[Blakeslee]

I just recently participated in the Bataan Memorial Death March (for the second time). For those who might not know what it is, it's a 26.2 mile ruck march, held at White Sands Missile Range, that honors those who were part of the original Bataan March during WWII. The terrain varied between pavement and loose sand.

Anyhow, I placed this thread in the PT forum to share my experience, lessons learned, and my training plan - also open to any additional advice for the future.

I completed the first 12 miles at 2.5 hours. I got pretty excited and became over confident. That pace quickly slowed down when the next 7-8 miles were at a steady incline. To make matters worse, I failed to stop in a timely manner to tend to my feet. Don't get me wrong, I stopped 3 times along the way to take a short rest, change my socks and dress my hot spots. I just should have stopped around mile 18 to have the medics (stationed along the course), who were better qualified, to dress my feet.

At mile 20, it felt like something stabbed my toe. When I went to pull off the mole skin, the skin came off with it. I did my best to patch things up and finally made it to the last medical station at mile 22. I was there for an hour and a half. They were training the younger medics and each situation was a teaching case. I didn't fuss about losing the time simply because time was only a personal goal and I just wanted to finish the final 4 miles; which I did, but it was the most painful 4 miles of rucking I've ever endured.

I trained consistently for 4 months. I started slow and steady with the mileage and pace. I rucked 3 times a week up to 8-12 miles each time. I never went over 12 miles and I never went over the 35lbs required. With the water and additional socks and shirts, the total weight was at 45lbs. My average training days looked like this:

Mon: 6 mile ruck - weight training - 15 min cardio splits (run/stairs/swim)
Tues: weight training - long run
Wed: 8 mile ruck - swim
Thurs: REST
Fri: 10 - 12 mile ruck only
Sat: weight train only
Sun: REST


Some of the weeks I took 2 days to recover from the longer rucks. I maintained a 15 min/mile pace and I never ran with my ruck on during the training.

Lessons learned: no matter how prepared my body and mind were for this event, my feet (toe) caused me to come in slow. The first time I did this event, I completed it in 6 hours 48 minutes. Last Sunday, minus the time lost at the medic station, I added an hour to my first time. Granted, at 26.2 miles, the time isn't as important as finishing the race while doing your best not to hurt yourself. It only took me 3 days to recover, but to know that a simple toe can cause me to become not as effective as I able to be.

Anyhow, thanks for your time and allowing me to share my experience. Should I be fortunate enough to attend SFAS down the road, I'll train as efficiently and as smart as I can with regards to both PT and rucking.