Running under load.

So I figured I'd write a quick bit about my latest training aid purchase and what led to it. I have long been a proponent of running with added weight of some kind (preferably not in the form of flab). I have, over the past couple of years, worn a weighted backpack on my trail runs. Over time the weight has varied, ranging typically from 40 to 100 lbs. I originally tried this when I was looking for a way to improve my hill climbing, and adapted it for other types of training. Now I try to do at least 4 days a week with weight, though not always running. I have found it very beneficial overall and I figured I'd share my findings and some lessons learned in hopes someone else might gain something from it. As with any training information, this is not to be construed as advice. I'm merely passing along my own experiences. Don't run with weight. You'll probably fall and get hurt. You'll try to catch yourself, falling flat frontward, and the bones in your forearms will break, poke out of your skin and put holes in your backpack. Then you'll whine and cry about it hurting and about it ruining your good backpack and how you don't have anything to carry your books in now (your sissy books I'd imagine like "Living History" and "It Takes a Village").

Okay, so...where was I. Ah, yes...I was passing along my experience. Running with weight is a progressive thing. It is progressive in two senses; your body will progressively adapt to the additional weight, building more muscle and endurance, and your must add the weight progressively over time. Don't go out tomorrow and throw on a backpack with 40lbs. in it and start running. You probably will hurt yourself. When I began, I started with nothing more than a hydration pack on my back. On my long runs, I found that I added more and more crap until I needed a real backpack that would hold a bladder and even more crap. Initially I noticed it (the pack). The weight would cause sore shoulders and such. After a few days wearing it during runs, I no longer noticed it. Hmmmmm...sort of makes sense, but got my wheels turning (which is often dangerous). Before long I was experimenting with additional weight for the sake of weight alone. I noticed that it made a marked difference in the muscle tone and endurance in my legs (over time) and that it built my CV system even more quickly. As the weight I added grew heavier, I struggled to find suitable items to use. I needed something with high density, but preferred that it not be rock hard so that it wasn't beating against my back while running. Eventually I landed at my local warehouse store where you can buy like 8 gallons of pickles and what not. As I strolled the aisles, sampling their samples and admiring their commercial grade coffee makers I happened into the rice aisle. That was it. 5 minutes and 3 end-cap food samples later I was out the door with a 50lb bag of long grain white and a head full of intention.

In all seriousness, I found that a big bag of rice works great. It's somewhat moldable (not sure if that's really a word), allowing you to flatten it out, work it in to shapes, etc. It's soft enough that it doesn't hurt if you elbow your backpack while trying to put it on. It's dense enough that you can get some serious weight in to a relatively small area. And so it goes... A bag of sand would work equally well, but I found that all sandbags have a tendency to leak a bit and getting sand all over everything in my backpack sucked. Rice was the way to go for me. Since 50lbs. was to be just a start, I found that the rice makes a nice foundation for other forms of weight. Currently, in addition to my back of rice I have 2 x 10lb strap-on ankle weights and two 10lb dumb-bell plates stuffed in there. Add to that my pack weight (about 7lbs) and water (about 3 lbs) and you're right at 100lbs. Perfect!

Something I should note before going on is that when you start getting 50+ lbs in a backpack and head out on the trails, you better make sure your pack is able to handle the weight AND the wear and tear. Don't load up a pack from your local discount store and expect it to hold. I have used three backpacks; a Camelbak BFM (a medium sized MOLLY pack...sort of military style) and a Arc'teryx Bora (a mountaineering/expedition pack) which are my current models as well as a prior Arc'teryx knock-off. The Camelbak is probably around $100, the Arc,teryx was about $350 some years back. I will also note that my previous expedition pack (the Arc'teryx knock-off) self destructed when I ran with about 80lbs in it a few times. Finding a pack that could handle the weight and repeated use became a real problem, but more about the solution in a bit.

When I first began with weight, I treated it like any other weight training. I began slow and low adding a little weight every few days and walking, not running. As I got more comfortable I would pick up my pace until I was comfy trotting along. Now, anyone that's run trails knows that trip hazards are everywhere. It's only a matter of time before you go down, and going down with additional weight on your back can be serious. If you haven't learned to properly fall yet, you need to. If you go down straight forward, you're going to hurt yourself. You should try to fall on a shoulder and roll...but at least fall to one side. You can get pretty good at it and with some practice you can pretty much let the bag take the brunt of the fall if you're not moving too fast. In any case, I avoid running downhill when I'm loaded with any significant weight. It's just not worth the risk. I personally don't run the most technical trails when I'm running with a heavy load. Hills? Yes, absolutely, but not a big technical monster with cliffs, jumps, etc. Just my personal approach. Additionally, I NEVER run weighted when it's wet or snowy. I'm a bit crazy, but not completely stupid. As I became more and more comfortable and my body adjusted to having the weight during runs, I noticed some interesting things:

All of your work-outs are amplified. This is sort of obvious, but you'd be surprised. Muscle development is incredible.
So long as I took a gradual approach, I had zero joint pain, nagging muscle pain, etc. It really just made a 4 mile run feel like a 10 mile run. Again, easy to adjust.
I developed muscles where I didn't know I had them. If you think about it, you have a great deal of muscle dedicated to keeping your torso straight during upright exercise. Throw an extra 50 to 100 lbs above your center of gravity and suddenly those muscles have to work overtime. Yay!
Having all of that weight on my back sucked. I wished for a way to distribute it evenly front to back and side to side.
Running with added weight in normal running shoes will cause one to go broke. I run primarily in Bates M9s (9 inch desert assault combat boots) of which I have three pair. These are VERY rugged boots, putting the best trail shoe to shame, and two of the three pair I own have been pretty much beaten into submission. I even ran the Dubai marathon (a paved road race) in these boots with no blisters or foot pain. I have run a few times in my trail shoes (Vasque Velocity) and my feet have paid the price for it. It takes a serious shoe/boot to support your feet with an extra 100 lbs on you.
Just as with any form of weight training, you will experience rapidly increased muscle growth. With that comes rapidly increased protein intake requirement. I personally use a whey protein mix (mmmmmmm....chocolate) to supplement a good balanced and most of all healthy diet. I can tell when I'm not getting enough protein based on recovery time, etc. I simply ratcheted up my intake until I got everything balanced out. The only pain I've experienced has been normal muscle soreness (the good kind).

As I mentioned, something that continued nagging me was not having good balance because all of the weight was 'behind' me. Enter the XVest. The XVest is a weighted vest that is (in its heavier versions) intended for firefighters, military and police physical training. In its largest iteration, the XVest distributed 84lbs. evenly over your torso and keeps it snugly against your body. Weight is adjustable in 1lb increments from 0 to 84. <insert harp chords here> Eureka! Exactly what I've been searching for. While it's not cheap ($270 with shipping), it will more than pay for itself in saved backpacks. :) Now I must state that I haven't yet received my XVest and as such I cannot attest to the quality and whatnot. Consider this post a work in progress. I'm going to make some edits and I will add a review of the XVest as soon as I have a chance to try it out. Stay tuned!!!