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On Monday I started a challenge called “75 Hard.” This will be my fifth year in a row starting (but not necessarily completing) the challenge.

If you’re unfamiliar, 75 Hard is an endurance and discipline test. It consists of the following daily tasks:

• Two 45 minute workouts (one has to be done outdoors)
• Follow any diet
• No alcohol/cheat meals
• Read 10 pages of a self-development book
• Drink one gallon of water
• Progress picture

I believe this will be my sixth attempt at the challenge. If I remember correctly, I’ve failed it twice (or maybe even three times). Failure is considered not completing the entire list. Anything at all.

So, yes, if you forget to take your progress picture, fail. Start over. If you forget to do one of your workouts outside, fail. Start over. If you break your diet, fail. Start over.

It sounds silly to most, but discipline is what’s key in this challenge. Anybody who has seen this challenge or read those words above probably say, “Wow. I don’t have the time to do two 45 minute workouts every day.” That’s usually the sticking point for most people.

However, I’ve learned over the years that if you don’t want to start over, you just get it done. And the easiest way to get it done is to make it a priority.

Today is Day 3 of 75 Hard for me. Leading up to 75 Hard my diet was decent and working out wasn’t too bad, either. I typically go into 75 Hard … well, hard. It’s usually after a heavy drinking weekend (which was the case this time, too. Hello, Canadian beer festival) and zero working out. I’ve always hated working out. I get zero enjoyment out of it.

However, over the last year or two, I’ve started to enjoy it more. Two years ago for 75 Hard I decided that I would ruck every day with a 50-pound weight in my backpack. I wanted to see what 75 straight days of “rucking” would do. (For more on rucking — which, spoiler alert: I’ll be doing a lot over the next 73 days — check out the great book The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter.)

Another spoiler alert: 75 straight days of walking two miles with 50 pounds on your back is good for you. I I only experienced positive benefits. While at first as your back starts to figure out how to handle the weight, it might hurt a little bit. But if you get a good backpack (or weighted vest, but a backpack is supposed to be better for your posture) and it fits you well, there really is no issue going forward.

Rucking also made me much stronger. Not only were my legs stronger from carrying the additional weight, but a bunch of other muscles are working in your body to keep the weight on your back and you trucking.

But the best thing rucking gave me was this:

Discipline.

I knew I had to ruck. I knew I had to wake up and, at some point that day, walk two miles with 50 pounds on my back. So instead of hemming and hawing about why I didn’t want to do it (and, trust me, at times I did that, too) I would throw the backpack on and just go. I usually did this after waking up early, so by the time my brain fog had gone away, I was already a half mile on the road. No reason to turn around at that point.

I made rucking a priority and I just got it done. Just like today, I pulled my old 50-pound friend out of the barn and got reacquainted for a two-mile jaunt. I haven’t rucked in a couple months so there is a little shock when you throw her on your back for the first time in a while. But once you step outside and start going, everything seems to fall in place. You can feel the weight, but it isn’t agonizing. And I know it’ll just get easier and easier as the weeks progress.

(Side note: You don’t have to ruck with 50 pounds. In fact, I would recommend not starting there. Throw a 10- or 20-pound anything in a backpack and just go. You’ll know if it’s too little or too much after a bit. Heck, if you have a small child in your household, throw them on your back and start going. That’s rucking, too. The science behind rucking says you can burn up to three times as many calories carrying weight on your back than just walking alone.)

This post is already getting long, so I’m going to save some topics for next time. For example, I’m sure people are wondering what my “diet” is and, more importantly, how I’m going to go 75 days without alcohol considering I brew beer for a living.

If you pledge, I’ll let you know all those things. Cheers!