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Arlington Va Peeps
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I will soon take a temporary posting in the District, with the possibility of even longer term work. I'll be staying somewhere in the vicinity of Whole Paycheck. Can anyone clue me in on running and bike routes? Additionally, what is the best way to cycle to C St. NW? I plan to use the W&L Aquatic Center, as they open early. Any other tips or advice is welcomed. Danke.

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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ZimZam wrote:
I will soon take a temporary posting in the District, with the possibility of even longer term work. I'll be staying somewhere in the vicinity of Whole Paycheck. Can anyone clue me in on running and bike routes? Additionally, what is the best way to cycle to C St. NW? I plan to use the W&L Aquatic Center, as they open early. Any other tips or advice is welcomed. Danke.

you may want to specify which Whole Paycheck. There's one in Clarendon and one in Pentagon City.

As for cycling, nothing beats Hains, and i mean it without sarcasm. People look at it and quip, it's just a frigging piece of land jutting into the Potomac, but I did so much quality bike training there... I even used it for long rides, doing a few 60 mile + efforts there.

Anything more, I'd suggest driving to Great Falls/Cabin John in Maryland, park your car, and explore. It'd otherwise take 40+ minutes to go from Arlington to a place where you can actually go uninterrupted.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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The WF on Wilson?

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Have not lived there for 3 years so don’t know current construction or changes but there is a cycle lane on Wilson all the way to the Key Bridge/Mt. Vernon Trail, you can cross the Key Bridge (I wouldn’t on the road on a weekday), or you can go down Mt Vernon to the Roosevelt Bridge and cross near E St, or go all the way down to 395/14th st and cross there. If you want to add laps at Hains Pt before or after work, 395 would be your game. How far east on C St really will differentiate what makes the most sense. Another way to add miles at a reasonable speed is Mt Vernon trail past the airport to the 4 mile run trail, which turns into W&OD in Shirlington, then you can get on the custis trail to go back to W&L HS or to Clarendon. That loop is almost exactly 17 miles. In shirlington just after the start of W&OD there is one short half mile hill on Walter reed that is good for 1 minute efforts.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome to Arlington. Below I've copied what I added to a similar thread a while ago... W&L pool and track are great. Custis trail is decent for running and great for getting from Clarendon to downtown on a bike.

~~~
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._triathlon_P6564087/

In terms of bike commuting, the infrastructure is terrific if you're in DC or one of the close-in suburbs (Alexandria, Arlington, Bethesda, etc). I really enjoy my commute from Arlington to Bethesda; a major plus in terms of QOL for me. Getting to and around downtown is also easy on a bike, and often faster than by car. The further out you go the more hit or miss it'll be depending upon how near you are to a major trail system (W&OD, Capital Crescent, Custis, Mt Vernon, Metropolitan Branch). WABA is the local bike association and would be a decent place to look for commuting routes before settling on a place if that's your thing. http://www.waba.org/.../maps-and-documents/. Hains Point, MacArthur Blvd and W&OD are nice for longer or weekend rides.


The local race scene is good as well. Kinetic Multisports produces a number of well run races, many of which are easily drivable on race morning from DC. There are also a number of independent races around the region. The sole race within DC is fun to check out, but can be very hit or miss, unless you prefer duathlons.

tricalculator.com
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Regarding the commute it depends on how far east you're going. But if you'll be west of the White House - near Interior or OAS - then the answer is get on the Custis immediately north of W&L and head east. In fourish miles you'll deadend into the Mount Vernon trail heading south. Immediately past TR Island (it'll be obvious) you'll hit a boardwalk. Stay right and you'll end up on TR bridge. Across the bridge stay on the trail/sidewalk past the Kennedy Center and Watergate until you hit Virginia. Take a right on Virginia and follow it to C.

The folks at http://www.washingtonareabikeforum.com are a great resource for commuting tips.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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The area is great for bike commuting to DC and surrounding areas. You will find the route that's best for you when you get here, but needless to say, between trails and bike lanes, you should not be too much car traffic.

Running is easy, there are so much routes you can run on the trails and into DC. For biking, Hains is good for training and some short hammerfest, but for longer rides, go west into Loudoun or Maryland would probably be the best option. All those routes can be reached without car via trials. And if you want to have some different riding, gravel riding in Loudoun is awesome.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [dalava] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all the great tips. One last question, the nearest OWS spot?

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Haha... that will be pretty far and not easily accessible
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [dalava] [ In reply to ]
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W&L it is then!

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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So I've been assigned to Pentagon City (across fr WF). This place is really set up for bike commuting! Where is the nearest pool/masters swimming by S. Eads St? Thanks.

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Crystal Park Sport & Health in Crystal City has a Master’s program. I think it is three times per week. It is a pretty nice gym, and the pool is indoors, so you can swim year round. The gym is a short jog from where you are.

https://www.endurancelab.fit
https://www.teamodz.com
https://discuss.endurancelab.fit
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [Evil Elf] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks!

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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ZimZam wrote:
So I've been assigned to Pentagon City (across fr WF). This place is really set up for bike commuting! Where is the nearest pool/masters swimming by S. Eads St? Thanks.

If you get a pass for the Arlington High Schools it will work for both Washington/Lee and Wakefield, which is closer to Crystal City and usually much less crowded than WL. There are multiple masters groups that swim out of WL.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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ZimZam wrote:
So I've been assigned to Pentagon City (across fr WF). This place is really set up for bike commuting! Where is the nearest pool/masters swimming by S. Eads St? Thanks.

Are you military? The pentagon has a 25m pool (currently being renovated and should reopen in july).

Running and riding from there should be easy, go down long bridge drive toward the pentagon and into columbia island, or take the trail connector from Crystal Drive both will get you to the Mt Vernon trail. You can also go south on Eads which will end where it meets the 4 Mile Run trail.
Last edited by: MattAune: Jun 25, 19 9:37
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [MattAune] [ In reply to ]
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Was. I work for the NPS now. Is the Pentagon pool strictly .mil?

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Dang I didn't know there were so many Arlington Slowtwitchers out there! I do at least 2-3 quality lunch swims a week at the W&L pool since it's only a couple of blocks from my office and I try to get in a couple of quality runs a week on the Custis Trail or the C&O canal as my house is right by the Key Bridge. As a swimmer, the W&L pool is definitely my favorite in the area as they always keep it pretty cool so I'm not over heating during longer sets. Hit me up if anyone ever wants to go for a swim/bike/run some time!

Andrew

The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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ZimZam wrote:
Thanks for all the great tips. One last question, the nearest OWS spot?

Wave One (https://www.nationalharbor.com/...open-water-swimming/) offers twice weekly open water swims at National Harbor, which is easy to bike to.
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [mjp202] [ In reply to ]
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mjp202 wrote:
ZimZam wrote:
Thanks for all the great tips. One last question, the nearest OWS spot?

Wave One (https://www.nationalharbor.com/...open-water-swimming/) offers twice weekly open water swims at National Harbor, which is easy to bike to.

w00t w00t sweet!

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Where would you go to get in hill running workouts if you lived in Pentagon City? I only have a bike for trans or the metro. Danke.

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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ZimZam wrote:
Where would you go to get in hill running workouts if you lived in Pentagon City? I only have a bike for trans or the metro. Danke.

a watt is a watt, you don't need hills per se to train for hill climbs

5-min hill effort? Hains point, gate-to-gate

20-min hill effort? 3 loops around Hains

I would occasionally drive to Front Royal to climb hills, but it's more for variety than for actual training needs
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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Roger that. Thx.

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Re: Arlington Va Peeps [ZimZam] [ In reply to ]
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Opps, sorry about response to your original post. Have a head cold and somehow thought you were talking about cycling (saw you mention bicycle); just realized you are talking about running.

Your closest option would be the streets on Arlington Ridge (to the west of Pentagon city and east of I-395). There are steep grades, about 0.1-0.2 miles long, but ~8-9% (e.g. 23rd Street), or a longer grade more gradual grade 0.5 miles at 5% (South Arlington Ridge Road).

The other nearby hill would be south of Four Mile Run. Either Cameron Mills Road and Martha Custis. Both about similar slope and duration to South Arlington Ridge Road. I should note that there are some gang activity in this area, despite the fact that even a starter home costs quite a bit. So run when it's well lit, etc.

All of these either have sidewalks or have very low car traffic

If you need longer hills, you have the following, not sure about sidewalk conditions, but you can use google maps to check:

https://www.strava.com/...6533?filter=overall; in DC, some parts doesn't have sidewalks
https://www.strava.com/...7170?filter=overall; in McLean, sidewalked
https://www.strava.com/...1228?filter=overall; also in McLean, sidewalked
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