Training Log Archive: Nadim

After an intense day of meetings, and a snowy/sleety, and pretty drive home, I was tired. I eventually got around to doing some spinning. I focused on spinning fast with light to moderate resistance.

Event: QOC McKeldin
 

Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area. Warm-up going back and forth from our parking spot the start of QOC's meet, to get things I forgot like the map. It was windy on the ridge making it feel cold but when running it was in the upper 40's F.

QOC: Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area. I was anticipating a physical day and being tired but that part worked out fine--I was less tired than expected while running, and I managed the steep hills okay. I hit most of the controls too. However at #6, the control feature appeared to have been moved. I lost about a minute. Going to #7, from above I spied Victor Lin hunting a bit on the west side of the rock I thought it the control was on. I came in from the east but he got to it ahead of me. I chased him upward headed over the hill before realizing that it would have been better for me to have gone around the longer way on the flat land. I still went wider than Victor but with his more direct route, he got to #8 a bit faster. I closed the gap on him through #9 and #10, and when he was a bit low on #11, I got there ahead of him. I checked the code there but didn't match it with the number. I mistook which control I was leaving from in my haste to get out before Victor figured out that I had found it. Unfortunately, this leg had a sharp turn. I went straightish to the next major reentrant, dropping down several contours before realizing that I had headed 180 degrees in the wrong direction. That probably cost me about 5 minutes. I made good time through #12, #13, and #14. Had I realized there was a usable trail going low to #15, I would have taken it--I had a vague memory of it but on the run, I couldn't see it. Instead, I went right past #17, the climbed along a ridge to a bit above the saddle. I had it in my mind that I was to go to the higher control of the #15, #16 dog leg so I went right to #16. I even had felt encouraged when approaching it to see Victor coming from the other direction but in the next instant, I realized my error. I spiked #15, then coming back to #16, I got a bit higher than needed and had to drop back down a contour. I guess the #15/#16 errors added to about 2 minutes of error. I hit #17 and #18 just fine but didn't have much energy to get up the steep hill to the finish after that. This was a good workout and got me some needed practice. The physical training was good too but it was disappointing to have made some bonehead errors and lost to Victor by a minute. He had lost time too so it seems we were moving at similar paces. Mark Mace's courses were fine. There were a couple of doglegs and places where the most reasonble choice involved walking straight up some very steep hills but once can expect some of that at McKeldin.

Blue - Splits

From the Garrett Park Rd. parking lot, I ran the Rock Creek Trail to Cedar Ln. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar Ln. to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I was feeling a bit tired on the uphills but okay otherwise. I started off going faster than I probably needed to with 7:13 and 7:18 first miles though these were generally downhill. I also enjoyed the early spring weather, as strange as it is being January: sunny and ~60 F while running. I ran in shorts. I also ran in new shoes--Nike Pegasus.

Cabin John Regional Park. From the community center off Scotland Dr. I continued covering ground west of the main creek. I tried to finish-off the flood plain northward. It was a challenging area to field check since there were many things that were mappable and the vegetation changes were subtle. I did make sense of the marsh and ditch structures but putting them on the map, I realized that I was off when trying to match things up from different directions. I'll try to make sense of it with the GPS data I took but I'm going to have to go back after I get it on paper, to verify. I did find a few cliffs and other sizeable features.

From Northfield Rd., to 12th and C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. I was wishy washy this morning. I got dressed for work, not riding, then after seeing the weather forecast, I decided to ride. I dropped Max off, then came home again to do it. My new indoor/outdoor clock thermometer said it was a bit warmer than it was elsewhere so I was worried I'd be cold. However, it was only about 36 F with very little wind. I was probably overdressed. There were +10 other riders on the trail that I passed. My time is estimated since the cold made my cycle computer malfunction.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was pretty warm out. I tucked my jacket into my backpack. I had not anticipated needing to bring my laptop home but I did, underneath my backpack. Being weighed down, I kept an easy pace mostly. There were a lot of other riders on the trail. Like before, the various luminosity of their rear tail lights kept fooling me an how far ahead they were. I slowly reeled them all in, picking up a drafter and pushing a bit harder in the process. Slowing on hills, I got passed at River Rd. but I passed back. I got home sweaty but felt like I had a good workout.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, the Bethesda Metro Station. The cool air, warmer than the day before, felt fine in my warm jacket.

After leaving work late, I headed home. While waiting at a traffic light a guy on bike came from behind as the light changed and passed me. I passed him back feeling like I was going a normal pace but we both accelerated and I felt I had to keep a higher pace than I wanted to to stay ahead.

Earlier at lunch, I saw John Pifer running on the Mall. Had I known the weather was gonig to be so good and that I would have the time at work, I would have liked to have joined him.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to W. Cedar Ln. to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail to Maple Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I ate a snack just before going out on this. I got outside rather late but my motivation was higher than my sleepiness. My first mile was about 7:45. Like last time, I felt tired and just plodded through. Interstingly, I ran the exact same time on December 2. I was surprised about the weight gain today but perhaps it's temporary.

45 situps. I worked late but was a bit lazy about doing a more substantial workout.