Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. It was in the low 60's F or cooler. The winds were blowing hard out of the north and I even felt cold for a little while. Like my July runs of this route, I felt awful starting out. This time it was due to tired quad instead of a late dinner--the cycling and running was all catching-up with me. I was about 8 minutes for the first mile. My pace improved though very slowly. This took some mental effort just to get through. Before going out, I had spent a couple of hours in the yard, mowing, planting, and completing a few projects. Filling another asphalt hole at the foot of our driveway, I strained and inflammed my right wrist; it was all the hammering with a sort of hand sledge hammer and a chisel to steepen the sides and breakup rotten parts. Tamping it all down afterward hurt a bit too.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max, then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was cooler (around 59 F) and less humid. A lot of riders came out since the rain stopped and it's supposed to hit 80 F today. Before starting, I tried to adjust my front derailer but there is something wrong in the cabling (case fraying near the top of the downtube) or the Shimano 105 handset--to the shop with it I guess. I did manage to make it quiet for mid range use. Spinning and moving fast, I started with the usual amount of passing. After River Rd., I saw a guy 50m ahead that I was gaininig on. When he caught someone else, they both picked-up the pace. I worked to catch them, doing 23-25mph on the downhill grades, 22-24 on the flats, but it wasn't until well after Fletcher's Boathouse that I did. The madness ensued after we caught other groups. Most we passed easily but catching another group as they were ready to pass other slower riders made for some violent stops--I only missed the guy in front of me by less than an inch and wonder how I didn't get hit from behind or the side. A second slowdown like that happened again though each time, we'd already backed off the pace. The guy leading probably wasn't paying much attention to people ahead of him and certainly not what was behind when he hit his brakes. With some rest in their draft, I thought about passing both guys I'd chased and caught but I anticipated the little sprint they had right before Georgetown, and stayed behind. I passed them once on the wider Water St. but slowed my pace too. The winds were calm.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Bethesda Ave. at Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD, and on to Wisconsin Ave. Peggy and Max, coming from Max's Karate practice, met me and our friends Bob Angell and Ben Ficks for some pizza. We hadn't gotten toghether in a while and were able to catch-up. Their getting to temporarily move out from their Rosedale Ave. house (same street we used to live on), so that they can knock down and rebuild their house. It happens a lot around here.

My ride was fast. I pulled along a guy most of the way from Georgetown and was moving faster than I had been following someone homeward the day before. I did slow-up and got some help toward the end, at River Rd. There was some traffic at Woodmont Ave. as that is blocked at one end for more large building construction.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max, then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was warmish, humid, and, damp on the roads and trails. With fallen leafs in some places (fall colors are only beginning; the fallen leave are from earlier storms and drought) I tried to be careful not to slip. Since I've been lazy and hadn't yet done some needed shifter adjustment yet, I kept in a low gear and spun a lot. My legs were tired on the few uphill parts. There were steady southeastern headwinds while approching and leaving Georgetown. With the Hudson Highlander now postponed, it's good that I'm getting more training in and can be better prepared for later.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., where I picked-up Max's bicycle, then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was kind of tired but got help today. I had riddent through the traffic in Georgetown rather quickly and caught up to a guy who ultimately was moving faster as we got onto the clearer Capital Crescent Trail. We moved well and caught a bigger group at the trestle bridge. In the mixing traffic, as we passed, another guy came from behind to pass me and the guy I was following dropped off soon after. We left the other people but I figured the guy ahead just pull away. Instead, I worked my way up to drafting him and stayed there until Falls Rd. He moved erratically, with quick and slower paces. My legs were still sore from recent runs and not doing enough of either cycling or running.

Washington, D.C. From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, down The Mall along Independence Ave. and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station. It was in the low 80s with hire humidity than it has been for a while. I was sore in my quads and my left calf from the long run on Sunday. Some joints hurt too. My pace was hard to tell but okay until the final hill. I stretched for longer than usual but my calf was still very tight walking into the station. I saw Sam Listwak waiting to play volleyball. At the Reflecting Pool which has been completed for over a month or two, I saw two poor guys waist deep in the pool, given a job to remove excessive algae that had been growing. Such growth is normal in new ponds as it takes time for water to cure and stabilize but the growth had been unexpected with the new systems that were installed over the big rennovation of the last year and an half. The guys each had one large plastic trash can, and nets on 7 foot fishing poles to clean out the nearly half-mile x 50m pool.

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. with Max, then to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Arlington Rd. where I picked-up Max's bike, then to Northfield Rd. It was threatening to rain.

Event: QOC Meadowood
 

Meadowood Special Recreation Area, Lorton, VA. I did a short warm-up to a portable toilet and jogged around waiting before coming back.

QOC: Meadowood. We hadn't been to this side of the Bureau of Land Management's Meadowood Special Recreation area in a while. It is the greener part of the park. Recently added mountain biking trails helped in in getting through it and I thought, made it more enjoyable. Sid Sachs had done the course setting. Unlike myself the previous week, he had used few point features. Some of the controls on Blue seemed a bit off like #1 (116), #7 (101 appear to be on the wrong rootstock), #16, (114), #17 (112), and #18 (120). Generally, these didn't cause a lot trouble for me. I made my own problems early on #2, #3, #4, leaving #5. When I caught David Onkst at #8, we chatted about last week briefly; I got ahead only to make an error going to #9. Trying to catch him on the way to #10, I got off to the left a bit by not watching my bearing, Leaving #10 together, I got ahead at #11--this controls was probably placed correctly but it wasn't what I was expecting. I made a bigger error going to #12 and somehow passing a big trail not once but on the way back too--it was harder to see in the sandy stream valley. I hit the last loop okay, only getting thrown off a bit by #15 where what's now a ditch was mapped as a big trail. My route to #16 was probably not as good as Tom Strat's idea to use the road, and I was feeling pretty slow by then. My route to #18 was somewhat inefficient too. Still, I enjoyed the orienteering. It was a nice day and I was happy that I could run okay after the long run yesterday.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd.

Blue - Splits