The W&OD Trail, a Longtime Friend

I stopped during Saturday’s ride to chat with volunteers of the Friends of the W&OD Trail who had a tent set up celebrating the trail’s 50th anniversary. My husband and I have logged thousands of running and biking miles on the W&OD Trail over the years and enjoy supporting their organization. The first memory I have of using the trail was on bike rides in 1991 when our sons were riding in their Burley trailer behind my husband’s bike and I could barely keep up with them!

 

Overview of the Week

Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

 

Sunday

Cycling: 20 miles
• Average speed: 15.8 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 11:46 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65°
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

My knee complained whenever I ascended or descended stairs after my 80-mile gravel ride the day before so I decided to stay inside and ride my spin bike instead of joining the Gravel Rats on one of my favorite routes. My rationale was that I could stop if my knee started bothering me rather than having to ride whatever distance back to the car. Luckily, my knee felt fine and I was able to get my training plan mileage completed.

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Walking: 3.04 miles
• Average pace: 14:44 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 140 feet
• Start time: 5:25 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 40° (feels like 38°) and clear
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, down coat, ear warmer headband, gloves, and mittens

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

By the time I got up, my knee was feeling back to normal so I headed out early for a walk before starting my day.

 

Tuesday

Walking: 4.08 miles
• Average pace: 15:29 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 140 feet
• Start time: 10:33 AM
• Location: neighborhood streets
• Weather: 65° and sunny, climbing to 67°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

I got outside in the gorgeous weather for a walk after wrapping up my morning clients. With a little more time than usual, I extended my walk beyond our immediate little neighborhood and enjoyed walking by the pond (in the daylight).

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 15 minutes of core

Walking: 2.09 miles
• Average pace: 18:16 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 98 feet
• Start time: 3:59 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 74° and sunny with 18 MPH winds
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

Shortly after starting my walk I knew I wouldn’t be going very far or very fast. I felt exhausted so I called it after two miles. Interestingly though, at 74° the wind didn’t seem nearly as annoying as a few weeks ago when it was colder.

 

Thursday

Walking: 4.13 miles
• Average pace: 15:05 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 210 feet
• Start time: 5:31 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 47° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, light jacket, gloves, and visor

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

The full moon was showing off when I walked outside to join Kim for our weekly virtual cardio workout. Having forgotten my little tripod, I ran back inside to get it, but less than a minute later when I got outside again, clouds were blocking the moon. Luckily, the clouds were moving quickly and I got a picture with the moon before resuming my walk. Kim wasn’t so lucky and had to settle for a picture with a streetlamp since clouds were blocking her view of the moon.

After feeling exhausted the afternoon before I was thrilled to feel fine during my walk, but opted to skip my bike intervals. With plans to host another Italian dinner party on Sunday evening (seriously, who hosts a dinner party the evening before a workday?), I knew I wouldn’t be able to get in a long training ride on Sunday. I rearranged my plan to ride 50 miles on Saturday and 50 on Sunday to Friday and Saturday.

 

Friday

Cycling: 50.43 miles
• Average speed: 13.6 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,578 feet
• Start time: 5:33 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Vienna/Leesburg loop
• Weather: 42° and clear, dropping to 38°, then climbing to 52° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: long bike pants, l/s jersey, winter coat, earflap hat, and winter gloves over nitrile gloves

Balance and stretching: 45 minutes

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

I canceled my first two clients and played hooky so I could join my husband and the Dawn Patrol for an early morning ride. Only problem, though, was that it was too cold for the other Dawn Patrol members to ride outside. It was still a great ride even if our wimpy friends skipped my rare Friday morning appearance. 😉

 

Saturday

Cycling: 54.29 miles
• Average speed: 13.3 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,722 feet
• Start time: 8:39 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Sterling/Purcellville loop with some country roads
• Weather: 52° and mostly cloudy, dropping to 49° and raining
• What I wore: bike shorts, leg sleeves, l/s jersey, earflap hat, and fingerless gloves over nitrile gloves

Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day

I learned during this ride that bike math is just as difficult as marathon math when calculating mileage in your head. The W&OD Trail loop I set out to ride was 44 miles so I decided to throw in an additional out-and-back to get to the 50 miles on my training schedule. Sadly, I calculated wrong and my 50-mile ride ended up being 54 miles.

I thought I’d dodged a bullet when it hadn’t started raining by noon even though there had been a 70% chance most of the morning. Unfortunately, my luck turned around as I approached Purcellville and I ended up riding in steady rain the last 19 miles. As a result, my bike was a nasty mess when I got home and I had to wash it.

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

Questions:
  • • Local peeps, do you use the W&OD Trail? ~ yes, and for years
  • • How’s your math when you’re tired from running or cycling? ~ not good
  • • Did you run in race this weekend? ~ no

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

 

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