Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Runs 26 Miles Because Couch Was Too Far

KEY POINTS

•Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, 50, stays fit running 5 to 10 miles around Washington DC and doing physical training with Marines.
•He balances cardio and joint-safe resistance training, avoiding heavy weights to protect longevity while out-performing younger Marines.
•Ruiz completes the Marine Corps’ two fitness tests annually, including 3-mile runs, pull-ups, ammo-can presses, and planks near four minutes.
•His wife, a 22-year Marine veteran, holds him accountable at home for fitness, ensuring he hits pull-ups or ammo-can lifts.

Carlos Ruiz, the top enlisted Marine at 50, can still out-run and out-plank Marines half his age, which is impressive unless you consider he's been punished by pull-up drills courtesy of his wife, a Marine vet of 22 years. He runs Sunday 10-milers from 8th and I Barracks through DC, casually waving at exercisers on the National Mall like some fitness-themed Santa Claus. Despite trading barbells for joint-safe dumbbells, he still crushes the Corps’ brutal two fitness tests annually—three-mile runs, ammo-can presses, and planks near four minutes long. He religiously tracks his vitals on a Garmin, avoids creatine 'bros,' and survives long runs by obsessing over electrolytes and carbs—because apparently, the secret to never retiring "out of the world" is drinking protein shakes and heat-checking your hip flexors.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Mix a 50-year-old Marine who runs marathons, his Marine wife as drill sergeant, and no creatine—in other words, misery loves company and squatting retirement plans.

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