[Josh Gray]

Well here I am, 8 weeks from the first day of a high country solo mule deer hunt. This has been a rough year for me. Back in February I picked up some bad Achilles tendinitis in both legs while training for a 50 mile mountain race. Training was progressing nicely but I foolishly did several hill sprint workouts in zero drop shoes and all the sudden couldn’t move uphill without a lot of pain. Even though I was still 3 months out from my race I let a mindset of perfectionism and not being able to execute my training plan exactly as I had hoped to completely derail me and withdrew from the race. In the 4 months since I’ve had long gaps of not doing anything. I’ve lost muscle and gained body fat. Last year I trained consistently and completed the 24 week mountaineering plan for a solo backcountry elk hunt, I arrowed a beautiful bull and packed him out unsupported.

Now I’m on the fence if I can realistically even be prepared for this years hunt. It will be off-trail, probably climbing through deadfall and persisting above 12k’ for a full week. I imagine my pack will be 50# going in and will be potentially packing out an entire animal that will add 80# (possibly broken up into two trips) Is this enough time to safely go about something like this? My enjoyment and comfort is not a concern, I know this type of endeavor will have a pretty high suck factor. My biggest fear is injury while moving through such harsh and potentially jumbled terrain hours away from anything. I know this decision is up to me, but I just want some advice if this foolish to aim for this, or should I swallow the pill of humility that I’ve procrastinated too long and need to focus on building my capacity for another hunt 4 months from now? Also if I do commit to this, what advice on training with this limited time would you give?

[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

[Josh Gray]

Seth,

Thank you for such a thorough and detailed reply! I’m gonna do my best to keep it from flaring up again with your recommendations and see where I’m at leading up. Thank again!

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