Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire More thoughts about staying in shape

Enchanted Rock?

I'm going to tell you all something that you can take to the bank. Badshit is going to happen to you. The key is being strong enough to survive it. You can't control the things that happen to you. You can control how strong you are when they do.

Birdwatcher - great seeing that you and so many other guys are staying in reasonable shape and enjoying the great outdoors.

I'm 61 now with a few old injuries that remind me I'm not immortal, but doggone, I'm in better shape than I would have predicted 30 years ago. Regular workouts. Just staying ACTIVE helps so much. I live in snow country, here in central Washington State. During the summer I walk/hike and bicycle a lot. During the winter, cross-country skis and snowshoes give me a way to enjoy the wild country. Year round, I'm in the gym at least a few days a week. It helps!

I too have been surprised and pleased when I can easily hike with people who are far younger than me. It also helped a lot last spring when I went to Alaska for a 9 day grizzly hunt in the Arctic, and the guides were half my age... Just a few weeks ago I quartered and backpacked out my mule deer buck on a solo hunt. No problem. Just a heavy load, so I slowed my pace down and got back to the Jeep just fine after an hour's walk.

We don't need to be Hercules, but, staying in reasonable shape sure helps us as outdoorsmen.

Regards, Guy

i've gotten out of shape bad over the last year, going to have to do something about it.

Pat..Im trying.....minus 92 pounds later and playing with 'hard' dogs!

Great pic, GSD's and Malinois are incredible to watch at work!

And a hell of an accomplishment to lose 92lbs, congrats!

That's my challenge!

Thats a dutch shepherd ...they make Malinois look laid back!

Cool dog.

I run 6 miles every other day at about an 8 min/mi pace. That prevents knee damage, and I ride a bike hard on my "off" days. Don't forget the upper body and core conditioning if you plan on running. Some sit ups will help a lot with that and some shoulder work with weights, push ups, pull ups, whatever, but DO IT -
BEFORE YOU CAN'T.

Best thing I've found for preventing knee pain is Ibuprofen in small amounts - not after running but before. Not much, just a little. Lots of guys say they can't run because of knee pain, but I have found running with some care does more to prevent knee pain that it does to cause it. Dropping 50# of weight also makes up for a lot less knee stress than the running causes. Of course, you can't get from couch potato to that overnight, but if you don't start working on it soon, you may never start at all.

I also wear the Brooks Adrenaline GTS shoes. I may get a few more miles out of them than JOG, but not a lot more. They wear on the outside of the heels and have to go before the rest of the shoe is in bad shape. But switching out shoes is a small price to pay for keeping the knees in good shape. If I don't run, the left knee gets really stiff and sore due to meniscus surgery years ago. Running keeps it loose, happy, and pain free.

Leroy,

The caution flag goes up when taking ibuprofen before a run. The micro tear, repair, improve process initiated by exercise, which some amount of inflammation is a part of, is retarded by ibuprofen. Exercise should break down muscles and some inflammation is part of the recovery and improvement response. It sounds like you know the drill, but it's worth pointing out.

As for the Brooks shoes, body weight is a big factor. I weigh about 220# (6'-4") which is a lot for running shoes. You're also a lot faster and likely lighter on your feet. I would be proud of a 9:30 10K compared to your 8:00. I ran a half marathon on Saturday at 10:05. I wanted to break 10, but with cold weather and a big crowd I started too conservatively. I finished fine, but I just didn't shave enough time.

JOG, I hear you about the Ibu warning. Indeed, I have heard it before. However, it is not for masking pain while running. I quit before that happens. What I measure is the pain the next day and it is definitely not good if I run w/o it. I see it as preventing inflammation that is detrimental, but I have to be careful not to cause damage that I can't feel because of the Ibu. I would like to run w/o it and I've tapered the amount I use, but I can't go w/o it so far.

I weigh 190, so a bit lighter, but not exactly a butterfly. It's been hard to get to the 8 min mark, but doing it was a motivating factor. I have yet to run a half M. But it's on my bucket list. 8.5 miles is my max so far.

I'm using Sketchers, I was quoted a sole life of 500 miles, dunno the truth of it yet, but my gait is so shuffling at present I ain't pounding on 'em much.

Forty years ago my epic runs were on Nike Waffle Trainers, seems they are out of production.

I was able to lose 20 lbs in preparation for this hunting season.
I spend my lunch hours on a stairmaster and I try to set aside one day each weekend for a hike of some distance and altitude.
When my wife caught a bad cold I moved to the guest quarters to try to keep from catching it myself.
My wife is a fantastic cook so eating my own cooking helped some with the weight loss for a few weeks.
After losing the first 10-15 lbs I was able to resume running occasionally. At age 59 I'll probably never return to doing a lot of running, but a little is still good.

Time seems more precious now than ever before in my life so I've had to try to use the weekend hikes for multiple benefits.
In addition to just fitness I would take the dogs, hunt sheds, take photos, scout potential future hunts.

One of the dogs gets her own hunting in during our hikes.









I bought a few early season big game licenses - most were low % hunts and less desirable tags - leftovers and such. No great expectations.
One tag was a bighorn ewe tag that I spent a couple of preference points on.
Weather and demands of life kept me from hunting much more than one day each weekend on those tags.
I only got out 2 days for muzzleloader elk and about the same for local deer.

On the very last day of my month-long bighorn season I climbed to about 13,000ft.
I was able to get a pic of the Crestone needle less than a mile away.
The needle doesn't get photographed much because it is blocked from most angles by other peaks and it looks more like a black monolith than anything needle shaped.
There had been sheep here the previous weekend but none anymore.



I had gotten what I came for, great hike and feeling good about being ready for a week long elk hunt.
I was down off the ridge and just about to treeline when a herd of bighorn appeared and was able to take a ewe from the herd.
Not much to look at really.



So far I am doing OK managing to work-in an increased amount of fitness training. Just hope that all of the circumstances in life that steal time away will allow me to continue that.
Late season will allow me to put in some miles looking for whitetail and pheasants in Kansas and Oklahoma so I hope to burn some boot leather and maintain a certain level of outdoor fitness.

50 will be here in a month for me. I have found it much easier to 'stay' in shape rather than bounce back and forth in and out of shape. I mountain bike a lot - to work, and back, ride trails in the summer/weekends - 1,850 miles worth this year. It's something I enjoy doing so it really is not work (like going to the gym). Where I live there is really only a couple months out of the year where I can't ride so I do some hiking and jack rabbit hunting. Has done wonders for my overall health and when I get in the hills I usually leave guys 10 years younger in my dust.