Day One
Distance: 16 miles
Max Elevation Change: 1000 feet 
Time of Day: 1030
Temperature: 80F
Humidity: 60%
Water Consumed: 110 ozs
Others Consumed:  2 Poptarts (breakfast, before leaving)
                              Nature's Valley Granola Bar (snack)
                              Nutrigrain cereal bar (snack)
                              Mushrooms and Beef MRE (lunch)
                              MRE Applesauce (dinner)
                              MRE Pound cake (dinner)
                              MRE Crackers and jelly (dinner)
Weight: ~70 lbs
Time: 6 hours 30 minutes 
 

Day Two
Distance: 15 miles
Max Elevation Change: 750 feet 
Time of Day: 0700
Temperature: 75-80F
Humidity: 60%
Water Consumed: 110 ozs
Others Consumed:  2 Poptarts (breakfast)
                              Powerbar (Mocha) (breakfast)
                              Nutrigrain cereal bar (snack)
                              Nature's Valley Granola Bar (snack)
                              
Weight: ~63 lbs (lost some of the water weight due to drinking it)
Time: 6 hours   
 

Six months ago, if someone asked me to go on a 15 mile ruck for fun, i'd look at them like they were crazy.  If they asked me, futher, to do TWO, back to back, I'd call the sanitarium.

Progress.

I had a three day weekend so I decided it was a good time to see how far along in my training I've come.  I figured if I turned into a pretzel I had that third day to recover.

I started off with two strikes against me however.  I'd stayed up a bit too late and didn't wake up NEARLY as early as I would have liked.  Add to that the bit of drinking Firday night and I wasn't even close to being sufficiently hydrated.  Those two factors hurt me considerably (literally).

Headed up to Zakimi-jo ruins and connected with 58, which i either used, or paralleled the entire way up north.  Stopped a bit north of Serigaki and pitched my tent (a Eureka Zeus Exo 1) on the Beach.  I didn't sleep very well.  I wasn't sure how far up the beach the water would reach (at high tide) so i pitched the tent too close to the road...meaning i had to listen to cars and those ANNOYINGLY loud frickin japanese motorcyclists ALL NIGHT.  Sigh. 

Sunday morning i crawled out of my tent around 0530.  (I didn't get a drop of condensation on the inside, btw.  There was a smattering of water on the outside of the vestibule however)  I had my breakfast (the powerbar was left over from saturday's snack foods) and I  watched the sunrise as i dreamed about doing on the trail...On the way south i bypassed the castle ruins and just followed 58 to 6 and in to home.  It shaved about a mile and a major hill climb off my route.  I was starting to run low on water and I was too stubborn to stop in a store somewhere to get more.

On both Saturday and Sunday I took a bit more of a relaxed approach than i normally do.  I rested more often, about every hour to two hours, and had more to eat than normal.  I also removed my boots and socks for each "long" break (>10 minutes).  I didn't get any blisters all weekend, and i wasn't hobbling too much Sunday evening at home.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

I was able to keep to a 3 mph pace, which actually surprised me because I was hurting past the ten mile marks, both days.  I felt like i was really slowing down, but apparently not.

All in all...i'm quite pleased.  The speed and ease of my recovery was a PLEASANT surprise.  I even considered going SCUBA diving sunday night (but decided to play it safe and stay home, just in case).  Sunday morning, even after a horrid night's worth of fitful sleep, I was still ready to head back out without any trouble.  Next time I do this, I'll make sure I'm properly hydrated before I start, and gun for  20/20.  I'll continue my normal schedule of at least one hard charging hike a week in the meantime.