Sorry, I've been very late in getting back to this thread
![Doh! :doh: :doh:](/i/s/doh.gif)
. Last time I posted in early March I was dealing with a bit of a sore knee in using the treadmill. That did get better shortly after & I was jogging better than I ever remember
![Thumbs up :thumbsup: 👍](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f44d.png)
. I got up to burning >600 calories in an hour, like I reported here the year before but 1.5 months earlier
![Star :star: ⭐](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/2b50.png)
. And then I started having some issues that slowed me down. Essentially for the first time in my life, my cardio was not holding me back & instead I found it to be muscle tone issues
![Uhh... :uhh: :uhh:](/i/s/uhh.gif)
. It turned out that my weak (body) side didn't like the new jogging & after a number of times I started to get quad muscle soreness on that side. I was also slow to recognize this & almost jogged into more significant injury. When I did stop & take a break, there was definitely a light quad strain thing going on. I had to take a week off
![Argh :argh: :argh:](/i/s/argh.gif)
. When I got back on the treadmill, I quickly settled back into the higher intensity jogging routine again. And again, I strained that quad & had to take another week off
![Head, meet wall :bang: :bang:](/i/s/bang.gif)
. This was all new to me, so at least going forward I should be able to recognize these issues and better avoid problems.
All in all I had a very slow exercise start to this year. And it was very frustrating
![Cuss :cuss: :cuss:](/i/s/cuss.gif)
. As well, spring sucked here again & MTB season was very delayed
![Disgust :disgust: :disgust:](/i/s/disgust.gif)
. I only got out on the MTB twice at the end of April. May is finally starting to get better now, though it did snow in early May lol
![Mental :mental: :mental:](/i/s/mental.gif)
. And lately I've been dodging rainy days & soggy muddy single track trails.
And I did get a flat tire
![Rant :rant: :rant:](/i/s/rant.gif)
, one of the few I've ever had in my life on a bicycle. Had to cut the ride in half & still needed to walk the last two miles. At home I found a hole in the tire, so I took the tire off the rim & had my local bike shop patch it. All seems good one ride since. At least, even with the winter break & not being on the MTB since early October, I'm happy to see my MTB riding skills are still sharp
I'm trying to get out on the MTB as much as I can
![Man mountain biking :man_mountain_biking: 🚵♂️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f6b5-2642.png)
... so enjoyable
And holy crap, have I seen big cardio gains already
And that's only 8 MTB trips into the year
![Wave :wave: :wave:](/i/s/wave.gif)
. On the first MTB trip, I did 10 miles while taking easy trails; it was okay but should have felt easier
![Uh Oh! :uhoh: :uhoh:](/i/s/uhoh.gif)
. I did ~17 miles on the third MTB trip including the two most difficult trails in the area; it was very humbling as I stopped ~8 times on the cardio killer trail & another 5 or so times on the rest of the trails
![Zombie :zombie: :zombie:](/i/s/zombie.gif)
. Most recently, after ~17 miles on the 8th MTB trip (including the same two trails), I was over 15 minutes faster while only stopping twice on the cardio killer trail & no where else.
Big fast gains. I'm sure it helps also that I've been doing lots of MTB riding in the last 5 years, & other treadmill exercise in the 6 month off-season. Really stoked for this year with the MTB
![Star-struck :star_struck: 🤩](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f929.png)
. Bring on spring, summer & fall
As I've mentioned before here, reading this thread helps inspire me to get out & exercise
![Nod :nod: :nod:](/i/s/nod.gif)
. I hope to see y'all here sharing great stories & getting similar enjoyment
![Cheers :cheers: :cheers:](/i/s/cheers.gif)
. I'll try to post regularly & pay it forward.
Already a few times this month, I've vaped after MTB trips... so excellent
Vaping after exercise, what a combo!
Sorry for all the text, need to catch up more often.
Have a great upcoming weekend. Get out & enjoy if u can, cheers