Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max in his trailer, then to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Georgetown Branch tunnel. I've been feeling rundown the last few days so I've been taking time off. My cold, which never really left completely from last time, has come back harder. Unfortunately it's at a busy time at work. It's funny how it often works that way.

As I was leaving the house this morning, fresh concrete was steadily being poured into the basement portion of our addition and should also cover the front porch area by the time I return.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. After an evening shopping, Peggy dropped me off so that I could ride my bicycle back home and be able to use it later.

From the Medical Center Metro Station, Rockville Pike to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to N. Chelsea Dr. to Lynbrook Dr. to Chestnut Dr. to Kentbury Dr. to the Georgetown Branch Trail at Kentbury Way, to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station at Edgemoor Ln. I haven't been doing enough running and have been overdoing the cycling as far as what my body is ready for. I ran after work and kept picking up the pace as I went. My legs were stiff and weak feeling starting off. I took a split on one very gradually uphill half mile before the Air Rights Building tunnel at 3:47. I was coughing a lot today before the run.

From Northfield Rd., to Auburn Ave. to pickup a gallon and a half of water, then to Glenbrook Rd. the Bethesda Trolley Trail, Rockville Pike, the Elmhirst Trail, Beach Dr., and the Rock Creek Trail to Lake Needwood Park. From Needwood I rode the roads out the main entrance to Avery Rd., to Muncaster Mill Rd. and then to the Nature Center at Lake Frank. I was riding out to setup controls for the Summer Short Series Training that I'd organized for the day. It was a bit hot. The cold water I carried on my back in a backpack for a water control probably kept me a little cooler but it also put a little strain on my back. I carried a bag of controls on my handlebar and that made steering awkward. The riding was somewhat slowish. I kept a good cadence and gradually climbed for most of the way. I should have drank more. I was feeling the effects of over training but that has helped me reach another goal which was to drop my weight to an more reasonable level for better traininig later.

Lake Bernard Frank, MD. After cycling out, I setup a training course. I started off basically running the water to where it belonged. I moved through part of the course backward, looped through the start, then did another loop. The August woods were thick in many places but others like the pine forest were great. Looking at my GPS track, I may have misplaced #5 slightly. I forgot to set out #2 and it was too late to go back by the time I realized it. There were a few places needing map updates and minor corrections.

The exercise today was setup for intervals with a little above Orange level controls--at least they'd be Orange in winter. I printed maps at 1:5,000 and had a 3.7k loop for them. It was a coincidence that my setting loops came out to be the same distance as the course. The runners self-arranged a line-up in order of slowest to fastest. I started people 2-4 minutes apart. Once a leg was finished, they were to wait at the control for 2 minutes before running their next leg. Some hid to maximize rest. The legs varied between 108m and 427m. There was one big hill and some smaller ones. Most legs were in the 300m range. If a chasing runner caught-up to the person who started in front of them, the leading runner was to go when the chaser arrived. Some who got passed while on the run got to wait the full 2 minutes at the next control. It seemed like this motivated people pretty well. It might have been nicer if a few legs hadn't been as thick. The rough open areas were slow at this time of year and grasses were growing in a few tree covered areas.

Lake Frank, MD. Control pickup. I finished-up running with Dave. He had discovered that Perry H.S. had given some stuff to the Smith Environmental Education Center. and told me about it as we ran back together. This Perry H.S. was named after the Arctic explorer.

Before control pickup and while others were running, Max got his first bee sting. He had a slow reaction with some redening of the face and breaking out in hives later. He didn't lose much energy. After dinner he looked better but we took him to the doctor. They gave him some Benedryl and a steroid shot. He's fine.