Life has a way of taking up our time and making us forget what is important, like our fitness and health. For me it was actually training that made me realize that I have gotten fat and out of shape. Granted, we all know when we’re out of shape, but do you really know how that will effect you? Its easy to think you can do something and fail to realize how much harder it will be because you’re out of shape and cant catch your breath.

I knew I was out of shape before I actually went and trained with Ian from Runenation. I even knew that I should start to physically train and prepare for the class. It was obvious that getting into the best shape I could before hand would help, but I honestly thought I’d be fine. Boy was I wrong. Things became blatantly apparent as soon as the running started.

Not being able to make shots because I was winded made life hard. It was hard enough to shoot while on the move, but after you got done running and had to do something like shoot from a barricade, it was obvious that I was having a hard time doing simple things. Even thinking straight was hard at the end of the day due to how physically exhausted I was. I did my best, but I could have done better if I were in shape.

Don’t fool yourself.

If you ever think that maybe you should start prepping for a task physically, then its probably a good sign that you should actually do it. Don’t kid yourself and think that you’ll be fine and get by. You may, but you also might find yourself working twice as hard or actually hurting yourself. Its not just about preparing for stuff though. Its about your health. Success in life comes hard enough as it is and it comes at a much higher cost when you really don’t feel good.

Fooling yourself can be another one of those things. What did I call them? Oh yeah, a barrier to entry. Its easy to fool yourself into not putting in the work to stay healthy because you tell yourself that you’re fine or that you will be fine. As I mentioned, I did this to myself and I’m sure that a lot of other people also do it to themselves.

For me training was like a kick to the face. A wake up call if you will. I’m not going to tell you how to get fit, but I will take you a long for the journey as I attempt to get back in shape and hopefully that inspires some people to get out and do the same.

So… whats the plan?

The plan is pretty straight forward, get in shape. It sounds stupid, but its that simple. I ran into a friend from high school who spent quite a while in the military and who is very knowledgeable when it comes to fitness and training. We talked quite a bit about the subject of physical fitness and his common response was to tell me to get a gym membership and to come work out with him.

Come to find out, my friend enjoys hiking as much as I do. Its been awhile since I had been hiking, but I used to do a pretty intense 2 mile hike on a nightly basis. I had worked myself up to doing it with a 60lb pack. It has been a good 4 or 5 years since I had done that hike though. My friend and I decided to take it on. Granted, since we started hiking we have yet to do it with any weight.

My friend, Jones (my trusty house wolf), and I have made it a point to hit the hike weekly. The trails have changed a bit, but they are still challenging. We’ve hit both the face and the backside loop. The face being the hardest route and the back side trail being easier, but much longer. The face trail is 2 miles to the top and back and it is down right brutal. Doing that again and barely making it was a real wake up call for me, especially when I used to do with a pack and 60lbs.

My house wolf and I at the top of Badger Mountain.

So you plan on hiking?

Yeah, a lot of hiking, but that’s not it. Like I said, my friend offered to put the time in the gym trying to break me. It took me a bit to get a gym membership, but I now have it and the plan is to hit the gym at least 2 or 3 times a week. Now that I’m an office dweller I have a lot more free time to get into the gym. It also means that I’m not getting the daily exercise that I’m used to. This makes it all the more important to get into the gym and to be active every chance I get.

Between hiking and the gym my physical fitness should get a little better, but that’s only 30% of the equation. What is the other 70%? A healthy diet. I’m not going to use some sort of fad diet, but I will probably end up eating in such a way that my diet boarders on keto. Your body does need carbs, just not as much as I tend to eat. I could use to cut them back along with a lot of the other garbage that I have become accustom to eating.

Between a diet and physical activity, hopefully I’ll be able to slowly work myself back into shape. Having been in and out of shape, I know how much better it feels to actually be in shape. It will make training easier, less hard on my body, and and life better in general. I’m also hoping that being in better shape will help me control my heart rate better for things like long range shooting. Especially in instances where I have to hike or exert myself before taking a really long shot. On top of all of this, the hiking is also training for some other wilderness adventures in the works for next spring.

Better yet, hopefully my effort inspires others to better themselves and get back in shape as well.