trusting your physical ability.

[pointysticks]

i didnt grow up all that active. no sports. i'm not that athletic. no real excuses.

so, after about a 1000 cheeseburgers and too many hours on a couch..let's just say.."stretchy pants". hah. a few elk hunts ago..i was miserable. taught me a life lesson. hunting, any hunting is safer and much more pleasurable when healthy and fit. i slowly turned it around. i started exercising to chase elk. elk was my sole motivation. i started finding being healthy a real pleasure as well..and i just like it. i kept at it.

however, being who i am, and what i was..i just dont have confidence. before a backpack trip..or a pack hunt..i worry about my preparedness. will i make it? what else can i take out of my pack? i've lost sleep before. even during a hike..i look at a topo map at upcoming climbs..and anxiety creeps in.

crazy, dumb mind games.

this past weekend..i took a huge step forward. i agreed to do a training run with a SWAT team. this was in El PAso. 109 degree temps expected. they scheduled a 7:00am run..it was still creeping up to the 90's!! at the meeting point..the cop gym..everyone showed up to stretch. everyone looked so fit! like superheros. i didnt sleep all that well, because i kinda worried about the run. excuses crept up. elevation of 3500, the heat, my asthma..etc. i stretched and tightened my laces.

off we went! no warning.. everyone just stared running. wow. i took off. i set a great pace behind one guy, mid-pack. up and over hills, thru parks. i'm like a pack horse. i can tell when we are heading back home. i knew i was gonna finish strong. as we approach HQ, i see the fast guys approaching me. i ask the first one, "what? someone lose their wallet?" the guy running nearest me, chuckles and tells me.."no we run back to the slowest runner and come back in together"

seriously? we just trotted down a grade. but i happily did the "pole touch" and pull the u-turn. i was not the slowest.

(in all seriousness..i was not the slowest because the slow guys look light heavy weight lifters..like they could pop my head like a grape..they were HUGE. not easy jogging with that muscle mass. super friendly guys, the entire group. they thanked me for joining them. it was my honor)

[Lefty]

My life depends on it.
I was not really an athletics in HS, school , wrestled on JV as a 9th grader , gave it up to trap, play city hockey ( not good enough to make the HS team) After high school I did run to stay in water-sking shape and hiked a lot of lakes and rivers trapping in the winter in MN. My 7 th year in college( for some reason I didnt take classes in the fall ) I was offered a full track scholarship after I smoked the mile-runner at Mankato State, I wasn't going to run when I should be hunting fishing or trapping.
short version.
My wife said she would "kill me" if I died because of stupid in the woods.
My Doc sent me in for a stress test and the nurse let it slip, I was in really great shape for a guy my "size". Freaked my doc out who is a marathoner when it took three more minutes to reach my heart rate which placed me in the top 5% of guys my age.
For an overweight guy I can cover miles on the flatter stuff,
Two years ago I climbed Mt Borah. I was the first guy going up in the morning and the last one down. A guide with the group I tagged along with said he had never seen a guy my size make it
Five months later I tried running cat traps , complained to my doc,. thats what got me the new hip.
I am committed to drop 20 or lbs this summer.
I know what I can do, and avoid overdoing it at my risk. I spend a lot of time in the woods and desert and I find some weird joy in the pain from miles or elevation.
With that said I spent two full weekends chasing elk. While I dont hunt on Sundays for personal religious reasons I needed Sunday to recover from Saturdays hunts both times, but was ready to go Monday.
slow and steady can win the race

[ElkNut1]

Hey Cliff, great job there bud! Yes you've come a long ways compared to your beginning! Elk & hunting elk can do strange things to us, they are a true motivator. I know without the thought & desire to hunt elk I too would be a different individual but wanting to hunt them for many years to come has given me the needed drive to push hard year around to stay in elk shape! Great job & your run & doing better than just hanging with those athletes! (grin)

ElkNut1

[zpd307]

people say I am crazy for running a marathon. many say its not needed to hunt elk. running marathons is my mental and physical test..... if I can keep going during the marathon when I have many excuses to quit, then that mtn wont stop me either. good job on your test!

[LckyTylr]

As you mentioned in your OP, you didn't play organized sports while growing up. I would imagine that a lot of Elknuts did play one sport or several as younguns. I think the advantage for past sports participants is the whole "group think" mentality. You would typically have a hard-ass coach barking out commands and forcing you to do physical exercise during practices. The first week of any practice season is always the worst, just like opening weekend of elk season, it makes you realize how inactive/unprepared you have been. Even if you physically trained before hand, nothing can really prepare you for the rigors of that first week. What I remember of my sporting days was that I was always somewhere mid pack. I wasn't the fastest or strongest guy, but I certainly wasn't the slowest or weakest. We'd be on our 6th set of wind sprints, lungs burning, leg muscles cramping up, running out of gas. I'd look to my left and see the pain and misery on the faces of the fast guys. I'd look to my right and see the same thing on the faces of the slow guys, but every time that whistle blew, we all took off like a pack of hungry wolves. The level of commitment and dedication was rarely questioned, we hustled and pushed through our bodies limitations. By the end of the first week, you are sore, tired and wondering why you put yourself through the exhaustive process, BUT . . . you made it through, you made the team, and you proved to yourself that you can prevail over any challenge coach throws at you. On week 2, your legs are a little less sore, your lungs have more capacity, and you are already faster. The confidence begins to emerge and soon it's game day. The goal/elk is in front of you, all it takes is commitment and hard work.

Just because you didn't grow up playing sports, doesn't mean you don't have it in you. By participating in that SWAT run, you know you have it, you know that you ran with some pretty elite fitness-oriented individuals. This should give you the confidence to push your limits. It might be a little harder to reach that breaking point without a coach barking orders at you, but this is where mental strength comes to play. During your summer training, you be the abuser, you set the goal and ALWAYS exceed it. I like to set a distance goal for my training runs. I always run at the same pace, I only vary my distance. Once I get within a few hundred yards of my distance goal, I pick up the pace and stride it out. As I reach my destination, I think of a new ending point . . . I settle back down to my pace and run another 1/2 or 3/4 mile . . . just because I know that my body and mind will benefit from the added challenge. It sure s*cks at the time, but when you finish, the sense of pride in your accomplishment is payment.

Just thoughts, I think all Elknuts have it in us. For some of these guys, it's easy to push to the max and beyond. For others (myself included), it's easy to talk myself out of "climbing that ridge" or "dropping into that canyon". Sometimes, I'll talk myself out of a hard stalk, I'll make it 1/2 mile down the trail before I finally realize that I'm being a wimp and that in the Off Season, I'll wish I had done it. So . . . I'll turn around and make that stalk. Other guys, they'd dive off without a 2nd thought. It's important to realize what kind of mental strength you will need PRIOR to the season. Continually test that strength until you have the confidence you need.

[pointysticks]

Thanks.

It is great motivation to keep it up. I did a trail run yesterday faster than ever. Getting off the couch was a no brainer.