How do you train? Where do you live? Very good opp for me on the Hill but I now live in the suburbs and can ride right from my house.
Were it not for training issues I’d jump at this chance.
Thoughts appreciated.
i found plenty of places to train while i lived there. you should have no problems. you can get up early to ride and hit the pool after work, and run during lunch. i worked in georgetown and swam in an outdoor pool and ran during lunch.
that’s not close to you, but you should have plenty of opportunities for this so i just wanted to encourage you to consider it. you’ll have a blast.
I live in Adams Morgan and work in Bethesda. There are plenty of great places to train in DC and the surrounding areas. Hanes Point is a nice loop, smooth road, minimal traffic that a lot of roadies and triathletes ride on in the mornings and evenings. And there is a 50m outdoor pool at Hanes Point that has a great masters programs during the summer months. There is also the Eastern Market Pool near Cap Hill. Rock Creek Park is a good place to run on a bike path or trails. Some of the other bike paths like W&OD, Capital Crescent Trail and Mt. Vernon trail can be crowded for fast rides on weekends, but are fine during the week. But you can bike about 45 minutes out of DC towards Poolesville and find some really nice country roads. Skyline Drive is a little over an hour away by car and has some serious climbs. And the Middleburg and Marshall, VA area, also about an hour away by car, have very scenic, rolling, country roads.
Check out DC Tri club, Rats tri club and Cats tri club.
I live in Maryland near Baltimore and take the train to DC. This saves on commuting (no frustrating traffic) but the day is still long. I leave home at 6:40, work from 8-4:30 and get home about 5:45. Then take care of the family stuff.
I swim and run at night (after kids are in bed) and ride on weekends. If I could get my a$$ up earlier, I’d run before work. Hasn’t happened this year.
If you have enough time at lunch, there are so many places to run downtown.
Personally, I’d rather be closer to home so I could train more. I’m wiped out after work, so it’s hard to get moving.
My $0.02…
From the Hill, riding at Haines Point would be very convenient, but you’ll have to like doing the same 5 mile loop. Another thing worth checking out would be the Capitol Hill Bikes ride from their shop on Sundays at 9. They’re in Eastern Market, and that ride might give you some more route ideas.
Seems to me your priorities are all messed up.
Unless you are a professional triathelte, which it doesn’t seem that you are, it makes no sense to me to pass up on a good job opportunity just because of training for a hobby.
Reality check, dude.
Thanks everybody. SBR - those might be your priorities, but please don’t assume that mine are messed up just because they don’t match yours.
My PRIORITY number 1 is to be a happy human being. Numero uno is my health, which includes both mind and body.
I have a good job now. I have a flexible schedule where I work usually from 0600-1430 hrs. I have a 20 minute commute to work. I have enough money - we live on about 70% of my salary, bank the rest and bank 100% of my wife’s income. From about 3pm on I’m free, EVERY DAY, to train till dark, which is what I usually do. (no kids either)
I have a very interesting opportunity on the Hill. The pay isn’t much more, but the job is interesting. But if it requires a long commute, long, fixed hours AND it is a pain in the ass to train the way I want to, well then, my priorities say that this is probably not a great idea. That is why I was asking.
It makes perfect sense to me to pass on a good job opp because training isn’t just a hobby, it has been and will continue to be - a lifestyle. Jobs have never been nearly as important to me as living. I don’t live for my job. Its just where I go to make money to live my life when I’m not at my job. If I wasn’t doing my job, someone else would be. Why would I make that a priority?
To me it might be a little misplaced for someone to give up their wonderful training lifestyle for a job where they sell all of their sunshine, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it messed up.
Well said. I have been dealing with the same issues over the last year as I have looked at various job opportunities in other cities. If your priorities are messed up then so are mine and those of alot of other happy people.
I want your current job. Let me know when you leave perfection for the rat race.
Your priorities are just fine - mental/emotional and physical well being, whatever boosts your score on that front is cool.
I don’t understand how the work-firsters get a mental/physical/emotional lift from thier life style. But, hey, to each their own.
I live in Reston (member of RATS) and work across from the White House. I’m doing the Empty Nest Happy Dance so kids/family are not a daily time priority (although my dog, Beef, would like to differ).
For a long time, but not currently, I left my house at 5:30 and could park in my building and was out on the street by 6 am. The Y on 17th and Rhode Island was 4 blocks away. They have a metered pool and a tri club there. Haines Point has a great pool and masters during the warmer months and would be closer to the Hill but only if you have a car. You can have a solid 2 hours before work.
I’ll stay in Reston due to quality of life issues until I move to California. If only takes 30 minutes commute (although that is butt crack early), I can live in the quiet by a few lakes. My backyard is the nature center so I basically live in a forest. The RATS have some quality training groups and challenging weekend rides. I ride from my front door too.
You must live a really frugal life if you can live on 70% of a Hill salary - they pretty much pay squat. The evening schedules are erratic.
Ah, do I know you? Read your posts but didn’t know you were a local.
B
Not quite a local, but I live in northern Baltimore. My grade level pays pretty damned good, I’ve been in federal service for 15 years, but mostly we live frugally.
I have no mortgage thanks to a bike crash a few years ago that I managed to survive, but we’re savers rather than spenders anyway, so I’d still have less house than I can afford. I’ve also developed a pretty lucrative wood art business that gives me extra spending money. Two incomes and no tuitions to pay REALLY helps.
Only one really expensive thing in my life I guess - a gas hog Surburban, but I’d pay $10/gallon for that thing, I love it.
I’ve been living in Capitol Hill and working out at Tyson’s for a little over a year now. I think Sugarboy covered the highlights of good places to train in the area. Unless I’ve got time to ride out towards Poolesville, the rides around here can get a bit dull. On the other hand, the running is great (as long as you’re not seeking out big hills).
One thing to consider, though, if you have to cross one of the bridges (i.e. you live in the VA 'burbs) the commute can be a real pain. My office is 17 miles away and it frequently takes 50+ minutes to get home in the evenings. And I’m commuting “against” the traffic.
If you’re used to getting up early (and I assume you are with the schedule you posted earlier) I know that there are at least a couple of people in the DC Tri Club who train around Capitol Hill before work. I don’t know how this fits with your lifestyle, but there are definitely options to pursue. Spend a few minutes on the club website and you’ll see what’s out there.