With hunting seasons freshly behind some of you and several months already under your belt for those who still have some time left, where did your fitness fall short?  On the flip side of that, what went very well for you?  I ask these questions because there is no better time than immediately following an event (or season) to evaluate your performance. Now that you've finished that grueling hunt and remember exactly where you were when you said "That's it, I can't take one more step" what are you going to do about it?  Even if you could take that step, how late were you getting to your spot because you couldn't quite get there quickly enough? 

You should evaluate these shortcomings while you still have a bit of a sour taste in your mouth.  Personally, there were several ascents that I struggled with.  It was literally me telling myself just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Somehow for next time, I need to be able to get my climb on better.  I'm in the midst of evaluating options including seeing if I can access the local high school football field to utilize the stairs.  Also, I have a hunting partner who found a treadmill that you can put a serious incline on.  Maybe I'll save a little cash and upgrade my indoor running machine. 

However, it's right now that I realized where my training lacked and now is the time to act. With that being said, I really liked the strength exercises I did this off-season.  They left me stronger than I've been since "back in the day" and feeling ready to tackle most situations that could be thrown at me during the season.  What did you do that really upped your performance this fall?  Was it running 3 miles multiple times during the course of the week?  Was it those 8-mile runs you did on the weekends?  Did you find some hills and load up your pack?  How about those squats you incorporated into your weight training that gave your legs that extra punch you needed?  These are the questions you need to be asking and answering.  The saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it.  These are the things that need to remain or even be exploited in your workouts. So while winter is beginning to set in (and you just ate too much for Thanksgiving) plan out your workout schedule leading up to next season.  Add some new things to improve your mountain prowess and note the things that worked and keep busting them out.  Here in 10-11 months you'll be thanking yourself.