That sucks man, get well soon! In high school I tore my ACL playing football days before a hunting trip. I was able to go and barely participle. Taught me to avoid anything that may compromise my hunting, cuz Hunting > football.
I've been dreading the long term damage ever since, but the healing is going surprisingly well. I was sure I'd be slated for surgery or hardware but so far it's not on the table. Doctor said I could consider getting back on the ice in October, though I'll probably wait til November or December. Mentally, I just can't not play. If I lost the leg, I'd be on the sled hockey team in a heartbeat.
That good news! Might consider some good high ankle boots in the hills while that ankle gets strengthened as well.
Good luck!
I just listened to what I thought was an interesting podcast about building muscle endurance on the Hunt the Back Country Podcast. The gist of it was the guy they interviewed trained many successful endurance athletes and special forces operators. all of them improved tremendously when strength training was incorporated with traditional endurance like hiking and running. They were not building muscle to benchpress 300lbs once but strength to do repeated movements over and over, like carrying a heavy pack during a hunt and at the culmination of a successful hunt increasing that load even more carrying out an animal.
