Ode to Speed Runs

So, last year when we were training I refused to join in on the Wednesday night speed runs through the neighborhood. I was sure that riding in the dusk/dark would be too scary. But, I just finished our second speed run and I’m hooked!

My last speed run was two weeks ago when I fell on my derriere. (One day I’ll write an Ode to the Zero Mile Per Hour Fall (ZMPHF).) I even enjoyed that one, despite the blow to by butt (and pride). We ride up to the north part of our neighborhood and run laps of about 2 miles. We ride as hard and fast as we can for 1 ¾ miles and coast for ¼ mile. We keep that up for about an hour.

Nathan and Stephen and I had to leave Erin home since she was putting a project together. Nathan and I made the goal of averaging 13mph. Stephen decided he’d let us ride as fast as we wanted and that he’d see us at the end. So, off we went.

Nathan and I took turns leading as we rode single file. I had to threaten to take his odometer away because he was paying more attention to his average speed than he was to the road – and it is a neighborhood at the end of a workday! He finally agreed to set it on elapsed time so that he didn’t watch it so closely.

We rode hard. I burned 500 calories and my heart rate monitor beeped that I was in my target cardio zone for most of the fast legs. We averaged 15.1mph – 2.1 mph faster than our original goal! We were pretty proud of ourselves!

After our last lap, we pulled up and waited for Stephen. He came back toward us heading west, so we saddled back up and turned around…well, I turned around. Nathan cut it too close and fell. Not quite a ZMPHF, but perhaps a 2MPHF. He popped back up and got back on the bike. We rode off home. As we were coming inside, I sent him to the bathtub to wash the blood off his wound. Erin quickly stepped in to wash and dress the injury with much fanfare.

Nice to know everyone got to participate!