A day in the life of GORUCK's cofounder, from 'screen jail' for her kids to life lessons from her ex-CIA career

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Emily McCarthy, who cofounded GORUCK with her husband, Jason McCarthy. She lives with him, their three children, and their pets in Atlantic Beach, Florida. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I didn't know what I was going to do out of college. I was dating Jason, my now-husband. 9/11 happened after we graduated, and he was very motivated to join the military. He looked into other roles, like the CIA, and thought it would be a good fit for me, given my adventurous view on life and language background — I was a French major and a Spanish minor.

I found out that I really enjoyed the work and did it for five years. It taught me to be mission-oriented. I'm also someone who fights routine, which is a plus, because you never want to be predictable in the CIA.

Jason and I started GORUCK because of our work. During his time in the US Army, he learned to wear a ruck, or a loaded military backpack, during training. It's the most efficient way to simulate what can happen in wartime, when you have to carry everything — your food, ammo, and weapons.

When I was stationed alone with my dog in West Africa, crossing borders on my own across rebel territory, he made me a go-ruck. We liked that rucking made us feel stronger and fitter. The idea stuck in his head, and we started working on the company, creating a bag with all the same features as the amazing military-issued gear he was given.

The brand eventually evolved to include rucking workouts. Now, in addition to the gear, we have more than 700 ruck clubs worldwide.

Jason and I live outside Jacksonville, Florida, with our three kids, our cat, and our senior dog. Here's a day in my life.

I wake up to very soft classical music between 5 and 6 a.m.

During the week, I get up somewhere between 5 and 6 a.m., and the first thing I do is drink water. Next, I take my multivitamin.

I don't like jarring alarms; I always wake up to quiet classical music. My husband thinks it's very funny — he doesn't know how I wake up to that, but I can hear it. It's so calming to me. I've been doing that since college.

I alternate between outdoor runs and rucking workouts

A few times a week, I run with my ultramarathoner friend. I jump into her easier runs, which I love because we chat the whole time.

When I'm not with her, I like to do ruck workouts in our driveway for about 30 minutes. I put out a mat, play music, and use gear like a GORUCK weighted vest and a sand kettlebell. Our director of training creates programming for me.

I love kettlebell swings and holding planks while wearing the weighted vest. I hate Turkish get-ups, but my programming calls for that from time to time. I wouldn't say I love burpees involving a 30-pound sandbag, either.

Biking with my boys to school

Most days of the week, I ride bikes with my boys to their elementary school about a mile away.

My older son is a member of the school safety patrol and needs to get there earlier than my third grader wants to, so my husband and I split up biking with the kids.

I add a creatine packet to my favorite smoothie

There's a local spot where I get my favorite daily protein smoothie with banana, almond milk, oats, peanut butter, and cacao nibs. I bring a creatine packet to pour in.

The staff knows my name, and on the days I don't show up, they ask, "What's wrong? Where have you been?"

If the weather permits, I push back meetings to surf

On the bike ride back, I like to take a road that parallels the beach. I check out a few lookout points where you can see the waves. If the waves look good, I reschedule earlier internal meetings so I can surf.

It reminds me of my time as a CIA officer; you don't know what exciting things await you when you show up in the morning.

I go to the office around 9 or 9:30 a.m.

Last year, we bought a building for our headquarters about four miles south of where I live.

I love working with people, but I need to either be in "people-mode" or "deep work-mode." Early in the week, I try to finish a lot of meetings in the morning. Then, after lunch, I try to give myself a long, uninterrupted stretch to sit and refocus. I leave the end of the week more open in case things pop up.

I share an office with Jason and my best friend from high school, Monica. On stressful days, she and I can relax and be ourselves.

When I can, I take rucking meetings or workout sessions

If I don't need to be looking at a spreadsheet, I take a rucking meeting for 20 to 30 minutes.

We also do weekly workouts at the office and have a ruck club that does three additional morning and evening sessions. Sometimes, if a brand partner comes in, I'll invite them to the midday workout and have our meeting afterward. It's a bonding activity.

I grab lunch from Whole Foods' hot bar

Our office has a great secret path to a shopping area. For lunch, I go to Whole Foods for the salad bar or hot bar.

I'd like to be one of those people who make myself lunch every day, but I can't. We're already making lunches for the kids every day. I get a soup or salad.

I leave work by 3:30 p.m. to coach my daughter's team

In the fall, I coach my daughter's middle school cross-country team.

During the offseason, I stay at the office pretty late, now that my kids are older and my boys can bike home from school on their own. They're latchkey kids.

I have a screen jail. I lock up their screens when I'm not home, and I don't give them the code unless they've done their homework and played outside. We have a landline phone, so we can communicate without relying on screens. My husband and I both think this is really important for them to have both responsibility and freedom.

I usually get home around 6:30 or 7:30 p.m.

If my boys have baseball games at 6:30 p.m., I'll try to hustle to get there in time. Otherwise, my daughter gets a ride home from track practice, and my boys bike home from baseball.

Once I'm home, it's dinner ops for Jason and me, though our 14-year-old daughter has also been helping us cook lately. We normally have a salad. I like to have a starch, either potatoes or rice, and then a protein. We eat a lot of seafood and grill a lot in Florida. We sit down as a family four or five nights a week.

My daughter goes to bed really early, which is great, but my boys like to push it. We recently got a hot tub — I'm finding that it helps everyone sleep better.

I try to get in bed no later than 10:30 or 11 p.m.

I used to stay up way past midnight. Those days are over.

I love the New Yorker for many reasons, but I do the crossword in it every week. It helps me wind down — I love puzzles. I do it at night, and I'll take it to baseball games because there's a lot of dead time.

When the world is full of chaos and unpredictability, knowing the answer and writing it down is really fun for me.

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