Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. I wonder if this is the last time riding to work from Rosedale Ave. I felt headwinds starting out. It turned out that they were coming from the NW but I didn't know it until much later. After Massachusetts Ave., I caught a guy and then he accelerated to faster than I planned to go so I drafted on him several miles till just past Fletcher's Boathouse. I took over from there into Georgetown. We were doing 23-25mph on the downgrade and 22mph on the flats. Finishing up I was trying to keep the average pace above 18mph but with traffic, that didn't work out. I did a good amount of boxing-up our stuff on Sunday.

SSS, Blockhouse Conservation Park, Montgomery County, MD. Since Peggy had setup the training event and was watching Max, I got a chance ot get into the woods. I didn't run but got back into the practice of reading the map for more than mapping. I did take a pencil and made stops to record map updates. I also went out of my way a few times to capture new features (with GPS and by observation). I found the rest of the new trail that I'd mapped earlier and after 5 controls I did more mapping than navigating to controls. The purpose of the exercise was to know how high one was on a hillside. I noted a few places where either the control placement or the map was wrong and I could tell which. It was fun to be out. My knee wasn't so good but fine enough to do this. Just walking in a store earlier in the day, it buckled out from under me, causing me to whince a bit. I spent a lot of the morning packing boxes for our move.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. I got a late start but it was still relatively cool under the trees. Winds were from the east so they slowed me in DC. I passed a group of cycling tourists who were loaded down and looking like they were finishing up in Georgetown.

From 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. I rode a steady and good pace up to the McArthur Blvd. underpass and slowed with more headwinds going into Bethesda. It was a little quieter on the trail and there were few people downtown at around 6pm; not even many volleyball players. I got to Max's day care to pickup the trailer in 39:30 which surprised me because of how much I was slowing down the last 3 miles.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD, to 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. After getting to Max's day care we relized that I'd left his lunch on the porch at home. I rode home and back again before getting on the trail. I felt a bit energized by a day off and the cool air (low 60s F). At River Rd. I caught and passed a guy who had just gotten on the trail. After towing him for a mile or so doing 22-23mph on the downgrade, he passed me and accelerated. We were doing 26-23mph for a while before calming it down to 22-23mph on the flats after Fletcher's Boathouse. In Georgetown, we kept moving along (I was just hanging on) until I heard a TING-TING... TING, the telltale sound of something metal falling off my bike. I stopped and circled back to find that my chain-wrench multi-tool had come out of my seat pack. No, the pack hadn't been burning up from the blazing pace but it was disintegrating at the seam. It's funny that it came apart on the smooth road and hadn't fallen apart on the bumpier trail. I had failed to replace it since noticing the seam splitting earlier. I rode a saner pace the rest of the way. This is the 3rd time this week that I've seen Georgetown and GWU runners on the trails. There was a bit of a headwind on Ohio Dr. I ate too many cookies while watching the Olympics last night and had weighed in at 178 that morning.

C • Duct tape... 2

Like Tuesday, I left after 6pm from the inner courtyard of my offices building and rode through the basement halls to the Indpendence Ave. Wing 1 entrance/exit, then via Independence Ave. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. I rode inconsistently. Fast along Independence Ave. with the cars, I was slow going up the first part of the grade past Fletcher's Boathouse. I finished faster but not very fast. There were lots of beach volleyball players out again.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD, to 12th & C St., SW, Washington, D.C. My knee is feeling stronger every day. I can now walk down stairs better most of the time and without using the handrails. I was able to beat Max in a "sprint" to get the newspaper this morning and surprised myself when my knee didn't hurt doing it. I didn't push my luck so Max beat me on the way back in. For the last couple of weeks he'd been beating me on these newspaper jaunts pretty regularly. Riding in was nice. The air was cool most of the way. There were slight headwinds from the southeast. I kept a good cadence at the sacrifice of speed rather than try to push hard.

C • Nice job! 2

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 Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. I had to go through the building because it was around 7pm and the gate was locked. I was feeling tired starting out. Head winds were blowing strong and steady out of the north. After Georgetown, a guy I had passed on the streets caught me on the trail as I was slacking. I tucked in behind him. He kept a good pace going to the Dalecarlia Reservoir and almost lost me on the water treatment plant bridge. He turned away at the reservoir. By then I was feeling hungry and more tired so I slacked off even more. Eventually, one other guy passed me but we got separated at a traffic intersection. I expect that I'll be in for many days like this as I slowly work back toward being in shape.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD to 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Today marks my first return to bicycle commuting. I thought I was organized enough and left with just a twang of that feeling that I'd forgotten something. Once on the bike it felt a little sad knowing that in about another week my easy little ride to Max's day care will change. The distance will just about double. Sure enough, after I dropped him and the trailer off at his day care class, I realized my bike felt light. In all the distractions of getting myself and Max ready earlier, I'd left my pannier at home and had to go back (via Pearl St.) to get it. On the trail going to work, I kept a comfortable pace and passed a few people but didn't see very many riders. There was a slight headwind on Ohio Dr.

From 12th & C St., SW, Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. Winds were mixed initially but generally favorable. I saw Sam Listwak amongst the many beach volleyball players on the courts between the Lincoln Memorial and the Roosevelt Bridge. I caught 2 guys before Fletcher's boathouse. Perhaps due to their experience and passing others we never got a line going. I felt I was keeping a pretty steady pace but whenever the other two went around me or each other, they took off. We kept catching each other again later. I was a bit surprised I was able to ride at this effort after having not ridden much the last few weeks.

From Deer Meadow Ln., Rockville, MD to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD, via Redland Rd., Lake Nedwood, Avery Rd., the Rock Creek Trail, Beach Dr., Kensington Pkwy. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maple Rd. to Northfield Rd. to Battery La. to Rosedale Ave. After spending some time at a pool with the family, a friend from our running club and her grandson, I rode back home taking the long way. This was the first time that I've gotten my road bike outside all year. It felt so much nicer than my commuting bike! Despite my own heftiness, I felt I was able to climb with ease and move along well. It was rather warm in the upper 80's F when starting and breezy but the generally nice low humidity day probably helped too. Close to done with the ride, I uncharacterisically took advantage of some lemonade vendors on Beach Dr. near the Kensington Pkwy. They were a bit challenged to figure out the change for a $5 bill after 2 50 cent glasses but they had a good product--ahh Summer!

Arlington, VA. Valerie Meyer hosted a Summer Short Series training event from her house. It was an urban one which I was able to bicycle. I used my commuter bicycle just because I wasn't sure if I'd need to walk around a little or not. Like the previous year, the controls consisted of writing down answers to questions about a control location and it was fun. The hills in the area are steep so I often had trouble trying to hold the 5 pages of maps in the map case while trying to use the brakes. I misread the initial questions for #1 thinking that one question was for #1 and the other for #2. I perhaps made only one error when leaving #6, the theatre and heading toward 7. I should have changed the maps first, and then I would have seen the 6a, 6b,6c, and 6d loop which Valerie had told me about earlier. I went around the long way on roads (to George Mason Dr.) from #9 back to her house. My legs felt pretty good. I think I was able to push harder going up hill with my left knee than earlier too. The total time cycling was actually 34:04 with the difference being stops at controls to look and interpret questions, write down answers, and one bit of confusion after #8 to try to find my way to the path with the bridge over the creek.

Blockhouse Conservation Park, Montgomery County, MD. I was off today to take Max in for a doctor appointment and later I had a checkup with my own orthopedist. My orthopedist seemed to indicate that I should do more exercise than I have been and by doing so, it would help lessen the remaining swelling. It's a counter-intuitive reasoning. He said the swelling is what puts pressure on the wrong parts and causes pain. I have been doing much better going up stairs but haven't been able to walk down stairs normally yet.

After my orthopedist visit, I went to Blockhouse to both map a new trail on the north part of the park that Dan Quinn had told me about and to re-field check an area which I had done earlier but lost the paperwork for when cleaning up to sell our house. I anticipated the new trail to be one for mountain bikers since I'd heard of an effort to make one along a greater length of Muddy Branch. I figured it'd run through the main parking area or be low along the creek. I didn't find it so I proceeded to my other objective. My knee got better the longer I went. The soft shoes on the soft earth helped too. Before long I felt like I could tackle the steeper hills going both up and down. I was only walking but it felt like I was doing some work. It was in the upper 80s F and normal humidity for August.

I covered most of the area that I had set out to do and kept going. By choosing my crossings, I walked across the creek several times without really getting wet--it was that dry ou. I went to parts of the park in the far north that I had never gotten to before. They were nice though a bit narrow There were a variety of big and small cliffs, ditches, boulders and even a deep crack in big cliff that one could perhaps call a cave. On my return, I was tired and thirsty. I was trying to take the easiest way back to the parking area when I came across the trail that I'd first set out to find. I took a GPS track of it. There could be more which I didn't see--new blazes had been painted onto the existing trail that I found the new trail from. Peggy is planning on having a SSS training here on August 23rd.

From Rosedale Ave., Kentbury Dr. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Woodmont Ave. to Hampden La. Exeter Rd. to Norfolk Ave. to Cordell Ave. to Maple Ave. to Rosedale Ave. After spending almost all day walking around at the Montgomery County Fair, I did a few errands including riding the last half mile holding a pizza and two liter bottle in one hand. We watched the Olympics afterward. Before going to the fair, I woke up with both my hamstrings feeling sore, as if I had worked out hard the day before. The feeling lasted through the day.

Paint Branch Park, Prince Georges County, MD. Since many were gone and a local group wanted cooperation with orienteers, we hiked a short way into this park in Beltsville so that we'd be better able to spot invasive species. We pulled-up Wavy Basket Grass which kind of looks like bamboo leaves and crawls on the ground in strings like crabgrass. The organizer, a biologists says it won't come back after being pulled up because the forest canopy is thicker now. We're supposed tell them or other park officials if we spot it elsewhere. I have doubts about the effectiveness of the effort. Though they are not against using herbicides in some monoform patches, it hardly seems possible to remove it permanantly. However, the group doing this does claim success.

As for my knee, some days are worse than others. My knee had me limping much more this day than the last several. I'm not sure why and wonder if it can be related to air pressue changes. This day was an unusually mild and had low humidity for August in the DC area.

From Rosedale Ave., Maryland Ave. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Rockville Pike, to Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Beach Dr. & the Rock Creek Trail, to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Kentbury La. to Lynnbrook La. to Maple Ave. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. After work, I towed Max to a playground in Rock Creek Park. He likes the one with a motorcycle on a spring. He found a friend and played a bunch before we rode back. It was quite a nice evening with some nice breezes.

From Rosedale Ave. riding around Bethesda. I went on a cookie ride after putting Max to bed. It was dark but so nice outside that I'd not realized that I forgot my wallet until I got to the store. I came all the way home and back again. One thing I'm looking forward to when we get into our new house is having a convenient place to park my bicycle. It makes trips like these so much easier when your bike is accessible.

From Rosedale Ave., to BCCHS, to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Jones Mill Rd. to Beach Dr. to Cedar La., to Rockville Pike via the Elmhirst Trail, to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave., to Rosedale Ave. Since Peggy and Max weren't home yet, I anticipated them being at the local high school track. The track is on the way, those days when I walk and stroller Max, to his day care. Max had voiced his idea that he wanted to run around it. This was probably because he'd seen or I'd pointed out others running around it. I intended to meet them there but got there minutes after they had already left.

I decided to make the most of it by extending the ride a bit. I ran into Rich Feliciano and his two sons. Rich was headed to the bike store on Connecticutt Ave. to pick out an new bicycle. His sons were in a double baby jogger and seemed happy enough to wait very patiently and quietly while Rich and I caught up a bit. Rich lamented similar issues to what Peggy and I had encountered in needing more space and not finding enough time to train. Rich also noted that he'd just turned 40 and told me of a knee issue which may require some surgical fixing too. For their house solution, they are meeting with an architect to see what can be done.

The ride was nice. At one point, I caught and passed a tandem on the trail but they took off later once we hit the road. I was feeling good doing about 20mph going down a hill when I started feeling like I was going to pull a muscle in my left thigh. I guess this is from not having moved my leg very fast for a while. I backed off the pace and eventually the feeling went away. The ride was on one of those nice warm summer evenings, after the heat had abated, while there was plenty of sunshine left and it reminded me of previous pleasant runs. My weight is still bouncy; up one pound from yesterday but down a lot from the weekend where swelling from trying to mow too early could have been more of a factor.

Event: 2008 Laramie Daze & US Champs
 

Lake Fairfax Park, VA. I played in the Water Mine Pool with Max. Splashing around was nice in the hot weather. Besides floating around the Lazy River on a raft with Max, I went in an out of the water on slides with him. Sometimes I ran in the water, walked on my hands or stood in the current. The weightlessness was a good way to get some motion/exercise back into my legs without much stress. I visited my parents afterward.

My left knee flopped a few more times today than the last two but overall felt better. There's still some swelling and discomfort in the mornings. this was the first day that I felt good enough to really use my left leg to climb up stairs. Going down is still awkward and is avoided since I can't bend my left leg smoothly when lowering my right leg.

C • sorry to hear about your su... 2

In the evening, after packing a box for our move later this month, Peggy, Max and I went downtown for a bite to eat and a stroll. We went from Rosedale Ave. to Kentbury La. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, through the tunnel to Woodmont Ave. & Bethesda Ave. We returned the same way. I was feeling a bit more confident about the strength in my knee. I towed Max in the trailer but kept a very easy cadence, often using my granny chain ring where there were hills. It was harder going out. I felt like I was using my right leg a lot more. Coming back was different and though I still favored it, I didn't have to push hard with my right leg.

C • Favoring a leg 2

Looking at the tall grass on the lawn I weighed feeling better in my knee with some mild risk. I decided to take some Ibuprofen and mow. Having a self propelled and pacing mower really helped me get through it. I did it slowly and didn't bother trying to be overly neat in rough spots. Afterward, there was increased discomfort in the knee. I wondered if I'd overdone it but it was okay. My weight has been all over the place. I'm eating too many desserts and staying up too late drafting extensions for the Rock Creek Rockville map.