Good day all. I'm opening this thread in hopes of getting anyone attending selection in January - or anyone at all for that matter - to chime in and share a thing or two about how they've gotten themselves ready for selection and what's worked for them. I've done alot of reading on this site and a few others and have found alot of great info that's improved my overall performance, now I'd like to bring them together along with anything else you may have to fine tune techniques/performance.
First off, before I even set out starting the 10 week program I did alot of reading on socks/footwear. I found that most of the boots that were considered top of the line and highly recommended by actual users were not authorized for use at A&S, only boots with the Eagle, Globe and Anchor embossed on the sides are authorized. I ended up buying a pair of Danner's simply because it felt like it gave me greater balance, support and platform; the weight was worth the sacrifice. I also invested in a pair of Bate's Lights and my, oh my, what a great pair of boots - IMO. Somewhere in this forum I saw someone recommending Injinji toe socks (I love you for life), what a difference these socks made. On that same thread it said 'stop being cheap and buy good socks', which I did. After five different brands, I settled with Fox River - Stryker. The combination of the Injinji and Fox River socks are amazing. I only had hotspots on the balls of my feet after 12 or more miles, inside of 12 and my feet felt great. I bought a light and medium pair of the Injinji, the light I wore until my first break at 8 miles (if doing 12 or more) then switched to the medium pair. This combo worked great for me but it may work differently for someone else.
The rucking techniques and times obviously became better the more I did. I believe my worst mistake was using a 45 pound sandbag stuffed in a medium ALICE pack instead of packing it with items on the gear list for the last 7 weeks. This week I packed it with gear and the difference in weight distribution and comfort is simply...amazing (after hours of packing and repacking). It also worked to my disadvantage because I was very hesitant to lightly jog/shuffle with it on because it bounced and was not very comfortable at all. So I did not work on any jog/walk techniques as much as I would have liked to. Lesson learned and I'm now working to catch up to where I should be while jogging/walking with the pack on.
There is no pool on the base so I use the YMCA. Unfortunately they won't let me swim with cammies or similar clothing in the pool. All the pool work I've done is with swimming trunks. I know that wearing full cammies will have a different effect but I don't believe it will affect my performance to the point of no return. Am I correct in my assumption? Please feel free to chime in. Thank you in advance.
Semper Fidelis
First off, before I even set out starting the 10 week program I did alot of reading on socks/footwear. I found that most of the boots that were considered top of the line and highly recommended by actual users were not authorized for use at A&S, only boots with the Eagle, Globe and Anchor embossed on the sides are authorized. I ended up buying a pair of Danner's simply because it felt like it gave me greater balance, support and platform; the weight was worth the sacrifice. I also invested in a pair of Bate's Lights and my, oh my, what a great pair of boots - IMO. Somewhere in this forum I saw someone recommending Injinji toe socks (I love you for life), what a difference these socks made. On that same thread it said 'stop being cheap and buy good socks', which I did. After five different brands, I settled with Fox River - Stryker. The combination of the Injinji and Fox River socks are amazing. I only had hotspots on the balls of my feet after 12 or more miles, inside of 12 and my feet felt great. I bought a light and medium pair of the Injinji, the light I wore until my first break at 8 miles (if doing 12 or more) then switched to the medium pair. This combo worked great for me but it may work differently for someone else.
The rucking techniques and times obviously became better the more I did. I believe my worst mistake was using a 45 pound sandbag stuffed in a medium ALICE pack instead of packing it with items on the gear list for the last 7 weeks. This week I packed it with gear and the difference in weight distribution and comfort is simply...amazing (after hours of packing and repacking). It also worked to my disadvantage because I was very hesitant to lightly jog/shuffle with it on because it bounced and was not very comfortable at all. So I did not work on any jog/walk techniques as much as I would have liked to. Lesson learned and I'm now working to catch up to where I should be while jogging/walking with the pack on.
There is no pool on the base so I use the YMCA. Unfortunately they won't let me swim with cammies or similar clothing in the pool. All the pool work I've done is with swimming trunks. I know that wearing full cammies will have a different effect but I don't believe it will affect my performance to the point of no return. Am I correct in my assumption? Please feel free to chime in. Thank you in advance.
Semper Fidelis