I set off at just after 6:30AM on Saturday morning. My plan was to run about 21 or so miles in the 2 hours 30 minutes I had allotted for Saturday’s long run. The plan consisted of a run from my house in Alexandria to Rock Creek Park – where I would meet up with the running group and finish off the run.
Except…things didn’t exactly go according to plan. Around mile 2.5 I felt the urge. The ‘oh crap, this isn’t good’ urge. Unfortunately there isn’t much around at 6:50AM on a cold dark morning in Alexandria. But I was a Boy Scout. What’s the Boy Scout motto? Be Prepared! Well, I wasn’t prepared. But what’s in the Boy Scout Law however? ‘Be Thrifty’. Check.. Way #1 to lose weight…and done.
I get up the road a bit to mile #5. More unhappiness. Although it’s just prior to sunrise, so it’s still a bit dark and luckily I found another rather nice…Boy Scout time. (Way #1B, and at mile 13, #1C). Oh, side note – thank god the leaves aren’t quite gone yet.
I eventually continue on and wander into the district. I’m feeling good though. At this point it occurs to me that I actually haven’t hydrated or eaten anything. I bailed out of the door without breakfast, and I have a bottle with two gel packets worth in it. Except… I couldn’t figure out the bottle. It’s sorta new fangled with a gel bottle inside a water bottle. I gave up on it for a while. During the whole 22 miles I end up I drinking a sum total of roughly 12 ounces of liquid. And intake about 1.5 gels. Way #2 to lose weight (or…not gain weight). Done.
Oh, and worst of all – due to all this stoppage, I never actually got to meet up with them. So I ran alone. Sad panda. I did manage to cross a few state lines though (yes, I know the district isn’t a state). I ended up going into Maryland a bit and then back across to DC. It was a long-ass run.
I took a nice little bike ride afterwards. Actually – scratch that. I first had to take the Metro home. Scratch that again. I had to take the Metro to within 1.3 miles of my house. Then I had to waddle 1.3 miles home. Ok…then I finally took a nice little bike ride on my new path. Which – btw – they painted! It looks…cute.
Sunday was nice. I went out again and watched some friends in the second race of the Backyard Burn trail running series. Here’s a few random shots of some random people.
Ok, so that’s not entirely truly. They’re not exactly random. They’re various DC Tri folks that I happened to see out there. If you see your photo above, and want high res versions (or any of the other gazillion photos I took – just shoot me an e-mail).
After that we zipped down to Prince William Forest National Park to get in about 30 miles worth of bike loopage. It was a nice day for it – perfect temps after a few minutes on the bike.
I was playing around with different camera angles on the bike. I started off at slower speeds holding the camera down next to my feet (like above). But actually did one descent at about 40MPH with it – the result of which is below.
On three completely unrelated notes…
-
I’ve/we’ve decided on my annual winter trip with my brother (last year was Palau). Details will remain unposted for now – but in total it will include about 20,038 miles of flying. And will cover two continents (three if ya include North America), starting the day after Christmas.
-
I’ve also started to draft next year’s race schedule. With tri’s filling up so quickly these days…ya kinda have to. For example, the Philly Tri’s open tomorrow (Monday) at 10AM.
-
I just cooked a crapload of pumpkin. I’ve got all sorts of fun pumpkin recipes planned for this week. Woohoo.
Anyway…that’s it. Hope ya’ll had a good weekend. Congrats to those who completed either Ironman Florida or the NYC Marathon.
Just three weeks to go for me till the Philly Marathon…I can’t wait…to get break.
FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!
Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.
Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon
Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.
Man I hate gut problems on a run. And that gelbot thing sucks. I ‘regifted’ mine last year at a masters swimming party. Way too much trouble. Enjoy the pumpkin stuff.
I had urges this morning on my run. Had to suck it up for the last 2 miles, because I was never a boy scout, so therefore I’m not quite as “thrifty”.
Love the bike pics!
p.s. I feel your pain on the run; I’ve had a few of those. Ironically only when in rural MN. NEVER WHEN THERE IS A PORTA POTTY OR GAS STATION WITHIN 6 BLOCKS.
Gah. You TOTALLY just nixed all my new weight-loss strategies! Gurrr.
Oh my God! If you need a break, then the season really MUST be coming to a close!!! :) You will rock at Philly and I can’t wait to track you!
Sorry about the stomach problems. Your photos are great, though – I love the fall colors on the roads and trails.
Awesome pictures. The one should be an advertisement for Cervelo. :)
I personally like using my Gelbot, and have for the past year of owning it. The first few weeks were a bit tricky learning to use it, but I LOVE it during the summer (Sometimes the gel becomes too thick on very cold winter rides). Careful not to accidentally push the gel part into the bottom of the bottle. You’ll seriously regret doing so.
I love my gelbot. Especially for running!
Not sure where you went wrong.
I managed to have problems on my 16 miler on Sunday, both physicially and mentally! You got through it and thats all that matters!
Don’t you just love Rock Creek Park in the fall?
A snack bag of a few wet wipes is like gold some days.
I have wondered what kind of response I would get if I just ran up to someone’s door and knocked and asked to use the bathroom…
Hey… did you know you were nominated for Best Endurance Blog? link to everymantri.com
You probably knew this and I’m just way slow!
Oh, digestive unhappiness…I hate it when that happens. The bike ride looks amazing though. The fall colours are beautiful. Sadly I think most of the leaves have fallen off of the trees here.
Great pics, I could swear I saw the asphalt slide by in a couple of those…
Sorry to hear about your intestinal issues. My all-time worst was on a long Saturday morning run after having eaten several too many portions of extremely fatty but delicious cassoulet, the classic French bean casserole.
Incidentally, since turning vegan 18 months ago, almost zero stomach issues…
Heey, I was wondering if you have heard of this weight loss before? link to bit.ly It looks great program to help people lose weight, I was just looking for some opinions before i made my decision. By the way i love the content you have been posting lately!