Day 1 of Bataan Training

Would like to hear about your stories too. Here is mine.

To start off, I don't officially have my boots yet, so I wore my day to day boots. I know, you are thinking after all that talk about boots. I am trying to find the right pair. I was wearing a good pair of socks.

I got dressed in some of my standard running gear and went to getting the pack ready. I bought rice and beans tonight-so I was ready to go. I had no idea how heavy the pack was on its own-so it needed a check on the weight. Turns out, it was 7 lbs. Interesting. So I put in a 10lb bag of rice, filled up two water bottles, a long sleeve shirt, a jacket, granola bars and said, ok, I am ready. Guess what-it amounted to 23 lbs. Adds up quick. But, initially, it seemed light. I nearly added more weight-but, I needed to be realistic. I have been runnng, but, not with a pack and not walking with a pack.

I set off on my way. Interesting note-people see me running and drive on-put a pair of combat boots on and a camoflauge pack and you get honks, waves. Makes you feel proud of why you are doing this in the first place. The excitement and adrenaline of the moment got me walking like a speed walker in the Olympics-not the best idea by the way. The route I chose is one I run often. It is a 5.3 mile course, uphill then at turn around point downhill. It was easy at first then got harder. You use different muscles when you walk, even more so with extra weight. My back was a little sore, not as bad as expected. My legs were feeling it. The more tired I got, the worse my form got and I rolled my right ankle twice. I have farely strong ankles, so I was fine-but, made me worry for those who don't have strong ankles. If this is you, recommend a thin brace. I drank all of one of the water bottles, didn't sweat as much as running, but, my legs were drained. It took me an hour and a half to complete. The sun was going down and I was treated to a gorgeous sunset-so that made me feel pretty lucky to be healthy enough to do this and strong enough for those who can't. I plan on doing this again tomorrow, a different course and leave a little earlier. I feel great for starting this.