3,000 Miles of Stoic Toughening Training
Voluntary Hardship and Psychological Resilience
It is hard to believe that I have been on a more than two-year journey practicing the art of Stoic Toughening Training. The principle behind Stoic Toughening Training is simple. Expose yourself to voluntary hardships in times of comfort so you can build the resilience for life’s challenges when they arise. My Stoic Toughening has come in the form of ruck marching (hiking). I have been trying to copy the renowned walking abilities of Captain Alden Partridge, an influential 19th century educational theorist. While maybe not as great as Captain Partridge, I pride myself in enduring up to 62 miles (100 km) of marching in a single day. While I have written previous articles reflecting on my first 1,000 and 2,000 miles of this practice, it seems there is still far more to learn. Over the last 1,000 miles, I have been met with challenges and successes that has increased my understanding of the wealth of value that can be found in the practice of Stoic Toughening Training. In this article, I wish to share some of my experiences in hopes to inspire the audience to try Stoic Toughening themselves.
Challenge: Patience in Healing
“Give me enough ribbons to place on the tunics of my soldiers and I can conquer the world.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
I could say I allowed my pride to lead me to injury. I had known about the Norwegian Foot March Badge for years. It as an award given to soldiers that can complete a night march of 18.6 miles in 4 ½ hours with a 25-pound ruck (dry). It was a challenge designed to test soldiers during the First World War. I had always wanted to have the opportunity to participate in one of these marches but the requirement of these events to be overseen by a representative of the Royal Norwegian Army limited the opportunities. However, during the COVID pandemic the oversight requirements were relaxed and the opportunity presented itself to compete for a badge. Not only was this an unexpected opportunity, the location selected for the event along the Potomac River had likely been walked by some of my personal heroes including General George Washington and Captain Alden Partridge himself. This was certainly an inspired opportunity that I wasn’t going to let slip by.
The night of the event was perfect with a slight chill in the September air. I was nervous about the event. To meet the required standards, I would have to consistently maintain 14 ½-minute miles. While I was accustomed to longer marches with a significantly heavier loads, my natural rucking pace tends to average 20-minute miles on my ultramarathon length marches. I was advised to “double time” (jog) for periods followed by brief quick walking to catch my breath during this challenge. In my excitement moving in the front of the pack, I found myself rucking faster than a 12-minute mile for the first three miles. With the participant group beginning to stretch out I was able to calm down into a cycle of quick walks and runs. The trail we were on wasn’t the best and the light from my headlamp was barely enough to avoid the hazards of the trail. Heading back from the halfway point, I lost track of my time and exact location on the route. While this did create some level of terror that I would not finish the ruck in time, it did provide the motivation to keep up the pace. During the last three miles of the course, I felt all alone. I did not see anyone ahead and I did not take the time to look behind. I just kept moving and racing up the last long grueling hill. Out of the black, I heard someone calling the time. At the top of the hill, I saw the lights of the parking lot and cross the finish line with a time of 4 hours and 19 minutes. I had made it.
As I slowly walked back to the car, I had a moment to process the experience. Overwhelmed by fatigue, I knew I had one small blister on my left foot (this was the first time I had worn my HAIX boots) and some swelling of the ball of my right foot. I didn’t think much of these things. After a few days of rest, I would be back out rucking. But this wasn’t the case.
A few days of rest, ice, and elevation didn’t seem to help my right foot. I had an idea that I had aggravated an old nerve injury. Up until the Norwegian Foot March, I made it a point to never run with a pack on my back. Running underload simply generates too much force on your joints and often leads to training injuries. And here I was, bothered by an injury I had last experienced almost a decade ago.
I slowed my training program for a while hoping it the neuroma would calm down. But a few months later, I was in a doctor’s office. The doctor sent me to a podiatrist for a steroid injection. Unfortunately, this was followed by a several-week prohibition on rucking. It was during this period away from Stoic Toughening Training that I realize how valuable this practice was in my life. I had grown accustomed to a couple hours of rucking a day and the quarterly ultramarathon length march. These periods were a time of great reflection and meditation. Without this meditation, I found it far more difficult to handle the stress of daily life. I wasn’t being exposed to the positive stress of walking and the healing aspects of nature. I was stuck in a gym staring at a wall trying to stay motivated on an elliptical. While I was still exercising, it wasn’t the same. I had injured myself over a tiny little badge that in hindsight hardly seemed worth it.
“Walking is man’s best medicine.” — Hippocrates
I will try to stay positive in saying the injury gave me a chance to practice the virtue of patience. This is a virtue I often have in short supply. I had started off 2021 very well. I had been averaging more than five miles of marching a day. After the injury, my average for the year dropped to 3.6 miles per day for 2021, just slightly less than my performance for 2020. A year that started with such promise ended with slight disappointment. As I entered 2022, it was downright depressing seeing my progress at an average of less than a mile a day.
I can happily report that I was recently cleared by my podiatrist to return to marching. But here again I must exercise patience and caution. I would love to jump into a long march but must start a new as if I was a beginner marcher. It is best to slowly work up my daily marches to avoid re-aggravation to my injury. It may take a few months until I am able to conduct a marathon-length march again. But having patience in training is worth the gain of these excellent opportunities to fully engage in Stoic Toughening Training. Soon enough I will be back to challenging my ability to endure boredom and fatigue to build my physical and psychological resilience.
Marching for Charity
“He who gives when he is asked has waited too long.” Marcus Annaeus Seneca
When I first started my journey in Stoic Toughening Training, I focused on how the exercise could benefit myself. It is certainly true that this practice has greatly improved my life. However, after several prompts from others, I realized my marching could benefit more just myself. Voltaire claimed, “Every man is guilty for all the good he did not do.” And it is certain that I had been wasting an opportunity to do good for others during my marches. While it did add some labor to my quarterly marches, I started to raise funds for charity as I wondered down the trail. In this way, my search for discomfort became a source to relieve the discomfort of others. Not only has this practice become an important mechanism to refine my own virtue, but it now has become a means to build supportive communities and aid my fellow man.
HorseBack UK
The first charity I was able to support was HorseBack UK. This is a remarkable charity in Scotland that uses horses to heal the psychological injuries of veterans through a natural form of Stoicism. This program had been so beneficial to military veterans, that it continues to grow to help other groups. The severely wounded veterans who work at HorseBack UK become models of post-traumatic growth and success after injury. With the success of the veteran program, this charity continues to expand to further help the medical community (stressed by the COVID 19 pandemic) and troubled youths.
On May 1st, I started a march that I hoped would exceed my personal record of 62 miles. However, I learned that any march over 40 miles depends a lot on luck. Due to knee pain, I was forced to stop at mile 52. The march wasn’t as long as I had hoped but was still a decent walk.
Fisher House Foundation
In September, I marched to support the Fisher House Foundation. The Fisher House provides free accommodations and other services to the families of severely injured US Service Members. I am eternally grateful for the work this organization does. I have seen first-hand the comfort it brings to military families and their wounded Service Members to be given a safe haven. Families don’t have to worry about the cost of moving or being distant from their injured Service Member thanks to this organization.
More than just raising funds for the Fisher House Foundation, this march provided me an opportunity to reflect on the ending of the Long War (AKA: the War on Terror). I found it difficult to find meaning in this war and how it came to end. While I can come to terms with the sacrifices made on the personal level, I am not sure if I will find the larger meaning in this conflict. The march certainly provided me a chance to ponder on how I might attempt to explain this war to my grandchildren on day.
This march turned out to be the shortest of my charity marches at 29.2 miles. Before this march I had been testing premium quality boots. It had been almost a decade since I had last worn “basic issue” boots and wondered if the extra cost for premium boots was worthwhile. I can now answer that question with an emphatic “yes.” I had developed blisters by mile 12 and had bleeding feet by mile 18. I stopped at mile 29.2 simply because I didn’t want to continue to damage my feet. The lesson learned was the ability to walk ultra-marathon length marches is highly dependent on equipment.
Wounded Warriors Canada
One of the most exciting programs I supported was Before Operational Stress (BOS). This is a Stoic-based resiliency program designed by Dr. Megan McElheran of Wayfound Mental Health Group through the support of Wounded Warrior Canada. Instead of offering Cognitive-Behavioral therapy to public service professionals only after a stress injury has occurred, the BOS program seeks a proactive approach. By providing Stoic-based resiliency practices/techniques, the BOS program seeks to inoculate public-service providers against stress. Therefore, reducing or eliminating the need for post-trauma care. This program is producing statistically significant results in reducing post-traumatic stress in its participants. It is my high hopes that this program will continue to grow and expand. I would love to see it spread internationally and be customized for the military profession.
On Veterans Day weekend, I enjoyed a very cold but enjoyable 41.5 mile march to raise funds for this program.
Conclusion
The practice of Stoic Toughening Training offers many lessons to be learned. Even after engaging in the activity for nearly three years, I am still being taught something new. The practice of voluntarily engaging in hardship helps to build psychological resilience. Utilizing ruck marches for this practice provides amazing opportunity for meditation and reflection. This practice carries so many advantages, I encourage everyone to give it a try.
The last 1,000 miles has given me the opportunity to use this practice to not only build my own virtue but to engage in international charity, representing the true Cosmopolitan spirit of the Ancient Stoics. While I can only say I raised a few thousand dollars across these three charities, I realize that without my efforts these donations would likely not have been given. One day I hope to be able to raise even more funds but even if all my charity efforts only result in small donations, they are still progress towards the goal of helping others.
I will continue to train and slowly ease my way back into ultra-marathon length marches. I know the value that will be waiting for me as I exercise patience in recovery. Soon I will be out marching 40+ miles down the trails again. I know the trails are waiting for me, just as they are waiting for you. Consider picking up the practice of Stoic Toughening Training to build your own resilience and virtue.
The views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Department of Defense or its components.
