Training Log Archive: Nadim

45 Situps. I would have liked to have done a short run but there wasn't much time.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd., then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Max and I rode together. It was in the low to mid 60s F this morning and very pleasant. I basically kept an easy pace though I pushed just a little bit in a few places. I had a tailwind.

From 12th St & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. to to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left work late so I first had to ride through the courtyard and basement of the building to get to 12th & Independence Ave., SW. For the fist time, I saw two other cyclist in the same predicament leave ahead of me doing the same thing. When I did it, a guard happened to be walking the hall and admonished me--I wasn't really riding but was using one leg to push and the other to stand on a pedal. Once out, I went down Independence Ave. to the Rock Creek Trail along the river, the through Georgetown as I normally would. On the ride out of Georgetown, I had picked-up a drafter for a while. He took over, then I did again going up most of the hill to Dalecarlia. I had told him that promised myselft I'd take it easy so I let him lead the rest of the way to Falls Rd. where we split. I stopped early at Arlington Rd..to pickup Max's bicycle, left there from the morning. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's very nearly and oddly conicidentally what I did on June 8th, 2011. This time I didn't have to pickup Max but Peggy and he did meet me there so that we could eat in downtown Bethesda.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. accross the National Mall, past the Washington Monument a along Constitution Ave. to Roosevelt Bridge, down ro Roosevelt Island via the dirt trail on the south side of the bridge, looping counter-clockwise around the Island to Rosslyn and the Key Bridge, down to the C&O Towpath, then across Georgetown to the edge or Rock Creek Park, to P St., NW, to the north entranceof the Dupont Circle Metro Station. There were loads of people out on a very pleasant classic Spring day. Everyone was looking their best strutting around, even the tourists. There was some kind of large concert starting as I passed the Lincoln Reflecting Pool. The music was very regular and worked okay for running. I set out to take it easy, thinking of doing 3 to 4 miles slowly. It's rare that I'd set out to do 8 miniute miles but my quads were a bit sore and needed the rest. I hadn't been on Roosevelt Island for a long time but not much had changed. In Rosslyn, I decided to stretch out the run a bit. I hadn't run on the little trail above the Rock Creek Pkwy. before. The park it went through was busy as only city parks generally can get. All were looking like they were having fun. My GPS recorded time and distance but didn't record a track--I'm not sure why.

The GPS recorded a track after all. It must have had something to do with the upload that didn't work initially but it's strange since the wasn't anything to be seen in the watch interface either.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd., then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Max and I rode together. It was 57 F this morning. Dropping him off I had ridden the first +1 mile in 10:30 minutes. I rode comfortably afterward and kept passing people by doing 20-22mph. Soon I had 2 others in tow. After the iron trestle bridge over the GW Parkway, a young but full size deer popped out on my left, and cut across to the right in front of me. I was probably 10-15ft. from hitting it going almost full speed. Surviving, along with those behind me, I did push a little on the flats after Fletcher's Boathouse to keep up my pace. Right about to enter Georgetown, another guy passed riding with a child seat strapped behind him--deflating to the ego but he was doing +22mph. I used his wheel through the busy streets and we split a mile later as I headed down river and he, to downtown. There was hardly any wind today but I did hit some slow traffic on the trail along the river.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Leaving work, I was pleased to discover a tailwind with the bit of showering that was also ocurring. I cruised to Georgetown, then through it. On the CCT, I slowly caught up to a roadie and finally passed her at afler Fletcher's Boathouse. After a little while in her draft, I towed her to the Little Falls Trail, pushing more than intended along the way. I slowed a bit more after that. Not knowing that I was going to hit 40 minutes on the nose, I did but I would have biked a little harder to get under that time.

From the Van Ness/UDC Metro Station in Washington, D.C. down Connecticutt Ave. to the Melvin-Hazen Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail to Broad Branch Rd., trails on the west side of the valley to Military Rd., then up the Valley Trail to the DC/MD border. From there I used a mish-mash of unofficial trails to pop-out at Meadowbrook Stables. I continued up the Rock Creek Trail to East-West Hwy., Freyman Dr., and Terrace Dr. to the Georgetown Branch Trail. From there I got to Woodmont Ave. and Moorland Ln. in Bethesda, MD. It was cool, in the 60s F but humid. I was really surprised at how much I had sweat and wonder how it'll be on Sunday. I kept the pace very comfortable today and felt fairly well all the way through. I had not felt so good earlier in the day just walking around.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd., then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Max and I rode together. Dropping him off I had ridden the first +1 mile in 10 minutes. The rest started out comfortable but still fast, as a cool 63 F downhill tailwing ride might be expected to be. I had towed a drafter from Falls Rd. to Georgetown. I did slow a bit when passing the Watergate complex and seeing a rescue squad lifting a bed with a bloody faced cyclist into the vehicle. I'm guessing that he collided with a pedestrian--things happen really fast in that area. I didn't sleep well last night. My head was buzzing with plan making for the summer.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. The first 9/10ths of a mile of this was rather fast and I felt pretty good. After that, I rode into headwinds a lot. They were strong but I also managed to cut through with good speed. There was some reprieve from the wind in the shelter of the trees and hillsides. I had intended on going home easier and the wind was just the thing to keep me honest about it. I did step it up after getting passed by two younger guys. The leader dropped off after a mile at Dalecarlia and the oter guy got ahead as I was slowed getting around others. I caught-up to the other guy and he pushed hard. I don't think he knew I was behind him and he was in the zone. We were climbing into the reduced wind at 20mph and rounding people along the way. At one point 2 other cyclists were coming fast the other way and I backed off on passing 3 cyclists in the right lane. The guy I'd been drafting was so absorbed with his head down that he didn't see the oncoming cyclists until the last second. That would have been really ugly. He backed off after surviving that and Islowed further leaving the CCT at Falls Rd.

Event: QOC Jug Bay
 

Jug Bay Park, MD. Warm-up with Ted Good, and David Onkst.

QOC: The (Beer) Chase at Jug Bay. The end of the season event came and went fast. I didn't feel like I was running well on the first leg and by the second, I was really just feeling like it'd be great to take a rest. Of course, I messed-up there too. I chased Ted Good through the first loop though we split routes on the 3rd control. I caught up on the 2nd loop but when I saw Ted going off in a different direction, I had second thoughts or beer thoughts. I got confused and went back to a control that I'd already been to because I had thought I might have flipped the map to loop 3. Loop 2 and 3 were printed on the same page and earlier, I had remembered dropping the map when it got stuck in some stickers--I had feared that I had flipped it when I picked it back up again. I made 2 other minor errors and was really feeling the effects of the beer in ways I never had before. I was floating through the woods, not feeling the ground the same way I usually would as I was struggling to stay ahead of David Onkst. There was not much to be proud of on this race except spiking a lone tree. After the race, the effects of the beer lasted a long time and I was sore.

Long - Splits