Training Log Archive: Nadim

Patuxent River Park, MD. Peggy, the kids and I flew back this morning so I made good use of the time. QOC had no course setter for an event that is to be held here on October 23rd, so I was a late volunteer. I'm presuming the club will find a meet director too. I checked out control locations and left streamers. I am setting a slightly shorter Billygoat style course, like I had the previous year, as well as 6 other courses. I left from Riverside Field. It was a cloudy day and had showered briefly on my drive to the park. The vegetation was abundant--appropriate for the season but not that difficult to get through. Grasses had been mowed low, including parts of the old Nike missile grounds. Streams were dry and marshes not so hard to avoid or to cross as needed. I ran between all controls and thought I was moving fairly well; perhaps I spent more time at each location than I have guessed or I just moved a lot more slowly. I was slightly off on 3 controls and sometimes I didn't realize it until leaving the location. I also moved a few control locations from my original plan. I still have some other control locations to checkout. It was much more humid than my weekend in New England was, but it was still nice compared to what the weather had been near DC for most of the summer. There weren't a lot of spider webs but at one point, I must have gone through one and picked-up a spider that was over an inch wide. It was trying to climb my neck when I noticed and brushed it off in a hurry.

Hanover, NH on The Green of the Dartmouth College campus. Warm-up for the 2016 N. American Sprint Championships.

North American Orienteering Sprint Championships on the Dartmouth Campus map in Hanover, NH. Like the other 2 races this weekend, I had rough starts. I went through the cemetery on leg #1 and dropped down too early. After figuring this out standing in a parking lot, I cut through some thick tree breaks on a short but steep embankment. I tumbled and hit my head. Shaking that off, I crossed another tree break and finally went to the control. I played it more safely going to #2 wide to the left on roads and the staircase. I went the long way around (left sides) to #5 & #6. I moved better until after #14. Instead of going back up the stairs, I went around the buildings and slowed a little hesitantly into the spectator control (#15). For #17, I was getting tired climbing but right on. For #18, I stayed high and like many, descended the staircase before going around the wall. Coming out of #18 in a blind curve I ran in front of a car which thankfully screeched to a stop. Overall, this was fun. I wasn't expecting to anyway, but with my error, I was well out of the running to place on the first leg.

Sprint - Green X - Splits

North American Orienteering Long Championships on the Burnt Mountain map near Hanover, NH. This was a pretty fun day for me, despite the problems I had navigating. It's not often that one gets to run in such challenging terrain. I was probably reading half of what should have. My eyes just weren't distinguishing things like lines of cliffs apart from trails. There were times when I was able to know the control would be below me on a particular cliff or around a boulder but mostly, from the map, I was just getting an impression of things that were in the terrain. I relied on contours and even vegetation a lot to get me close. I managed to not make any big errors on the first part of the course and felt good about that. I hesitated a lot and got drawn off seeing other controls sometimes but through #7 I'd only lost a little time and didn't have to retrace my steps.

On #8, I got close and saw a few people around the control, but seeing some turn and stare at the map, got me to second thinking. I ran on past to the next knoll before turning back.

I managed to run off of the map on the long leg. It was set a bit close to the edge of the page but I also felt confident that I would have recognized a line of cliffs that I'd chosen to run to. When I started the leg I still had it in my mind that I was missing some better route. After finishing the course and seeing the trail going around the big hill, I'm amazed that others saw it; I still had trouble finding it standing around afterward. What I did had me climbing and crossing more cliffs than I knew I should, I just got confused by some parallel features--a couple of trails and a marsh that looked a little like ones shown on the map. I was probably tired enough to just be trying too hard in my head to force the terrain I was seeing onto the map. I relocated just before a paved road and came straight to the control on a planned route from there. It lost me well over 11 minutes.

I hit controls 11 and 12 pretty well but ran too confidently toward #13. I got confused by an intermittent trail, mistaking it for a larger trail just past the control. When I saw the intermittent trail, I turned back instead of crossed it. I should have played this safe by just dropping low and running the trail the whole way.

It was a pretty fun day just being out there. I look forward to another chance to go here again.

Long - Green X - Splits

Event: North American Orienteering Championships 2016
 

North American Orienteering Middle Distance Championships on the Oak Hill map near Hanover, NH. It was damp out for this but the rains had stopped when I got started. Some others had to run in the rain.

After the trail run to #1, I didn't start so well. I attacked from a trail bend going to #2 and stopped at the right distance on a water feature. However I turned left when going right would have taken me there in 10-15 seconds. Doing a little loop, I relocated and went straight to it.

I ran to the left for #3 and ran right into the barbed wire fence. This wasn't unfortunately wasn't streamered. I cut my hand on it and ripped my pants. However after the pause, I continued right to #3.

For #4, I ran straight until I got on a lower trail, then came off of a trail bend hitting the control right on.

For #5, I went straight and got just a bit to the right. Pausing before crossing the trail, I got hung up getting around some unmapped deadfall at a stream junction. After that and some cautious progress, I went straight to the control.

For #6, I went straight and was just a few steps off to the right.

For #7, I drifted left and think I crossed a trail at an intersection. I slowly relocated and went to the control cautiously, slowly.

For #8, like #6, I went straight and was just a few steps off to the right.

For #9, I plowed down the hill trying to stay on the spur. Writing this weeks later, I think I got a little past the control but came back quickly.

For #10, I used the lower trail and came off at a bend.

For #11, I stayed on the main trail until almost north of the control. I had paused/slowed a few times, to assess crossing the woods but by the time I figured it out, I was already past the point that it was best to leave the trail. I kept looking in the terrain for what looked like places easy to run fast but each time, the trail was better.

For #12, I had some hesitation at the intersections. A woman was just ahead of me starting out but I passed her at the intersection.

For #13, I went up to the middle trail, and that took me to the right instead of over the top. There were a lot of older people and women going the same direction. I got around just about all of them before popping off at a trail bend. It seemed longer than I thought it would getting to the control once I left the trail so I wonder if I really left where I thought I had.

I plowed straight up the hill and hit #14 just fine, though I slowed just before it was in sight. I think this was a partly fatigue induced checking of my location on the map. I forced myself to go on and it all worked out well.

For #15, I used the upper trail until I could turn right at an intermittent trail. That ended immediately at a fence/gate. Going down, I drifted to the right and crossed the next trail. I was just right enough that I saw a control that I went to checkout--that was even more to the right. I wandered back at the same elevation and seeing some movement I ran, seeing a woman lead me into the control. It was behind some deadfall.

For #16, I was a little excited getting near the end and going downhill. I wasn't reading well so I ran more slowly.

For #17, I still wasn't reading very well but made the right decisions. I led a few others to get close, then saw more ahead leading me into the control.

For #18, I went down to the north to get around the green. I think at the time, I was reading leg #17. Thing didn't make much sense until I got around the vegetation. I took a direct path from there. I had to pause at the go control, waiting for others to finish punching.

On the run in, I took a more direct line than others and passed them. I was worried about the jarring on the fast downhill, especially crossing a sort of ditch in the grass at the bottom of the steep parts of the hill. I ran harder a little past there. I was somewhat surprised that I could run fast; I had done a little, but not much sprinting since back troubles emerged 2 years ago.

Though my result wasn't that good, I again felt alright about how I did. I got a bit excited early and made a mistake. On my mistakes, I was generally able to relocate quickly.

Middle - Green X - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station via Charlcotte Rd.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I was still tired and a little sore from my late night run. Maybe I'm not fully recovered from the weekend. I carried my work laptop and the usual change of clothes. The winds were calm. It was still humid but slightly cooler. I set out going easy and got into some traffic delays. On the CCT, I moved a little faster. There were fewer runners but a lot of cyclists. I eventually got passed even though I was moving pretty well. The first rider seemed a lot faster and I tried to speed up for the 2nd but it felt too hard for what I should be doing. They got ahead but as I slowed, so did at least one of them. I caught the 2nd rider in Georgetown where there was more traffic.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left work with 15 seconds to spare before they closed the gate. The winds were neutral but the traffic wasn't. A tourist bus kept slowing down and speeding up to get around the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. On paved trails, unlike the morning there were lots of runners. Traffic through Georgetown was average. I cruised along by myself for a long while. My legs were still sore but not so bad after warming up. I kept trying not to push too hard. I geared down as I started the climb after Fletcher's Boathouse. Near Massachusetts Ave., a few cyclists passed me. At least 2 were roadies. After the bumpy spots where there was rough road ready for repaving, and less than 1 mile from home, I got a flat front tire. I fixed it in 11-12 minutes and during that time I got lots of offers for help from both walkers and other cyclist commuters.

From Northfield Rd., through Greenwich Park to Old Georgetown Pike, to W. Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar La. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Beach Dr. to Grosvenor La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. and to Northfield Rd. via Greenwich Park. I haven't done this route much lately. Mostly that's been because it's been too far for me and having some lower motivation for late runs after work. Working off site today, I felt it best to get home so I ate dinner and was still motivated to run late. It was 70 F out when I finished with small pockets of air that almost felt cool. However it was 94% relative humidity. I was sweating enough to have my shorts start to sag off my hips. I was feeling tired that last mile. Going out my first mile was just under 8:40 and finishing-up the last mile was 8:35.