3 a day & 5 on Sunday

[Buffalobob]

The old joints complain that's for sure. Three miles a day and five on Sunday is 22 miles a week. The minimum for running a marathon is believed to be 35 miles a week. I mean running, not this walking the last five miles lazy **** that some people do.

Its cold outside and I do not like the cold but I use gloves and a head band for my ears.

I used to use a stop watch and time my runs but now I am so slow that the old ladies with the walkers pass me on the uphill sections.

I hate lifting weights but that is about the only way I will get my bowshooting muscles back.

 

[davewilson]

up here in Pa we'd call that 23 but i know you're a math guy so there's probably an explanation for it. i wish i could still run. i have to hike all over the place to stay in shape.

 

[Buffalobob]

You got me. That is so funny.
I used to keep a daily log of all of my mileages when I was running marathons.

Now I just trudge out there an make the rounds. I have my weekly goal and it is flexible according to my hunting schedule and rain. The only thing I hate worse than rain is snow.

My goal this year is to run two 10K road races. Last year when I came back from elk hunting I didn't start back to jogging until March and that is too late for for the tendons to respond well. The tendons strenghten only half as fast as muscles and you can really abuse them by training too hard. Naturally I try not to train too hard.

 

[davewilson]

my goals may be a bit different this year as it looks like i'm gonna get that elk tag for Wy. so instead of being in fairly good shape, i want to be in very good shape. my knees are my limiting factor and i have to be able to climb from 8-10k with my long range stuff. i'm gonna try the bike more this year until fall. then i'll hike/climb with the backpack more often. i plan on being 20 lbs less than i am now.

 

[royinidaho]

m i want to be in very good shape. my knees are my limiting factor i'm gonna try the bike more this year until fall. then i'll hike/climb with the backpack more often. i plan on being 20 lbs less than i am now.

Dave,

I did the tread mill thing plus the bicycle thing but only half hearted. It took me two weeks to get into shape during the hunt which is not a good thing.

What I'd recommend trying, if its available is one of those commercial tread mills, usually at a physical therapy place that elevates up to 35 degrees. I've built a riser for my tread mill which sure helps a bunch but the $3 bucks a day once in a while at the PT place helps also.

That thing simulates a good mountain hike as close as I've found. The treat mill and bike do the cardio/vascular thing pretty well but when dropping 20 lbs some extra effort is going to be needed to build muscle.

My other problem is that I detest side hilling so I tend to walk straight up the hill, as much as I can. My steps are not much more than heel to toe at times.

But hey, you have a bunch of years on me.

Good luck on the Wyoming hunt.

 

[Buffalobob]

Treadmills are pretty worthless devices for what has to be done. Relying on a treadmill for training will lead to injury once out in the real world because only one set of muscles will be strenghtened and they will tear the other muscles once varied terrain is encountered.

 

[CSPSgt]

Here is a link for one way to do it or the one below.

http://www.wildsheep.org/pdf/six_minute_hill.pdf

I didn't have a big enough hill here in the flat county to do it every night so I just drove to the mountains every weekend for two and a half months. We saw 30 moose, 4 bear, 2 nice bulls, 5 deer and 3 small rams. Best shape I've been in for hunting in a long time. During the month of September I walked over 75 miles between 10,500 and 12,500 feet. Ran into a bunch of ewes and lambs but the big guys stayed in Rocky Mountain National Park. I knew that was a possibility go in. So as my hunting buddy for the last 40 years says "Sheep hunting is the best way to get into shape for Antelope hunting." Another buck down and she did keep up with me since she had been my sheep spotter for half those 75 miles. Also, my son and I didn't see the ones we were looking for but it made elk hunting along the continental divide a breeze. Nothing beats up and down the rocky terrain to get all the big and little muscles going.

 

[royinidaho]

CSPSgt,

Great post! Heck, even I can do that! The hills behind the house are sand dunes. Do they count?

 

[Buffalobob]

The Six Minute Hill results in an hour a day being spent exercising. A lot of people are too lazy to exercise an hour a day.

 

[Buffalobob]

Sheehan wrote a very good book on running after you get older. What he found is that the body recuperates slower so you need more rest days. While is is not possible to maintain the speed you once had, you can still be very fast. But you must be more careful with minor twitches and pain so it does not develop into an injury requiring a lot of recuperation. Speed days must be followed by rest days and long days must be followed by rest days. Mostly I just find that the days it rains and the days I go hunting and the days when I am just too busy seem to work out pretty well as rest days, of course I no longer race. Racing is a very time consuming and deliberative hobby.

Sports medicine is about 50% Voodoo, 25% witchcraft and 25% paid for by Gatoraid and the sports drink industry. Nonetheless, the current thinking is that for the older athelete that stretching is better done after exercise than before. The tendons and ligaments are warmed up and more responsive and less likely to tear. This is great for me because I always had trouble with a few particular tendons and several times I stretched myself into injuries. It is more important to the older athelete because all the joints get stiff and stride length is reduced. For hunting on uneven terrain with the many slips and oops-a-daiseys that occur, flexible joints help a lot in preventing a muscle or tendon tear. After logging thousand of miles running, I pretty much know which tendons in which place will stress first. Asprin, Ibuprohin, Tylenol will reduce inflammation. Inflammation is fluid inside the sheath and if you continue to exercise then you may rupture the sheath. It is important to get the inflammation down. Heat helps healing and wearing a sock at night for a bad foot tendon or something to keep the inflammed area warm will speed up blood flow to the area and speed healing.

Old injuries have scar tissue which is not flexible and likes to tear and it is something you have to be careful with it. You should know your old injures and how to deal with them.

 

[chain]

I don't run enough but I have found that I can run more/faster with weight training. Not heavy weights but just regular weight training. I try to mix it up. A few years ago when I was grossly over weight, I decided to get back into shape I talked to a spa director who was at that time a world class fitness aerobics person/physical trainer, she told me the only way to keep tendons and ligaments working at my age was hydration and weight training worked into my running routine. She is now the Spa director at Greenbriar I believe( she knows her ****). I use the weights more as a stretching tool than a muscle building tool. I outwalked my 30 something guide last year in MT.

 

[Guy M]

B-Bob - to get more from a treadmill, try going two minutes forward, face right and do two minutes side-stepping, face to the rear and walk/jog backwards for two minutes, then face to the other side and side-step for two more minutes...

After that, when ya get to face forward again, you'll be glad to be facing forward, and about ready to do it all over again. A couple of rounds of that stuff will work the muscles and tendons in different directions. Had to do that a while ago for some achilles tendon rehab, and it helped. I still do it.

During the winter I cross-country ski for exercise, but can only get out to the ski trails once or twice a week, so I substitute weight lifting, the treadmill, the elliptical trainer and a stationary bike a few times during the week.

It's like what they said about "virtue" - being in shape is it's own reward! Besides, it makes hunting the backcountry easier.

Regards, Guy

 

[Buffalobob]

I don't know much about weight training, except for endurance type lifting which is low weight high reps. I will say that the low weight stuff did a good job of rehabbing my shoulder that had been hurt by a fall. Basically, I just have a simple routine with weights that is designed to allow me to hold a bow at full draw for two minutes and still be able to get a good release.

A treadmill as a back up device or a rehab device is fine but nothing can take the place of a varied training routine and varied terrain. I run a course that has some very steep downhills and some very steep uphills. If you can go jogging one day and biking another and swimming or skiing or hiking another and just keep everything moving around that is ideal. The big drawbacks to jogging are high impact and lightweight flexible shoes. When you switch from jogging shoes to heavy insulated stiff hunting boots certain muscles in your lower legs will really complain.

 

[davewilson]

just read the 6 minute workout, it's what i do only about once a week. i do some push-ups and chin-ups on other days. the other maybe 3 days in the week i put the backpack/ boots on and walk in the woods. i wear the backpack when hiking all summer as it keeps the bugs from bitting the living crap out of my back!