Training Log Archive: Nadim

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.

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From the parking lot off Rte. 28, to Berryville Rd. and back. This is the kind of run that I'd like to do more of over 2012. I used to do this kind of thing with regularity and lately it's become a thing to savor whenever I have the chance. There were some breezy snow flurries during the run and on the way but the weather was very comfortable. The trail conditions were pretty good considering that it had rained yesterday and that the trail is along a major creek with a wide floodplain; there was only one really muddy place that I had to stop and walk through. The trail had been moved since I last ran this segment, so that most of it was on higher and drier ground. It's fairly isolated for the Washington, D.C. area with no road crossings and few houses along the way. I saw 3 other people and 1 dog. I had speculated previously about mapping and using a nice wooded area that the trail passes through and this run renewed my interest.

In just about all of my categories in 2011, I exceeded my 2010 training time and distances. I aim to do so again in 2012 though meeting work and family duties will continue to pose a challenge. Another challenge I'll have to do better at to succeed is to get more sleep.

Cabin John Regional Park. Before going out, I put the park borders on the map. From the playground area off Tuckerman Rd., I headed west eventually crossing the creek and covering ground on both sides of the powerline. I did cover some ground on the east side of the creek that I had left out earlier so now all of that north of the power line is done. Across the creek, I checked and updated my work from my last outing before hitting the new ground in the power lines and beyond southward on the ridge and valley. At one point, I stopped myself from falling with my right arm on a tree and this really hurt my injured shoulder. After that, I once again, found more features than expected. The woods were generally better than expected too. Passing by in the car on Seven Locks Rd. many times, the forest of the flat land looked choked with low bushes. It may be because we're into winter now and visibility is about as good as it gets in all the forests around Washington, D.C. but these did not pose much of an obstacle. I found not only detailed ditches that one might expect on the flat land, but also scattered boulders. I couldn't pickup much of this or even the streams from the high resolution aerials earlier when making the base map, so it took a while to get these things on the map and hopefully right. I'll have to check later. I was plagued by some showers at times and as it was getting dark, a steady rain fell. I'll have to come back, check my work, and tackle some trickier land with small marshes later.