Two days before Thanksgiving I decided to sign up for a 10k (6.2 mile) Turkey trot held not far from my house. I decided I would load my assault pack with 30lbs, run to the race, do the race, and run home, all the time wearing the ruck. In all it would be over 11 miles of running plus all the standing around pre/post race.

I planned on a pace of 11 minute miles for the 10k wearing the ruck or about 70 minutes. My goal was not stop running at all and that seemed reasonable.

The first mile marker race clock showed 10:50, right on pace. Then I didn't see anymore markers for a while. I felt fine running with the pack but it seemed I was losing ground to the runners around me, so I figured my pace slowed. I then saw a mile marker ahead and figured based on my stopwatch it was Mile 3. When I got close it read, Mile 4, time 38:08. I wasn't running 11 min. miles, I was running 9:30 miles.

I decided to slowly open up the pace and I finished the 10k in 57 minutes. A pace of 9:14 per mile. I was pretty thrilled I was running that pace w/o pushing it carrying the load. Then I got to run home with it, too.

The moral of the story; it's important to create opportunities to test your get home plan with a pack on your back.

We did similar about a month ago, found a difficult hiking trail in the general direction we would bug out if ever we had to.

Commute by bicycle. Get in shape and save money. I have been bike commuting since 1970.

Great thought, Comms. The better our health, the better our resiliance!

Izzy, I am signed up for goruck Phoenix in a couple months. Next weekend, (of 12/3) I am flying to Glen Rose Texas to participate in the Super Spartan race. Its an 8 mile obstacle course that normally has about 16 obstacles. This one will have over 2x that, something special they cooked up for the last race of the year.

Furthermore, I am part of a very, very few people that have signed up to run the course 3x over 24 hours, called the Spartan marathon. First is the hurricane heat Friday night, then a normal heat Saturday morning, and then the final run through is being hosted by goruck, so who knows how long we will be out there and what we will be doing. There might be 30 people out of 5,000 attempting to complete each unique run through.

thumbs up

Comms, I'm getting exhausted just reading your post! <wipes sweat from brow> Where's the water station around here?

That goruck is interesting, I wonder if any previous routes are published anywhere for practice runs.

Good for you, reminds me of my CO in Basic Training, he ran around the whole company continuelly for our ENTIRE forced road march after our "final" out on the range. We walked 8-10 miles he must have ran 4x that with a five gallon jug strapped to his back. His saving grace was he was NOT in the cloud of dust we were ALL sucking in from the feet of all the soldiers. It was CRAZY HOT and we sucked in a TON of dust.


Ironwood

So what do we chronically ill people do? I think bugging in may be our only option. Day to day life already feels kind of like surviving already.