[Seth Keena]

Hi Josh,

Thanks for writing in. Achilles flair-ups suck. It would seem worth a try at least to get ready for this hunt. At the least you assess the week before and decide, and be in a better place for the hunt in 4mo. and the ones after that. You can reuse the last 8weeks of the mountaineering plan as that is a pretty good plan for heavy loads. Of course, your footwear needs to be right for the training and hunting.

Do not sprint uphill, obviously. Consider using a bike for some of the Base/Aerobic hiking volume. May use a stairs or stairmachine rather than steep slope, as this will reduce Achilles stretch. In the final weeks you’ll need to carefully test the Achilles. You can do a lot of training without a lot of Achilles pressure, perhaps giving more time to be OK, but eventually need to be 100% specific with training (ie stretching it).

Hip and core strength are important for maintaining Achilles-friendly gate during endurance events (hunting, etc.) Glute med and transverse abdomen are key areas to focus on.

Get training, test things and go from there.

Best,

-Seth Keena