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Hi Chick,
Thanks for asking.
My heart feels great, but my other body parts are having a hard time keeping up. I never beat my best riding time which occurred about 6 months post op. My knees started bugging me so I had to back off pushing too hard .........I started alternating between 12K hard walks and 23K bike rides with a recovery day in between. I backed off trying to beat the clock in fear of cartilage damage. I am shooting for 'optimal' now. I have had sporadic knee issues since my 30s .I am still surprised by my ability to get up steep hills with ease , sometimes doing so lost in thought about something else. The knees are just about 100% now.
How are you? How is the boxing and Xcontry running?
 
Hello d33gs,

It seems you are doing very well, including your best riding time that occurred 6 months post op. And your current alternation between 12K hard walks and 23K bike rides is very impressive indeed. Shooting for "optimal" sounds like a smart plan. Bravo!! Have a wonderful new year!!
 
My heart feels great, but my other body parts are having a hard time keeping up
I can relate to this. Glad to hear that your heart is doing great!

How are you? How is the boxing and Xcontry running?
I've only had two very light boxing sparring days since surgery. It was with trusted partners who agreed that head shots would only be at 20% power. So, I've pretty much given that up, which is fine- maybe a good idea at 55 years old anyway.

I have been very active with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu- which is a grappling martial art. So, a lot of wrestling and when we spar we go hard, sometimes very hard. My cardio and valve seem to be doing great. There are times when we have to spar 10+ minutes at a time with no break, and my cardio seems to keep up with the guys in their 20s, for the most part. But, I have had a few injuries, not heart or valve related, which have slowed me down at times. In particular, I have had some rib issues. My ribs had pain that would come and go for several months after surgery. This seems to be something others have experienced as well. I think with the way the ribs are pried open during OHS has something to do with this. So, there have been a few times when I've had rib injuries in Jiu Jitsu, which causes me to go very light or stop for a couple weeks at a time. Are my ribs more susceptible to injury due to the surgery or is it just age? It is hard to say.

There is a local mountain, which I like to hike. It is a good steep climb- 1.6 miles up with about 1,100 foot altitude gain. It is a good cardio workout and I like to run on the downhill. It serves as a pretty good gauge for me as to where I am at, because I started climbing it about a year before surgery. I feel good hiking up and on the downhill I run. I don't usually time myself anymore. I was timing myself for a while after surgery, and could see my times getting close to where they were prior to surgery, but I really don't want to push things 100%, so I can't say for certain if I am back to that pre-surgery level, but I am close enough to feel that things are working great. I find that I enjoy my hikes much more if I just hike and don't worry about the time.
 
"I find that I enjoy my hikes much more if I just hike and don't worry about the time." Sounds like we are on the same page!
 

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