Walking has become my chosen activity for health and longevity. However, by walking the same paths, streets, and lanes, I found I needed a little something to spice it up. A friend knew that I was working towards restoring my health and recommended that I listen to a podcast about “rucking.” The host of the podcast was Peter Attia MD, author of one of my favorite books of 2024, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. This is another book that I can’t recommend highly enough if you ever plan on aging. Because I had read the book, and loved it, I agreed to listen to the long-form podcast. As a rule, if I am going to listen for several hours, it is exclusively a book, but that’s my issue.
His guest was former Special Forces soldier, Jason McCarthy, who is also the founder and CEO of Goruck, the rucking company. I have included a link to both Goruck and the podcast. I learned the origins of rucking were from military training, in which soldiers would need to walk long distances and do various activities while wearing a weighted pack. Sounds miserable, I thought, but I pressed on listening intently while walking.
Rucking is essentially walking while wearing a weighted backpack. The benefits are numerous but for starters, it burns about three times the calories of regular walking. It also provides a two to three time multiplier of cardiovascular benefits in addition to muscle building. Now, he had my attention. If I am going to walk for an hour anyway, I may as well do it in a more efficient, healthful manner. As previously mentioned, I’m not crazy about weight training, but this seemed different.
By the time the podcast was over, I was convinced. I immediately went home and invested in my own rucksack. However, you don’t need a special backpack, you can start with an ordinary backpack and use what you have around the house: books, cans of soup, bricks, or whatever else fits in the pack. I admired McCarthy’s story and commitment to guarantee each pack for life. In addition, I appreciated that he ensured each one was made in the USA. Goruck packs are not inexpensive but I can tell you that the lifetime guarantee is amazing and to me, it made it worth it. This thing is rugged. He made a special point about the fact that people who are part of a rucking community derive even greater benefits.
After I ordered it, and before it arrived, I went online to look for rucking events near me. Bingo, there was going to be one in Traverse City in August. I signed up, paid the fee, and made the commitment to myself before I had even taken a step wearing this thing. It was a 12 miler, which included orienteering. I have never oriented before either, but because I grew up in Traverse City I figured I would have an advantage.
For men, it is recommended to have a minimum of a twenty-pound plate (which slides conveniently into a specially designed sleeve in the pack) so I ordered that as well. It arrived and I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I put that thing on and adjusted it to be high and tight as is recommended. It felt heavy. I remembered my date with destiny in August and figured I better get used to it. It did take about a week for me to get used to, but during that time I imagined all the benefits I was receiving and soldiered on (pun intended).
Before long, I added a ten-pound plate and started lengthening my walks, but nowhere near as far as 12 miles. That event weighed on me, and I worried that perhaps I was hasty in signing up. But a deal is a deal, and I made a commitment to myself, which I don’t break. I had to suck it up and keep training. All my walks leading up to the event were with my rucksack and I kept it in the car for short walks while running errands or a mile or two here or there.
After months of training, the big day arrived. In addition to the 20 pounds, it was imperative to also carry three liters of water, plus any snacks or other stuff you wanted to carry. I arrived at the open space, where this event took place, as nervous as a new schoolboy. I had no idea what to expect other than carrying this pack and walking at least 12 miles.
Our leader was also a former military man and handed out several pages of five waypoints that we needed to ruck to and return to base to get our next waypoints for a total of ten. You could connect the dots any way that you want as long as you made it to each one. At the destination, you needed to take a selfie as proof and text it to the leader for approval to move on. I hit the trail and headed in the direction of the first location, while in my brain simultaneously mapping out the most efficient way to include the other spots. Growing up here did have a lot of advantages.
I matched strides with another guy who didn’t look like an ax murderer, so we walked together for the whole thing. He was a firefighter from Grand Rapids and a stand-up comedian on the side. I thought, ooh boy, this is going to be a blast. Not so much, but we got along well enough and he appreciated having some inside knowledge of the city.
We made it back to base to get our next five waypoints and headed out. I had calloused my feet up in the months preceding this and trained by walking up to ten miles but what I failed to train for was the duration of time having the pack on. I had carried it for a couple of hours before but never three hours and 43 minutes, which is the time it took us. My wife held up a sign that my daughter made as we crossed the finish line. It was not a race per se, but we finished in the top ten of 45 people. Not just for our age group, but overall.
When I took the pack off I became painfully aware of my lack of training for time to wear the pack. I could barely lift my arms up to change my shirt. My traps were screaming. But I did it! I was elated. At all rucking events, it is customary to finish by receiving a special patch with which to adorn your rucksack and an ice-cold beer. Since I was off the sauce and not drinking, I settled for the patch and polished off the rest of my water.
I don’t know if I will do that again, but I’m glad I did it. After the event, I went back to just ordinary rucking and later in the summer rucking the sandy shores of Lake Michigan, where instead of a steel plate and hiking shoes, I used rocks and my bare feet.