Training Log Archive: Nadim

I slept in and relaxed in the morning while heavy snows were falling. Peggy took the first shift getting +2 hours of work done before I got out. Just for fun, I hooked-up my heart-rate monitor and GPS. There was a lot of back and forth walking but I wouldn't have guessed that it'd add up to this much. I had to walk with a shovel full of snow in hand in areas that there wasn't much room to just throw it such as between the cars on our driveway. Max was out with me for about an hour and he used his little shovel a lot. I think he was motivated by the plan to build snow forts and have a snowball fight which we did. I also knocked some snow off the porch roof. It fell with a heavy thud each time I did it and I hope it helped protect our gutters. As I was shoveling, more kept on falling but I made good progress clearing our driveway and walkway before our neighbors could in about 2 hours minutes. I was about to go in when a guy whom I'd seen earlier walking by on the street with a birthday cake in hand, made his 3rd trip. It was his 3 year old daughter's birthday so he had made it out to get the cake and suppplies only to get stuck about 2 blocks from his house. I walked up the street and helped him dig out along with another neighbor and some friends who had showed up soon after. Once we got the SUV onto the pavement it was able to keep moving down the hill to his house. After that, I helped the neighbor across the street dig out what was left of his driveway. My guess is that about 18 inches of snow had accumulated and though it was falling lightly when I was done, it was still accumulating.

From Northfield Rd. to Mooreland Ln. to McKinley St. to Old Georgetown Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail (along NIH), to Maple Ridge Rd. to Park Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I got out for a short ski before dinner. The conditions were pretty good mostly. I was on streets that hadn't been plowed much of the time but since cars had been over them, I usually skied in between the tires where the car bodies had compressed the snow already. I could ski across Old Georgetown Rd. but the regular auto traffic there along with salt crystals had made that not so fun. The trail along NIH had been skied so it wasn't bad for me but people had also walked on the tracks. There were several people sledding in the twilight near the bottom of McKinley and Roosevelt streets. This outing felt pretty good even though I was moving rather slow.

The snow had stopped. There was only about an inch to clear off since earlier in the day.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Lone Oak Dr. to Fernwood Rd. to Greentree Rd. to Ridge Rd., walkway to McKinley St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Dr. Home early due to snowfall, I got out and enjoyed it. As it was, I was about the last one at work except for the security and janitorial crews. I didn't intend to run much more than half an hour but snow makes me wander. After a mile, even though I could tell my time was rather slow, I felt good enough to think about doing a 5 mile loop which would have returned my via the Bethesda Trolley Trail. I started to do that but at the last second I turned another direction to cover new ground. I would have rather been on quieter streets for longer but there was already 2" of new snow on top of whatever was left from the last storm and I had to use some busier streets to get across the beltway. Where I ran there was often a thin layer of slippery stuff. Going up Greentree Rd. I could tell that it was the salt crystals that were giving me traction. I always enjoy running in falling snow and this was no exception.

As I cooled down, I decided to knock-off some overhanging snow from the roof of our front porch. That set me in motion to start shoveling what fell and it became my warm-down to clear the walkway and driveway. It's 2" of stuff that we wont' have to clear tomorrow.

From the Grosvenor Metro Station, to Strathmore Hall, to Strathmore Ave. via the paved trail, to Stillwater Ave. to Orleans Way, to Rokeby Ave. to White Flint Mall, to Edson Ln. to The Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Edgemore Ln. This was a somewhat hilly route over the first half. I was already feeling a bit tired so running on the ice and hard snow pack on the Bethesda Trolley Trail went slower than expected. My pace overall varied with the hills and ice cover but I couldn't tell how much. I had my GPS watch so as I happened to look at my time right at 5.0 miles, I was surprised to see it at over 40 minutes. The temperatures were in the 30's F. With snow expected through Saturday, it looks like opportunities to run will be even more limited.

From Northfield Rd., Charlcote Rd. to Hampden Ln. to Wilson Ln. to Honeywell Ln. to Cornish Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to Bradley Blvd. to Kennedy Dr. to Dorset Ave. to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave., to Exeter Rd. to Battery Ln. to Park Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. It took some willpower to get out running at 10:30pm but I'd worked late again. It was my best opportunity. Though the temperatures were in the mid 30s F, there were patches of black ice on the roads. I mainly stuck to the roads to avoid uncleared snow but I did use the Capital Crescent Trail for almost a mile and virtually all of that was covered with hard pack or ice. I didn't feel like I was running very fast and wasn't.

Washington, D.C. I met John Pifer for an enjoyable run again at lunchtime today. Our plan to run almost got scuttled due to my meeting schedule. I ran over across The Mall past the Washington Monument and hooked-up with him at 17th and Constitution Ave. We made our way over to the Lincoln Memorial, over Memorial Bridge, down the Mt. Vernon Trail to the 14th Street Bridge, over a short way on Ohio Dr. toward Hanes Point, across on Buckeye Dr. to Ohio Dr. again, along E. Basin Dr. to Main Ave. to Maryland Ave. via the Portals complex, to 12th St. SW, to C. St. SW. John and I ran a steady pace with some of the pavement plowed and some of it covered. The snow kept our feet dancing but wasn't so difficult. The cool air and sunshine felt good. I sometimes felt good running though some muscles were sore from the XC skiing over the weekend. I at least felt virtuous from having finally gotten out for a run. More new snow is falling as I write this.

Working late at lunchtime and the end of the day along with soggy icy streets at night left cycling as the better option. I spun pretty well, probably averaging a cadence of around 75 while watching a movie.

Event: QOC: Bowie - EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO FLOODING
 

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Center, PA. While Peggy and others got Max into skis and a class, I was eagar to try to learn skating. I had tried once long ago out in Utah. Opportunities to try a groomed track near Washingtion have eluded me till now. I had some old little used boots that fit but needed help even clipping these into a pair of skis that I rented. Dasa Merka waxed these, gave me some tips and I practiced on flat ground at the warming hut for a while. It seemed like I was moving okay but I had a lot more trouble at in the early part trying to climb. I had trouble adjusting my feet to get a wide enough herring bone shape and my skis kept slipping out sideways. Jan Merka had passed me skating the other day looking rather effortlessly as I climbed doing classic skiing but today, he blew by me again doing classic as I tried to skate--he's pretty skilled and fit for this. I had anticipated being able to go faster on the the loop that I'd classic skied the day before. At the halfway point, I confirmed my split to be 4 minutes slower. I was faster going downill but because of that I needed to slow it down. I never fell but got awfully close on one descent; I'll call it a miraculous recovery. Sometimes I was getting a better rhythym and skate but I was getting tired too. Like my effort yesterday, there was a lot of brute force applied to get me around rather than some fine balanced technique. I finished the Red loop a bit under 8 minutes slower than my classic skiing yesterday.

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Center, PA. After finishing my Red loop, I watched Max get his first lesson with other kids and adults. He kept at it and made progress. Sometimes there was frustration but he also enjoyed the opportunity to do something so alien. He'd seen some other kids with gogles on so I gave him my downhill ones. Amazingly we were able to make them stay on despite being my size; this was by keeping the strap on the outside of his jacket hood.

Soon the class set off up the hill. I tagged along moving up and down the track as they moved forward. Max didn't want me too nearby. I was able to get a better glide after having been rested but I still struggled. I did some of the side green loops. Eventually Max was next to last in the group. A woman who was perhaps my age was still behind and much more concerned about going downhill. I helped Max make it back in and he was pretty happy.

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Center, PA. Some of our group set out again after lunch. Peggy and I stayed with Max as he tried to keep up. I did some more side loops including the Blue one and eventually went back for a camera. I found some of these loops easier since they were flatter and with less use there was loose snow that helped me grip as I skated. I got another tip from a man who I later found out was one of the trail groomers. He noticed that I needed to shift more weight to each ski. I tried this but found I need more work on balancing and shifting directions. I also practiced Dasa's tips to keep my poles closer in, and trying to practice balance staying on one foot as long as I could on flatter ground. Tiredness made it all the more difficult. We were amongst the last to leave the area as it got dark. We had been fortunate all Sunday with very few people turning-up and good snow conditions. I think the snow that fell closer to home kept others from making the trip. On the way home we ate dinner with the Lennons and Merkas to finish-up a fun weekend that though with orienteering friends, wasn't much at all about orienteering.

Upon returning and unloading, I cleared the driveway and walkway of snow that had fallen while we were away skiing.