Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Patuxent
 

Patuxent River Park, MD. I set out 2 controls and some water.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I set out 2 controls.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I set out water for 2 controls. One of them was a food stop for the goat.

I set water for a control.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I set out water for a control. I had gotten out my mountain bike for this. Going down a hill on an intermittent trail, I had a lot of fallen logs to cross. This slowed me up a good bit. Once I reached the bottom, I had a short climb and on that my chain busted. It happened just when I needed the bike the most because I had one more water stop to put out after this one, and I aimed to do that before the mass start of the QOC Goat. It wasn't to be. I dropped the bike, ran the water out to the control, then pushed the bike all the way backup up the hill. As I was finishing-up and running the bike in, I saw David Onkst and Ted Good driving into the park.

I hiked out with 3 more gallons of water to a remote control that I had planned to bicycle to. As I got to the control, a young woman on Brown had just punched and another older man had just gotten there. On my way back I jogged most of the way and as I neared where I had started I saw Jon Torrance crossing the road on the Goat course. He was just 2 controls away from the water that I'd put out. I additionally saw Kenny Walker about 90 seconds behind Jon, however it turned out that Kenny was running Blue. Soon after, I saw will Hubsch crossing the road.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I did a loop of control setting. It took me a little time to get fully organized. However it was fun being out and I was glad that rain which had been forecast earlier in the week was now not expected.

Patuxent River Park, MD. This was my second loop of control setting, and I did it on both foot and mountain bike. I missed on one control by being a bit to the left, hitting a trail, then coming back in around the rhododendron. It was fun to have the mountain bike to get across the flatter parts with long straight trails.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I did a 3rd loop of control setting on bicycle and on foot.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I did a 4th loop of control setting. This one was all on foot. The first 3 controls were through areas with significantly thick vegetation. I knew that I was running out of daylight so I tried to rush my way through this. I was able to get to most of the controls without needing to look at my map. As I finished, I was very tempted to do another loop for the last 4 controls, however, I still had work to do at home too. I realized that I'd have to retrace my steps to some of the control areas and deposit drinking water.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I got started at about 8am. Once I hit the CCT, there was a steady stream of cyclists to pass, all the way to Fletcher's Boathouse. At one point, I think I had 3 of them drafting on me. One moved-up but I didn't get to draft on him immediately as he sprinted ahead. I did catch him later for a draft, and at Georgetown, I went ahead.

In West Potomac Park, where lanes had been narrowed by cones (a big stage setup caused this), a car came-up from behind and tooted his horn. He wanted to pass but with the lanes too narrow, I stood my ground. Next he rolled down his window to yell and I told him yes, it's a roadway, since bicycles are vehicles in DC too. Once the lanes opened up again he passed. After the bridge over the Tidal Basin inlet, he stopped ahead to yell some more and I was glad that my regular route took me left toward the Jefferson Memorial. The driver was a young male with a muscle car.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Ohio Dr. was blocked off for an evening show--the one I'd been seeing preparations for all week. I had to go around the FDR Memorial and go slow for the pedestrians. I also had to route to the sidewalk along Independence Ave. before I hit the usual route.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Folkstone Rd., with Samantha on her trail-a-bike. The kids had gotten themselves quickly for a change so we were able to ride again. Samantha said the ride was fun after we got to school. It was in the 60s F. On the way back, I had to tow Max's bike along with the trail-a-bike and with my right hand holding onto Max's bicycle, that kept me from shifting out of a rather low gear. I spun faster to compensate.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I estimated my time on this. Initially, since I hadn't ridden the last 2 days (rain and the threat of Pope related traffic made me think better of it), I felt stronger. Pretty soon however, soreness set in again. I did move pretty well once on the trail and no one passed me. The big setup in West Potomac Park that I had seen getting built last week had a tall stage added--I guess it wasn't for the Pope after all. The stage had curtain-like walls way high and it looked like if a storm had come that it would have knocked it over. However, the winds were fairly calm. In addition to my usual backpack with a change of clothes, I had my work laptop too. By the time I was past the Lincoln Memorial my back was aching.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I hit the traffic lights just right when leaving my office and to my surprise, there was hardly any traffic. A religious holiday and the warnings about the Pope's visit causing a lot of traffic seemed to take care of that. My office building had been fairly empty and some lunch restaurants were closed. The big setup in West Potomac Park was still closing some lane space on Ohio Dr. but I got through that without a car or bus coming up from behind me. Even Georgetown was quick to get through. I was on the CCT in 13 minutes. After that I took it a little easier anticipating the climb wearing me out. It wasn't bad but after the MacArthur Blvd. tunnel, I discovered that I was riding into a headwind. I geared down. Few people were on the trails either running or riding.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Park Ln. to Battery Ln. to Cordell Ave. & Norfolk Ave., then back via Glenbrook Rd. I towed Samantha while Peggy and Max rode along. We ate dinner and were riding back in the dark.

Dufief Elementary School, Montgomery County, MD. I setup mini controls for a last minute training event that I threw together. I think it turned out prety well though only 5 others were able to make it. The training was to focus on memory. I gave everyone standard looking maps and asked them to read each leg at the start, then try to put the map away until they found the control. I thought that some of the legs were fairly challenging given the distance and detail. Simplification was the key. When I set out the controls, I read the map carefully and was having trouble initially. I used a spare compass which doesn't settle as quickly. The distraction of holding controls in a bag made it harder. There were also some new trails. I took time to take GPS track of these for map updating. I found that there were several areas where I could update the map--I had rushed through the field checking 2 years ago. I found an older rootstock missing, a ditch missing, some rocks in the stream not being there, a pit that wasn't on the map, and a patch of thicker vegetation. However, the map seemed to be holding up okay. There were some areas where grasses had crept in and perhaps started replacing some big low but leafy marshy plants. I was surprised at the distance I'd gone. The temperatures was probably around 86 F, but not too humid.

C • Blue and Goat on Sunday 4

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Folkstone Rd., with Samantha on her trail-a-bike. This kids had been bugging me to the last few mornings about biking to school. I used to do it a lot more with just Max but with Samantha too, there were extra logistics. I had to ride there holding Max's loose and ungainly bookpack and lunch while he carried Samantha's. On the return, I held onto Max's bike while riding my own and towing the trail-a-bike. There were extra steps to get it all into the house again too. It all worked out okay. Samantha had commented on how cold it was and it was the warmest morning this week. The kids have a running activity at their school today so this was a good way to get them into the mood for it.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I moved along okay but was feeling tired from staying up late and working on orienteering courses. On the trail, I picked up the pace knowing there was a guy nearby behind me. I thought I was losing him but I needed to slow to check and make sure that I had my work ID. Getting passed on the River Rd. bridge doing that, I chased the roadie. He picked-up the pace a lot. We were wizing by people like I hadn't done since last year. I was just hanging on so on an incline near Dalecarlie, I lost him. Still at a relatively good pace, I continued on with one guy catching me from behind but staying in my draft until he fell back at Georgetown. There were preparations going on on Ohio Dr. that I'm guessing were for the Pope's visit. I drafted a police motorcycle for a ways there. On the last stretch, I was tired and feeling it all in my hamstrings, but in a good way.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was feeling a bit more tired again today.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 59 F this morning. I started a bit slower but caught-up to some people on the trail. One pulled me along for a way before fading. Another whom we passed took over after I pulled for a short while, then I passed him in Georgetown. From there I went in a little less intensely.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was feeling a bit more tired so I didn't push too hard for a while. Once I got passed after the dip past Dalecarlia, I kept up with the guy until Bradley Blvd. We split there and I rode home more sanely. It was again pretty nice out.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 56 F and perhaps there was just a touch of a tailwind on Ohio Dr. I had woken up late due to my clock not being set correctly. I rushed out and pushed a little harder from the beginning.

The night before I was watching Hack Your Brain with an episode about the narrator taking on a challenge to rock climb a 300ft. wall blindfolded. He went through various kinds of training designed to help him overcome obstacles he expected. Two were in my thoughts. The first was a time trial of sorts in which the narrator rode a 4K course on a simulator (computer screen in front of a stationary cycle). After finishing he was told to do it again after 2 hours but this time, he'd have an avatar of both his present self on the screen, and one from the first ride--he was told to beat his first time. He did this with 45 seconds to spare, and afterward he was told that the proctor cheated the test by increasing the speed of the first avatar by 10%. Really therefore, he did better than 10% of his first all-out effort. The conclusion was that he was using his mind better to recruit leg muscles.

The other training involved pain management, in which an attacker (professional trainer) went after him with an electric prod that looked like a knife. The narrator was to disarm him but suffered as he was unable to even run away successfully. He was next given some training on how to defend the attack, and how to deal with the pain. He was told to visualize that the feeling the pain of the electric prod in one place was a good feeling because it allowed him to do what he needed to do to elsewhere, defending himself with his hands and legs. He was also told that all pain is in the nervous system and could basically be ignored. Lastly, he was told that he could tell himself that pain was temporary (a differnt training involved putting a 120 F heat source on his leg). At least for television, it worked. He commented that instead of the intense pain from the prod that he felt the first time, he felt a good sensation when getting prodded, and he was able to disarm the attacker. Again, the point was that he could use his mind to manage the pain and get a better result.

I tried a bit of this today and I did ride faster. I don't know if it can be repeated without diminishing returns but it was not bad to remind myself of how the mind can be used to lead.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I didn't push as hard as during the morning ride. I did have some traffic to get through starting out and in Georgetown. The air was pretty nice for riding--almost no breeze but my sweat cooled me to the point that I felt cool and comfortable. I pretty much rode alone and felt that I've been getting stronger. Over the last few rides I've also been working on my breathing and feel better with it.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. There were some tailwinds along the water. It was 53 F starting out.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I ran into traffic leaving work. Traffic backed-up the merge lane going onto the 14th St. Bridge, but tourist buses were stopping in the lane I usually use to round the Jefferson Memorial. After that, I got a draft off of a different tourist bus on Ohio Dr., and I eventually rode past it. More but moderate traffic in Georgetown was followed by a lot of accelerating and slowing down on the trail home; I started out with 2 other cyclists and they were a bit more extreme about slowing for a wider gap in oncoming traffic, to pass others. One of the riders dropped off, and the other dropped me.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was much cooler today--about 51 F starting out. I probably had some tailwinds but on Ohio Dr, it felt more like it hit me perpendicularly. I felt better starting out but soreness soon crept back. After Wilson Ln. I exchanged leads for a while with another guy. Neither of us were drafting on each other. Rather we'd pass each other at intersections. Eventually the other guy seemed to accelerate crossing River Rd. and I couldn't respond well enough as he slowly pulled away.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I felt a little stronger riding today--it was probably the result of rest more than getting in shape. There were good headwinds getting to Georgetown but right after going through there, there wasn't much. One rider went past me pretty well and I was wiser, not to try to hang onto him. I almost caught another guy but when the first rider passed him, they both took off.

Event: QOC Fountainhead
 

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park. VA. Having spent considerable time course setting for the US Ultralong Championship held here last year, I had a bit of a familiarity advantage. It took a while to get into step. With tired and somewhat weak legs, I was being extra careful not to trip on tree roots. Prior to running, my left heel was hurting. That was new but it went away while I was running. My steps were stiff and whenever I climbed more than a short way, I walked.

I spiked #1 using the trail and going left around the fence.

I spiked #2 too, staying low on the trail the whole way around. However, I was just a little hesitant at the end.

My first error was going to #16 instead of #3; the leg 2-3 line went right through #16. I went around the big complex reentrant for #3 and used a deer trail to get through the deadfall--other than my stop for #16, I spiked it.

I went fairly straight for #4, using the tops of the reentrants to attack. By this time, I was loosened-up and running better both up (when not too steep) and downhill.

I passed 2 women adventure racers on the way to #5, spiking that with just a little hesitation right before seeing the control.

I spiked #6 too.

For #7, I crossed the ridge, then went low along the creek (using both sides).

For #8, I think the control circle was obscuring the reentrant too much. I hesitated there before realizing how high up it was.

For #9, I went straight over the top. I hesitated again at the reentrant junction but my instinct and location were good.

I left #9 a little to the left, to get around a downed tree. Crossing the power lines between the reentrant, I angled left across the spur and saw the control. Along the way, I convinced myself that it was just some white rocks; I couldn't see the flag and the water jugs made the whiteness. I angled further down passing the control for a short way before looking back and making up for my error.

I left #10 okay but misinterpreted the first reentrant junction. I climbed early and had to go over a second reentrant. This wasn't so bad since I realized my error quickly enough and being higher up, I didn't have to climb the steeper reentrants on my previously planned route. I crossed the ridge just above the saddle and went down a reentrant until it started leveling out. Cutting left from there, I spiked the control, but I have to count this as a miss for the earlier error.

Going over the short hill for #12, I was off to the right, and dropped a little before realizing the error.

For #13, I dropped low and thought to stay low to the control, but at the ride (which I never saw in the forest), I decided that going around was just too far out of the way. I dropped into the next reentrant, and up the one with the control. I didn't see it in the reentrant and was somewhat worried when it wasn't behind the fallen tree, but I looked right and found it on the dot knoll. Tom Wells was passing by on the Green course.

For #14, I climbed to the saddle and used the ride. I jumped off the ride in the right place but I let myself get suckered to the right a little. I didn't waste much time. I cut left toward the control. I could see Ted Good approaching from the way I had planned to come, and I got there just ahead of him.

Ted passed me quickly as we climbed. I pursued and had no choice but to follow him in to #15.

I'd been to #16 before so even though Ted had been faster leaving #15, when he paused after the trail, I made up some distance on him. Ted still punched ahead of me, but hadn't gained much.

Ted was slower leaving #16. I just went for the trail. Ted was faster going down the steep and rooted trail. I lost sight of him briefly but gained it back at the bottom after crossing the creek. I was familiar with the stream valley so every time Ted pulled ahead, I made up the distance when he paused or slowed to read. After we crossed the creek on another bridge, Ted cut more right than I'd expected. I wasn't sure if he was making a mistake. I ran on, eventually passing #1. There I saw Peggy approaching the same reentrant from high. She'd taken a route that took her past the start, and had started about 15 minutes before I had. Again, I had to follow; this time Peggy, into the control.

I started to pass Peggy after she took a more direct climb toward #18. I wanted to get in the reentrant and moved ahead a bit. However, I got distracted by another control on a trail and had gone out of the way just enough to get behind Peggy again. She punched ahead of me, and I'd glimpsed Ted ahead of us.

Going to the Go control, I thought I'd pass Peggy on the road but she'd picked up the pace. As we left the road to pass the start, I passed her on the inside of the turn, and went on to the trail intersection near the cemetery.

It was hard to read the map here due to the leg line, but again, I was familiar enough with the area to know to take the right trail. I had to slow for another man on the trail. When we broke into the field, I passed him as his kids were cheering and I didn't feel quite right about that. As Peggy pointed out, our son Max had been cheering somewhat too; rather he cheered me to go and commented that I had beat Peggy.

It was the best run for me in a long while. I am happy that I was able to keep up with Ted toward the end, even though I benefited by being behind him. He pushed me physically in a way that I need to do more. I hope to lose more weight and run faster in the future. I enjoyed the course and thought that it'd be a bit harder going into it.

Blue - Splits

From Northfield Rd. I ran up to Custer Rd., to Wilson La., to Exeter Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I had been on my feet for a long while cleaning and rearranging space in our basement while it was raining. As a result, I was tired starting out. I felt better after a little while and reached the first mile in about 8:50. I'm faster than I had been in months but still pretty slow. Though the cycling I've been doing should help, the lack of time to adjust to the volume has me a bit over-trained. I felt tired on the run and a bit worn out overall, so I'm hoping for continued improvement in future runs.

Samantha was sick on Thursday and recovering on Friday so I stayed home with her. I got some errands done but didn't get much chance to go run or ride. Samantha was better by the afternoon.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It had rained overnight but it was still warm. That left pavement damp and the air humid. I moved along okay and picked-up speed. Just after the trestle bridge I got passed by two who I think passed me the day before. I latched-on this time. As we slowed and accelerated a few times to pass others, I eventually got dropped about a half mile before Georgetown. I thought I kept a decent speed afterward but my time seems slow--I calculated rather than use my cycle computer since that needs batteries.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. There were headwinds getting to Georgetown. I shared the load on some pulls with a guy I caught. He was taking it easy and even got a few phone calls along the way. I lost him just before River Rd. as I tired more and headwinds were present again. It was much cooler and some promised rain never materialized.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I was tired starting out. It was in the 70s F and humid. Once on the Capital Crescent Trail, there was a steady stream of cyclists. Either I slowed or one of the guys I caught speeded-up, but it worked for me to draft for a while. We got passed by 2 faster riders who ordinarily I would have latched onto. Later, I led for the guy who had been leading for me. There were headwinds along the river, and I took it easy finishing-up.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was still feeling tired when I started. I had a tailwinds along the river in DC. Rain was threatening to fall but never did. One guy went past me when I slowed to answer Peggy's call but he would probably have passed me by anyway.

From Northfield Rd. to and from Madison St. It was Back to School night and I left to go about 10 minutes after getting home. I only had time for a snack and to change my shirt.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I woke with a crick in my right shoulder and was kind of tired. I got stuck at traffic intersections a bit. One guy got ahead of me while we waited at a traffic light on Bradley Blvd. Another trailed me for a few miles before taking over for a longer pull into and through Georgetown. I was happy to sit back taking it easier. There were some headwinds on Ohio Dr. but the breeze from auto traffic counter-acted much of that. Though there were pockets of cooler air, it was still humid.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I enjoyed a draft off of a double-decker bus to whip around the tidal basin. I backed off of the tourist bus when it slowed almost to a stop to make comments about the tidal basin to passengers. When it started up again rather quickly accelerating, another guy jumped with it and I tailed him for a way. It was all kind of close quarters and exciting. I got a nice tailwind going to Georgetown after that. I had to keep reminding myself not to push too hard. I was tired so the pace control wasn't that difficult. On the trail to Bethesda, I moved well. One roadie passed me.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I continued course setting work today. The forest continued to be pretty nice for this time of year--dry like last week with not a lot of undergrowth in most places. An annoying part was all of the spider webs. My field work took much longer than I expected. I'd brought along my mountain bike to save time on parts of it. I think it helped overall though it made me do some out and back running and riding (I would usually get near a control or a group of them, then get to them on foot). It was fun to be on the bike on single-track again and I felt that I hadn't lost too much skill. The bike helped get me up and down trails quickly, and helped me cope better with the +90 F heat. The going uphill part of cycling was satisfying since there were some steep parts which required both power and skill and I made it up some of those. I was trying to get out early this morning and while I grabbed about everything else that I anticipated needing, I forgot my cycling helmet and gloves. I was going slowly enough, even on most downhills that it didn't seem too risky. I did have my GPS with me today and I was rather surprised about registering a half marathon worth of distance. I did repeat some terrain that I'd been over the previous week, but just to get a good track of the new trail that I found. I found more of the trail today--the other end. There were a few other similar intermittent trails that I found today too, but I didn't bother trying to map those. Most of the time today, I covered areas I hadn't been to last week, and some of the places I hadn't been too at all, or not in a long time. I went through a few places that were not so pleasant but I'd expected those. As I was finishing, I saw the Wirzberg's and their 2 children, growing up fast--I almost didn't recognize them. They were out for some geocaching.

Patuxent River Park, MD. After drinking some much needed liquids, I drove over to another location for one more loop of checking controls. I did all of these on foot. A few of the legs were through the greenest terrain that I included for the event. I hadn't been in one area in a long time and needed to check it out. I'd gone through some high grass in a few places--there wasn't much of it through my route today, but I did discover a tick while driving home. It hit the road.

Once at home, I placed my GPS track over the map and immediately saw several problems in how the map lined-up. Some were surprisingly big. I had always thought the map to be very navigable. Maybe I'd just gotten used to Dave Linthicum's style of mapping, or he and Peggy did a good job putting what's relevant onto the map.

Though I would have rather not had a day of rest, it probably was good that I did. I was busy anyway. After some more power washing and water treating of the deck, I went to visit my mom and sister. We had lunch and looked at potential houses for my mom. Later, we had another Chef Max dinner (Peggy helped). Samantha and I played a kids version of Scrabble, then Max and I saw a movie too.

QOC: Lake Accotink Park, VA. We got to the park late and had only a few minutes to get ourselves ready and out onto the course. It was a score-o. Peggy set out a few minutes before me. The course was not that complex and it seemed to make sense to get the higher-up controls first. They were ones on the south side of the main trail. I was surprised to see her at my third control. I headed to the 4th one ahead of her but let myself get drawn-off when she cut in early while still a bit behind me. That let her get to our 4th control right after me. We split apart from there with me going north, downhill using the big trail to get into the fenced-in area--that should have been a mistake for me since I didn't realize it was a fenced-in area until already committed, however there was a break in the fence in a convenient place that let me get in and another convenient break that let me get out on the higher southern side. From there things went a bit wrong for a while. I missed #136 which was somewhat obscured in vegetation as I found out later. I hit #134 instead. Going for #128 in the field, I made a horrendous error. It was probably due to an extra mountain bike trail somewhere, and not watching my compass well enough. I mistook the large fenced-in compound with buildings for the much smaller grassy area at #128. The buildings were not on the map, as that area was completely left off. I went around the compound hesitantly, passing #128 as I did. I realized where I was when I saw the twisting road near #124. I got #124, #119, and then came back for #124. I found it hard for not the first time this day, to keep a straight bearing when going to #137. Fortunately I could read the trails that I hit. I picked-up #144, and #138, then went back up for #130. Since I'd missed #136, I had to go back up further, before coming back down to #105. I saw Peggy as I hit the trail and even predicted it before I saw her. She chased me toward #132 and #125; partly helping by indicating that we should cut in off the big trail later than I was thinking about. She trailed me again through #143 and #102, where upon I opened a bit of a gap. I had been getting tired for a while already by then and was not running well. As I passed the start/finish, I had about 8 1/2 minutes. I figured I might get 2 more controls. My downfall was going for #131 and getting in the circle somewhat slowly due to the thicker vegetation I went through. Not finding it in the expected place I looked at the time and figured I had no more time to lose. I headed back without getting it punching with just about exactly a minute left on our 75 minute time limit. Peggy was wiser and picked-up the control closer to the start, #140, so she beat me by 10 points. Though I moved slowly through the thicker vegetation, I felt good in not being slowed too much by my cycling. My race-pace through the still summer vegetation led to more navigation errors than I have been doing when running more slowly in other races this year but I think that will improve. Even with glasses, I had some trouble reading this map in places and hope that isn't repeated.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. After loosening-up, I moved well down the trail. I caught one person who passed me back for a while. After drafting on him down to Fletcher's Boathouse, I passed him again. The weather was probaby slightly cooler than yesterday. There was a trace of a tailwind along the water after Georgetown. I once again got a little tired in the last half mile.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Rock Creek Pkwy. up Beach Dr., to Grosvenor Rd., to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. We were supposed to get off work early but I had a lot to do and left not long before my usual time. I must admit having wanted to get over 100 miles cycling for the week, and thus wanting to extend my commute--I haven't ridden much this year and I usually have several weeks above that amount plus at least one week where I commute 5 days in a row. Given the weather and other demands, this could have been my only chance to break 100 miles. I rode nicely and more easily than the morning. Initially I made good time going up Rock Creek, but I hit the usual traffic--this time I didn't try to weave my way through and the result was about 3/4 of a mile in 14 minutes. The rest wasn't bad except for one woman who for no apparent reason started yelling at me. I guess she thought bicycles didn't belong on the road. I struggled with hills toward the end. My riding time is an estimate. In the evening, we went out to celebrate it being one year since we adopted Samantha.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I woke-up late so I rode a little harder. Initially, it seemed that there were no other riders on the trail but I started catching-up to a crowd of them at Dalecarlia. I had a slight tailwind along the water after Georgetown. I suddenly tired out just before finishing and shortly after turning away from the tailwind. My back was also aching the last couple of miles.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left just before 6pm. A small thunderstorm had just passed so there was some dampness on the ground and higher than usual humidity. Though the temperature started out about as warm as expected, there was a nice tailwind going into Georgetown. I had spun quickly. There was some traffic in Georgetown where part of water street was closed near the Rock Creek Pkwy., but after that it was nice again. I moved steadily catching a lot of riders. One roadie got on the trail a little ahead of me. After passing him, we traded leads several times. He would draft on me, then move ahead much more quickly such as at the overpasses--I just wasn't climbing that well. Instead, after getting behind, I'd slowly catch and pass him. After finishing, I was a little surprised at how fast I'd ridden. Maybe I'm starting to get used to cycling and am getting in better shape.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I left just before 8am. There were a lot of pedestrians near Bethesda. It was warm (79 F) by the time I was at work and also humid. I felt pretty tired the last few miles. That doesn't usually happen since most of the ride is downhill. My heel still hurts in the mornings; I stretched it a few times.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left just before 6pm. There was a warm headwind getting to Georgetown but I seemed to get through it easier than expected. I rode my own pace, feeling better than the morning but still trying not to push too hard. I still managed to pass and pickup two drafters.

Max was sick so I stayed home with him. I got a bunch of outside-of-the-house maintenance chores done, some picture work, and some work work done and before I knew it, the day had gone by. When I did think of running, I felt that my legs were pretty tired from all of the working out that have been doing lately.