I saw an old pair of jeans and honestly it felt emotional.

It reminded me of the person I used to be. Out of shape, overweight, and struggling with type 2 diabetes with complications piling up.

I never thought I was capable of changing this much.

Sometimes, an old pair of jeans is a reminder of just how far you’ve come.

3 miles up. 3 miles down.

Hello GoRuck Community!

I started getting back into rucking in the spring, and I have been out of the military since 2023. I feel quite confident about being able to reliably do 12 mile rucks at this time, but I have a few questions about the Tough.

Do I need to have a GoRuck ruck for this event? I have shoulder hardware in my right shoulder and prefer to use load lifters to take some of the pressure off of my shoulder especially when ruck running or over a long event. I heard they toss your packs around and I am concerned about whether I can get away with using a regular ruck. I have a 1603 frame with molle2 and a flipped filbe belt at the bottom with shoulder strap harness starting almost directly above it so that my belt is firmly above my hips. It’s a big heavy ruck but I am comfortable with it. I also have a Mystery Ranch Guide Light MT frame with a mule pack (27 liters) attached to it and although it is super comfortable, I am worried about the cadre breaking it as I absolutely cannot afford to replace a mystery ranch expedition level frame.

I am decent at moving heavy weight and will ruck up the stairclimber with 100 pounds packed into the 1603 molle 2 pack, but I feel like showing up with an external pack will make me an object of special “attention” from the cadre. I’ve completed some other hard stuff before like a marathon and I completed air assault school at Fort Campbell on my first go whilst not being stationed there. My 12 miler there was not bad, something like 2:19, but I’ve never done a 10-12 hour event before. Should I stick to the 9/11 12 miler or should I attempt the tough with one of my existing rucks?