I went jogging yesterday and only made it past the one mile mark and I had to start walking. My wind was fine but I got a pain under my left knee cap. I’ve learned to listen to my body from my youthful errant ways when I followed the mantra, No Pain – No Gain! After almost losing the ability to run, I figured out that if you have pain – lay off! I’m leading into my work out this afternoon.
I pulled my mountain bike out of the garage and rode it to the mountain trail I rode last Sunday. The cool thing is up the trail I have to keep the 21 speed mountain bike in first gear. That is really slow but it gets my blood pumping and I get a great low-impact (on my knees) workout!
I took some pictures from my ride last Sunday and will do my first pictorial post today. Hang with me as I narrate my route from my house to the mountain to where I crashed!
From my front yard you can see the trail leading down to the right of the telephone pole. I rode around the block along Santee Lakes on the way to the mountain trail.
Here is where I turned and the view of the lakes at the beginning of the bridge.
Here is the bridge over the lakes towards the mountain.
Panning to the right you can see the mounain where I am headed.
A view of Santee Lakes from the middle of the Mast Blvd. bridge.
West Hills High School before I turn off.
The start of the mountain trail just past the high school
The first look up the trail.
The start of my climb.
My first break – looking back down.
Starting back up the trail.
My next break – looking back down.
Starting back up again – I am only too happy to take breaks so you can follow my progress. 
The high school is getting smaller.
Looking back down the trail.
Starting back up again – stopping a lot so you call can see everything.
Panning around the bend – 1 of 4
Panning around the bend – 2 of 4
Panning around the bend – 3 of 4
Panning around the bend – 4 of 4
Giving my horse a rest – oh wait… I guess bikes don't need a break
I'm happy to be taking a break!
Another break – panning right – 1 of 7
Panning – 2 of 7
Panning – 3 of 7
Panning – 4 of 7
Panning – 5 of 7
Panning – 6 of 7
Panning – 7 of 7
The trail too steep – too many rocks too.
The path that broke my Walmart bike (I have a Schwinn now).
This is the trail you saw from the first picture at my house. Look about half-way down.
Looking back up at the ridge – I ate it again but this bike did not break. I have an impressive bruse on my hindquarters I am not going to show you.
The rest of the trail is easy – I won't bore you with pictures of that!
This higher trail I rode last Sunday and this afternoon only takes about an hour or so. There is a really neat lower trail that most of the mountain bikes take that is also challenging but so far I have not seen a bike on the higher trail.
Well there you have it, my low impact mountain bike workout that I have to do the incline in 1st gear (out of 21 gears)! Today unfortunately I did not take pictures so I did not get any breaks. My knees are still feeling fine and I did not over eat tonight for dinner! One day at a time but I am really looking forward to daylight savings time so I can get out longer after work for some truly fun (doesn’t feel like any effort) work-outs! I hope your plan is going well.
The trail up the mountain in your photo looks lovely. Living in Indiana I can only dream of such a place, especially this time of year. Thanks for your comment on screaming monkey.
S. Monkey
Hi Charlie,
Yeah I’ve got it pretty lucky out here. Last Sunday I went for a couple hour hike and then rented a rowboat at Santee Lakes and got in an upper body workout.
Hopefully it will be springtime before you know it!
Hi John!
I’ve got a bit of a background in the martial arts also. Running into a couple of guys from San Jose who were spreading their style of Kenpo in Indiana after I already had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do did a lot for me!
I once heard something about 10 pounds for each degree of black belt, but fortunately, with all the cardio, etc I do, I’ve managed to avoid the weight gain.
At any rate, you mentioned knee pain. I had Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome when I first began running. It really stopped me in my tracts. For me, leg extensions with low weight amd high reps balanced out my quads, and got the patella to track straight which totally eliminated the pain! I hope this is helpful for you.
Hi Dr. J,
I had not really thought about the muscles might be affecting the kneecap but I did recently see a story on the news that girls knees are very susceptible to knee injuries because they are slightly different angles than boy’s knees.
They suggested rounding out exercises for girls rather than just one sport, to strengthen girl’s legs into womanhood.
I had problems with my patella when I was younger due to overtraining – you see I wanted to join the Navy and become a S.E.A.L. and thought jumping into lots of running would be the ticket.
I just ended up inflaming the tissue under both patella’s and did not get accepted into the service from the Army doctors.
Your advice sounds like it makes sense – that perhaps it is partially the patella position? And balancing the muscles as you suggest is the ticket?
I’ll try this in my workouts as it is kind of maddening to be able to bicycle and hike but not jog.
Thanks for the advice!