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What do you consider "In Shape"?

What do you consider "In Shape" for elk season?

  • I run marathons to stay in shape. Maybe even a 50 miler.

    Votes: 5 1.7%
  • I run 1/2 marathons to stay in shape. I shoot for 13 miles in under 2 hours.

    Votes: 18 6.3%
  • I feel that being able to run 6 miles in an hour or less is in shape.

    Votes: 56 19.4%
  • I spend the entire summer hiking and scouting to get in shape. Lots of elevation gains worked in.

    Votes: 103 35.8%
  • I don't "work out", but am very active at work. I spend a lot of time outdoors all year long.

    Votes: 65 22.6%
  • I feel that being able to jog a couple miles or so means that I'm in shape.

    Votes: 29 10.1%
  • In shape, what's that? I'm a couch potato and don't understand why anyone would work out.

    Votes: 12 4.2%

  • Total voters
    288
Just saw the thread! Great progress ! That's awesome that you kept track of all your miles!!
 
Just saw the thread! Great progress ! That's awesome that you kept track of all your miles!!

I have always been kind of a numbers person so that helps motivate me as much as any of it. I track all my running with the runkeeper app on my phone and also have a running log that I keep up with.

https://www.runningahead.com/logs/17b912e64ad246e9bbe4a270366a97f6

Just a couple clicks at the end of the run and I have more stats than I could dream off.
 
Well @ 62 & a heart attack 3 yrs ago I can still outwalk a lot of folks here @ 7500'.
Not as fast as I was nor do I pack in 5mi any more. I go with my flow & will be hunting elk & deer again this year solo.
Was never a runner unless chased,lol. I swim some still when I go up to the lake,but surfing 35 yrs almost everyday gave me lungs. Yearly trips over 10k added lung capacity. Ride my mtn bike here at the ranch but used to race road bikes long time ago.
Never liked gyms. Lifting beams & construction work sufficed for years.
I weight the same and wear same size clothes as I did @ 19.
 
Great Job Nathan! I hope you qualify and have a great Race.
I'm not fast enough right now to qualify but enjoy running the marathons and ultras. I am doing my first 100miler this year hoping to qualify for the western states. If all goes well should finsh in 24-26 hours. Been dealing with a couple minor set backs this spring but always do this time of year.
RELENTLESS FORWARD PROGRESS!
 
I used to run a lot to stay in good shape, but life takes turns that a guy doesn't always see coming when he is 25 years old. Now I am 48 with a bad knee, three problem areas in my spine, and daily arthritis pain in my lower back and hips. I envy you guys that can still push your body and hunt/hike so hard.

I still so a lot of walking, with as much hill work as my hips can take, but its not near enough to call myself in elk hunting shape. For me, 1-2 hours of walking in the hills three times a week is all my body can handle anymore. I'm 6'1" and 185 pounds, and I eat as healthy as I can. I will be going to Colorado shed hunting in a few weeks, and the mountains will beat me up again this year as always... but I love every moment of it.
 
Well, I think this should be my last update to this thread.

I did it!!!! I ran the Revel Mt. Charleston marathon just outside of Las Vegas this weekend and ended up finishing in 3 hours 14 minutes and 36 seconds! An average pace of 7:25 per mile.

https://www.runrevel.com/rmc/results?pk=1526017

I cheated a little by picking a big downhill course to help make sure I qualified but I think I would have qualified even without the downhill, but it would have been a lot closer for sure. Technically it isn't cheating, but I think I may have to put an asterisk beside this one for my PR.

That gives me over a 10 minute buffer for the qualifying time for Boston so I can for sure get in if I decide that I want to run it.

My quads are still screaming at me 2 days later and going down stairs about makes me cry, but I'm still on cloud nine from doing so well on the race. It always makes me feel good to pass people at the end of a race when it is getting harder and harder and on this race I was in 262nd place at the 12.5 mile mark and ended up passing 110 people from there to the finish! I passed 11 people the last mile of the race and that was my 2nd fastest mile of the entire race even though it had flattened out quite a bit by then.

Lots of fast folks running this one that were trying to use it to qualify for Boston just like I was.

I guess I can pretty confidently say that I'm in shape now.
 
Big congrats!! That's quite a feat. Well done.

My BIL qualified years ago for Boston at a race in Vegas. We watched him there and in Boston.
 
We try and walk after work 2 miles with packs. We hike in the mountains and try and be in good enough shape we can put 8 miles on in fairly rugged country .
 
I read through this entire thread and got almost to the end.....before I realized it was 4 years old! Still awesome!!! I do think "In Shape" can mean many things. I definitely think there is a difference between Elk shape and gym shape. I had a young kid (22 years old) that worked in my office that went to the gym 7 days a week. Looked strong as an ox. Had him out to my house a couple times last summer to help with landscape. I was in the middle of training for elk hunting but wasn't in "gym shape". Well I could work circles around him with a shovel and he was 10 years younger then me. The next few days he said how much his muscles hurt from that hard work. I think that many marathon runners would make poor elk hunters and visa versa. Big difference in running 10 miles and hiking 10 miles uphill with 60 pounds. We all need to find our right "mix" that works for us.
 
I read through this entire thread and got almost to the end.....before I realized it was 4 years old! Still awesome!!! I do think "In Shape" can mean many things. I definitely think there is a difference between Elk shape and gym shape. I had a young kid (22 years old) that worked in my office that went to the gym 7 days a week. Looked strong as an ox. Had him out to my house a couple times last summer to help with landscape. I was in the middle of training for elk hunting but wasn't in "gym shape". Well I could work circles around him with a shovel and he was 10 years younger then me. The next few days he said how much his muscles hurt from that hard work. I think that many marathon runners would make poor elk hunters and visa versa. Big difference in running 10 miles and hiking 10 miles uphill with 60 pounds. We all need to find our right "mix" that works for us.


Very good point on finding the right :mix: as everyone's body reacts differently from physical stress and recovery. I believe older experienced western hunters can outperform the younger and "in shape." From what they have endured throughout the years in the mountains builds great work ethic and mental endurance. Once you are physically tested in something so demanding where you really have to dig deep to survive and do the job, internally that builds something inside of you.
 
Congrats Npaden!

While I'm not in your league, I do keep in shape hunting year round and also 4-6 days a week exercising (hill running, mauy thai, swimming, light weights, yoga etc). Pretty happy with my heart rate of about 55.
 
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