Midnight Bike Intervals

 Oct. 16, 2021

It's been almost 3 months since I developed medial meniscus injury. I observed my doctor friend's advice and avoided running over this course of time. Though my doc friend said it's a typical sign of aging and that I should not expect a dramatic recovery, I feel recovered enough to do some high intensity cardio workout, not of running of course, but by cycling, because it is one sport that the doc friend recommends instead of running (though I haven't entirely given up my hope of someday returning to running.

Tonight I did what I would sometimes do when I had a calf injury in the past--bike intervals. There is a 2 K straight road with moderate undulation about 3 K from home. I set my two interval times, one at 4 minutes and the other at 2 minutes. This allows me to kick the pedals for 4 minutes non-stop, and take a 2-minute break before the next intensive 4-minute ride. When I was preparing for a running race, I would at least do 8 sets, but tonight I settled for just 4 sets just to stay safe. I don't want to irrecoverably damage my left knee. 

After doing 4 reps, I rode the latter half of my favorite 10 K running training course, reflecting on the days I fiercely pushed myself beyond limits night after night...

I enjoyed the speed of road racer. But at the same time I miss those slow but metronomic steps of running, especially that heavy impact of striking the road, which in a way was a major cause of my knee injury.