Day one of getting ready went great today. Rucked 3.26 miles in 1:45 total time counting a couple short rest breaks (at the wife's pace) over pretty decent up and down terrain out on some nearby hiking trails. Ruck weight was 24 pounds counting 2 bricks, water, snacks and a few other items.

For now I'm using my Kelty Redwing 3100 that I've had a few years. Didn't have a yoga black yet to put underneath the bricks so they rode very low. Went and bought a yoga black afterwards to put underneath them for next ruck.

This vaguely reminds me of the qualification test I used to take for wildland fire duty. We had to walk (not run) 1.5 miles in thirty minutes carrying 45 pounds. The advantage is that fire duty pays, sometimes considerably.

Someone needs to come up with a lightweight brick....

I have my next GoRuck class next weekend. Quite a few are friends i have done stuff with before, a GRC, SERE Performance course, obstacle race, other local training.

That's good stuff. I'm very seriously considering trying a GORUCK Heavy by mid-2014 and a Selection at some point after that. The last Selection started with 19 and 1 finished.

I gave myself plenty of time but am trying to start pushing myself now so I don't become complacent with the amount of time I have to get ready.

Today I'll be rucking with 24-pound backpack (starting light) and see how many miles I can put in. I did 5 miles last Saturday and didn't break a sweat (slow pace for right now). Going to be pushing the distances out and the pace quicker as I go.

No doubt whatsoever, Selection is nothing to sneeze at. I'm going to wait until I finish my GRC and see how I feel after that. Then take on the Heavy and see.

Some observations -

Why bricks? Carry stuff that is useful in case something happens. Add canteens/waterbottles for weight. Bricks are pretty useless. Also, the bricks are pretty dense and just sit in the bottom of the ruck, making weight distribution tough.

In this case, it's a stipulation of the organizers of the event. They also make you pick stuff up along the way and carry it for long distances (logs, cinder blocks, one class said they had to carry a Zodiac boat for 9 miles).

You still carry water with you, and are free to carry just about anything you want. But you will be hauling it for the duration of the event and will wish you had left every ounce at home that you could.

My packing list for my pack (which will probably be tweaked several times between now and December 14th) so far includes 6 bricks, a yoga block (keeps bricks off bottom of bag), 3 packs Peanut M&Ms, 3 Clif's Builder Bars, 3 Clif's Gell Shots, 18 Nuun Active Hydration tablets, and a Source 3-liter hydration bladder. Possibly one spare pair of socks.

Ty TJ. No reason other than "they" say so, so that makes sense.

While in the Army, I had to do the Expert Infantry Badge a few times. We had to carry 35 lb rucks (packing list enforced and weight checked prior and post march), helmet, weapon, web gear and had 3 hrs to complete 12 miles. And for some reason, they always held it in spring/summer, so you got the full benefit of the lovely NC weather.

Something you may not know, knee high women's stockings work really well under socks to prevent blisters.

Ive always been a big proponent of wearing women's garments. Oh,wait,wrong Forum.

Hee hee,you should know better than to feed us lines like that.

Yeah, in the Navy we did a lot of stuff "just because". Including the ever-popular "Hurry up and wait".

We didn't really do any rucking anywhere, but we did run endless miles around a giant paved area we called the "Grinder" and do countless pushups, situps and jumping jacks.

I mentioned the stockings thing to my wife and she grinned and said "Really?".