Let’s talk about running. Everybody seems to be running these days, and good for them. When I drive around the streets, I see untold numbers of people running. I see young people, older people, I even see kids, just running. I see them in the morning, I see them in the evening, I even saw them at midnight coming back from my hockey game. Just, running. And that just sucks.
I hate running. Always have. Always will. I was a good runner, even in the Army. But I hated it. Then I got out of the Army, and I hated it even more. If someone wasn’t going to pay me to run, then why the hell would I run for free? That just seems ludicrous. So I just stopped running. Now, of course, because of that, I watched some extra pounds add up on the old belt-line. So something must be done about that. Which brings me to the second worst thing one can do for exercise: Rucking.
Ok, it probably isn’t the second worst thing, but it can be a miserable experience and hurt like hell and is exhausting, and also kind of pointless. Yet, I love rucking and would ruck all day and all night as opposed to running (here’s a secret: I have actually rucked all day and all night before, through forests and jungles and deserts and snow, and it really freaking sucks). But it’s still loads more fun than running.
But I have always, in some capacity, rucked. What exactly is rucking? Well, grab a pack, fill it with weight, toss it on your back, and start walking. Where? Anywhere. How long? As long as you want. Why? Because, that’s why. That is rucking. In the military, we toss everything we think we need to survive into a small pack on a frame, and walk around with it on. We do this from Basic Training on. Sure, we have Humvees and helicopters and planes and boats that can take us from Point A to Point B, but sometimes that shit doesn’t work out and you have to use your legs every once in a while. So you better know what it feels like to walk 50KM with 100lbs on your back.
Still doesn’t sound fun? Well, of course the Army makes everything suck. Rucking, however, is strangely liberating. You are by yourself (even when you are with others). You get to be in your own headspace. You get to enjoy the feel of the breeze on your face, the warmth of the sun, the cool winter air in your lungs. Best of all, you get to just walk around. Walking is easy. Sure, there is some weight on your shoulders, but properly distributed it doesn’t feel too bad and it is actually strengthening your shoulder muscles as well as your core. You aren’t just walking, but you are strengthening your body. And since this isn’t the Army, you actually get to choose how much weight you put in your pack. Wanna start light? Throw in 10lbs. Trying to be bold? Why not 25lbs. Wanna test your limits? How about two sacks of concrete mix from the Home Depot? The choice is yours my friend, and yours alone.
Now that is getting a little crazy. What about walking around with your 25lb munchkin? That’s more like it. As a parent, putting the kiddo on your back and taking off for a leisurely stroll just feels far more productive then strapping them into a jogging stroller and running around the neighborhood. For starters, jogging strollers can be durable and all, but you are still restricted on where you can take them. They may be off road compatible, but maneuverability sucks and they don’t fit through tight spaces very well. A backpack is about as wide as I am, which means wherever I want to go, it’s going to happen. If I decide to make a quick detour up a narrow trail because I saw something cool along the way, we are going there. In a stroller, I have to wonder about the thickness of the tires to make sure they won’t pop, or if it will fit between two trees on the path, or how much resistance going upwards I will face from the stroller as I push it along. All of which may prevent me from going where I would actually want to go.
For me, though, I feel as though the kid on my back has a much more interactive experience while being carried. They become an extension of my own body. They get to look at exactly what I am looking at. They can reach out and touch things along the way. They get to feel what I feel, which is a far more fulfilling notion than just being stuck in a seat and getting pushed along. Shoot, a lot of times the covers to the strollers are pulled so far forward that the child inside can barely even see what the hell is going on out there. Or they get a very narrow view of what is going on directly in front of them. They can’t see 360 degrees around them like they do when they are in the backpack carrier. And kids want to see everything. That is how they learn. Going off on a hike is a learning experience for a one and a half year old. That is something that cannot be replicated on a run. I took my boy up to a construction site on our ruck this last time and he was able to go right up to the trucks with me and touch them, feel them, get a sense of their magnitude and power. Then we were quickly on our way to the next stop. Had I been running and had him in a stroller, I would have had to stop my run, get out of my zone, pull him out of the stroller, let him walk around, then start running around, and then, well, you guys know how it goes. Ten minutes later he’s finally back in the stroller, screaming and pissed off and you’ve lost all motivation to keep on running, so you head back home. An exaggeration? Perhaps slightly, but also, not really. For somebody who isn’t really into running, that just doesn’t sound fun to me.
Putting a bunch of weight on your back and traversing the landscape ain’t for everybody, just as running isn’t for all. If not done properly, it can screw up your ankles or your back, or wreck your feet if you don’t have adequate footwear. Of course, running can do all those things as well. As with everything, a little preparation and knowledge helps mitigate all potential problems. Finding the correct backpack carrier, looking for the proper routes, getting the best fitting shoes for the occasion, and learning about correct load management are all keys. Am I going to go over all that here? Of course not. I’m not Google. You’re all adults and perfectly capable of doing your own research if you are actually interested. Besides, I would just tell you to go get an Alice pack with an A-frame and a nice pair of black leather boots. But ya’ll ain’t in the Army so that would just be silly. I will say this, if you are actually interested in doing Rucking as an adventure or to just do something different, there are groups that do this kind of stuff at a high level. Check out #GoRuck on Instagram or go to https://www.goruck.com/. These are a bunch of military dudes, Special Forces guys, who have cultivated the art of Rucking, adventuring, and drinking. I don’t think you can bring your kid on that one, though.
This is all nothing new. People have walked around with their kids for ages. But it’s interesting that with all the times I go out with the fam on hikes or excursions or what have you, I rarely see parents carrying their kids on their backs. I feel like it is such a good relationship builder for you and your little one, as the positioning of the child just puts them right there with you and you get to engage one another in a way that is just much more limited with other modes of transportation. It’s good exercise, good health, a learning experience, and fun. What else do you need? If you need a motivator hit me up. I would love to hear about your experiences and point ya in the right direction. I’ll be right there embracing the suck with ya.
