Testing Your Rucking Training (Training with a Ruck Series Part 3 of 3)

0:00 If you've been training with a ruck and you're starting to wonder what all this work is actually building toward, this episode is going to answer that question. Today we're covering the full landscape of ruck events, from beginner -friendly charity rucks and community events, all the way up to 24 -hour team challenges, selection -style military events, and multi -day endurance races. By the end of the episode, you'll know exactly what's out there, what each type of event demands, and how to pick the one that fits where you are right now. As ruckers, we typically train consistently, but we may never take the step towards an actual event. And I get it, it's a big leap, but if you've been putting in the work with no finish line in sight, today's episode might be exactly what changes that. You're listening to the Rucker's Edge podcast, a show all about rucking that is designed to help you improve your rucking routine, lose weight, and ultimately gain your strength and energy back. Each episode dives into the science, stories, and strategies behind rucking.

0:55 You'll learn from top ruckers, coaches, health experts, and performance specialists who break down what it takes to train smarter, recover faster, and stay ready for the next challenge. So whether you're new to rucking or an experienced rucker that's already logged hundreds of miles, this is the show for you. I'm your host, Spencer. Thanks for listening in. All right, so this is episode three of a three -part series we've been building together. Episode one covered using your ruck for conditioning. We talked about intervals, hill repeats, EMOMs, strut gets, all of that. Episode two got into strength training with a ruck. So we talked about loaded carries, squats, presses, the whole thing. And now here in episode three, this is the one where we actually answer the question most people will eventually ask.

1:39 that have put a ruck on, what am I training for? And I mean, obviously we know why we started rucking for majority of us, at least in my case and the circle around me, it was an entry into getting back into shape. But once we started getting in the shape, we started seriously training and now we may not know exactly what we're training for. Training without a goal is fine. Plenty of people build solid fitness just by staying consistent with no event on the calendar. Like Terrence Ogden, for example, he was on the show a few weeks back. He stated how he trains to be ready. But some people aren't wired that way. Some people train harder, train more consistently, and enjoy the process more when there's something specific they're working towards, like a goal.

2:22 And in the wrecking community, one type of goal we can set for ourselves is completing wrecking events, challenges, or races. You know, something that puts us at a starting line in six weeks time and forces us to prepare ourselves for that exact moment. And there's real psychology behind this. When you commit to a specific event, you give your training a deadline. And deadlines, even self -imposed ones, tend to make us take things more seriously. So what this episode is designed to do is give you a clear picture of what the Ruck event world looks like. Because if you don't know what's out there, you can't make a good choice. If you can't make a good choice, you'll keep training without a destination, which works for some people, like I mentioned.

3:02 not for others. We're going to go from the most accessible, approachable events all the way to events that genuinely test the limits of what people are capable of. And I'll break down what each type of event involves, who it's built for, and what you need to prepare. And at the end, I'll sort of give you some ideas that would help you choose your first event based on what you actually want out of all of this. So let's get into it. Let's start at the ground level. You're new to rucking or you've been rucking for a while but have never done anything organized, this is the section for you. So the lowest barrier to entry in the ruck event world is probably your local area. I'm talking about charity rucks, memorial rucks, community ruck clubs, and organized group rucks that happen all over the country.

3:48 These events are less about performance and more about participation. You show up with a ruck, you walk with a group, and you finish. That's it. There's no cutoff time, no strict wait requirements, and no one pulling you off the course for being too slow. If you've never done a rucking event before, this is a completely legitimate starting point. You're not just walking alone in your neighborhood. You're moving alongside people who show up for the same reason, the same purpose that you did. And the community piece is seriously underrated. Charity rucks specifically are great because the motivation is built in. You're not just finishing a route. You're raising money for something. It's not you doing it for yourself, but you're doing it. it for this this bigger purpose and you know veterans organizations fallen soldier fallen soldier memorials local non -profits these are there are dozens of events structured okay sorry charity rucks specifically are great because charity rucks specifically are great because the motivation is built in you're not just finishing a route you're raising money for something it could be veterans organizations fallen soldier memorials, local nonprofits. There are dozens of event structures this way, and they typically welcome all fitness levels. The 9 -11 Memorial Ruck is one of the more well -known ones, but honestly, in most mid -sized cities, you can find something like this within a reasonable drive. Then you have a community Ruck Clubs.

5:10 Then you have community Ruck Clubs, which are really just organized group training that sometimes culminates in informal events or challenges. Go Ruck has something called Go Ruck Clubs, where local groups meet regularly to Ruck together. These events themselves don't always have a company. a competitive element. They're more about consistency and community. But being part of one of those groups often leads to people doing bigger events together, which is a natural progression. On the more structured side, a lot of running races have started adding ruck divisions. Your local 5K or 10K might have a ruck category where you complete the same course with a weighted pack. These are great because the infrastructure is already there, you know, timing, aid stations, and the finish line. And the ruck division often has a more relaxed atmosphere. You're not trying to set a 5K PR. You're just moving efficiently with weight and finishing strong. And if your local 5 or 10K race doesn't have a ruck category, reach out to them. Talk to them. Say, hey, you know, there's a movement out here, and I think you could probably get a lot of people signing up for a ruck category. Be the person that you want to see change in the world. Reach out to them. Try to get a category for rucking added to it. The weight standards in these divisions vary, but you'll commonly see something like 20 to 30 pounds for men and 15 to 20 pounds for women. Some events are more flexible. The key is to check the specific event requirements before you register because they do differ. The point of this section is... for you to realize or know that you don't need to jump straight into a hardcore

6:41 12 -hour event to participate in a ruck community. There are options specifically designed to be accessible. Okay, so now let's step it up. For people who want to actually race, who want, you know, a clock placement or something measurable to chase, competitive rucking has grown a lot in recent years. The organization that's probably most worth knowing about here is Ruck Race League. Ruck Race League is currently in its second season, and it's a competitive rucking series that has been building a real presence in the endurance event world. They run time -rucked races at various distances, and they take the competitive side to it seriously. While they have built a pretty strong, close -knit community, some of these competitions are serious. There are weight standards, there are age group categories, and there are actual rankings. There's a leaderboard involved, which is really cool. What makes Ruck Race League interesting is that it treats rucking as an athletic discipline, not just a fitness activity. So if you've ever felt like rucking deserved more recognition as a legitimate sport, this is one of the organizations moving that needle. For these types of events, your pace and your weight carry matter. You can't just log a ruck in Strava with a vague amount of weight and a day pack and hope for the best.

8:00 These events specify a minimum weight requirements and your finishing time is your finishing time. It's going to be compared to others. If you're competitive by nature, that structure is incredibly motivating. If you've been wondering how your rucking fitness stacks up against other people, that's going to be how you find out. From a training standpoint, if you're targeting a competitive ruck race, you need to put more thought into your pace. A lot of ruckers train at a comfortable zone two pace, and that's perfectly fine for general fitness. But if you're racing, you need to know what you can sustain at a faster pace with your target weight over that race distance. That means you actually need to do some pace work in your training, which we touched on in episode 43, the first episode in this training with a ruck series. Now we're getting into the territory that a lot of people associate most strongly with the word ruck. That's go ruck.

8:55 If you've been in the rucking world for more than five minutes, you've probably heard the name. Let's break down what these go ruck events actually are. So starting out, go ruck events are they're they're team based endurance challenges led by a cadre. The events are not races. You don't finish first. You finish. as a team and that distinction is core to the entire goruck philosophy goruck runs a range of events at different difficulty levels i'll walk you through the main ones so you know what you're looking at we'll start with the the lightest one or what they used to call light now i believe they're calling basic it's called the goruck basic and that's the entry point it typically runs around four to five hours and covers six to eight miles The basic is challenging, so don't let the name fool you, but it's designed to be completable by people who have been rucking consistently and have a reasonable base of fitness. There will be physical challenges along the way, team exercises and moments that are genuinely uncomfortable, but it's meant to be a positive first experience with the GORUCK format. The GORUCK Tough steps things up considerably, though. This is the classic GORUCK event. It runs around 10 to 12 hours and covers 15 to 20 miles, and the demands are significantly higher than the basic events. The Tough is where the GORUCK culture was. really established. It's long enough that you go through multiple ways of feeling good and feeling terrible. The team

10:26 dynamic becomes critical because when some people are struggling, others are carrying more of the load. The cadre running the event will push the team and how the team responds together is a big part of what gets evaluated. Then there's go -ruck heavy. This one is serious. 24 hours, 40 miles plus, and physical requirements that don't really... The heavy is not a beginner event by any stretch and even experienced Rutgers treat preparation for the heavy as a dedicated training cycle. Go ask Joe Baker from Baker Fitness. A lot of people do heavy as part of a multi -event weekend and HTB, meaning heavy, tough, and basic back -to -back. If you go that route, one of the underrated challenges is actually managing the time between the events. You have to eat, sleep, and recover in a compressed window, and the temptation to quit between those events is real, from what I've told. Never done HTB, but I could totally see that. Sleep feels incredible when you're already depleted. Having a plan for your nutrition, your rest, and your mindset during those gaps is just as important as the training that got you there. What separates go -ruck events from most fitness events is the team component, like I mentioned before. In most endurance events, races, solo challenges, whatever, your performance is your performance. If you're struggling, that's your problem to manage. In Garruk, your performance is the team's problem. If you're crushed, your

11:57 teammates help. If your teammate is crushed... you help them. There's a lot of log carries, sandbag shuffling, and partner -supported movements built into these events specifically because they force the team to function as a unit. One thing people underestimate about GORUCK is how much PT or physical training or PT elements shapes the experience. The PT in these events will legitimately beat you down as the night wears on. Strong people lose their form. People get taken out not by the mileage, but by the physical tasks. Their bodies stop being able to execute the movements cleanly. That's useful to know because it changes how you prepare. It's not just about being able to ruck long distances. You need to be able to do the physical work with a ruck on your back repeatedly over many hours. On the weight side, Go Ruck Challenge events require 20 -pound plates if you're under 150 pounds and 30 -pound plates if you're over 150 pounds. For the heavy, you also need to be comfortable getting under serious team weight. I'm talking heavy logs. If you're doing it heavy, you better be able to get under some pretty heavy things. One more gear note worth making here. For go -ruck specifically, using a pack designed for rucking with handles on all sides is a legitimate recommendation.

13:17 These packs are built around the weight plate system and the physical training movements. So when you're taking your ruck on and off under pressure, getting to the ground and back up repeatedly, the design really matters. It's one of those cases where the purpose -built tool actually is the right tool for the job. The collective suffering aspect is either exactly what you're looking for or it sounds like a nightmare and your reaction to that description is probably a decent signal for whether GORUCK is the right fit for you. Some people find that shared misery incredibly bonding and motivating. Other people would rather suffer alone on their own terms. Neither preference is wrong. It's just a useful thing to know about yourself before you register.

13:59 For preparation, go -ruck events require a solid rucking base, some capacity for body weight movements, you know, push -ups, flutter kicks, that sort of thing, and the ability to get on and off the ground with a loaded ruck quickly. If you want to stress test your readiness before any event, there's a go -ruck drill developed by Cadre Cleave called the Deck of Death, and that covers a lot of the movement patterns you'll actually see. So eight counts, ruck swings, flutter kicks with the ruck overhead, that kind of thing. Running through it gives you an honest picture of where your gaps are. The physical preparation is real, but a lot of people who've done go -ruck events will tell you that the mental side of being cold, tired, and hungry at 2 a .m. while a cadre is asking your team to pick up a log, that's where mental toughness either shows up or it doesn't.

14:47 Before I go into the last type of rucking event I'm going to cover today, I want to say thanks for listening to the episode. If you have a friend or know a fellow Rucker that has expressed interest in any of these events, text this episode to them. It might help them decide which one to choose or give them the motivation they need to pull the trigger and register already. Okay, back to it. So now that we've talked about the team events, let's talk about some solo endurance events. And I'm specifically thinking of Green Beret Fitness. Before I get into this, I want to give a quick credit here. A lot of what I know about the practical differences between Go Ruck and Green Beret Fitness comes from a former guest on the podcast, Sam Svetkovsky.

15:30 You may remember her from episode 36, where we talked about why runners should ruck. She's done multiple GoRick events, including a heavy, and she's done Green Beret fitness events, including Operation Ocala and Operation Black Bear. Her firsthand breakdowns are some of the most useful and honest writing on the topic I've come across. So I suggest go and give it a read. It's over on her blog at ruckwithsam .com. Green Beret Fitness runs events that are modeled more closely on Special Forces selection processes. And the first thing to understand about these events is that they are fundamentally different from GORUCK in one very important way. And I already alluded to this in the intro of this section.

16:12 They are individual. GORUCK is always a team event. In Green Beret Fitness events, you're on your own. Nobody can carry weight for you. Nobody can take a task off your plate when you're struggling. You might start alongside other people and you might even move for a stretch with someone, but there's no guarantee you're going to finish with them. That distinction shapes everything about how these events feel. In Garbuck, you have a team around you, people to talk to, someone to share the load with when you're spent, you know, someone to hand you a snack at 2 a .m. But in Green Beret Fitness, if you feel like garbage, that's just... Sam described a stretch during Operation Ocala where she was tired, alone, and freezing, and three miles felt like a lifetime.

16:59 She had another stretch like that later in the same event, even more exhausted, and still no one to pull her along. Just her, her own mind. for however many hours it took to reach the next checkpoint. From a terrain standpoint, Green Beret fitness events are dramatically different from Garak. You're on actual trails in real wilderness. There's elevation, you know, there can be sandless gravel, you know, pond crossings, mud, fallen trees. Mountain events have serious elevation changes. You're going up peaks and back down, and Sam describes the scenery as genuinely beautiful, which is worth something, but it also means you're navigating terrain that changes sometimes and doesn't cooperate. The navigation element is a big deal in Green Beret fitness. Routes are typically shared ahead of time. From my understanding, you usually get a route on all trails or something similar, but navigating that route accurately under time pressure and fatigue is another thing entirely. Taking a wrong turn doesn't just cost you time, it's costing you miles and time on your feet. There's no physical training in Green Beret fitness events, no group exercises, no cadre -directed physical tasks. The challenge is purely about moving through terrain with weight, managing your time, and making good decisions over a long duration. The gear and nutrition demands for Green Beret fitness events are also higher than Go Rock in one specific way. These

18:29 events are largely self -supported. Like I mentioned before, this is a solo situation. So you're carrying your food, you carry your water, you carry your emergency gear. There's no aid station around the corner. Even if an event is projected to take you six to eight hours, plan for it taking much longer than that. Don't cut corners on water and food weight to save a few pounds because you might need those calories way more than you need a lighter pack for the event. The weight requirements for Green Beret fitness events are set as dry weight, meaning the required weight before food and water are added. That number varies by event, so check your specific event page. Once you add real nutrition for a multi -hour day in the field, your pack gets heavier fast. So factor that in when you're doing your planning. The mental and physical demands are layered in a way that's specifically intended to stress test your judgment, not just your legs.

19:27 You can't autopilot through a navigation challenge at hour 10. You have to think clearly when you're tired, which is one of the most underappreciated skills in any endurance context. So managing uncertainty, staying calm when you're behind pace, making smart decisions about your pace and your resources, that's what these events are actually testing. For someone considering this type of event, it looks like the baseline fitness requirements are meaningfully higher than a beginner go -ruck basic. Running should be part of your preparation. You'll likely need to move faster at a Green Beret fitness than you would at a go -ruck challenge, and the terrain demands athletic movement, not just sustained heavy walking. A solid Green Beret fitness training approach includes rucking, running, hiking with elevation, and strength work. Navigations, and lastly, I know I talked about it a little bit, and honestly, this part is the most intriguing to me personally, is navigation skills. They are worth developing if you're seriously considering this path of Green Beret Fitness Challenges.

20:32 I can see how some people would show up to this event maybe not ever using a map and a compass in a high -pressure context, and that's a gap that training can close. you have to actually work on it. So spending time on land, navigating before your first event is not optional if you want to have a good experience. Okay, so you've heard pretty much the full landscape. Now the question is, which event is right for you? The key is to figure out what you actually want to get out of your first event and then match the event type to that goal. We kind of went over all this, but if what you want is community, Go Go Ruck. Specifically start with the basic.

21:18 The Go Ruck community is genuinely strong. The events are organized well and there is something about suffering alongside strangers that bonds people in a way that most social fitness experiences really don't. If you want to do rucking with other people and feel like part of something bigger, Go Ruck is built for exactly that. Register for a basic within a reasonable drive and then put in the three to four months of consistent training and show up ready to work. If you want competition, look at Ruck Race League. or ruck divisions within existing endurance races. These events give you a clock, a placement, and a number to chase. They're perfect if you're motivated by comparison, not in an unhealthy way, but in the sense that knowing your time and knowing how you stack up against people is what motivates you and pushes you to train harder. So find a local event with a ruck division, pick a target pace, and build a focused training block around that pace and distance. And lastly, if what you want is a personal challenge, something internal, something you can point to and say you did that and be proud of it, long distance events and solo endurance rucks like Green Beret fitness events might be your path. It just requires you and a lot of time on your feet. All right, so that's the full picture. We went from charity rucks and community events through competitive racing and team challenges and all the way through long distance endurance. events through Green Beret Fitness. Okay, so relating back to this series we're doing, here's what I want you to walk away with. So episode one gave you the tools

22:50 to build serious conditioning with a ruck. Episode two showed you how to build strength without needing a gym. And this episode, the third episode in this series, has given you a destination. You have a clear map of what the ruck event world looks like, and you have a simple framework to pick the path that's right for you. Lastly, I want to close with three insights on preparing for one of these events. The first one, give yourself enough lead time. For a beginner -friendly event, eight to 12 weeks of focused preparation is reasonable. For a go -ruck tough or selection -style event, plan for four to six months minimum if your base isn't already strong. For a significant long endurance event, treat it like a multi -year goal. Number two. Train with your gear. Whatever pack you're using to use at the event, train with it. Whatever weight, train with it. Show up at any event with unfamiliar gear and you're adding an unnecessary variable to any already challenging day. You see this a lot in running forums where people are talking about like what people need to be doing for their first half marathon or first marathon. And one of the common tips is don't. Try any new food on race day because you have no idea how your body is going to react to it. Silver Simulator here. Train with your gear. Know how it functions on your body. Set yourself up for success. And the last of the three insights to conclude this episode, don't underestimate foot care. Blisters are the most

24:21 common reason people have miserable event experiences and they're largely preventable. Find your sock system, break in your footwear and know how to manage hot spots before they become full blisters. And speaking of footwear, if you haven't already, hit subscribe or follow because in next week, I talk with Alex Thrasher. He's the founder of Mud Gear and we discuss all things. foot care and blister prevention. Really cool dude. Had a fantastic time talking to him. I don't think you're going to like that episode, but that's it for today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Rutgers Edge.