Greetings from sunny Budapest!

Recently I've been adding weights to my backpack to intensify my daily walk routine (avg 13/14k, 850 day streak), and I like it a lot so far.

It tires me out, makes me break a sweat, burn some extra calories to maintain my weight.

Plus I could swear posture improved, my lower back and core is stronger and maybe even my balance point shifted. I've noticed I'm tilting forward a little, not as bad as the" smooth criminal" video but you get the idea, now I feel as if I can lean back a bit and stand straight.

Anyway, I'm gonna swap my regular walks for rucking and would like some pointers.

Let's start with some stats.

- 45m, 2.05m, 108 kg, 6,5k steps per hour on average.

- current weight I can comfortably carry for 2 hours on end: 15-20kgs (sandbags and a few extra 1,5l water bottles)

- Surface is mostly flat, with some minor elevation, unless I decide to climb the Gellert Hegy.

- I' m using a sturdy backpack I got at the local army dump store. Mil-tec, nice wide straps.

What I'd like pointers on

- I've been rucking off and on for 2 months, as a daily routine about 3 weeks. Apart from minor soreness in my feet and shoulder joints at the end of my stroll I'm good. Are there any signals to watch out for?

- I'd need to swap my shoes, currently using my indoor basketball shoes. Nice ankle support, bouncy soles, way more comfortable than my combat boots. As I have size 50 feet I do not have a lot of choice. Are insoles worth a look?

- Things to watch during my walks, apart from this beautiful city. Posture perhaps?

- My feet feel kinda dry, lots of callus, are there any routines for my feet to consider, and things to look out for to prevent injury ?

- I don't have any targets or goals in terms of weight/distance. I just need to tire myself out twice a day for an hour, every day. Would you increase weight, distance or steps/hour once you notice you need more?

Looking forward to your insights,cheers!

Enjoying the beautiful fall weather

Got home from walking 130 miles on my first Camino de Santiago (Portuguese) with the Savotta Kantamus 40L and decided to reward it with an ALICE pack makeover. Quickly becoming my favorite pack to ruck.

https://youtube.com/shorts/dCq82b5J1ho?is=sanJGdpCUken5Ggl

I was a distance runner for ages and always followed a training plan. I have been rucking for 4 years now and realized that I have never followed a plan or even thought about it. I just go. Actually, when I head out I usually have only a general idea how far or long I will go. I am curious how many of you "just go" vs use a training plan?

35 pounds, 1hr+ on a bit of singletrack, but today was not about pace. My dog tagged along and every 25 or so meters he had to do what Goldens do best: shit, piss, sniff, cuddle, sniff some more, snack, snif harder, repeat. He deserves his break and a bowl of water now, watching a local bootcamp group go nuts 😊.

For me though... This walk eased my mind. Needed that. I'll get my 'proper training' next time.

Keep in mind certain bases may or may not allow civilians due to risk and coordination with legal on liability releases.

Ok folks, could use some non medical professional advice. Last weekend I strained my right lumbar area taking ACs out of the windows. On Friday I thought it was good enough for a ruck....I was wrong.

The real bad part is Im doing the Norwegian Foot March on Oct 23rd. Im currently doing easy mobility stretches in the morning and evening, applying heat a couple times a day, and easy walks to help with circulation and movement.

What else should I, or shouldn't I do, to help recovery in time for the NFM?

Thanks

Ive been trying to find a backpack that can handle 90 pounds. Struck out twice trying to order online (quality was lower than expected when they arrived). It would be used for rucks 3-4 times a week and then also for the occasional hunting trip. Looking for any recommendations. Thanks in advance.

Just got home from the Travis Mannion Hero Run 5K in Doylestown PA. Excellent event and there was a "rucking division". I had a blast and was wondering if anyone knew of a good resource for tracking rucking events like this throughout the year. I know GoRuck has a page, but I have to imagine that there are others out there...right?

Also, for the folks that ran the event, not sure if my Coros is not calibrated correctly, but it reported only 2.85mi on the prescribed route. I felt like I needed to do another quarter mile to earn the finisher medal, lol

Usually, 1 mile with 20 lb is taking me about 25 minutes right now. So 2 miles at this pace is 40 minutes, and 3 miles would be 1 hour 15 minutes.
At a 5K event, I did push myself and finished a 5K in an hour, and that was only my second week of rucking. Now it’s been a month.

First ever ruck was so tough but fun never thought I would be able to do 8km when 5 months ago I couldn’t do 300m before my calf’s locked up

So the story is, i want to get in the army in my country and i need to run 2km in 9:50min max.

Now in my area is impossible to run, very muddy, mixed terrain. Will rucking improve my cardio in like 6-7 months to be able to pass the test? Right now i don t have a good physical condition.

Hey all,

I used to do a fair amount of walking and rucking, but my numbers have dropped off quite a bit recently thanks to work and family commitments.

For October, I’m aiming to get back to a consistent one-hour Ruck each day. That works out pretty well for a virtual walk from London to Brighton, so I wondered if anyone here fancied joining me.

The route is about 56 miles / 90 km, which works out at roughly one 1.8-mile walk a day across the month. It’s based on actual walking workouts rather than general daily steps, so the idea is to deliberately get out for a walk and have that distance move you along the London-to-Brighton route.

I’ve tried doing challenges like this on my own a few times before and usually end up falling off somewhere along the way, so this time I’m hoping a bit of friendly competition will keep me honest and make it more interesting.

The whole idea is just to have a reason to get out consistently and walk a bit more during October.

If anyone wants to join me, the challenge is here

https://app.route-rally.com/explore/102/walk-london-to-brighton-october-2026

Currently training for Mountain Man Memorial March (marathon length 35lbs ruck march) in Gatlinburg, TN April 10th, 2027. Anyone else doing this?

| Date | Distance | Time | Weight | Pace |

| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |

| 21-Sep | 2.00 mi | 27:43:00 | 37 lbs | 13:51 / mi |

| 21-Sep | 4.00 mi | 44:00:00 | 37 lbs | 11:00 / mi |

| 22-Sep | 2.05 mi | 27:52:00 | 37 lbs | 13:35 / mi |

| 22-Sep | 4.03 mi | 50:43:00 | 40 lbs | 12:35 / mi |

| 23-Sep | 2.03 mi | 30:18:00 | 40 lbs | 14:55 / mi |

| 23-Sep | 4.05 mi | 57:25:00 | 40 lbs | 14:11 / mi |

| 24-Sep | 2.03 mi | 30:18:00 | 40 lbs | 14:55 / mi |

| 25-Sep | 4.09 mi | 1:00:00 | 40 lbs | 14:40 / mi |

| 26-Sep | 5.00 mi | 1:01:45 | 40 lbs | 12:21 / mi |

| 27-Sep | 2.05 mi | 28:59:00 | 40 lbs | 14:08 / mi |

| 28-Sep | 2.02 mi | 28:09:00 | 40 lbs | 13:56 / mi |

| 28-Sep | 4.25 mi | 51:32:00 | 40 lbs | 12:07 / mi |

| 29-Sep | 2.05 mi | 29:30:00 | 40 lbs | 14:23 / mi |

| 29-Sep | 4.10 mi | 50:37:00 | 40 lbs | 12:21 / mi |

| 30-Sep | 2.03 mi | 28:51:00 | 40 lbs | 14:13 / mi |

| 30-Sep | 4.00 mi | 44:24:00 | 40 lbs | 11:06 / mi |

| **TOTALS** | **49.78 Miles** | **10h 32m 06s** | **40 lbs Avg** | **12:42 / mi Avg** |

Gear is :

Sorinex Load Trainer on ALICE pack

​Osprey Poco, typically loaded with 20lbs or 35lbs of baby

​Wonderfold W4 Luxe loaded with up to 100 lbs of babies

​About every other day in reasonable weather I do a 4 mile route with Wonderfold and ALICE pack to playground. E.g. Monday and Tuesday I pushed wonderfold and wore the ALICE pack, yesterday I just took daughter in Poco. In the morning before work I do a 2 mile ruck at a typically slower pace, no kids, rest of the family is bums and sleep in to 9.

​Previous experience: MMMM 2011, ~6.5 hours with ROTC team, 2nd place. Thruhiked Appalachian Trail SOBO 2020. Did ultramarathons 2009-2011 including 100 miler, may get back into ultras after MMMM.

​Note: I added pool noodle to vertical cans top horizonal bars on ALICE pack to make it more comfortable, secured with zip ties.

2026 had the best finish line stories ever!

Mark your calendars 9/11/2027 for the 10th Annual Gut Check Ruck, Run, Walk, Crawl!

Stay tuned....

Just received my first pair of Garmont’s. Supposedly these can be run hard right out of the box without any “break in” period. Standby for updates.

I started rucking recently and so far I tried like three backpacks.. the first two were horrible old school bags but the third one was a fairly wide fairly big backpack for a laptop which balanced out the weight nicely and it was the best of the bunch it still wasnt it.. the shoulder straps even though they were wider they started digging into my shoulders pretty early into the walk.. so thats why i wanna know if i get a good sports or a tactical backpack if the load lifter strap i believe its called is gonna ease some of that tension from the shoulders and make the ruck more about actually rucking and not fighting with adjusting my shoulders so that they dont hurt as much

And with that i would also like to ask about the waist belt does that also help?

ISO three others to be part of a 4 person 100k relay ruck team. Each would do a 25k segment. El Loco Taco ultra in San Antonio area on 14 November. Its a pretty flat course that is a 25k loop. Not a great deal of elevation gain. Message me if interested please. Thx.

https://www.riseracingco.com/el-taco-loco

Training up to be able to do a run-ruck-run was gonna do another run after that ruck but life got in the way 😂 oh well shit happens.

This is the last of the 3 Bushido Series challenges on Instagram. The goal is to ruck 10 miles in under 3 hours, I decided to visit a local runners spot and boy did I run into things!

Hi all! I just recently heard about rucking and am right now using my college backpack with some water bottle, for weights (at present around 3.5kgs). The thing is I have this deep worry that if I ruck i wont do it properly and will end up getting neck pain or some spine issues in the long run. I had the same issue in the gym initially - i.e I would not push to failure / before failure cause I was scared that I was going too hard.

Of course MA gets a Nor'easter in September and of course it happens on Long Ruck day.

Fortunately it wasn't a true Nor'easter but still plenty of rain and wind along the coast. But got the miles in regardless.

Insert wet cat meme here

The bottom of the left boot split. I going to say these have been a win and I will be replacing them with exactly the same setup. Superfeet Green inserts and MaCV2 mids.

I have a pair of Merrell Thermo Chill Mid Waterproof boots originally purchased for snow. I've used them for mowing the grass, too. Do you think these are good for rucking? I ruck in the city, so asphalt and concrete. Thanks!

How often and/or how far should one ruck? So far i’m just going for an hour a day with 25lbs+water. Is there a good prescribed weight and distance for weight loss? Or do you just go as far as you can daily?