Training Log Archive: vmeyer

An hour of yard work followed by the DVD (week's quota is met), a shower, and then errands with Roger.

I am very happy to get workouts in today since I usually have issues with motivation after meeting a long term goal.

After a nap with Roger, I headed out the door to stretch my legs, and to get the minimum run in for the week. I'll deem that a mile meets the requirement for this week.

Walked the rest. Wow! Way more uncomfortable then I thought it was out thanks to the humidity. A lighter shirt would have helped matters.

Race Timing: EX2 BCB 10K - Little Bennett

A great birthday day. Race timing went very well.

Then, Roger and I had dinner with Sarah and Matt in Annapolis.

Here are Roger, Matt, and Sarah on the dock.



And Sarah and I with samples of her sewing. I am a very proud mother.

C • Happy Birthday! :-) 3

I have been contemplating cycling a 100 miles since I got a bike a few years back. I half heartedly trained each summer but never enough to feel comfortable giving it a try. Then this spring, I got a new bike which is a better fit, and a lot of the aches and pains I experienced before mostly disappeared. Also, the change of office location offered opportunities to stretch the ride out without going by my too tempting front door on the way to somewhere better to stretch the ride out. Oh, and the fact that PG made long rides the cool thing to do helped as well.

I am fairly positive that I'll never do an organized century, so I had to tailor one to suit me instead. Requirements were no roads, no big hills, no crowds, and no adventures. :)

Hmm, bike trail it is, and there is an excellent one of those very close to home. The W&OD is ~45 miles long (advertised as just short, but a detour makes is a little longer). So, I scoped out a 10 mile trail extension in the other direction, and the ride was on. I picked a weekday since the trail is extremely crowded on the weekend.

There are definite negatives to the bike trail, even on a weekday – lots of road crossings, but I had decided to embrace each one, so I unclipped and stopped at each one. I did not want to take any chances, especially with wet brakes.

The forecast early in the week was for a break in the temperature for the day – 85 instead of 95, and I was excited for this. But, it turned out even better then that. It never broke 80 for the day, with intermittent showers, and a chance of thunderstorms late.

I decided to drive the mile to the trailhead because I just couldn’t imagine riding up the hill home at the end of the day (about 75m climb over .25 mile). I parked in a legal spot for the day being careful not to park in the 2 hour parking. Hit the trail at 5:50 with headlight and light rain. I started out with a light jacket. From Shirlington, I rode five miles to the Humpback Bridge project construction and then back. I was a little anxious about this part – the whole afraid of the dark thing – but I did fine. Well, except I almost wiped out on the sharp left hand turn onto the Mount Vernon Trail from the Four Mile Run Trail, though I recovered in time. The headlight failed me.

With the overcast skies, I didn’t get to see a good sunrise on the Potomac River, but the airport lights were quite lovely (no picture since the one I took was out of focus). The bum sleeping under the railroad bridge was there again this morning. There were also a large number of people running before work, as well as cycling to work. This ten mile stretch probably had the most people I saw all day.

Back at the car, I picked up my Camelbak which I had left behind by accident, but I didn’t stress about since it only required a two block detour to retrieve it. I took off my jacket and stashed it in my saddlebag. I was also carrying two 20 oz bottles of Gatorade and more food then I could possibly consume.

Started the W&OD at the 0 sign and headed to Purcellville. It rained lightly on and off. I stopped at 25 miles for a banana, and then at 35 for a GU and a pack of peanut butter crackers. After a detour through Louden County, and battling some headwinds for three miles, I arrived at the turnaround.





My BFF, Chieko, met me in Purcellville. Shoot, I should have taken a picture of her, or at least of the food!! :) She had homemade chicken salad on a croissant, cold beverages, and watermelon. I ate a ton, stashed the watermelon for later, and then I changed my bra and shirt while Chieko refilled my bottles. I emptied my Camelbak and stashed it in the saddlebag since I wasn’t drinking that much, and I had retail options if I needed more liquids. At this point, it started raining pretty heavily, so I put my jacket back on, as well as a thin rain poncho, and then I took off. I suffered with the poncho flapping for a few miles, and then I took it off, as well as the jacket a few miles later.

The return trip (45 miles) was a bit discouraging since the wind was in my face the whole time, or so it seemed. Since this direction is generally downhill, I hated the fact that I felt like I was going in slow motion. At least I was able to pass this fellow.



Though, later on, it took me three miles to catch up and pass for good a VERY studley runner. We actually chatted at a light, and then I pushed as hard as I could to get enough of a lead on him before I got to the hill going up to the Beltway. I sighted him in my mirror about halfway up the hill, and I got up and pumped as hard as I could to make it to the top before him. He had stated at the stopover that his goal was to catch and pass a cyclist or two on each run, and I did not want that to be me!! Not me today, buddy!

On the return trip, I stopped at 73 miles for a Diet Coke and a banana, 86 for cookies and Chieko’s watermelon, and 89 for a pack of crackers. Besides the 20 oz of DC, I drank less then 40 oz of water/Gatorade.

About 1.5 miles from the end, waiting at a light, a young man commented on the fact that it hadn’t rained on him yet. I replied that I had been at it since 6, so I had gotten wet a few times today, and explained what I was doing. He congratulated me for my achievement, though I pointed out that it wasn’t in the bag if I got hit by a car in the last 1.5 miles. So, I was super careful on the last four road crossings, and I made it to the end safely! I asked a random person to take my picture.



The lack of heat was a huge factor. I do not know if I could have made the whole thing if it had were 10 degrees hotter. I took about 1:08 in breaks including ~30 minutes at the turnaround.

To quote Sandy, I'm still smiling at how much I enjoyed myself today despite the rain.

Anyway, this is my boring tale, only epic by my standards. I rank this up there with the 50K runs I have done, as well as the 24 hour rogaine (though actually only ~18 hours). It was tough for me.

C • Woohoo!! 23

Same as yesterday, but hotter, and slightly less resistance to getting going this morning.

Slept poorly because of a very painful thumb - smashed it in the dishwasher door. Remember waking up at midnight and 2 AM and icing it. Got some relief from that. Thought it was going to be a problem riding, but it wasn't. What was a problem was the middle finger used for braking. That I burned on the skillet handle. The only thing I didn't do last night in the kitchen was draw blood.

C • kitchen 9

It was a mental struggle, but I managed to ride to work today.

And, assuming I have to ride home as well, I have added the return trip in. Should be fun in the 95 F heat.

If the forecast holds, Friday will have highs in only the low 80s, and some scattered thunderstorms.