313 Days Until Race Day - CREEPY

Snow is coming... so this morning, I woke up before the alarm went off at 5 am, and decided to get in a bike ride before it came. The temperature was 54 degrees and is supposed to drop down to a high of 34 later today, so after breakfast, I put on my bike pants, blaze orange fleece, headband, gloves and my reflective vest and headlamp, and got out the door by 6:15.

When I stepped outside, the winds were already gusting up to 30 miles per hour so I decided to do the bike path where it was more sheltered. And it was dark, really dark. My headlamp barely penetrated it. I skipped the unlit road, and rode straight down into the center of town where I'd be most visible. And I had to ride slow in case of cars or deer.

When I reached the bike path, it felt even darker. I carefully rode down the path, warning people walking their dogs or jogging that I was coming long before I reached them so I didn't scare them. Every other person was wearing a headlamp, and everybody mentioned how creepy the dark was.

I glanced at my odometer, and it said I was only going 9 mph at my fastest. I wasn't getting winded at all, but checked my heart rate anyway - 126.

Some sections were covered by trees, went along the creek that appeared black, or moved into shadows so I was really doubting about whether or not it was a wise decision to be out that early. My thoughts kept skittering around about what might be lurking in the bushes. Just as I reached the other end of the path, I saw a large shadow and then two sets of green eyes in my light, I reached for my pepper spray... oh, just deer - I could see their white tails bouncing back and forth as they ran away.

I reached the end, stopped under a light, checked my heart rate - 109. Apparently fear does make your heart rate increase... calorie check 396.

Then I took the loop that swung back and the light just started to shine over Lookout Mountain, though it was still too dark to see in front of you, I could hear small animals in the leaves scurrying around, but couldn't see them. I rode back at the same speed I went down.

So once I reached the other end, I checked my time - I still had an hour to go before I had to be back, so I decided to go around the path again. This time the light was better, I could see the white sidewalk through the dark, could just pick out that the small animals were just squirrels and rabbits, so I turned down my headlamp to just red, and picked up my speed. Except for the deer, the path was empty this time, so I was able to get in some sprinting. Heart rate check - 160, much better. Then I headed back to the house... total miles - 15.912 in 1 hour 30 minutes, calories burned: 1005. Done for today!

Have a great day! Donna