Nice Long Training Weekend

Let's just say I had a very productive weekend of training. It started out with a 10 mile run from Bethesda, MD to Washington, DC via the Capital Cresent Trail and the sidewalks parallel the Potmac River. Once again I called up my buddy Neicy to tag along and run it with me... esp since she is in training for the Army Ten Miler in October. As usual we started in Bethesda... made our way to the third mile on the trail for some water from the fountain... continued to the end of the trail in Georgetown... stopped at Starbucks for a cup of water... then alongside the Potomac River once in DC... to end at the Washington Monument. The first five miles all out minute mile averages were well under 9 but then from there on out it got ugly... 9 minute mile pace plus. After we were done with the run we each grabbed a Gatorade and stretched on the grassy area by the Washington Monument before heading back to Bethesda on the Metro. Once back to Bethesda we stopped at Barnes and Noble to look at books... we're both huge book worms. After that it was back to Downtown Silver Spring for lunch at Eggspectations and then onto Pacers Running Store... where we each bought ourselves something new for running.

I then geared up Sunday for a long day in the saddle... try nearly 5 hours in the saddle. The nice thing about this ride was my dad was in for a long day to... esp since he's doing the Hotter N Hell century ride in less than two weeks. We started at Candy Cane City then made our way down onto Beach Drive... up this nice curvy hill to 14th Street. I've never liked 14th Street... even on a day like Sunday morning where there are practically no cars... so I took it very cautiously. My dad told me it was a regular street... but my mind didn't think of it that way at all. We were on 14th for a bit... which ic all up and down. We then made our way onto 15th... a much more gentle road in my opinion... to then make our way to Hains Point. Boy was I ever happy to get to Hains Point... where I was a rocket and left dad in the dust. It was 4 loops around Hains Point to then go on another part of our ride I don't like very much... the Capital Crescent. Don't get me wrong... the Capital Crescent is beautiful but when there are mobs of people on a trail... it creeps the jeebers out of me. While climbing the Cresent to Bethesda I took it easy... just to avoid any kind of mishaps of any sorts. Once up and off the Cresent... it was down Leland back to Beach Drive. Beach Drive was normal... like any other post. Up to the North end and turned around. Once back to Candy Cane City... we switched out water bottles since we still had a good 25 miles left to ride. The South end was like any other normal ride with the exception that I had trouble going up the Mountain. I shifted just a tad to late... which messed me up quite so terribly. After going up.. the going down part kinda of freaked me out. It's a very curvy twisty turny descent so once again I took easy... there would be no excuses for any mishaps. Once down the Mountain it was smooth sailing back up to Candy Cane City... then just one more little loop of the North end. That last part of the ride seemed to go on forever and I had no idea how to entertain myself while riding. But finally 77 miles and almost 5 hours later... we were done... woohoo!

All in all a great training weekend!

More to come...

Comments

Tri-James said…
87 miles run / bike - that is a good weekend!

Enjoy the weather!
Kelly said…
5 hours of biking? Jeez! My butt hurts after only 30 minutes.
Missy said…
I love that your dad rides with you! I'm sure it's the highlight of his weekend too. Ouch, 5 hours, always tough on your parts.
Mel-2nd Chances said…
Wowzers, great training weekend indeed! Nicely done!
77 Miles...HOLY WOW!!!

I think the appeal of the running skirt for me is that it is feminine...something the guy runners can't (should not) wear. It is not for everyone, but I am glad I have one...I would not wear it for anything longer than 5 miles of running..

Thanks for stopping in..

You ROCK!!
Amy said…
Catching up on old posts here ... nice run! I'm anxious to hear about/see what running goodies you bought!

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