Training Log Archive: Nadim

Summer Short Series at Greenbelt Park, MD. Marie Pangrácová setup a nice training event in the often green (as-in-thick) park. It was titled "Invisible controls". The woods the course went through were not bad. There was some stilt grass but not so much, and use of trails helped. I ran the long course option B.

The setup was to have multiple features inside a larger than normal control circle, and to use the clue description to go to the right feature. The control circles were not centered in the circle. Sometimes there was more than one streamer to find and you had to know which one to go to. It took me a few controls to get into reading the map comfortably. Except for one leg I went slowly. It was hot and humid. There were often several people around me but I broke away from one group before plowing into another. My worst error (#15) was not recognizing the clue for a linear marsh. I'd seen most people use an intermittent stream symbol instead. My clue description holder also had ink in the window from old clue sheets and that made it hard to read through. On the run-in, Some people ahead of me were paralleling the road and with my current slow running speed, I took a risk getting ot the woods trail. That turned out to be longer. The map doesn't show the true curves of the trail.

From Northfield Rd., to Bethesda Ave. to get dinner, then back home. I was glad to get out and ride. Heavy rains and working late interrupted efforts to exercise the last 2 days. My legs were unexpectedly sore while riding. I'm not sure why--maybe because of no training and sitting at my computer for 2 days--but I'd been retaining a lot of water. My feet were swelling again.

From Northfield Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Bradley Blvd., to Seven Locks Rd., to Tuckerman Rd., to Grosvenor Pl., to Grosvenor Rd., to Beach Dr., to Jones Mill Rd., to Jones Bridge Rd., to Rockville Pike, to Woodmont Ave., to Batter Ln. to Park Ln, to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. After eating dinner I got out again. The sun was low starting out. It must have set while I was only halfway. I turned on the lighting in my Lumos helmet and while waiting at a traffic light, a guy in a car asked me about it; he wanted to get one. The weather was nice for riding. No wind and moderate temperatures. I rode a little easier because I was still digesting.

From Northfield Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Bradley Blvd., to Seven Locks Rd., to Tuckerman Rd., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Beech Ave., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I got a late start. I thought I'd be feeling the longer ride yesterday but that didn't happen for a while at least. I probably had a tailwind going out because I was riding into the wind finishing-up. I felt that I was moving up hills much more quickly than I have been doing. I messed-up the timing again but the GPS noted the long pause, which I've accounted for in both mileage and time.

From Northfield Rd., to Moorland Dr. to Glenwood Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to W. Cedar Ave., to the Elmhirst Trail. to Beach Dr. to the Rock Creek Pkwy., to Pennsylvania Ave., NW. to M St., NW to Key Bridge, to the Custis Trail, to the Ballston Connector Trail, to N. Wakefield St., to the Bluemont Junction Trail, to Wilson Blvd., to N. Edison St., to the Bluemont Junction Trail to the Washington & Dominion Trail (W&OD Trail) to S. Shirlington Rd., to the Shirlington Connector Trail to the Four Mile Run Trail, to the Mount Vernon Trail, to the 14th St. Bridge., to Ohio Dr., SW, to the Rock Creek Trail, to 30th Ct., NW, to Water St., NW., to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Wilson Ln., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd.

I had intended to ride 40 miles today and I hit my goal. Instead of doing it on country roads, I was able to ride into Arlington and meet my good friend Lawrence Ong. Lawrence is about to retire and reset his life again. It was good to catch-up. We split a nice white pizza at Pupatella on Wilson Blvd., It was nice to cruise through my old haunting grounds. Arlington has a lot going for it. People were out in force enjoying the nice day. Riding the trails meant keeping my pace moderate. That was good. I was having trouble pacing. The winds hitting me from multiple directions had some to do with that. I rode several miles with an older guy who was perhaps catching-up to me as I got on the W&OD Trail. I pulled ahead some but with stops for traffic lights and there being little room to pass, we kept going together. Along the waterfront and volleyball courts in DC, there was trail construction. A new tunnel was being put into the Roosevelt Bridge for the trail--I didn't know they could do that to such an old bridge. Finishing-up on my old commute route was nice and somewhat gentle for the slopes (RR grade CCT). My GPS timing got messed-up at traffic lights. My time is an estimate but I measured out the distance with GMaps Pedometer. Even after drinking water when I finished, my weight was 203.6 lbs.

From Leaman Park in southwest Germantown, MD, I did a loop picking-up the mini controls that I'd set out on Saturday for SSS training. The weather was just as nice as the day before. Because Peggy had come along and was helping me to pickup other controls that I'd set out, I got to approach and leave some controls from different directions. I found some things to update on the map. I ran where I could which was most of this, and I felt pretty good overall.