Training Log Archive: Nadim

Lake Clopper, MD. From the Chickadee parking area, Peggy and I started our separate loops. I ran down the road to the Greenway Trail, to the Mink Hollow Trail,, and around the Lake Shore Trail to the Kingfisher parking area, and to the Chickadee parking lot. This was hillier than I've been doing for most of my runs (but not as much as on my recent vacation. The hills were catching up with me in the 4th mile and I slowed. About 90% of the people in the park were wearing masks so I felt not so good about not having mine. I missed a sign indicating they were required in all public areas, which I guess means all of the park. Many people would put them on as I passed by on the trail or had them on already. Of course, most of the time I was alone. There were however significant numbers of groups I'd encountered. The air was nice. Starting out, it was around 68 F but the humidity was still not low. As usual, the trail had lots of roots to pick my way through. There were a few places where the trails had bee rerouted slightly.

From Cedar Ln., I took paved the Rock Creek Trail to the I-495 underpass, and back. The temperature was around 80 F starting out. The valley showed signs of recent flooding. The part of the trail going under the Kensington Pkwy. was technically closed off at the north gate, but not at the southern one. The mud was mostly cleared-out from the bridge underpass. I did make a bathroom stop on the way back. Like the last time I did a similar route, the mile from the turnaround to halfway back point was faster than going out--that's odd since it goes up and down more than other parts do.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Glenbrook Rd., to the county pool parking lot to the trail into Norwood Park, to Wisconsin Ave., to Woodmont Ave., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I went out after a thunderstorm had passed. There were a few small tree limbs down in the road. I wore my old shoes again because it was wet. Though I climbed okay again, I felt like there wasn't much power in my legs and that my stride was short--basically I was shuffling around. After about 2.5 miles, rain had started again but it didn't last much more than another half mile. By the time I was home my tech shirt needed wringing out and I'm sure I wrung out a few ounces from it; a combination of sweat and rain.

Starting out it was 85 F and 73% humidity. I was okay and not suffering but the conditions affected me along with being a little more tired from recent runs. I slowed but the hills didn't bother me. From Northfield Rd., I went into Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Alta Vista Rd., to Locust Ave., to Acacia Ave., to Chandler St./Benton Ave., to Cedar Croft Dr., to Rockville Pike. to the NIH Trail to Maple Ridge Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I've mostly avoided going into the Alta Vista neighborhood because it's got a lot of confusing streets, and because it make a hilly run. I memorized this way through using Google maps just before running. My GPS tracking seems to have had a rare major failure along the way.

Great Falls, MD. From the Angler's Inn parking lot, I ran to the towpath, then south to the next bridge (Marsden Footbridge), to MacArthur Blvd., near Masters Dr., then back to the Angler's Inn parking lot. I stopped a while to use the restroom, then ran back to the towpath, north past the Widewater to the bridge above Lock 16, to the Berma Rd., then back the Angler's Inn parking lot. As I was starting, a slightly younger Asian man was starting too. We happened to be going the same direction and I wasn't sure if I'd pass him or not. He seemed to pickup the pace, and I was running much slower than I had the last 2 days, so he pulled ahead. Overall, I didn't feel as strong. My endurance held up, but perhaps the increased heat and humidity or running with my heavier road shoes seemed to keep me moving at a very modest pace. There were plenty of people out. Most were walking in small groups. My right foot cramped more as I was relaxing watching television, with my foot up, after dinner. Putting it down seemed to help the bloodflow and stop the cramping.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the middle 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. Though I worked late, I sneaked a run in before dinner. It was raining lightly and the temperature felt cool; perhaps in the upper 60s F. I felt pretty good the first mile. I continued to feel stronger on hills, however I wasn't feeling much faster on flatter ground. I was running faster than I have been. I started fading in the 3rd mile, even though it was mostly downhill. I was wearing my old Pegasus running shoes since it was wet. Afterward I stretched and needed it. I was really tight afterward. My right foot continues to cramp after runs but my left knee felt better today.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. From the playground parking lot off Tuckerman Rd., I went north and did a trail loop. On the way back, like the last time about a month ago, I added on in the central section of the park by following the trail parallel to the power lines, and the loop up besides the kiddie train. The conditions were pretty good today. The temperature was around 78 F, there was a breeze and the humidity was in the 60s. I seemed to feel the altitude training bump, even though I hadn't been running much over the last 2 weeks. I could have used a bathroom partway through this run but I felt like I was running better. Indeed I ran about 4 minutes faster than a month ago (I was not having a good run then) and I felt stronger on hills. I weighed out at 193 lbs.