Training Log Archive: Nadim

45 situps.

Dolly Sods, WV. We had a longish sleep but were up by 7:30am. Continuing out on TR553, we had hoped to find a shortcut path to TR511. Some old trail maps that Jan Merka had found seemed to show such a trail however if it had been there, it wasn't very obvious now. With kids and all of us carrying packs, we weren't going to risk crossing what was already very often difficult to traverse terrain, by going off-trail. We followed TR553 to the end at TR524. Then we got on the very nice TR511 back to Public Rd. 75. TR511 was really nice with a lot of open meadows, scattered trees, and nice creek crossings. Somewhere along the entire route we had been on Breathed Mountain and got over 4,000ft. The kids swam in the same swimming hole as the day before and this time, all the adults at least soaked their feet or more too. We were really surprised at the ability of the kids to cover this much distance with packs and not become miserable. As I had thought last fall, I believe Dolly Sods would make a nice rogaine area. My calf hurt less today and I only dinged it once. With a backpack, lightened of food and water and myself a little thinner, I felt pretty strong climbing out to the end. The temperatures were in the upper 70s F and felt warm in the sunshine. After driving away to the bottom of the mountain and discovering +90F humid air, we felt lucky having spent the bulk of the weekend up high.

C • What a great trip! 4

Dolly Sods, WV. A return to this wilderness area with Peggy and Max was not only with the Merka family again, but also with 3 of the Lennons--Kathleen, Max, and Nicole. There was much anticipation from Peggy and Max about going the same route we had done last time but I'm glad the Merkas were in for covering new ground. From Public Road 75, we went west on TR511, south on TR514, then up TR553 for a way before pulling into a camp area. Unlike the trip last September, this set of trails was often rocky and muddy. It was in the upper 70s F which is much warmer than last fall too. However, it was still beautiful. The fall colors were replaced by green mostly but there were some very nice areas of wild flowers. Being at just under 4,000ft. most of the time, it was a bit early for the mountain laurel to be in bloom but wild azaeleas were prominent. We traveled more vertically on this trip too with 3 separate major creek crossings. The kids went swimming in the cold waters while the adults mainly hung out to get bitten by some black flies. The flies were tolerable for a while as there weren't many and there were no mosquitoes. I forgot to mention that Benny, the Merkas yellow lab was there too--it was mentioned that he was family too more than once. Benny is approaching a year old and went swimming too. He often shared his fun with the adults on the shore by running up against us for a rub or to shake-off his drips, The kids did rather well this trip and all carried packs commensurate with their abilities. They did little to no complaining. Kathleen did pretty well too with a huge river rafting wet pack that didn't have such a nice harness. I dinged my injured calf a few times while stepping from rock to rock, and it was more sore than I could be comfortable with. The Merka's brought a lot of extra sausages which we cooked-up on a fire and all had a good time. In our tents, we heard Max talking a lot (in the kids tent), then being hushed, then an owl, then Benny barking back. The only thing we forgot to do was to go checkout the stars. We had all had such a nice time that we simply forgot to get out from under our trees and get into the nearby meadow. Only Alexis and Dasa had a glimpse of them through the trees on one of those necessary trips in the middle of the night.

Event: US Team Trials for WOC '11
 

Errands, a wedding shower for my niece, and packing preparations for a camping trip kept workout opportunities to a minimum.

45 situps. Busy evening and preparation for the weekend requires some rest on my left calf.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. By the time I got to work it was 76F and 79% relative humidity. I had ridden easily so as to try not to sweat.

From the Glenmont Metro Station, Georgia Ave. north to the Matthew Henson Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail, to Cedar Ln. to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Metro Station. Today was supposed to be about acclimating to the warmer and more humid weather. It was 92F earlier in the day. That felt okay but the running did me in. I ran okay for 3.5 miles and not watching it closely, I wasn't sure of my pace. After a water break at a fountain with lots of baskeball players and cyclists in line ahead of me, I slowed a bit more. At about 4.6 miles, going down a hill, I got a shot of pain in my left calf on the heel strike. I slowed and contemplated shortening the run by calling home or stopping off at the Onkst's place but I went on. It was gritty. I had to focus with my head down to keep my range of motion from aggrivating the calf more. I didn't feel that tired but slowed to 9 minute miles. Uphills bothered it more. I stopped and stretched at other water stops and that seemed to help me continue. My available mile splits based on trail markers were: 7:28, 7:36, 7:58, 9:27, 9:01, 9:00. I had thought about a shorter off-pavement run through Rock Creek but with it being hillier, I thought this would be better. I'll take a break from running for a little while and try again. I had a very similar experience earlier this spring and almost exactly a year ago.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Ave. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was finally a drier morning--even the air. A bit of a tailwind kept me moving well. This was a fast speed for being on my commuter bike. There were lots of people on the trail.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd. to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was expecting headwinds but the winds were either with me or calm--it was hard to tell. I tried not to work too hard. It was in the 80s F. I was 40:30 at Arlington Rd.