Training Log Archive: Nadim

45 sit-ups. It snowed about 5 inches. I worked from home all day and didn't step out.

Event: QOC Patapsco Avalon
 

Avalon: Patapsco State Park, MD. Warm-up around the assembly area, and to the start of QOCs meet.

QOC: Avalon: Patapsco State Park, MD. A rare Ultra-Long event was on the bill for today. My endurance held up well through the course and I got good physical training (something that I didn't get to do most of last week). I had other problems though. These may have colored my impressions of the course and the day. I can't say that I enjoyed the course much. Granted, it was the first time doing course setting by Ryan Stasiowski and it is a difficult area to set courses in. When Avalon was first mapped, it was a long time before anyone broke 10 min/k there because of the climb. Ryan didn't want the US Team elites who come to the QOC events to be done in an hour so he set a long and physically hard course. The first part of it climbed the escarpment and went back down to the river twice in short legs. That was designed to wear people out and it did but it felt it was gratuitous. Part of the effect on me may have been to induce hypoxia errors--I may have made a few though I didnt feel so much out of breath. The listed climb was 820m. It seemed to be more. Interestingly my AttackPoint adjusted, Garmin measured climb was 834m. 820m was 5.2%; more than the mandated 4% of the rule books or at least the old rule books applicable to A-meets.

0-1 I took the trail around to the right. I was walking up the slope.

1-2 down the reentrant, along the road until the vegetation got more open on the right and when I could see a reentrant ahead coming down from the hill on the left.

2-3 I angled back to the road, staying in longer than I wanted to, due to vegetation. I did count the reentrants and seeing the start off to the right was a dead give away to go back up the hill, to the top of the knoll. It was a steep slow climb but I caught up to a woman along the way.

3-4 I was surprised to be going back down hill I just climbed. Perhaps focused on that or hypoxic, I didn't plan the route. It looked so easy at first glance, straight down the reentrant so I headed off. Hitting the road, I fully realized the man-made cliff ahead; mapped uncrossable. I got close to the cliff to see and because it had ledges and the ways around were long, I scampered down and onto the berm with the control. The metal fencing that held the rocks of the cliff together made it a little like climbing down a 30 ft hi fence.

4-5 I angled back to the road, past the assembly area, and off the map to get around the hill. I expected the control to be along the stream and not on a rootstock. It was my fault for not reading the clue description but the drafting seemed off too. The green X was extra small. I've seen a few maps where point features have all by some unknown or accidental means gotten smaller than they should so maybe that happened here (OCAD bug?). As this was another climbing leg being hypoxic may have struck again too. I followed another guy up past the control and turned back for it. This lost me 2-3 minutes.

5-6 Eager to make-up for lost time, I moved quickly up the reentrant then toward the wrong control. I headed out of the reentrant when it bent, and toward #21. Almost to the top of the hill, I realized and corrected by going across hilltops. This probably lost me 90 seconds or so.

6-7 I angled up to the first field and through the green to the next. I used the copse in the field to attack, noting the prominent high boulder before the stream. I caught up to a guy whom I'd seen near #5 earlier.

7-8 I angled across the fields, and toward the road intersection. I kept in the same direction into the next field to keep out of the private property. I read the reentrants, and clued into the controls by crossing the trail.

8-9 With no turning control, I dog-legged back toward the trail. It seemed to take a long time so when I hit it I was unsure if I'd passed the intersection. The woods didn't look so good so I kept on the trail thinking that I'd passed it. When I hit the next intersection and saw a hill ahead, I mistakenly figured that I was much further along the trail than I had been. Consequently I angled back looking for the green in which the control was hung which was also near a trail intersection. I found plenty of green and new houses. It amounted to a long 10 minute wasted loop before returning to the trail intersection where I'd went wrong. The intersection seems to not show the trail shapes correctly. Once assured of my location, I went straight to the control even though it was 20 ft inside a dense stand of bamboo. The guys I'd passed at #5 and #7 were there too.

9-10 I ran fairly straight at #10. After I got over a reentrant and ridge, the next reentrant system funneled me right to it. I'd gotten to the left a little more than planned but lost no time. If the control were only on a boulder on one of the many spurs, it'd have saved climb and made a much more technical control.

10-11 I dog-leg back up the long steep hill that I'd just run down. After a ways, I stayed along the edge of the map even tripping over an unmapped broken wire fence once. I hit the road near #19, the ran up toward the trail, but I cut off the corner. Taking trails, the last one was kind of off but I found it and the first hunter stand. I stayed on the trail a little too long after that, found Dasa Merka, got too close to the road, and ran back. I could see the hunter stand before seeing the control through the green. I had a Gu.

11-12 I went straight across the green. It wasn't that bad to get through, just annoying. When I rounded the last spur and turned to head up the reentrant, I saw Jan Merka heading down it. The control circle was hiding the first stream just enough that I didn't see it. That stream went on longer than mapped too. I found unmapped green and an unmapped trail that differed from the mapped one. Figuring that the control wasn't there, I headed back down. When I saw Dasa heading back up, more doubt crept in. I turned back up with her, going higher and getting to more unmapped new houses. After going down and getting to near where I saw Jan, I found it. I gave a yell to Dasa, and one of the guys I'd seen at #9 got clued-in too. He got there before me. That was about another 8 minutes lost.

12-13 I angled over to the trail, and once on it, I slowed to read. The guy at #13 moved ahead in the trail but I caught him when I cut across a large u-shaped bend. I could see the control far off and attacked off of the trail intersection.

13-14 I started a little to the left, then forced myself to the ridge. I found the flat spot, descended more on the ridge, then cut left. I could see the control from across the steam but it took a while to get there. The guy at #13 was close behind me.

14-15 I climbed across the leg as it undilated over reentrants. I got above the early cliffs and had to climb just a little more near the control. The last bit was slow due to the difficult footing. I saw Jan Merka again. This time I could see Benny too. They were leaving the control, dog-legging back. The guy at #14 closed in a little near the end but was still just behind me.

15-16 I climbed up to the top, then across the hilltops. This got me closer to the house than expected. Further on, I saw Jan and Benny and I passed them before the stream.

16-17 I went left of the spur, right of straight leaving #16 to keep from dropping too much. After the stream, I angled left to the control--not so hard on top of the ridge.

17-18 I took the trial just about the whole way. The snow and ice at the end was slow.

18-19 straight. I hit the road just at the bend and on-line. I caught another guy just at the control.

19-20 I stayed high, hitting both fields rather than cross a lot of reentrants. I considered dropping to the road too but the descent and climb back up seemed too much. I came off trails at the end and was glad that the steep descent near the end was not slippery yet. I spiked it but it was easy being at a stream. I thought the placement was in the right place but needlessly went down too far. It was also somewhat vague given no stream bend on the map.

21-22 I somewhat dog-legged back up, then followed the reentrant a way. Crossing trails, I got to the hilltop I'd been at when going the long way to #6. Despite the unmapped green, I hit one trail intersection dead-on when descending. The control was in a pleasant place, being at a waterfall. However, being on the edge of the map yet again, and in a place requiring more climb to get out was unnecessary.

22-F after the climb out from #21, I did the rest on memory going past #5 again. By this time of day it was more muddy than icy mud like before. I moved slowly in places on the descent. The location of the finish at the end of the field seemed odd, being unnecessarily away from the assembly area.

Ultra Long - Splits

From the Aquatic Center in N. Bethesda/Rockville, MD, Nicholson Ln., to Woodglen Dr., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd., to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd. It was about 39-40 F with a breezy headwind from the south. My quads didn't feel so good--like it was a strain. I felt kind of heavy and slow but it was good to get out and run in the daylight. I could see into the thickish woods in the park near the beltway.

45 sit-ups. I planned to run but it didn't work into the schedule.

45 sit-ups after another long day.

From Northfield Rd. I ran up to Custer Rd., to Wilson La., to Exeter Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. Having had dinner with Peggy, Max and Bob Angell, I was loath to get out so I was finally ready rather late, even for me. At least I ws motivated to run. Like in January doing this same run, my legs felt fine for the first 350m, but after that they were dead. This time it was residual tiredness from my long run on Sunday and just not enough sleep. It was 28 F. The +1" snow that fell in the morning was all but gone after the sunny day.

45 sit-ups. Busy again at work.