Training Log Archive: Nadim

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I rushed through setting-up controls for a course that I setup for today's QOC SSS training. I was kind of tired/slow doing it. I was feeling a bit disjointed when getting started. I had been in a rush because of being late--I had some delays on a shopping excursion with Max and Peggy this morning. Adding to the frenzy, whenever setting up such events, there's always a concern about having all the needed accoutrements. I hadn't intended to run the course in control order so I also had to figure out how to set controls out as if it were a score-o, and make sure that I covered everything. New deadfall in the park from a storm 2 weeks ago worried me too. Finally, it was raining. With some paved areas, I didn't wear spikes--my trail shoes felt slippery and a little heavy. Things went well enough but at the first control, about 100m away. I wasn't quite sure which boulder to put the control on--I had to blame the mapper, but unfortunately, that was me. It was a bit tricky with the symbol size and a lot of boulders being close together. Still, had I had a chance to pre-visit all the control sites, I could have avoided this. In one other location, a fallen tree was almost completely covering a ditch that the control was supposed to be on. Newly fallen trees were plentiful and they even were still blocking some trails and even one trail intersection. I was a bit nervous about some private apartment grounds that I'd taken the courses through but all worked out okay. People seemed to be okay with the courses and Ihope the mapping was adequate. Besides getting some new info on newly fallen trees, I did find some areas where some map improvements could be made. I'll have these ready for whan QOC's first official meet is held here next spring.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I got a lot of help picking-up controls. Amy Louden was first--she got the first 4 controls. Ted Good got 4 more and Jon Torrance got a bunch. I went out to get the 3 farthest away. My right knee felt funny after this but I've felt smilar discomfort after running in rain soaked shoes while on pavements.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. It was 71 F and it felt almost cold when I stepped out the door. That was good since I was somewhat tired from staying up too late. I felt okay and just moved along steadily. My stomach felt bloated though I had eaten enough hours earlier. Though cool, it was humid (it event sprinkled some) and instead of feeling better as I ran, I felt slower. I had wanted to ride to work this morning but it seemed too wet and the forecast had been for heavy rains that never really came.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Risking the predicted thunderstorms for today, I got out to a slow start with tiredness, then traffic in Bethesda. Once on the CCT, I moved fast. It was in the 70s F, and there turned-out to be a tailwind. I was wizzing along somtimes doing 26 mph down the grade and up to 25mph on the flats. I had caught a group of other cyclists and led for them for a while before they helped. We all split at Georgetown. I knew I had a fast ride going so I decided to push and got the fastest time for this year; at least.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was sunny and hotter than I had anticipated starting out. There was a slight headwind but at least the storms held off. I rode alone and kind of slowed even in effort when getting closer to home. I would have pushed a little harder to get under 40 minutes had I known how close I was.

Starting from Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I did a sort of loop to do a fast clean-up of the mapped neighborhoods around the park for features that I couldn't get from online images. There was more detail than expected. I went through it rather quickly and didn't capture it all as I would have for a real sprint map.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. The bike felt good after being tuned-up a little at the bike shop. It was nice and quiet and smooth. The road and trail however, felt hot. It was in the upper 70s F starting out but felt much warmer. That was probably from the sunshine and high humidity. I tried not to work too hard. My legs felt shot but I moved at a decent pace. The winds were basically calm.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, MD., via the Capital Crescent Trail, then to Northfield Rd., A thunderstorm had let up by the time I got out. Most of the ground was dry and it had cooled-off a lot (88 F felt downright cool) from a high of 101 F earlier. I had a little headwind getting to Georgtown and wasn't moving that fast leaving it. I got passed by a roadie and naturally I trailed along behind him as he was doing 21.5 mph on the flats with a seemingly easy effort. As he pulled aside and motioned for me to lead, I was happy to oblige, just at my pace which was a bit slower. He played along and after the first part of the climb at the trestle bridge, he pulled ahead with a gap. I saw him for a while after that before losing sight of him for good. I had to stop at a bike store in Bethesda. This morning, I notieced that my right brake had gotten out of line and I suspected that the mechanic had done it by mistake--after all, he had changed the wrong cable the other day. He didn't think he had.

A bit lazy today. After work I got groceries and got my road bike back from the shop. They fixed the wrong shift cable..., then fixed the broken one while I waited. It was Peggy's brother's last night with us. We ate Chinese food. The food wasn't so good nor was it good for me. I nearly always weigh more the next day after eating it. I worked in OCAD 11 on drafting the streets and hoods around the Cabin John map until pretty late.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, Colesville Rd., and N. Portal Dr. to E. Beach Dr. to Kalmia Rd. to W. Beach Dr. to the Valley Trail in Rock Creek Park, to an unammed trail on the east side of the creek, onto the paved Rock Creek Trail, back into the forest on another unammed trail to the Rock Creek Trail again, at Meadowbrook Stables, to Susannah Ln., to Jones Mill Rd., to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Woodmont Ave. to Edgemoor Ln. via the downtown Bethesda walkways. It was officially 90 F as I started out. However the closer I got to Rock Creek Park, the cooler it got. As I stepped onto the dirt trails, it suddently was noticeably cooler. I paced myself for the heat and humidity, routing to stay in the park longer and go via a water fountain rather than go up Freyman Dr. as I did last time. I never felt very fast. I was only 7:37 on the initial downhill mile and 8:20 on the trails for the next. On the pavement I was only a bit faster so I'm not sure how my average pace got to be low--perhaps time was dropped when the GPS lost reception in the tunnel in Bethesday but that was only for a minute. I held up okay. Thinking it had gotten cooler, I checked and it was officially 91 F or one degree hotter, when I finished. Despite sweating a lot I only weighted out at 172.5 lbs.

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 intended to do some field checking today but I ran out of time and weather. I was slow starting on this; 7:50 for the first mile. My legs were a little sore but they loosened up and I ran more quickly after that.