Spring Black Bear Hunt

I just got back from my first black bear hunt in Canada. It was a hunting trip that will stay with me for rest for my life. This trip was the most intense, and unnerving experiences I have ever had. I arrived at camp in Brunswick Canada on a Sunday night and was in tree stand early the next morning. My open tree stand was only 7 feet off ground, and bears bait can only 14 yards away. This is what we call "nerve hunting" up close and personal! I saw no bears on first and second day of hunting this zone. I was completely alone about 10 miles from camp in deep woods. But my wait was worth it. On 3rd day, in early evening at about 4:30 PM, a black bear came out of no were silently from my right hand side. The bear started to eat some of bait for what seemed like 5 minuets. I thought bear looked a little small and wanted to bag a bigger one so I decided to let it go. After about 10 minuets of watching bear eat, it stopped, got up on its hinder legs and started

Implement Trail Running in Base for Injury Prevention

The shoes we run in today are great for reducing impact. There are a myriad of devices, gels, air channels, etc., designed to lesson compressive loads on joints and body. One drawback, however, is that if you do most of your running on even, paved surfaces lower leg muscles and joints do not have to work as hard to stabilize. Joint stability and integrity is crucial for injury prevention. This is where trail running comes in.

Running over uneven and varied surfaces makes muscles of lower leg work especially hard. Think specific strength training for lower leg muscles. I recently observed how sore my lower legs were after a competing in an off road multi-sport event. The tendons, ligaments, and muscles all get stronger in response to this type of stress.

There are a few considerations when integrating trail running into your training plan. Unless you run in off road events best time to incorporate trail running into your plan is in base. As with any new type of training stress it is important to implement it gradually. You may want to start off with one work out per week of limited mileage and steadily increase duration. Off road surfaces vary from crushed gravel, sand, grass, single track hiking trails, to rough back country trails. The more varied terrain more your lower legs and body will be stressed. On extremely rough and elevated terrain, hiking may be just as effective (and safer) than running. You will likely enter your aerobic base zones in this type of terrain as well, and may not need to run.