Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville.

Didn't feel so hot today and WOW was it muddy. Did I mention it was muddy? There was a bit of mud. You getting the point? Yeah, that 'little' rain storm I got caught running in yesterday? Yeah, it had a second laugh at my expense. Anyway, it was still a really good ride. Got in the full loop plus the technical section. Overall, finished at 9.1 mph, slowed from the typical 10 mph.

Running from the rain...

Was busy all day and by the time closing time rolled around, I still hadn't gotten out for a run. So I made my way home and got Cole in the stroller just in time to see it starting to drizzle. Almost decided not to run, but Betsy guilted me into it, so I put on the rain shield and Cole and I took off. Tried to keep close to home in case it rained again, but it didn't matter. I got out for a nice easy warmup mile and then settled into a nice run, but by about mile 5 the rain started to fall and fall and fall, so much so, that by the time I finally found a nice tree cover, Cole and I had to stop just so I could see where to go next and hope it would slow down. Well it did finally slow down... after we got home. So I ended the run after 5.75 miles soaking wet and pushing to get back into the house as soon as I could to get dry. Overall, it was a pretty good run, with miles in 8:43, 8:13, 8:15, 8:17 and 8:08 before finishing the final 3/4 mile at a 7:54 min/mile pace.

Running Track... Wow its been a while...

Got out to track, although did it by myself at Bolling since Betsy still wasn't feeling right up to it all. Got started with an easy mile warmup at an 8:18 min/mile pace. After stretching out well, I got started running in the 88 degree heat, doing 6x400 with a 400 jog in between, trying to drop the time for each successive 400. I did just that, finishing each with 1:39, 1:44, 1:38, 1:36, 1:33 and then finishing with a 1:24 min (5:14 min/mile pace) before doing a 1/2 mile cool down. Wow, it was hot and humid and really tough, but was quite happy to have gotten in a good track workout for the first time in a long while!

Running with the baby boy.

After church this morning Betsy decided to go for a bike ride, so with Cole still popping around, I decided I would go for a quick run to recover from the bike ride yesterday before I mowed the lawn. Just did the Accokeek 4 mile loop, keeping an 8:04 min/mile pace with a slow decline in the time per mile as the run went on (8:17, 8:05, 8:02, 7:53). The extra bonus was Cole did fall asleep during the run, so I was able to pop out immediately to mow the lawn when I got home!

Riding to Cobb Island! Well it is the last day of the Tour de France, and as I said I have been taking part in Mapmyride's Tour Challenge, where you upload your GPS info about your ride that day and it gives you your virtual time, as if you had actually ridden in the tour that day! Because of that, I decided to give it a go to see if I couldn't break the top 10 in the challenge today, so I arranged with Betsy that I would get up and get on the road by 7am and ride down to Cobb Island from our house for a nice 50 mile ride (48.56 to be exact) and she and Cole would meet me down at the Island for breakfast and then a dip in the Potomac River. Being that I wanted to do well in the challenge, I decided to knock down for at least 19.5 mph, but I found out that the roads toward the end weren't ideal, with rough surfaces slowing me down to about 19.3 mph overall. Still not too shabby. I must say, overall it was a great ride and I felt pretty fantastic. Ended up finishing with an attempt at a sprint around Cobb Island before heading back to Captain Jack's Crab Shack for coffee and breakfast. Betsy was a bit late, but after we ate we got to head over to the Potomac just on the other (Virginia) side of the Nice Bridge and swam with Cole for a bit. Great morning of fun. Hope we can do that more often...

Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville

Got up early again, this time with the intention of getting two loops at Rosaryville in. Got going, and quickly realized that I forgot my HR monitor, so missed that data, but no big deal. Was riding well, although Alex had a bit of stomach issues again, so we stopped once, but then got going again and had a great ride. It started to drizzle a bit towards the end, but nothing too terrible. We got back and Alex decided to skip the second loop. I got going again, but then the rain started to come. So after getting out about a mile, I quickly realized that I had to turn around finishing with 10.65 miles. With Alex I avg'd about 9.8 mph, not too shabby.

Lunchtime run

Got out with with Mike and Ronan at lunchtime. My GPS didn't find its position until 3 miles in, so that screwed things up a bit. But overall, it was a good run, averaging 8:19 min/mile. Don't have splits, but felt ok for most of the run.

Ugh crappy run

Well Betsy is still not feeling that great so I left work early to get home to take Cole off her hands for a little bit. BEing that I hadn't gotten a workout in, I decided that I would take the little guy for a short run. Wow, did I ever feel crappy, tight muscles, fatigue, not to mention that it was really hot and humid, just a crappy run. Yet somehow I maintained just about an 8 min/mile pace the whole way pushing the stroller with Cole... Someone explain THAT to me? Anyway, I finished the 4.25 mile run in 34:17, with miles in 7:59, 8:02, 8:04, 8:15 and the last 1/4 mile at a 7:47 min/mile pace for a nice positive split, not what you hope for in a run. It is weird because I wanted to take it really easy and pull back to running 8:30-8:45 min/mile to recover, but I keep finding myself falling into that 8:00 min/mile pace...

Time Trial Attempt

With Betsy not feeling well, I decided that my bike ride (originally scheduled for about 40 miles) had to be shortened. Needing to get in a good ride anyway, I decided to hop out for time trial. For this I started off doing a 7.8 mile warmup down Farmington and back Accokeek. Once back on to Livingston, I hit the hammer down and started the TT. I was attempting to keep a 21 mph pace, but the winds were a bit stronger than anticipated, so I only managed 20.7 mph. I felt pretty good, but got a flat on the way to Indian Head and after fixing that, got a leak around the same place on the way back. But otherwise, things went pretty well and I was quite happy with the effort, using the final 2 miles on Livingston as a cool down stretch. Hopefully Betsy will be felling better soon...

Weekend long run with the Family!

Once again we took off this morning for the Mt. Vernon Trail to get in our long run. Betsy's back has been bothering her the last few days, so it was a question whether or not we would make it, but owing to her toughness she made it out for the 10 miler. She never felt great, but we finished the 10 mile run with only a couple stops to get in some bathroom breaks and still managed to finish with a 8:24 min/mile pace. Overall we finished the miles in 8:36, 8:16, 8:22, 8:26, 8:28, 8:19, 8:38, 8:36,8:20 and then finishing the final mile in 8:07. It was still pretty hot, but significantly better than the last couple days so it was fairly decent, but a bit short of 'enjoyable'...

Running at NIST

Well as I said yesterday, things didn't go as planned with my work at NIST, so I ended up making a second early morning trip back out today. Got going with what was supposed to be a simple development, only to find out that one of the samples didn't come out properly, so I ended up remaking it from scratch. Therefore, while the pattern was being written, I got out for a run. MAN was it hot! Around 90 degrees, wicked humid. Took a strange route over the first mile, but then just did a loop around the NIST campus. Got in 4.25 miles at a really good pace, especially considering the aforementioned heat and humidity! Anyway, averaged 7:43 min/mile, with miles finished in 7:40, 7:43, 7:50, 7:43 and then the final 1/4 mile at a 7:29 min/mile pace. Not too shabby...

Mtn Biking with Joe!

Its been a day. Started off with a 5:30am drive to NIST in Gaithersburg, where I spent the entire day in the cleanroom, finally leaving around 4PM. That is when it got fun, headed on down to Cedarville to meet Joe again. We decided to try out the Orange loop, a nice easy loop, with lots of deep sand, but is about 6-6.5 miles long, before popping onto the Blue for a short but fast and a bit more technical ~4 mile ride. Got in 11.7 miles all together, quite a nice ride, avg about 10.3 mph. Afterwards, headed over for a pizza, wings and beer at Boston's before heading home. Great ride, great company, great fun.

First Bike Commute Home!

Well I finally did it. Betsy let me attempt to commute home biking after many a year of attempting. I found a route that I thought was workable and Betsy dropped me off at work with my bike this morning. After some second guessing, Betsy gave in and let me try it. I know she was just worried, the roads around DC on the MD side aren't exactly 'bike friendly'! Anyway, it was better than I thought. A hairy point on Livingston, but other than that it was a pretty nice ride! The backpack was rough, 16 pounds and really not well suited for riding, but that can be solved. I really think that this could work again in the future! Anyway, there was a lot of hills, and with me feeling my way around the avg was way down, only about 17 mph, but still a really successful first commute!

Hills, Hills and more f'n Hills

Wow, that was tough. UGH... Anyway, I have been participating in the Tour de France Challenge on Mapmyride.com, where you upload from your gps or cell phone your rides (I have been including runs for my GPS too) and it calculates your virtual time, based on your total distance, pace and total ascent, as if you had raced that days stage in the real Tour de France! Well knowing there was a couple significant climbs in today's stage, I got motivated to get out for a 30 mile hill workout, starting off with about 10 miles of warmup, heading down Farmington Rd, finding a new really steep hill on Danville Rd, just before the 6 mile mark, where there is about a mile long climb with an average of 10% grade. Now that will get you warmed up! The course then flattened out until about mile 12, where I hit the nice down hill on Berry rd before crossing back over Rt 210 and starting what was supposed to be a series of hill repeats up the two steepest climbs in the area that I know of, Fort Trail and Wannas Dr off of Farmington Rd, where both hills have >16% grades and extend for about 1/2 a mile. This was supposed to be the best part of the ride, however leave it to an irresponsible dog owner to ruin it. I did the Fort Trail climb once without incident, but upon approaching the summit the second time, of course I was chased by two dogs to the top, who backed off when I turned around to face them at the top, only to begin chase once again once I started down. DAMN I hate irresponsible people. Get an f'n fence, invisible or otherwise or hang out with your dogs outside to make sure they don't ruin everyone else's day. UGh... SO then I did the Wannas Dr climb, only to realize that the downhill is a mess because the road is now so ripped up. Therefore I called those a wash after three climbs and took off up Farmington which effectively kicked my butt (another 1/2 mile climb with up to 14% grades). After this I headed over to the access road by 210 where I did a nice sprint, hitting above 25 mph for an extended length before heading out to a nice turn around and then heading back for one more sprint, again reaching >25 mph. Ended back at the house, where I then hopped on the trainer for a final couple miles to cool down. Great ride despite the dogs and wow am I beat...

Traditional Saturday Long Run with Betsy, Joe and the kids!!!

Betsy, Cole and I got up and met Joe and Katie at B&J Carryout and headed over to Belle Haven and got started by running across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge path until we got down to the National Harbor, about 3.2 miles out. We then turned around to see Joe and Katie hanging out at the end of the Woodrow Wilson path and then headed back to Belle Haven, where we continued on south 1.8 miles (just past the six mile mark) before turning around and finishing back at Belle Haven for our 10 miles. Joe put out a strong 5 mile run with Katie and then met us at the cars, where we got to chat for a few before taking off. Betsy and I were nothing if not consistent, averaging 8:21 min/mile, knocking the miles down in 8:30, 8:28, 8:24, 8:26, 8:19, 8:20, 8:23, 8:23 and 8:25, before pushing for the final mile finishing in 7:53 min. Great run, followed by a nice trip to the farmer's market in Old Town for our Ham and Cheese Scones (MMMMM mmmm MMMM DELICIOUS!!!) and another cup of coffee. Great run with the family. I am really growing to look forward to these weekend runs!

Swimming with the family!

Betsy met me after work with Cole and we headed over to Bolling to get in a swim. Betsy got first dibs, while I got to play in the wading pool with Cole! GREAT FUN! I got to hop in shortly after Betsy, I did find out that the pool is actually 100 feet long, not 25 yards like I thought! Anyway, got in ten '100's' finishing them in 2:05, 2:12, 2:17, 2:14, 2:18, 2:20, 2:22, 2:22, 2:24 and then finally 2:25 fo an average pace of 1:41 min/100 yds. Not great, but good.

Mountain Biking with Joe.

So after discussing the idea of going for a bit, Joe and I finally got out to hit the trail together, heading over to Cedarville for a spin on the blue trail first thing this morning. Got out fairly early and got going. Joe hadn't been for a few years, so I was prepped for a rough ride getting his legs under him, but he didn't need much time at all. Got going and found out that alot of log crossing had been added. Felt pretty good, had a great ride and looking forward to going again!

Morning Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville

Got going early, although I arrived a bit late so we only started at 6:30am. Felt quite stiff and tired, been pushing it the last few days, so tomorrow needs to be an easy ride with Joe at Cedarville. Alex took off quite strong, but he quickly started feeling a bit crappy, so we pulled it in a bit and just kept it going at an easier pace. Finished with a respectable 9.3 mph and I was much more confident on the technical sections, so that made me quite happy. Looking forward to next time!

Running at Lunch with Mike

Got out a bit later than usual, but Mike was down so we got started. Got out at a nice pace, starting with a 7:55 and then a 7:50 min mile before hitting the hill, where we dropped our pace to 8:23. Picked it back up on the way down though, putting in an 8:02 mile. After that, Mike decided that he was going to do 8 miles, so he went for another loop up the hill while I headed back to NRL. I took a quick second to get rid of a side stitch and then got going again finishing the next two miles in 8:06 and 7:57 min before finishing the final 0.2 miles at a 7:35 min/mile pace. Great run.

Day off from work = Great Morning Ride

After a nice weekend up in Mass with family and picking up our nephews, we arrived home last night and got to hang out with my parents and brother for the evening before they left first thing this morning. Once they left, Betsy and Cole headed out for a ride and I got out for a nice ride. I decided to do my new 29 mile loop that incorporates the Indian Head Trail and felt great the whole way. Got the ride, with three fairly reasonable hills completed in 1:24:35 for a nice 20.2 mph average! It was a beautiful day, so glad I got it in!!!

Morning Run in North Attleboro

We arrived at my grandfather's late yesterday afternoon and after saying hi and getting settled in, we went out for dinner and then came home, where Gramp and I watched the Red Sox lose to the Mariners (all the fault of that damn kid who stole the foul ball from Youk... GRRRRR....). Well Cole decided that 6am wasn't too early to wake up, so after sitting in bed for a few mins I finally got up and got out for my run. I got outside to see a gorgeous, if only slightly cool morning, with the sun still rising. After a brief stretch, I got going and man did I feel good. I did find out that Mapmyride apparently doesn't know N. Attleboro very well, as it told me I could do a loop somewhere that turned out to be a deadend. Anyway, that shortened my run by about a mile, so I ended up finishing with 6.5 miles total. I didn't have a single mile over 8 min/mile, steadily knocking off the miles miles in 7:59, 7:40, 7:48 and 7:50 before pushing a bit more and starting to negative split, finishing the last 2 and 1/2 miles in 7:33 and 7:28 and then at a 7:13 min/mile pace for the final 0.5 miles. Great run over all, not many hills, but enough terrain to keep it interesting.

Running around Amy and Dan's!

So our 4th of July trip has begun. Betsy and Cole drove up on Tuesday, while I got the extra day of work in on Wed. Not wanting two cars up in New England, I spent yesterday on various forms of mass transit, starting at 7am and arriving in Conn around 4:30 or so. Long day. Hence, I didn't get a workout in yesterday. However, woke up at Amy and Dan's today and Betsy and I borrowed their Zin jogging stroller and got out for what was supposed to be a 5 mile run. Let me tell you, running with a different stroller REALLY makes me appreciate our Bob stroller. It was like I was pushing a weight in front of me instead of just rolling along in front of me. Added to the workout for sure. We started off fairly well, keeping 8 min miles the whole way, but as it was new territory to us, I had put our plotted course onto the GPS to make sure we knew where we were going. Unfortunately, I forgot to plug it in last night and the battery died right at the 4 mile mark. So up to that point we had put in miles in 8:16, 7:56, 8:05 and 8:08. We kept up that pace, but missed some turns and ended up following our trek out instead of the way I planned, so our 5 mile run turned into about 5.4, not a huge deal, but mentally it was a bit of a beat down since we were trying to figure out how to get back. Good run overall though and glad we got out!

Early Morning Mountain Bike Ride with Alex.

So our summer graduate student Alex and I, after trying to make plans since he arrived to go, finally got out to Rosaryville State Park for a mountain bike ride! Got out first thing this morning, getting out of bed at 5:30 am or so to get over to the trail. Got in a loop, which considering I haven't been on the trail since last year I felt I did really well, averaging about 9 mph overall. Felt pretty strong, finishing the 8.5 mile loop along with the additional technical section for a total of 10.3 miles, finishing in 1:09:50. Alex showed himself to be a great rider and I think we might be able to make this a bit more of a regular trip too.