Bro, Do You Even Lift? (Off-season ways to stay in shape)

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Could be why I hunt alone 95% of the time

Took a friend elk hunting one time. He is a pretty big guy but he was determined to go elk hunting. About 300 yards up the trailhead he’s huffing and puffing wanting to take a break. I tell him a quick one because there was a spot I wanted to get to before daylight broke. We take a quick break and take off again. Not 200 yards farther he’s dying behind me. We stop again. He finally says “just go on without me I’m going to lay here for a while”. Me being already pissed because I’m behind schedule take off at a quick walk. He was planning to go back to the pickup after catching his breath. I come back down a few hours later after not seeing anything. Find him in the pickup with a shit eating grin and blood on his hands. Lucky basterd killed a cow on his way back down the trail after catching his breath for an hour not 200 yards from the pickup
 
Took a friend elk hunting one time. He is a pretty big guy but he was determined to go elk hunting. About 300 yards up the trailhead he’s huffing and puffing wanting to take a break. I tell him a quick one because there was a spot I wanted to get to before daylight broke. We take a quick break and take off again. Not 200 yards farther he’s dying behind me. We stop again. He finally says “just go on without me I’m going to lay here for a while”. Me being already pissed because I’m behind schedule take off at a quick walk. He was planning to go back to the pickup after catching his breath. I come back down a few hours later after not seeing anything. Find him in the pickup with a shit eating grin and blood on his hands. Lucky basterd killed a cow on his way back down the trail after catching his breath for an hour not 200 yards from the pickup
Love this. My buddy only feels like he's 'hunting' if he's literally destroying himself up a mountainside for 14 hours in a day. He walks fast and kicks everything so it's really up to my laziness to make sure he kills anything
 
Starting to ramp it up a bit, hard for me to want to workout in the cold weather. Most of my summers are when I get back into it.

Turns out half an Apple fritter and three cups of coffee is not the best pre-workout food. Lost most of it at the top of the hill. 🤢 The good news is I made it to the top before I lost it.
 
I started to make an effort to run again. A few weeks ago I started at a mile and a half, went to 2, then 3, now I do 5. Running is way harder mentally for me than lifting weights or anything else. Example yesterday I took off at my usual 4am, got a mile into it and I thought my body was gonna shut down. I did a little walking throughout the run. This morning I took off and covered the 5 miles in 45 minutes and felt like I could run another 5.

Like everything else it’s all between the ears and luckily for me I don’t have a lot going on up there.

It’s a carrot and stick thing for me. I can hike like a wild man 10 miles to go hunting or fishing. That said, I’ve hit a wall packing out critters so I need to be in better shape.
 
Doing Headwaters Relay this summer. Friend has a team that has been doing it for years and has been bugging me for years. Jogged 124 miles in month of April, most Ive run in a month in at least a decade. Running less in May, 15-20 miles/week. Should go into hiking season in as good of shape as I ever have despite being an elderly on the wrong side of 40. Thinking of day hiking Beaten Path in July. Have always wanted to day hike it just to say I did (plus WAY too many people for enjoyable overnighters - there are better places for backpacking in Bearteeths). Feel like one of Leonidas' 300.
 
I signed up for a 50 mile bike race just to maintain some level of shape and I did not maintain lol. The 20 mph/40 degree headwind ruined me by mile 30. Gotta spend the next few months doing way better on the physicality

Feel free to shame me, I'm a little fat girl
 
Started playing rugby again this spring, and was working out fairly consistently through May. Then I got tackled into a splits while playing in Missoula, heard multiple pops in my right leg, and have been dealing with strained hip flexors and a pulled hamstring since, plus the fun bonus sciatic pain when I sit. Luckily the knee wasn't affected long-term. Finally getting back to jogging and lifting, and the jogging seems to help the sciatic. To quote ol' Garth- "I'm much too young to feel this damn old". Lots of stretching and ibuprofen in my future, but pretty sure I'll pull through by August (archery antelope).

Hiking plans have been severely hindered by recent flooding- all but one local access point to the mountains have had their roads and bridges washed out, effectively shutting everyone out for the time being. Which I'm pretty bummed about, because I was hoping to spend every weekend at 8,000+ ft chasing trout in the wilderness. Hoping the fishing is lights-out once access is restored. I think I have one or two available to me locally, and two more will be restored by mid-July.

So in the meantime- gym. Sandbag in the pack for death hikes on local hills. Maybe bicycle rides for cardio and legs. Shoot the bow. Figure out how to make this desk job less desk-oriented.
 

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