Training Log Archive: Nadim

Washington, D.C. From 14th & Independence Ave, I ran down The Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Potomac River along Ohio Dr., to Buckeye Dr., to Ohio Dr. to Basin Dr. up to Maryland Ave. via the Portals complex, to 12th St. to C St. SW & 13th St. SW. I had thought about riding my bike to work today but the weather had been forecast for rain and I was up too late the night before again. I started out running at lunchtime and proceeded somewhat easy to keep the stress on my knee low. Most of the route was paved. I used the grass where convenient but also had on good shoes and thick socks. The weather was partly sunny and in the 70s--in other words great. Before going out, I didn't think I'd run but a little more than 2 miles. However, by the time I was nearing the Lincoln Memorial. I was tempted to cross the river for a double bridges route. I thought it better to not risk it. The loop to the edge of the Hains Point penninsula was a little longer than I thought it would be. As I rounded it I needed to use the bathroom so I started thinking and then feeling less about my knee.

CNYO North American Championships-Long. I think taking some Advil in the morning helped keep my knee from aching too much. I was able to jog most of the way to the start. I enjoyed the running today though early on, I found that the small ups and downs and many wet sticks were wearing me out. In fact, I was tired and feeling sluggish through the first 11 controls. I made my first notable error at #3 by passing under it a bit and coming back. Going to #4, I lost my way but relocated at a trail crossing. Going to #6, I got passed by Andy Hall and a few other runners who were on RedY. I remember feeling heavy when I stepped on 3 different +3" diameter deadfall branches that broke under my weight--I thought it odd that with many others passing by, I was the one to step on and break these 3. When approaching #6, I was planning to cut across the marsh but when Andy and everyone else went around, I second guessed myself and went the way they did. Mark Cornish joined our crew on this leg too. Andy pulled up short on #7, then ran too low. The group split up with others finding the control and leaving. I think I found it before Andy since I'd seen him heading away a little before I found it. I took a poor route to #8, and on the next long leg to #11, I again decided against crossing the marsh. This cost me +2 minutes to others as I ran around on trails. I had ruled out crossing the marsh since the other marshy places I'd encountered on the course to that point were too slow to be useful. I caught up to Mark Cornish again before #12 and we exchanged some leads. Whenever I ran on roads, even the dirt ones, my knee bothered me. Vadim joined the hunt at around #15 and Mark dropped back with a different route choice than me as we were going to #16. I was moving slower and Vadim M. got ahead going to #17. He ran up the trail higher to pass #3 on the way there. I took a more direct line cutting in before him. It turned out that he missed and I spiked it. I finished ahead of him but well behind him in total time. At #17, I got to the control just before Tim Good who had missed and had found it coming from another direction. Bernie Breton joined in behind too. I pulled up short going to #18 and #19 but each time was able to correct and stay ahead of Bernie and Tim. My result today wasn't so great but I was glad to finish the weekend with a higher level of confidence in my knee and get some running training behind me. This was the first time that I had run consecutive days since the Letchworth A-meet last spring. I'm now better positioned for the Highlander "Light" (or Lowlander) next week though I did get a blood blister on my right big toe.

Red Y - Splits

CNYO North American Championships-Middle Distance. As feared after the sprint races yesterday, I was feeling the painful after affects of running upon my knee. I intended to jog over to the start line but had to stop several times. I ended up getting to the line by passing through the call up lines and going right to the front just as the start toner beeped and it was my turn.

For #1 I made my way slowly along and was behind some people on the single file elephant trail around the pond but I was glad that the first control was just over a rise--short and easy. The softer ground of the forest was much appreciated and I started to feel like I could run moderately. I was reading things well on the early controls and saw a lot of people including Mark Mace on the way to #3. I baubled #5 by rounding the left side of some green and cutting right toward the control but ending up too far to the right. Leaving that I opted to angle toward the marsh corner rather than take 2 sides of a triagle to dog leg back toward #4 and use the trail. My angle put me too far to the right and emerged at the marsh shore. It seemed that the quickest way to correct this was to cut across. It started okay but the stream I had to cross had a muddy bottom and I sunk. The water was up to my waist. Eventually I got across and on the trail to spike the rest of the way to #6. I made good speed toward #7 and soon found Bernie Breton. He seemed to come up from behind me but he had started earlier. I misread the control location and didn't use the clue so Bernie found the spur with the control while I lost time staring at a reentrant that had no control. This was the first of a few controls that I had mistaken up and down. Bernie and I passed Clint Morrison who, like many were disadvantaged by wet and foggy eyeglasses (it rained most of the time throughout this race). We leap-frogged the next few controls with fair accuracy. On the way to #10, Bernie and I split in the middle of the leg but rejoined in the marsh. I climbed too early and went too high thinking the control was on a hilltop rather than in a big reentrant. Bernie got a good lead on me as I figured it out. I lost sight of him. All of my cycling this summer paid off by giving me the strength to climb the hill to #11 at a good run--the climbing also seemed easier on my knee. Another person (Dave H.?) joined Bernie and I got to #11 just behind both. I pulled ahead going to #12 and felt confident reading the terrain again. I saw Mary Jones along the way. Leaving #11, I read things well half of the way but got too far right and again misread up and down. I skirted the right side of the green that I should have gone into and lead Bernie and Dave over two ridges. As we came back, Bernie found it. We leap frogged some more. Going to #15, I watched the right side of the marsh and expected to see the root stock. I came across one with a control too early and drew Bernie off his line which was more to the left. I had trouble understanding why everyone was to my left but eventually saw that they had a better line as we got to the control. Behind Bernie and Dave, I pushed a little to catch up. I did but it was too little too late. I passed Dave on the trail and closed on Bernie but he got to #16 first. There was a chance of catching him on the run in but I fumbled the punch at #16 and then didn't want to risk further pain in my knee by running hard. For a technical course, I was gladdened that I didn't make a huge error but mostly I was glad that I could run it after the pain I was feeling on the jog to the start.

Going back to the assembly area, I walked with Mary Jones and was limping much of the time. Our talk reminded me that I had some Ibuprofin that my surgeon had given me. I took it and within an hour I was feeling and walking much better. I had told Mary that I like to avoid taking pills for anything but it seemed reasonable in this circumstance since it prevents the swelling and inflamation that causes further injury and pain.

Red Y Middle Distance - Splits

Event: North American Championships
 

CNYO North American Championships-Preliminary. I started out the weekend pretty well. My goal was just to get through cleanly if not very quickly. I had a few baubles while entering and exiting controls but avoided any larger issues. Going into #4 I had come around from the right side and through the rough open I had read the edge of the field incorrectly. Some green areas near the edge of the mapped distinct boundary confused me so that I ended up too far right of the control. I missed the ride going to #11 but it sounded like that wasn't all that good any way. I felt slow and my splits show it in the open grassy areas. It was my lack of running training showing through. I still have to count this run as a positive one for me given that I'm just glad to be racing at an A-meet again.

CNYO North American Championships-Final. After waiting around in the afternoon rains, it was good to finally get going. I ran a fairly smooth race. Like the morning run, I was not very fast but overall I fairly good accuracy for me. Coming out of #4, I hesitated then ran around the long way. As I approached #5, I slowed, expecting to see the control sooner. From my conversations with Ted Good, Tim Good and Mike Eglinski, my route to the left was good. I was a bit unsure what to do at the map exchange area and didn't really flip the map I had until after punching. On the second look, I caught Phil Bricker as we climbed toward #12. I had a better line on it and ran into the reentrant rather than over the rim and down. Phil caught me soon after. I didn't feel that I had the running speed I needed to keep up on the road. He lead me through just about the rest of the way through the second loop. I didn't realize that he was finished until I started my 3rd loop. I left heading the wrong direction and was wandering as I aimed to enter the woods getting to #18. I stayed in the woods going to #19. I was slowing down the further that I went. On the leg to #21, I wanted to go to the left and come in from the road but the green looked thick there. I came in from the right, through the light green. There were a couple of things I would have liked changed about the map there. Some other people started to close in on me with the unfortunate route choice. I led them until one of them passed me going to #25. My visual inspection of the straight route led me to make the wrong decision to go around and through the parking lot. I reentered the dark conifer area a bit behind and then didn't go in far enough to see the spur. We both corrected quickly. The last few controls were steady, not like the furry of sprinting hard at the end. I was both tired and thinking it not worth pushing too hard and making my knee hurt more for tomorrow. As I lay in bed writing this, my knee is aching. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up tomorrow and on Sunday. I felt this was a pretty good race for me. Having a little moer speed (as in years past) would have been nice, but who couldn't say that?

Sprint Red/Blue Final - Splits

Sprint Red/Blue Preliminary - Splits

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Custer Rd. to Glendale Rd, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Capital Crescent Trail. Since Peggy had Max this morning, I got to sleep in a little and get to work about 50 minutes earlier. A lot of that time comes from not having to get Max ready for his day. The ride was about 1.3 miles shorter since I didn't have to go to his day care either. The trail was busier than I've seen it in a long while. I suppose this was due to riding in earlier. I passed a steady stream of people from Bethesda Ave. to Massachusetts Ave., while hardly getting a chance to be in the right lane. I wore a thin long sleeve t-shirt and shorts which felt a bit too cool with temperatures in the mid 50's F starting off but it was enough to have me sweating in D.C. Some of that came from leap-frogging another guy who seemed to be doing a fartlek workout. He would sprint past, then drop to 19-20mph again long enough until I would get far ahead. The winds were slower than yesterday but I still felt them.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I rode steadily and tried to spin more. I geared down eventually on the climb. I caught up with an older road rider and we split leads for a while with him eventually pulling away while another followed me. Without needing to pickup Max's trailer, I went on a more direct route home via Falls Rd. but I took one wrong turn making it a little longer than needed. I felt the continued NE winds. While well below some years past, my total cycling mileage this year is the most since 2004--a result that has much to do with my knee injury and making up for it by cycling instead of running.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. I got back on my bike this morning. Yesterday I took Max to a doctor for a regular appointment so I did not ride in. Yesterday I also go my freewheel cassette, chain, and both tires replaced along with having a short tuning and cleaning session. It's alwasy funny how trepidation creeps in. Worries about the bicycle being ready, feeling cold, feeling tired, etc... are all amplified beyond reason when I have short breaks in commuting. Once out on the roads and trails it pretty much goes away and seems ridiculous. The strange NE winds kept up. Winds from this direction are usualy far in-between in D.C. and when they do come it's often stormy or cloudy. Lately they've been producing nice cooler, partly cloudy weather. The impact for the ride was a mix of head and tail winds.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. The winds from the NE continued so I had a mix of head and tailwinds again. I rode steadily and picked up one rider before the water treatment plant. We traded a little but I pulled most of the way to Bethesda. I was at Max's day care in about 38:28.

Event: QOC: Hemlock Overlook
 

QOC: Hemlock Overlook. I started off running the short course. It was fairly easy. The bigger challenge for me was keeping all of my body parts working. My right knee felt pretty good though I expect it to hurt tomorrow. Going between #5 and #6 I was looking for a fence and had trouble making sense of the map. I managed to stumble in an open field twisting my right ankle. Instinct kept me fighting to stay on my feet which I did with significant difficulty and effort while hearing crack-crack-crack of ligaments being strained. I was able to shake it off and find the control. I was even good finding #9 which was slightly misplaced and which I'd been warned about. Trying to make some speed, I chased down a mother-daughter pair from Norway which had joined the club for this year. I should have been reading ahead more. After #11, I started to go straight to #12 but setting a bad bearing and being distracted by a man in front of me who was going the wrong way, I came back to the power line trail to avoid green and then plowed in. It took me a little bit to figure out that I'd passed the spur that the control was on. As I got to it, the mother daughter team was just finishing punching. I left in a hurry again and set a bad bearing again. I corrected more quickly this time but I lost time on #13 too. The total time lost was about 1:05.

I was planning to go out again for the Red Middle Distance course and was just about ready when Mark Mace came in and calmly told me that his wife Patti was injured in the woods. Unsure if we could walk her out, carry her out, or would need professional help, several of us cavorted and got in gear. Greg Lennon found a sort of wagon then went ahead while we called 911 and followed with the wagon. Greg had carried Patti alone, piggy back at least 50m before we were able meet them and get her into the wagon. Chris Rumohr, our Safety Chief from the 2007 US Champs was there. She stablized Patti's leg with towels and helped keep us organized in the woods. Several of us took turns carrying Patti where the wagon could not roll over the dead fall. An EMT met us for the last 75m with a stretcher. Since Patti was deaf and her husband Mark needed to bring their car, I went in the ambulance with her to translate. It's times like that when one knows just how poorly one knows another language but we got by. Patti told me she had stepped into a hole hidden by leaves and wasn't able to put any weight on her injured leg. Several people had stopped while she was down and eventually her husband Mark had come along on the course. At the Fair Oaks hospital Patti was okay and in fair spirits. When I left her with Mark and Billy, it was too early to tell if it was a twist, a fracture, or broken ankle. It was probably just as well that Mark had stopped me when he did and I hadn't gone out again to run the Red Middle Distance course since my ankles are weak from lack of running activity. I now have one hurting too and that would have been risky in the woods.

Short - Splits

From Mark Twain School and Park in Rockville, MD, initially I did some field checking of areas mapped earlier between Rte. 28 and Avery Rd. on the west side. Most of this was to investigate and make corrections to areas that were identified from the July Summer Short Series training. Instead of rushing these areas at the end of a field checking expedition to other areas, I took my time this go around and I think I fixed a lot of the problems. Afterward, I went to the area west of Avery Rd. on the east side of Rock Creek and finished off the section. There was an area of significant green surrounding a rough open field that was included. It had several features in it and I hope I got them well placed. I had hoped to get to the west side of Rock Creek, west of Aver Rd. but I'll have to do that another time. I expect it will be a quick section since it's very open however a lot of it is steep. I left it for another time.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. After a few false starts, I had a quicker ride in this morning. I started off with Max having a quilt since he'd left his jacket at school the previous day. After initially getting going and climbing a hill for couple tenths of a mile, Max reminded me that we'd forgotten his lunch. We circled back and got it but had to leave and circle back a second time from about the same place to get his helmet. I was a little frustrated with that because I was feeling tired from the long week of riding and I often don't feel good starting out a ride; especially on a climb. Max distracts me with something different to break my routine on many mornings. Sometimes it's a toy or crankiness or getting close to the road while I'm getting the bike and trailer ready. However, he is only 3 and I need to be better at focusing on what's needed.

As I was getting ready to leave Max and his trailer at his day care school, another rider passed by on the trail who I caught pretty soon after passing through the Air Rights Building tunnel. We traded pulls for a while but he was going faster than I. On most days I could keep up drafting at 22mph on the flats but the long week and this riders tendancy to slow down a lot when passing others, then accelerate quickly took it out of me. I let him go and get 200m up on me but I caught him later as he slowed along the Georgetown waterfront. He looked older and was not commuting. He was curious about a 5K race shirt that I had on and when I I told him that I usually compete in orienteering these days, he seemed to have some knowledge of it. He told me about a 75 mile moutain bike race in West Virginia that's coming up soon in which the riders need to orienteer their way to controls that are off trail. Surprisingly, there were steady headwinds from the south east which I noticed more after we split near the Lincoln Memorial.

Barring any bike failures this afternoon, this will be the first 5-day week in as long as I can remember that I've ridden to and from work each day. It gets me closer to my weekly cycling mileage when I was in my 30's but I wasn't commuting as much then and I used to mix it up with much longer and some shorter road rides.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Glendale Rd., Bethesda, MD. Going home, I had cool fall-like weather with great tailwinds to start out. After Georgetown the winds were more neutral except when finishing up the ride into Bethesda, I was fighting the wind again; it's a little wierd but most likely it's partly the shape of the Crescent Trail that creates the situation. I was mostly alone though I pushed for short while as a road biker passed and I tried to hang on. I got to Max's day care in 38:39 (10.74 miles) which was much better than the last couple of days. After hitching the trailer and getting most of the way home, I realized that my rear tire had gone flat. It was like my entry earlier today in AP jinxed me. The flat ocurred at one of the street repair construction sites just past Glendale Rd. Rather than fix it there, I figured it best to just walk the last several blocks home.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. It was about 62F this morning, warmer than yesterday and warmer than predicted. The ride was slowish and I may have been imagining some headwinds.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Though the winds were from the SE at lunchtime, by the time it was to go home, headwinds exacerbated my need to keep a slowish pace. I rode alone except for about 3/4 of a mile where I could draft before the faster rider turned off.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. It continued to get cooler this morning (59 to 60F starting out). Though Max had a jacket I was fine without one. I clearly was feeling the effects of the bump in mileage. I kept a slowish pace until a guy passed me for the last mile going into Georgetown. Once in Georgetown, he sprinted and I trailed along until he stopped to finish his ride.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I had a nice steady ride going home. I wasn't feeling very strong but I passed a steady stream of people and no one passed me. Peggy had called me while I was riding and almost done. Though I couldn't get the phone out fast enough, I could continue to ride and call her back. Cell phone talking riders are not an unusual sight on the trail to Bethesda.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. Max and I encountered construction traffic on the back streets around Bethesda. After dropping him off I took it easy for a long while. There was a slight headwind. I was doing around 20mph when the posse caught me. I jumped in-line and cruised to Georgetown with them before it broke-up. It was a nice cooler morning but still humid and cloudy.

Leaving at around 6:45pm from the inner courtyard of my office building on Independence Ave., Washington, D.C., I rode through the basement halls to the Indpendence Ave. Wing 1 entrance/exit, then via Independence Ave. to Montgomery Ave., Bethesda, MD. There were some headwinds so I went slowly. I caught a guy around MacArthur Blvd. who helped trade pulls to Bethesda. After hooking up Max's trailer in Bethesda, I headed to Rosedale Ave. and put some bonsai trees that my friend and old neighbor Bob Angell was holding on to for me, into the trailer. From there I went home on Northfield Rd. rather slowly so as not to tip the pots. I suppose I was distracted by the pots, the narrow streets with bumps and an oncoming car but I didn't even look at my old house... I wouldn't have guessed that to happen so soon after moving. It was dark by the time I got home.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. I took it easier coming in this morning and wasn't tempted to push by other riders. Initially I thought there to be headwinds but between Fletcher's Boathouse and the Jefferson Memorial, there were slight to moderate tailwinds.

From 12th St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Winds along the water were bad enough for a lady I passed to tell me to go ahead and block the wind for her. However once I got into Georgetown there was shelter. I gradually caught a guy on the flats who was riding a mountain bike, wearing tennis shoes and old style toe clips. Instead of going around him, I lingered and he sped up. Soon he was doing 19mph on the flats and 20mph up the hill. A few others we passed were riding fast too and they fell in step behind me. At the MacArthur Blvd. tunnel, our engine decided to stop or turn off. I led for a mile at a slower pace and got some help by River Rd. The group broke up but I took another pull and was alone by Bethesda. After picking up Max's trailer, I made my way home and was surprised by a car going a somewhat parallel route through the confusing Battery Park neighborhood that ended up pretty close to my slow pace.

I had planned to run but given a sore knee today and the hot weather I thought riding would be better and would build my endurance. From Northfield Rd., I rode various roads going around Bethesda and Chevy Chase (Custer Rd., Glenbrook Rd., Bradley La., Broad Branch Rd., Nebraska Rd.) to Ridge Rd. in Rock Creek Park, down to the valley along Ross Dr., then Beach Dr. all the way to Grosvenor Rd. to Democracy Blvd. to Newbury Dr., to Kentsdale Dr. to Bradley Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Northfield Rd. This was the second time this year that I got out on my road bike. Like last time it was fun but this time it was hotter (90's F and humid) and more windy. I tried to stick to roads with less climb and traffic though I got slowed by several intersections along the way (not included in total time which was 1:33:10 with the traffic stops). The Rock Creek Valley was a bit more protected from the winds but I would have gotten more tailwinds than headwinds in there. I was encouraged by being able to hold a speed over 20mph on this bike on flats and slight grades without much effort. It's so different when carrying gear and commuting.

Event: QOC: Lake Accotink
 

Rock Creek Park, MD/DC. After walking along side of Max while he rode his bike up to Candy Cane Park, and after waiting for Peggy to finish up her run, it was my turn. I ran slowly mostly along the dirt trails down to West Beach Dr. and to Grubb Rd., then back over the ridge to the DC/MD border. I also added on a couple of small loops to time my finish at the DC/MD border with the arrival of Peggy and Max. I ran the informal and unblazed trails that parallel the creek much of the time. They were fairly dry considering the recent rains. It was however a bit on the humid side. I kept my pace down to minimize knee pain. Whenever I tried to speed up it hurt more. Our intentions to go to Lake Accotink in Virginia for National Orienteering Day were muddled by questions of the weather and things to do at and for the home.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. I was a little quicker at gettting out of the house this cooler morning but seemed to run into a lot of traffic in Bethesda from school buses, construction vehicles, and commuting drivers. After getting Max to school, I kept a steady but tired pace. I passed a seemingly older guy with a commuting bag strapped to a child seat as he got on the trail at Potomac Palisades. He blew by me on the trestle bridge over Canal Rd. a mile later and got 150m up on me before I reeled him in at Georgetown. The headwinds got increasingly difficult as I got closer to work. A better tuned rear derailer made the ride a bit better than the day before.

From 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left work anticipating a slow and easier ride home. Hitting some traffic lights just right, a tailwind rounding the Jefferson Memorial, and drafting off a Honda minivan driven by tourists from NY got me off to a quick start. In Georgetown, I hit Water St. about the same time that another commuting rider with a sleek bike did. I tucked in behind him along with another behind me and a tailwind kept our leader moving fast. He slowed just a bit going up the hill. When he started to tire two miles later, I took over for a brief while but he charged ahead as the grade changed. We stayed together until Falls Rd. and I got to Max's day care school in 35:55 (10.73 miles); the fastest I've been all year. This was closer to the times that I rode on my own 4 and 5 years ago when I was in better shape and not so heavy. I cooled down going home.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. I was late getting started; it was cool and cloudy. Max and I saw Bob Angell on his run through the tunnel. I felt tired riding much of the way so I took it easier. Though the weather reported winds from the north an hour earlier, they definately were blowing in from the east when I rode. That meant headwinds. The winds were strongest in the West Potomac Park areas along the water and really slowed me when rounding the Jefferson Memorial. I need to tune the rear derailer to stop the incessant squeaking.

From 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I seemed to have headwinds most of the way. I guess that's the price to pay for what became a nice sunny day. I was around 38:30 at Max's day care. I again took it easy pulling his trailer home. My neck is loosening a little.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. I had my rear wheel replaced with a slightly nicer one and I tuned/cleaned-up the bike before going in. With a lot nicer space to do such work at home now, I was able to examine the bike much more carefully. The freewheel and chain rings are grossly distorted from wear, making the chain loose. I think it contributed the to squeak-squeak in most gears. The The front brakes were rubbing, unbeknownst to me earlier. Still, the bike was in a little better shape than last week. The ride today was slowish. I felt a bit sore from the orienteering on Sunday. My knee hurt a bit more on Monday but overall wasn't bad then. The almost constant warm humid headwinds today really made the difference. I kept the pace manageable going 21-22mph down the grade and about 20 on the flats. It got a little faster in Georgetown when a guy I had caught who had been drafting on me, took the lead. After splitting up and heading along the river the winds were more severe and I cruised in more slowly. My total cycling mileage in 2008 has finally exceeded the total for 2007.

C • Sounds like you're healing ... 2

C • House 2

From 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Somewhere during the day I got a stiff neck. It made it hard to look left. I had to twist my torso to do so. I had some fast company on the ride home. Three to four of us pounded away. I felt a bit tired and not used to riding. We broke up around the Dalecarlia Reservoir. I let one guy who had been following get ahead when another turned off. We broke contact but I ended up trailing him about the same 100m all the way to Bethesda. I was 37:29 at Max's day care and I took it easy towing the trailer home.

QOC: Bowie State University/Fran Uhler Park. For my first try at an orienteering race since the spring, I waivered but ultimately chose to run Green. I figured that Bowie was flat enough and 5.9K short enough that if I got to the point of needing to walk, I would. I started off a little rusty. Though I spiked #1, I misread #2-- I'd drawn the circle on my map incorrectly, went to the wrong side of a knoll and passed the control. It was a smallish error. After that I was pretty much on target for a long while. I played it a little safe given the low visibility at this time of the year. However, I read the subtle and sometimes dry wet ditches in the green areas well. My familiarity with the park certainly helped. Coming back toward the RR underpass a second time, I headed to where I'd drawn my control circle (for #13 ) again but I should have circled the boulder instead of a very small reentrant. It seemed that the reentrant was central to the circle on the master map. Leaving that control and heading out right to the RR underpass, I heard a plea from behind me. Someone young and perhaps military (from the "Sir") was looking for the control that I'd just left. I felt pity and with it being our first local meet of the year I told him it was behind him a bit and that I couldn't really help more. I had this in my mind still as I passed the easy control in the water pit just after the RR underpass. This was the type of control that was about 15m from a road and only there to force people to cross under the underpass. I just was not focusing on it and this breakdown in process technique probably was an underscoring to my lack of recent racing and training. I hit everything else on the button though I got hung up in some unmapped green in places (leg 9-10 after going around a bit, and leg 15-16). My mispunch would have added not much more than 45 seconds but I think I would have won the Green course otherwise. The next closest time that I saw was 17 minutes back but results were not in for all who ran at that point.

I was rather pleased on this outing despite the mispunch since I was accurate AND I could run. Jan set a good and fun course. Running was and perhaps still is the big question. I was sore starting out but by #2 I felt more confident and able to trust my step later. The knee pain went away nearly the rest of the way and I was just slow from being out of shape and heavy. I expect that the recent pattern will hold up so that I'll be pretty sore in the knee tomorrow but this day was encouraging. My GPS track indicates that I ran 4.44 miles.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, Custer Rd. to Park Ln. to Battery La. to Glenbrook Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to East West Hwy. to Chelton Rd. Kentbury Dr. Immediately after my run on Wednesday, I was feeling good but on Thursday I woke up hurting and felt rather set back. I limped about a lot that day. I was surprised this morning when my knee felt much better. There was some touch sensitive local pain but I walked about pretty well. It was encouraging enough for me to venture out again. I was off work early and ran over to near Max's day care for a parent teacher presentation. I felt better than running on Wednesday which was even more encouraging. I still had to manage the speed and foot strike for knee pain and some temporary tightness of muscles at times.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, Custer Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to St. Elmo Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to Fairmont Ave. to Wisconsin Ave. to Cheltenham Dr. to Tilbury St. to Sleaford Rd. just past Pearl St. I had left my van in downtown Bethesda this morning. After an hour of throwing out unpacked boxes, I though to give a try at running. It's been long enough after the surgery according to my orthopedist but I was hesitant. I'd been feeling pain while walking around earlier in the day. The first 100m was okay but the next 200m had me thinking seriously of halting the experiment. I was feeling pain upon landing my foot that was reminicent of pains last Spring. I was already going slow but slowed more and favored my right leg. With almost imperceptable gradiation, the pains subsided. I kept the pace to a shuffle and was surprised at how my knee held up. Maybe my Nike AirZoom Skylon's that I bought last Spring but never got a chance to use before helped. The knee felt fairly solid but time will tell. Now that the orienteering season is upon us, I'll be doing more with the hope of getting in decent shape one day in the not so distant future.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Montgomery Ave. via Bethesda Ave. and the Georgetown Branch Trail, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. via the Georgetown Branch Trail and the Capital Crescent Trail. This was my first commute to work from our new home. The ride to Max's day care along the nice west side of downtown Bethesda is about 6 minutes longer (11:54 total). It has more stop signs and now includes a few traffic lights. There are some alternatives including going past our old house which I'll experiment with.

Once back on my usual commute, a hybrid bike rider passed me as soon as I was on the Capital Crescent Trail. He wasn't going real fast at first so I followed along before trading leads. We continued to switch-off all the way to Georgetown and as we passed others the line became four persons long by the time we broke up. Only the two of us did the work. The other guy would push really hard on downgrades, then he would tire but it was a fun ride. I felt like I got winded easily during the ride but afterward my lungs felt better than before.

C • Check out my ride on the C ... 1

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington D.C. to 15th St. & Main Ave. SW. I left work looking forward to a casual ride home and anticipating surpassing my total cycling mileage for all of 2007. The weather was rather nice outside. When a traffic light was about to change to green at 15th & Main Ave., I moved forward standing on my pedals as I often do for a quick acceleration and getting safely ahead of some cars and other bike riders. I heard a sort of metalic clang and with some violent left-right wobbling to try to stay on my bike, I was quickly down on the ground in the intersection. I worried more about the cars that I knew were coming behind me so in a split second I was quickly back up on my feet dragging myself and my bike to the island in the divided roadway. It seemed that a spoke broke, warping my rear wheel which then got caught in the brakes and rear stays of the frame. With closer examination I couldn't find the broken spoke but neither could I straighten the wheel despite having a spoke wrench and being experienced with using one. I suspect the spoke break happened somewhere in the rim.

I suppose I was rather lucky when the bike broke. I felt like I had good balance reactions when going down and though it happend too fast for me to understand or remember how, it seemed I almost landed on my feet. I came away with only a small bruise and tiny scrape that peeled just the most outermost layer of skin on a small patch on my right thigh. It made me forget all about my left knee.

C • whew, close call! you got t... 1

After the breakdown on my bike I still had to get home. It was getting too late to put my bike back in the building where I work so I headed to the Smithsonian Metro Station with it. I had to wait until after 7pm which is when the Metro system allows bicycles on the trains. During that time I tried unsuccessfully to straighten the rear wheel so it would at least turn better when pushed. After riding the train to Medical Center Station with my broken bike I then walked along NIH and Maple Ave. to Northfield Rd. It was annoying to have to walk, annoying to have push the bike and annoying to have to make and listen to the scraping where the wheel rim brushed with every wheel revolution. Unless I held and pushed the bike just right, the wheel would get stuck again and drag. I walked somewhat briskly and the trip from the station to home was about 22 minutes. This wasn't the best way to start a new commuting route but it wasn't so bad either. It could have been worse. The bike could have broken far from a station and though I had a cell phone, our home phone isn't setup yet. Both in DC and in Bethesda, several other riders slowed to see if I was okay and offered assistance.

Ken Gar Palisades, Montgomery County. While Peggy ran, I walked along with Max as he rode his first two-wheeler. Of course it has training wheels. Max did pretty well. The paved trail to Garrett Rd. was mostly flat but I pushed Max in a few places. We were seeming to average around 7:40 per quarter mile. Max had a hard time judging the grade of hills. He was fearless on hills too steep for him and frightened of nearly flat grades. We had tried to go to a playground but it turned out that it was under replacement construction. Max seemed to get the hang of staying on the right side of the trail but as is normal, I had to remind him a bunch of times. After Peggy passed us just before we returned to the parking lot, Max took off trying to catch her. I jogged in chase for the longest distance since my knee surgery; about 150m.

Peggy and I have been working hard the last week. We've moved into our new home on Northfield Rd. We're still in Bethesda about 1.25 miles from our old place on Rosedale Ave. We've only been on-line for a few days. We're still unpacking boxes and are still setting up a lot of things.

From Northfield Rd. I towed Max through trails and back streets of Bethesda to Bradley Hills Elementary School. After watching Max play for a while it was time to ride back but instead of going home, we took more back roads to downtown Bethesda where we met Peggy and ate outside in the nice evening air. I expect much of this route to become my commute route with Max to his day care facility.