Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max in his trailer, then to C St., SW, Washington, D.C. via the Capital Crescent Trail and Ohio Dr. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and woke-up tired. Having seen the weather forecast, the best in over a week, I had already planned to ride all the way in to work. I was 9:48 getting to Maple Ave. which is one of the fastest times to there that I can remember. It was pleasantly cool though I still managed to sweat some. I was doing 21-22mph down the grade and 19-20mph on the flats. I got passed just before getting into Georgetown but that guy slowed down there and I passed him back. I ran into a few areas with traffic slow downs. Overall I was faster than the my last rides all the way in to work which were in mid-August.

From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Maple Ave., then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I rushed out of my office just before my bike got locked in the courtyard and that got me going pretty good from the beginning. The conditions were oddly average--not much wind, humidity or heat. There were lots of other cyclists and runners out and this created some traffic starting out and near the end. Somewhere after Georgetown I picked-up a drafter and pulled him until just after the Air Rights Building tunnel in Bethesda. I guess he kept me a bit more interested in pushing harder than I should have. I also didn't know how fast I was going. In my rush to leave the office I'd left my cycling computer there so I timed using my wrist watch and used the distance from many earlier rides. I got to Maple Ave. in just under 38 minutes and home with the trailer in under 10 minutes from there.

Event: QOC Hemlock Overlook
 

QOC: Hemlock Overlook Regional Park, VA. I did the Freestyle Long course--it was a fun score-o with no time limit other than being in by 4pm. The time limit was not totally trivial since Peggy and I were splitting watching Max (I got a lot of help from Dasha Merka and the Lennon family). Victor Lin was the course setter and setup the event to be similar to a rogaine. Victor stated the distance of my course to be approximately 9.2K though my route was not quite as efficient as that. It was too bad that I left my GPS at home too. I wonder how far I really ran. I started running a few seconds after seeing the map for the race and didn't do any extensive control planning. I made a few errors but none were big. Perhaps the worst was one in which I looked for a depression in a small clearing (#133). Having reached the clearing I expected to see the control on one side and missed seeing it for about a minute behind some grasses on the other. I also over ran a pit on a ridge (#137) and missed a shallow ditch in some green (#120). I also had a change in direction going first for one control then changing my mind when almost there to go for another. I left the geener areas in the north which also happened to have some steep hills for the end. With only one water stop early on and it being somewhat warm, I was running out of steam by the time I got to that loop and was a bit slower than expected. I was a bit disappointed at not having broken 10 minutes per kilometer. Besides the small errors and sub-optimal route, there was a fairly good amount of climb and an unfield checked green area that contributed to that.

Great Falls National Park, MD. Starting from the intersection of Falls Rd. and MacArthur Blvd. I moved into the park and worked on updating the map in some areas where courses will pass through for a planned QOC meet in December. I took a lot of GPS tracks. One was for a trail but most of the others were to update the vegetation. Many areas that were mapped as light green or green on the previous master map have opened-up quite a bit. Clumps of saplings and small trees form navigable features in the park and in some cases there are clear corridors for faster running that just didn't show up before. I got a late start and will need to go back to update other areas. I ran quite a lot of the time as I moved around the groups of trees. It was fun to be mapping again and I felt pretty good.

From Northfield Rd. to Wisconsin Ave. at Elm St. to see a late movie, then I wandered a bit on the way back, stopping to pickup a snack. I was riding around in the dark enjoying the kind of solace in the cooler air and quiet steets.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln., to Maiden Ln. to Whittier Blvd. to Woodhaven Blvd. to Bradley Blvd. to Valley Rd. to Ridge Rd. to McKinley St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I would have cycled to work today had the forecast not been calling for more rain--once again it never came. The first time and last time I did this route was on 3/2/2009 when I was about 9 pounds heavier and there was some snow and ice on the ground. I was about 3 1/2 minutes faster today. I did have to slow in some spots today where I couldn't see the dark unfamiliar sidewalks or trails very well. Once again I got started running at 10pm. It's not a good habit to have to run this late since usually by that time I'm too tired and often other needs take priority. The continued nice cool and sea breezy weather from the SE sure did make it easier though there were a lot more hills this evening. I do like running on suburban streets at night as I did for much of this run. The streets were rather quiet. Street running like this lets me get a good stride going and reminds me of summers long ago when I did a lot of running at night.

From Northfield Rd., to Roosevelt St. via the trail at Charlcote Rd. to Garfield St. to McKinley St. to Hartsdale Ave. to Folkstone Rd. to Bradmore Dr. to the trail along the school to Bulls Run Pkwy., to Singleton Dr. to Beech Dr. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd. I left work late. I started running at 10pm after having had dinner at 7:30pm. The weather was breezy and nice but humid. It reminded me of sea breezes which is probably accurate too--we've been getting some rather unusual winds from the east. I saw several people outside and walking about.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station (at Maza Gallerie), Western Ave. to Friendship Blvd. to Willard Ave., to N. Park Ave. to Fallstone Ave. to Warwick Pl. to Dorset Ave. to the Little Falls Trail to Little Falls Pkwy. via Bethesda Pool, to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station at Edgemoor Ln. I left work late and got delayed on the Red Line. By the time I got to run, there wasn't much time left so I did this shortish run. It was downhill starting out, then had good hill in the middle. To finish I had a more gentle railroad grade but overall there was a modest net gain in elevation. On the CCT I moved well and had to work to pass a guy.