Guest2553 posted:

Relevant xpost

Guest2553 posted:

It's me, I'm the idiot with the wrong gear. I did the military route of the Vierdaagse Nijmegen with all the associated garbage military gear that goes along with it. Impermeable leather boots with waffle insoles? Check. A rucksack that can't be adjusted to sit straight and would always put most of its weight on one shoulder? Check. Heavy uniform that doesn't breathe and collects enough sweat to built a salt lick? Check. Part of a team of 11 people that has to stick together, each with their own different strides and pacing? Aw yeah, son. All to march a distance about equal to a marathon over cobblestone for four straight days, not including the 500+ miles of endurance training in the 10 weeks leading up to the march itself.

I was fortunate in that I'm built for endurance hikes because that poo poo broke a lot of people, now that I think about it. Multiple stress fractures in metatarsals, skin sloughing and/or toenails popping off when socks were removed, open sores forming on hot spots on feet/back/thighs etc. One dude chafed so bad he had to walk bow legged and the entire crotch of his combats was a blossom of blood, but god bless him he powered through every day and finished it. The worst I got was some foot fungus after a flip flop broke on the way to the living petri dish of a shower they had at the camp. Oh well.

I liked it so much I did it twice

I want to do it a third time