I have to admit that I don’t do any speed work.I know I should and even though I PR’d a half marathon after taking a speed work class with a local running store last spring, I just don’t have the discipline.
What I am good at is cross training. And by cross training, I mean riding my bike.
Last summer, the weekend before I got married I finally bought my dream bike. I answered an ad on Craig’s List for a Cervelo S2 frame and fork set. Turns out I used to ride with the guy who was selling it. I made him an offer on Monday and Tuesday he delivered it to my office – service with a smile.
By Wednesday I had purchased a SRAM Force grouppo which was delivered on Thursday. That same afternoon, I dropped off the frame and fork, grouppo and my current road bike at a local bike shop (I was going to use the handle bars, stem, seat and wheel set on the new bike).
By Friday afternoon, I had a brand new bike and was on the way to my bachelor weekend with two buddies to ride the hills of the New York/Pennsylvania border – a phenomenal weekend!
All of this to say, I love riding my bike. When I ride, it doesn’t feel like something I have to do, it’s something I want to do. How do I get that excited about running intervals? Fartleks? Hill repeats?
When I do it with a group or, when I pay for the opportunity, I can motivate. When I get out there on my own, I have no desire to push my heart rate into Zone 4 (until I’m almost throwing up).
Until I can figure out how to motivate myself to do commit to speed work, I’ll just keep cross training on the most awesome bike I’ve ever owned.
