GORUCK 20 MILE X 40lb - RUCK OPS PERSONAL ALL DAY RUCKING CHALLENGE




So one fine morning I wake up and I think to myself, it’s been a long time since I’ve really challenged myself physically and what better way to do that than ruck a very long way with a lot of weight on my back for no good reason other than, what else I’m I going to do on a mid winters day?

I have some experience of hiking with massive rucksacks, hauling what felt like tones of gear over miles of broken ground but that was a long time ago, am I still up to it?

HOW TO BUILD A 40lb RUCKING BLOCK : )

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THE TOOLS

ALL YOU NEED IS 1 CEMENT BLOCK, DUCK TAPE, BUBBLE WRAP

WRAP THAT BLOCK

As I said I do have some experience of rucking weights up to 65-70 lbs so I figured the standard go to of a Concrete Block weighting about 40 lbs would be enough of a challenge reminding myself that if it got to much I could always dump it.

DUCK TAPE PROTECTS THE BUBBLE WRAP

In the old days I quite enjoyed preparing heavy items to be carried in a rucksack, basically making sure the blocks, sand bags or ammunition boxes full of nuts and bolts were not going to wear a hole in the rucksack and then through me. So my Concrete Block was wrapped in enough layers of bubble wrap to take all the edges off it.

CHECK THE WEIGHT - THAT'S 42lbs

This is wrapped up tight in Duck Tap, to protect the bubble wrap essentially. This is quite an upgrade on old news papers and parcel tape I can tell you.

NOT MUCH ROOM FOR GEAR, GORUCK RUCK PLATES ARE PROBALLY A BETTER SOLUTION

NEXT, THE ROUTE, 20 MILES

GARMIN GPS TRACKING MY PROGRESS AND ROUTE

I had a route in mind and it would circumnavigate my home town, starting at YOMP HQ (my house) walking right around my home town, taking in spots I used to know as kid, my home village and end back where I stared, the best circular route. It would include countryside, single tracks, urban side walks, bridges, rivers, woodland, farmland, towns, villages and heathland, and was about 20miles in length. In short a good interesting, end to end trail, not to steep, it didn’t need to be so long but it was what it was.

HOGWARTS

SASQUATCH

NOBODY HOME, MOM'S GONE SHOPPING

RUCK OPS GEAR LOAD OUT

THE RUCKING LOAD OUT

Gear was going to be kept to a minimum for this task. Energy snacks, water, photography gear, I also took a water proof jacket to protect me from the wind, it was not forecast to rain but in my part of the world, at that time of year, it can rain on any day, forcast or not. I also took a small knife and the remainder of the Duck Tap for rucksack adjustments and field repairs, just incase some stitching pops.

DOGS EYE VIEW

WHY SO LITTLE GEAR

Usually I do try to cover all the gear bases when I’m hiking, allowing for unforeseen events as much as I can but in this case, despite the route being as long as it was, I was never more than a few miles away from home, civilisation or a hospital and made sure I took a fully charged phone with me, so I was almost able to take on this task with nothing more than the clothes I was stood up in, almost.

WHAT TO WEAR?

THE CLOTHES I WAS STOOD-UP IN


UNDER ARMOUR VALSETZ WATER PROOF VERIANT, SO FAR, SO GOOD

This clothing worked well for the challenge given it was a damp chilly day but I was keeping active so keeping warm. If the weather had turned I had the water proof / windproof Jacket as back up.

GORUCK WHAT ELSE?

THE PIGGY-PACK TIER CONFIG IN ACTION

Part of this challenge was to see how a GORUCK GR1 works doing the job it’s designed for but I had a problem, my Concrete Block was going to take up most of the space in my 26L GR1 so I came up with the; GORUCK GR1 / BULLET 10L PIGGY-BACK [Tier mod].

“The what?!”


Tap the link to read the blog post. Basically strapping 2 GORUCK packs together. This gave me the extra capacity for a 3L CAMELBAK ANTIDOTE reservoir and the other gear I wanted to take, as minimal as it was.

TOWARD THE END OF THE RUCK, GRIND MY GEARS

HOW DID IT GO?

Ok, I was pleased to be able to complete the task but it was tough the muddy condition made it very tiring especially near the end. The boots were new, box fresh and stood up well, they were comfortable and didn’t leek.

THE GORUCK STERNUM STRAP WORKED HARD ALL DAY

The GORUCK GR1 was fine but to say it was comfortable would be a stretch, it made my shoulders and lower back sore but given the weight carried and length of the ruck, not bad. However I felt quite early in the ruck that a weight supporting hip belt would have helped a lot. Tap the link to read; GORUCK GR1 HIP BELT-MOD - All about my solution to this issue.

THE LAST BRIDGE AND YEP IT WAS TOO FAR

LOCAL KIDS SHOULD ALL BE LOCKED UP : )

EASY IS, AS EASY DOES AND I DOES NOT DO EASY.

We all know what rucking is and that GORUCK rucksack are designed for that discipline, in my opinion for a ruck of this kind, a larger rucksack with a more sophisticated carry system would have made this task a lot easyer but some times it’s not about easy is it? some times it's about choosing the challenge because one day we might not have the choice, besides I wanted to see if I could still do it : )

YOU MUST KNOW, I DID NOT HAVE THE BLOCK IN THE GORUCK WHEN I TOOK THIS PIC, WAY TOO HEAVY

HOW DID I DO?

OK I guess. I walked the whole route and didn't have to dump my concrete block but it was tough.
When I got back to base (home) I put myself into the recovery possition for an hour! and it took me about 2 weeks to recover physically. Will I do it again? I expect so but next time warm up more, drink more water, eat more snacks, it was tough.

A wise man once said that the best way for an old man to injure himself, is to train like he’s still a young man! Exactly when can a person consider them selves old?

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