns  1:16:08  
Just just one of those easy triathlons.

Chad Malone  1:16:13  
It's hard to say you can't finish something after you finish go ruck selection. Got to get a better bike. And I could do that.

Ryan Burns  1:16:21  
And then well, Chad, it's, it's been awesome to hear your story and your take on it. And, you know, I just want to say that watching you go through that what we saw, like, I know, it was an inspiration for me, it made me want to work harder and try harder. You know, I know that selection is not something that's ever gonna be on on my list of to do things, but like, taking taking those challenges that are before me and committing to them and like seeing you and knowing that you had worked for so long to get it. And to achieve it was was inspiring for me. And so thanks. Thanks for coming on the podcast. Thanks for sharing those stories. And you know, you're up in DC. I don't know if you're ever going to do a go ruck event again, but you know, like, like, maybe if you do, and it's up in DC, and, you know, I try and grab some of those up there. So hopefully our paths will cross sometime in the future. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Well, thanks a lot, man. Yeah, thank you. You know, talking to people like Chad doesn't give me any visions of grandeur that I might someday complete GORUCK selection. But it certainly inspires me to put in the effort and do the work that's before me for the things that I'm trying to do. So thanks for that, Chad. And that's for you. Thanks for listening to this episode of Under The Log. If you'd like to see shownotes transcripts for the episode or links to stuff that we talked about, you can visit us on our website at WWW dot under the log.com. While you're there, you can find links to all our social media profiles, and we'd love to connect with you on those. And if you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. And for those of you are on Apple podcasts, go ahead and click those five little stars right there. And we'd love it if you leave a comment about what you think about the podcast here. Well, folks, with that, I guess I'll see you next time under The Log