Rucking: a Running Alternative and Full-Body Workout

CO - Rucking, Haircuts, Wild River (Creek), Moving Slow

Rucking Really Works

What is rucking? The definition from GORUCK the company the made rucking popular is:

Rucking is the action of walking with weight on your back. Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack) is a low impact exercise based on military training workouts.

Hiking is rucking in the mountains and urban hiking is simply called rucking. You've probably even spent time rucking - traveling, bringing books to school, or on your commute to work. Carrying weight is a necessary part of life, and as it turns out, humans are naturally good at it, too.

source: GoRuck.com

Michael Easter’s book The Comfort Crisis reminded me how much I enjoyed backpacking. And how good I felt during and afterwards. I decided to try rucking. The promise that walking with weight on burned 3x more calories than walking alone. And was better for my back and knees than running, sold me.

So I loaded up a North Face pack with water and books and hit the trail. My very first 30min walk was the same route I have been walking daily around the campground. so I know the calorie burn without weight. Shocked that the added weigh in the pack did burn more calories. I stood straighter and my right knee did not hurt with going downhill.

Rucking is what everyone who has ever been in the military did when ever they we going from place to place. Throw on a pack with all their gear and walk., everywhere. The military soon discovered that this one activity was a full body workout.

Jason McCarthy, former Green Beret, created the company GORUCK to manufacture military-grade packs. I ordered the Rucker 4.0 and a 20# plate. They recommended starting with 20# and moving up to 30#, then to a max of one-third of your body weight over time.

Though I enjoy running by back and knees don’t, so rucking seems to be a great solution. Even over this short initial trial I saw a physical and mental change. Go ruck, try it for your self. You are going walking anyway. Strap on a pack and add some weight. You may as well maximize the benefit of the time you are walking. Enjoy.

Barbershop Haircut, Not

Local colour barbershop

I drove into Estes Park to pick up a General Delivery at the Post Office. The delivery would not be ready until 11am or later. I asked about the best local breakfast restaurant. They recommended Big Horn Restaurant. I enjoyed eggs benedict and grits, with black coffee.

I needed a haircut or a trim and a few doors down was a barbershop. On the low partition wall as you enter the shop hung a half dozen cowboy pistols in holsters. The walls held dollar bills, posters of John Wayne and memorabilia from past decades. My first thought was the guns were the patrons, but that was soon dispelled when looks closer.

The two barber chairs were in opposite corners with antiques filling the floor space. Three straight-back chairs sat against the wall by the door, two were empty. Welcomed as I entered by the nearest of the two lady barbers. I began to sit down and she called over Steely Dan on stero, “Sign in with what you want.” She nodded her head toward the white board propped up against an antique table in the centre of the shop. “A trim,” I said and she nodded again toward the white board. I wrote “Lloyd” in the first column and trim in the second. But I did not know what the letters were for on the third column and left it blank.

Sat down and looked around at all the curiosities. The barbers and their patrons carried on conversations about local events and people. As I looked around I notices there were two men sitting on the bench outside. Another inside with me and I was the fourth name on the whiteboard. I finally saw a black chalk board hanging from the partition with a menu of services (see photo above). The first was “Basic H/C $35, Fades 40, Beard Trim 20” followed by an up arrow and other items.

I usually add the plastic 4mm guard on the beard clippers and run it all over my head for a quick haircut. It then grows out over time until I need to repeat the process. I do the same with the 2mm guard for my beard. I was going to treat myself with real haircut. But it had been some time since Jimmy of Jimmy’s Barber Shop in Victoria had given me my last $20 haircut. Now $35 seemed to be excessive for the little bit of hair I had to cut, but I was already signed in and seated. By the time I add a 20% tip it would be a $42 haircut.

But sometimes in life you're rescued. An awkward situation changes by the unexpected help of another. My phone rang and a dear friend for BC wanted to talk. I excused myself, saying, “Sorry I need to take this." And added as I walked out the door, "another time.” Happy to talk my friend and looking forward to trimming my own hair later.

When a Wild River is Really Just a Creek

The guidebook described Wild River as small, with 6-8” brook trout in the first mile and barren in rest. I decided, it would either be a nice day of fishing for small brook trout in a small stream or a good hike…or both.

Drove the short distance to the tail head, and slung on a weighted pack. Slipped into my Keen hiking sandels, and carried my Sato tenkara rod (collapsed to 20'“). Pocketed a spool of line with a kabari fly on the end. A minimalist set up for a 823 foot assent along the trail beside the river. The lower water was barren as described. I stopped beside several fishy spots and watched for some time behind cover. I saw no movement except the water crashing over and around the rocks. Half way up the trail, it turns into a gentle climb. Later a long meadow of chest high shrubs surrounding both sides of what can only be a small creek. I could find no run of water longer that a couple of feet and most of the time the creek was only a foot or so wide. That would not have be all bad if there had been any way to get a fly to land in the small pockets.

The only thought of one wayI may catch something without spooking every fish in the stream. I would remove the line and attach a three foot section of leader with a fly on the end of the rod. Dap the fly in the pocket water from behind a bush and hope something bites.

Blind fishing has never held any interest for me, so I opted to enjoy the hike. From the trailhead the trail makes a initial steep climb along side the falling creek. A small hydro station sits astride the stream before entering the pond. The "creek" has a near vertical drop into the turbine. The water speeds through the tiny hydo-plant with enough force to feed four transmission lines.

After the first half mile the trail ascends to 9071 feet. This was a lovely day hike. At the end of the trail a large log made for a perfect place to take a water break. The trail is a favourite of horse-back outfitters. I stepped aside several times to let a group of tourist riders pass.

Despite not doing any fishing, I enjoyed my first rucking experience. The weighted backpack made for a great calorie burn. My Rucker 4.0 pack had not yet arrived. I burned more than twice the calories I would have just walking.

As I drove back to were I camped, traffic stood still because a herd of elk and young calfs were passing through. A mother was feeding her calf in the middle of the road. Neither had any concern for the traffic jam. When the calf felt satisfied, they joined the rest strolling through a parking lot. Seemed they were all on their way to the famous Big Thompson River.

Not every fishing trip is a success and not everything called a river is a river. Wild River in the Rocky Mountain National Park is better named "Wild Creek."

Wind River Trail, Map, and Visitors in Town (click to enlarge photo)

Sometimes You Just Have to Prop Your Feet Up

Enjoying a morning sit after coffee

Some days are perfect for a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and then a long sit in the shade of the van. This Saturday morning I sat listening to some music and looking out the open side door. The peaks of the Rocky Mountain National Park filled my view. I eat breakfast around 10am, after a 16-hour intermittent fast. Most mornings I read for a hour before getting out of bed. I rarely go fishing on the weekend, leaving the steams for the locals. Few things as enjoyable as sitting beside the open door while the breeze blows and the birds sing in a nearby tree. I am transported by slow movements to another place and time. I find slowing down is better than speeding up, see Pace Layering below.

What I Am Reading…

• Brown, Pierce (2014) Red Rising - dystopian novel that reminded me of Ender’s Game and Lord of the Flies

• McCarthy, Jason (2021) How Not to Start a Backpack Company - former Green Beret creates a $100 million dollar backpacking company, GORUCK, to promote “rucking” as an alternative to running for overall fitness

• Easter, Michael (2021) Comfort Crisis - the advantages of exiting your comfort zone

• Liu, Cixin (2024) A View From the Stars - collection of essays from the author of Three Body Problem

• Brand, Stewart (2018) Pace Layering: How Complex Systems Learn and Keep Learning - “Fast learns, slow remembers.  Fast proposes, slow disposes.  Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous.  Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution.  Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy.  Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power.”

---

Thank you for following along on my journey. If you know of anyone who may like to travel with us please share with the button below. Be well. Big hug. Gassho, Lloyd

Next post (every Sunday)