Training Log Archive: jtorranc

Potomac Valley Games track meet? The Falls 5K (at Great Falls Park, VA)?

The Falls 5K at Great Falls, VA - 4th overall, with Ken 2nd and Boris 5th. Enjoyable outing, despite traditional DC levels of heat and humidity, in park I haven't visited in years since orienteering access was lost - didn't really recognize anywhere other than the start/finish area and the closest several hundred meters of the Old Carriage Trail. Course was longer than advertised for reasons Ken explains in his log so overall intensity of effort a bit lower than for a 5K.

Had intended to do some fieldwork afterwards but decided it was more efficient to go home and put in lots of OCAD time, leaving the fieldwork for Labour Day, rather than drive the round trip to parks further south in VA both days. Plus the OCAD work really needed to get done. Also, reviewing the draft web site for the Long Day's Night.

Cooldown jog with Ken and the race winner, whom we Ovangelized for a while as we ran.

Cycled downtown to pick up a rental car for the weekend, enabling fieldwork on a couple of maps and participation in 5K in Great Falls National Park, VA.

As usual, rather less than the total time I spend fieldchecking to allow for significant amounts of standing still.

Non-intense part of commute.

To fit in a bit more high intensity cycling, I hereby inaugurate a recurring Metropolitan Branch Trail time trial, measuring ~2.4km from where the trail crosses M Street to where it debouches onto surface streets a few blocks south of Catholic University. Probably very slightly uphill heading homewards/north, despite starting atop a bridge. Acid test of that will be whether doing it southwards turns out to be consistently faster or not.

Warmup/cooldown.

Silly walks.

Another new time trial/interval course - a loop on the sidewalks around Roosevelt High a few blocks east of home.

Non-intense cycling of the day.

CCT time trial in a significantly better time, I believe, than I've managed yet this season despite heat, humidity and not feeling like my legs had a lot in them before starting. Still much slower than I was managing last summer and fall but I'm kind of happy to see any noticeable progress. Still doesn't feel as though I'm quite maxed out aerobically by the end of these but fatigued enough in the legs by the last couple of kilometers not to be able to push as fast as I think my lungs would support - maybe that won't take too long to improve. Surprising just how much fitness I lost while not cycling or running in December/January due to the broken wrist. Actually, not how much I lost but how hard it is to regain - curse aging!

Commute.

Run mostly on trails in Rock Creek Park. Emerged from woods at Carter Barron and went home on sidewalks from there.

Commute.

Warmup/cooldown.

Silly walks, at lower intensity than usual due to fading DOMS from 5K on Sunday which I have yet to log.

Commute plus side trip to aquatic center. Also took a look at DC's most famous 'popup' on V Street and must say the visual impact of it towering over its immediate neighbours is considerably blunted by the presence of an equally tall apartment building on the corner just a few doors away from it. I can't say it's making much effort to blend in with the look of the neighbourhood in other respects but it's a pretty undistinguished block of rowhouses so that's not the offense against urbanism it might otherwise be.

Very sore calves, inner thighs and shins - the price, these days, for doing even a 5K on pavement when I hardly ever run on hard surfaces. I may need to start doing some amount of fast running training on pavement if I want to continue doing a road race more than once in a blue moon.