Kais Varkis: A Legionary Project

 Today started at 6:30 AM, the weather was horrendous, wind and rain. I decided I wouldn't go out for a march in that weather as I don't want to fall ill before going camping. I was annoyed at this as I wanted to get my steps in, but everything at its own pace. My second march of the day was a bit longer, 2.38 miles, however this was through thick single track forest. The weather for this second march had turned and it was cloudy with parts of sun, it was around 14 degrees (72.2fahrenheit) but the humidity was 100% which made it worse, that with the midges made it a lot tougher. I used a weighted rucksack with 7.5kg in it 16.5 lbs. My evening march was calmer. In total today I did 8 miles  My labour today was starting on the log wall/rampart I will be building. I found this quite hard as there was a lot of large logs being moved as well as rotten brushwood needing cleared. It was fun though and felt good getting some work done. Workout wise I did my usual. I decided I would tr...

 I was back to the usual schedule toady at 6 AM. The weather was calm an cloudy with slight rain throughtout the march. There had bee a bit of rain fall overnight which made some of the tracks boggy. Despite this I completed my 4 mile march in under an hour. I used a rucksack with 5kg in it which I found was vey easy, tomorrow I will add an extra 2.5kg into this to reach 10kg.My second march was another 1.5 miles with the same rucksack, this was on more single track which hadn't escaped the rainfall, especially in section with exposed roots it made the march harder. My third march was a slower pace along the flat. Overall I have covered 11.5 miles   Labour wise I excavated some ground to build some wooden steps. This was relativley light work and didnt take long.  My workout was good, I did the usual 50 pullups with band pull aparts inbetween. I then moved onto the usual pushups but this time put more band pull aparts in between sets for the first 4 sets, and then th...

 The day started at 8:30AM. The weather was mild but calm with the sun shining. I went in a short march, only a mile or two as I had a sore toe from yesterday, I think one of my nails had been pressing into it. So overall marching wise I took it quite easy. I managed 8 miles total today which I am quite happy about.  Labour wise I moved some timber and concrete blocks. I didn't do this for long but it was on my list of many things to do. For training I did my usual pullups, situps however I was pushed for time as I did it after my morning march and before breakfast so I avoided the scutum and gladuis drills I finished with 100, burpees. Later on in the day I went paddle boarding at sea so this was like a secondary training sessions, with more swimming too ! I also did 200 banded pull aparts to supplement the lack of labouring  Nutrition wise it was a mix of simple carbohydrates with small amount of meat, I didn't track it but it would of been about 3000 ish. Tomorrow I'll...

 I decided today would be my day off as I've felt quite beaten up over the last few days and tomorrow I will get back to scheduled marches. However I still managed 9 miles. I did wake up at 6 and wanted to go out on a march, however I stopped myself and went for a shorter, slower pace with my girlfriend and Canine Spectorales. Labour wise I helped my friend cut down some trees dig some foundation holes for a decking. It was 20 degrees (84 fahrenheit) outside which was welcome after the past week we have had however it made the digging a little harder !  I didn't workout as it was my day off however still went to the beach with the Canine Spectorales, swimming was very cold yet invigorating.  Eating wise I didn't have stew but had bread with olives in it, some cold slices of meat  and  vegetables. Tomorrow I'll be trying for a more classic Legionary diet. I've burned 3313 calories so far today which is pretty good for an 'off' day !  Mentally I felt good how...

 I was back at the coal face at 6AM today, I decided to do a fast paced march without a weighted rucksack or vest, my neck and head were not sore this morning however I didn't want to push it. My second march again, was a fast paced march. My march in the evening was slightly slower but was there to get the miles in, I finished today with 10 miles in total.  I did some labouring today which was clearing of brush wood and saplings. Any saplings I could remove fully I would plant further away to create a sort of 'living' fence. Using an axe was quite hard on my forearms and they haven't fully recovered since Dies Mercurii. I should note that I am planning on making an Imugr account to take photos of marching paths, food, labouring activities as well as equipment.  My workout today consisted of 50 pull ups in sets of 10 with 15 band pull aparts inbetween. I know Romans definitely would not of had elastic bands to train with, and possibly didn't do pull ups, at least as...

 Today did not start out as planned. While the weather was nice, I was incredibly sore. I think all the recent marching has strained my upper back and neck as I had a sore neck and head for the first half of the day. As a result I didn't do the first march as I thought I better take an 'off day'. I did a quick march half way through the day of 1.5 miles not a lot. This was an unweighted walk just to keep me moving. In the evening I played flag football (American Football) with some friends which I felt did me well.I may look into making a sarcina as it may be easier on my shoulders as well as being more accurate ! I didn't do any manual labour as a result of my neck. I did however do a workout of 50 pull ups (unweighted)  100 pushups with body armour, I did this in 4 sets of 20 with 20 shoulder raises with a dumbell in between the pushups. I finished the workout off with 100 burpees. I intended to do the gladuis and scutum workout but my fore arms were destroyed from ye...

 The morning started early again however the weather had closed with driving rain and a  mild 9 degrees celsuis (48 fahrnheit). First march went well, 3.5 miles this time, due to the routes the rain felt especially heavy under the trees.  I've started to notice the top of my back and neck being sore, I think this is a result of the body armour and weight rucksack. I may need to adapt the proposed training so I don't strain myself. The second march of the day was another quick 1.5 mile march in half an hour. The terrain I am on is generally quite hilly with any level areas only lasting 100-200 meters. I feel this is good and will help build strong marching legs. I went on a third march, a short one of only 2 miles, this was easy as I decided not to take a weighted vest or rucksack. Manual labour consisted of moving cut logs into a new area and setting up a small wall for brash wooding to go and decompose, during this I found my neck was still hurting. Training consisted of...

 Another early start of 6AM, luckily the weather was good, a mild 11 celsuis (51.8 fahrenheit). I was very sore from the previous days marches and training so I decided to do my first march without a weighted rucksack, just weighed vest. My feet were also sore after all the marching in sand shoes so I regeretably wore shoes for this march. This was another 4 mile march in under an hour which was a slightly quicker time from  yesterday. The second march of the day took a turn. I think I should note at this point all of the marches are either on existing forestry fire roads or single track paths. I planned to go on a quick 2 mile march in bodyarmour/weighted vest and weighted rucksack however 1 mile in one of the canine Speculatores got seperated and so for 30 minutes ( 1 mile covered on Fitbit, but I expect this to be more) we searched through dense conifer forest following mainly deer trails. Anyone thats spent time in an unmanaged forestry plantation in will know what its lik...

 The first day started off well at 6AM, in the misty cold rain.The first march was 4 miles with a 10kg rucksack, this was done in an hour at a reasonable pace, with the majority of the march up hill. The second march of the day was done with a 10kg pack and body armour ( weighted vest weighing 8kg). The march with the added weight of the vest significantly increased the difficulty.So far to date I have covered 10 miles today. My upper back was quite sore but this will just be breaking in the rucksack and getting used to weighted marches  The weather did lay off which didn't make the labouring any harder, but didn't make it any easier ! Having done lots of manual labour in the past I did not have a problem with this. What was involved was moving logs to a new area as well as driving wooden piles into the ground to form the preparation for small walled area.   For training the weather cleared up and it was overcast which was a pleasant change. I wore a weighted vest th...

This Legionary Project is to emulate the life of a Roman Legionary stationed at a frontier fort. Obviously, we live in the 21st century and I can't spend every day living the exact life so this has to be taken into account.  My standard day will include marching/walking for a minimum of 8-12 miles everyday (this isn't a Legionary campaign so I won't be walking 20 miles everyday). I will be doing this in a weighted vest of around 9kg and a rucksack of about 10kg.  I will be doing manual labour such as digging, clearing forested ground, cutting and clearing fallen trees, building a turf/ wood wall, all of this will be done with hand tools and I will aim to spend roughly 1.5-2 hours doing this.  I will also be doing ' military training' for an hour. This will be in the form of circuit training with dumbbells and a weighted vest. I will be posting these workouts throughout the week for any improvements people may have.  From a diet standpoint I'll be eating the diet...

 Hello,  Welcome to my blog. I will be recording my life as a Roman Legionary for a month. During this period I will be marching, labouring, physically training and of course eating as close as possible to a Roman Legionary stationed in Caledonia/Northern Europe.  This is just an initial post but I will go into more depth with my current physical statistics as well as plans in my next one. If you have any questions or reccimendations please contact me on this or reddit, user name Kvark33 !