Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Bethesda, Northfield Rd., Moorland Ln./Grant St. to Sonoma Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Nicholson Ln. to Executive Blvd./E. Jefferson St. at Lorraine Dr. in Rockville, then back a similar route. We had breakfast with the MCRRC and also stopped off for playground time. It was very pleasant out. Max kept wanting to stay ahead of Peggy and would often burst with pedaling. His sometimes erratic leaning pulled the bike and trail-a-bike left and right.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to C St. SE, Washington, D.C., via the Mall. It was 55 F starting out. Far into the ride, I learned there was a tailwind. Having worked more on a Bethesda O' map, I woke up late and Max got to ride the bus with his friends for the first time. I caught-up to a guy on Glendale Rd. and we split at Bradley; he went on Falls Rd. and the Capital Crescent Trail to right where we merged at Dorset Rd. I had taken Kennedy Rd. and that is shorter but hillier. The pace was fast and there were lots of other riders and runners. Perhaps that was an affect of an article in the Washington Post yesterday about those working out on their commutes but most probably it's just the usual crowd that wanted to get out on a nice day (I felt guilty for being too tired last night to go run as I had planned). Not having ridden much I was too weak to do an real help in front so I sat behind doing 22mph most of the time; more and less at others.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. (via the Mall) to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Starting out, the sunshine felt really nice but the lowness of it in the sky echoed the feeling that the warm days were going too. I had my own motorcade for a short while too when just before I got the Reflecting Pool, two motorcycle police pulled in ahead of me and sort of cleared a route for me to the Lincoln Memorial. The traffic was a mess in Georgetown but once out of it, I oddly felt sort of strong. Maybe the winds had shifted since the morning. I was doing 18.5mph on the flats and passed a lot of riders. Picking up two in my wake early, I got to almost Dalecarlia before one passed in traffic. We moved along well at a good pace but not too fast. We were soon 4-5 riders and another guy took over also at a good speed. Traffic again started to break us up but I took a hard pull just before Falls Rd. and rode more modestly from there.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. Max learned at school that it was supposed to be something like national Walk to School Day today(cycling, carpooling, or taking the bus counted), so despite expected rain today, we cycled. So far he hasn't minded riding in the cooler weather and I hope this holds up. He'll need better gloves soon.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. It was dark but I had my lights. Having parked Max's trail-a-bike at the station, I didn't have to make the usual stop on this short ride.

Later in the evening, I worked quite late on expanding an O' map of Bethesda. There are lots of neat hidden places. Using Google Street View and Bird's Eye really helps sorting out the county's base materials.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was around 51 F this morning, the coldest this season for riding. I was still a little sore from the Highlander but this was just a nice way to loosen-up and get back in the swing of things.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Alington Rd. to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd. It was just cool and short enough that I didn't get hot in my jacket and work clothes. The pressure in my tires was low and with the trail-a-bike making it feel stranger, I kept looking back.

Event: Hudson Highlander
 

HVO: Hudson Highlander, Harriman State Park, NY. With recent injuries, illnesses and lack of training, my goal was to not get injured. I thought about doing the Lowlander but decided to just take it at a modest pace with Peggy the whole way. It was fun.

The initial look on Pole Brook Mountain felt more difficult for me than it seemed to be for others. I had trouble reading along at times. The areas of green sometimes contributed. There were a lot of people around. I'm not sure if it helped or hurt me by being distracting. I started off on leg 7 going behind a person but after the stream I lost sight of him and I got off to the left too far. It seemed that several had been chasing Peggy and I during this and the whole train came to a stop. I made up for it later on leg #8 as several were going down a reentrant. Peter Gagarin was ahead but chasing another guy. They overshot while I cut up to the right to spike the control.

After the aid stop, going out on the trail run on the Sebago Lake/Kanawauke maps, we were behind Peter Gagarin again. Jeff Seager passed. The route required some reading of the map but wasn't bad. After the half-way point as the trail climbed, we got to see some of the leaders pass through the area on their way to #18. Peggy and I were headed to #12 and still far from it. We actually drifted off the trail on the ridge at one point.

At the aid stop at the end of the trail run, we had gotten personalized service--our aid box and was set out for us! Paul Bennett hinted that going direct to the next control would be good if one could follow the way without the blueberries. We opted to take the trail route over the ridge like most befoe us (except the elites). I felt rewarded by the views even though I'd just run the same trail. The descent was steep but didn't cause us to lose any time. We spiked the control using the reentrant. Leaving #16, I reasoned that going through the green either left or right wouldn't be much different but I probably got that wrong. Peggy and I had a lot of trouble avoiding unmapped watery parts hidden in the thickets of rhododendron. We made good time going to #18 (King/Queen of the Hill leg) by staying left initially. I got a bit confused on top but Peggy took over and spiked it for us. Along the way, we passed Peter Gagarin again as he was suffering on the climb. Like me he lacked sufficient training though his lack of training was probably due more to injury than mine. Peggy kept us true on #19 too. For leg #21, we opted for the trail/road route--though we passed the control a bit we still were able to get back up to it before seeing Peter.

I felt slowish going out on the last Sebago Kanawauke loop. My feet had been feeling bruised. It was either the lack of running training or the issues with tendons that I'd been feeling all over since Spring (like my arches hurting sometimes). At #22, an older and heavier adventure racer asked to tag along. He'd been doing the Lowlander. Peggy gave him tips along the way. After getting through the campground area and crossing the field. I wanted to go lower for better footing. Peggy kept us high and Peter passed below. We got to #23 around the same time but then passed him for the last time. We lost the adventure racer on the climb to #25 and I saw Jeff Seager as he was just leaving. After #26, we started passing others; the blueberries weren't much fun. Peggy was doing a good job reading the scattered boulders where I was relying on contours and bearing. At #28, several were converging. We passed most of them going to #29 and had the feeling of being almost done. Most of what remained was downhill. I spotted #29 a long way off. We were just a bit to the left getting to #30 and saw some others climbing back up to the road. I didn't like the idea of running the road in spikes much and Peggy didn't want to climb back up. However by staying low we came to realize that a fence would make us climb anyway. It was nice to be done.

QOC did well with Ken Walker, Jr. taking 3rd, and Dave Onkst placing pretty high with one of his best finishes even though he could have been faster. I felt that I got all my base traininig in for the fall season in this one day.

Highlander - Splits