Training Log Archive: Nadim

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park, VA. This was supposed to be an easier day for me since I ran long (almost 11 miles) the day before, and have been ramping up my running again. I ran almost 8k on this just under 5.9K course. Most of it was good but 2 legs were just bad. I knew Jon Torrance (course setter) would have some tricky legs in this park that he knows better than any of us.

S-1 - I ran up the road and in from just past where the road split. I tripped on some light deadfall just about 10m from the control and bruised my left thigh.

1-2 - This was a simple leg and it seemed just to get us out into the woods again. I hadn't run Green for a while and was starting to think it was being dumbed down. The biggest problem was trying to figure out how to get across the terrain. I crossed the creek at lest 3 times but tried to stay high most of it. I could see the control once I'd hit the flat lands.

2-3 - (oops where are my leg comments for this?)

2-4 - I was eagar to make good time. I looked at the leg quickly and it seemed like another easy one--long run across the creek valley, then up along the trail toward the big reentrant system before the power lines--I never realized that #3 was in the middle between #2 and #4 until the end of the run. As I was passing where I would/should have turned up to get #3, I noted my position and just kept running. Not seeing it seemed to at least partly be due to have #3 be in almost a straight line between #2 and #4. The control circle was among a good bit of green and the circle was broken and I might have mistook what was left to be contours since the remains of the circle were almost parallel and touching the contours. The numeral "3" was also printed away from the control on top of an index and a regular contour. When I showed this to others who hadn't run green, it took them a little while to see control #3 also. I just didn't look long enough when I was on the course. Others on green didn't seem to have any real issue with it as no one else skipped it. I spiked #4 though I was a little shakey where the trail had been rerouted. I wasn't seeing the remains of the old trail much.

4-5 - I decided that the climb and debris would be slow on the direct route. Trying to make the most of it, I left quickly and ran away from #5 to go back up to the trail and around. I stayed on the trail even after crossing the power line ride. I returned to the power line just before the bend in the power line ride. I stayed on it briefly, just until it looked like there was easier running. I was worried about entering the woods at an indistinct place but felt the reentrant to my left would guide me. At one point it seemed like the reentrant was flattening out and I got confused. I crossed the stream for a short way, paused then returned to hit the control well.

5-6 - I went fairly straight. I did have to cut right a little at the end.

6-7 - I tried going straight and stopped at the ridge that the control was on. I got a little below the control as that was where the deadfall mapped and in reality, had lessened. I turned up from there and found it. It wasn't exactly my plan to aim off, but it was probably efficient for me.

7-8 - Either from the hill of the deadfall, I proceeded a little left of straight. I tried to correct once across the power lines but it seemed a long way to the saddle that I was thinking of hitting. I crossed and climbed up the reentrant that was hidden by the leg line, and saw it after cresting and getting through the holly trees.

8-9 - I ran mostly straight but contoured a little getting across the big reentrant. I knew from the top of the next reentrant that I was just about on the leg line, and I saw it soon after.

9-10 - I jogged/ran where I could, hitting the trail bend and then crossing the power line. I was a little left of the line going in due to better runnability, and I looked for a big deadfall ahead to guide me in.

10-11 - As I was leaving #10 another guy was there too. I took off in a hurry. I initially planned to be a little left of the line. My bearing was a little off so at the first reentrant I veered left and ran down that spur. I was just trying to move well and not reading the map much. I was making things fit. At the bottom, I could see the stream bending--I thought it odd since that would have put me much lower than I had planned. I crossed the stream and climbed. This put me back on the spur that I'd wanted to run down, not across the larger stream that I still had to cross to get to #11. I got nearly to the top and was having difficulty figuring out what had happened. Ahead and a lot closer to #11 than I was, I could see the guy that had been at #10 when I was. I hunted around a little where I was, then concluded that I'd made some weird error putting back near #10. After that, I moved well and almost caught up to the guy that had started the leg with me. Disappointing it was that I'd made such a bad error! AP shows I lost only 3 minutes but if that's all it was I did good. It felt like I lost a lot more.

11-12 - I went left of straight. I didn't consider going around until approaching the bottom but that looked too long anyway. The guy I'd seen at #10 had gone straight and was climbing a bigger steeper hill out of sight. I spike the control.

12-13 - As I was leaving #12, I saw the guy I'd seen at #10 again and his eyes told me he was wondering how I'd gotten ahead again. I decided to be safe and to use the ride. I was doing well with this and got on the mapped trail. I left at the hairpin bend without stopping. Soon I saw Mark Mace on my right climbing. I signed to him about having lunch later and was thinking I should be more focused. I started getting a little confused and when I saw a gully that I couldn't match-up I was more confused. This gully was east of the control and only shows up as a little reentrant notch in the hiilside. I don't recall seeing before though I had been below previously, at the pointy map border. I ran around at the bottom more confused as I didn't find the control in any of the reentrants that I'd turned right to inspect--in my mind, I had a memory of a boulder cluster control that Gavin had used in the summer short series here last summer. It might have been the same one as #13 but my memory of it placed it in the areas I was searching. I was making the mistake of using my memory rather than reading the map. Concluding that I was nearing the bigger stream with the bridges leading back to the parking lot, I turned back still unable to match-up reentrants. The one gully that wasn't mapped was really confusing me. I ended up running into the out of bounds areas north of the control and realized it when I climbed and saw the houses. After that, I ran right to the control. I lot over 8 minutes on this adventure and did a lot of extra climbing.

13-14 - I took a step or two up the hill, then decided to stay mostly low--I'd been there already and knew it was very runnable. That unmapped gully got in my way a little but once I dropped fully, I ran well. After crossing the bridges, I ran up the now unmapped ride of the old trail. In the EX2 Bushwhacker Adventure Run in 2012, pre-many inuries, I'd sprinted up this ride after a 10 mile run and left behind other racers. This time I walked. Near the top there was a guy hunting for a control that was probably the one I was headed to. I kept going and spiked it.

14-15 - I started going straight and crossed the trail a step or two before pausing. I was having trouble reading the trail. That was probably because it was just a trail segment not connecting to anything anymore, in the direction that I was going. I decided to play it safe and use it even though it was a little longer. It took me to within sight of the control on the spur.

15-16 - I went straight and liked that we had a different finish. We usually end up coming past the cemetery and sprint in across the grass. As I got moving, the guy I'd seen as I was going to #14 came up behind me and on my left. I picked up my pace and even though I had to cross the reentrant where it was deeper, I got there first.

After downloading I found out that I'd mispunched. This must be the 4th time in about 6 races. The last one at PWF wasn't my fault since that control had been mis-hung before it got reset by Jordan Loughlin. I really need to do better at focusing. That should come as I get in better shape again, as long as I don't overrun my map reading. Overall, the course today was fun. I was tired.

Green - Splits

MCRRCP Winter Trails: From the playground parking lot in Cabin John Regional Park, to the Cabin John Trail, to Seven Locks Rd., to River Rd., to the Cabin John Trail, to the playground parking lot where I started. It was 42 F starting out and rains that had been going all night had just stopped. I got started toward the front of the group. I didn't want to get stuck behind people as they negotiated across the mud, rocks and puddles. I stuck within sight of the lead group until just after crossing Democracy Blvd. I was hardly running with anyone, but more nearby them. Runners would slow in the rocky, and muddy sections so I'd make up ground on them there. They'd slowly pull away until the next obstacle.

My left knee did start to hurt on the way out after 3.5 miles and sometimes my back would too when climbing. The left knee pain was on the inner, right side, extending a little above the knee but more down toward the shin and calf. My back aches were on the lower right side where I'd had surgeries. Coming back, the paid didn't get much worse. I took an easier pace, walking up the steeper hills. Peggy had run about a mile less and finished not long before me.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a headwind.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Woodmont Ave. to Wisconsin Ave., to Norwood Park, to the Little Falls Trail, to Dorset Rd., to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. and into to the Bethesda Metro Station. I'd forgotten to bring sweat bottoms but it didn't matter. It was in the low 50s F. I ran in my shorts and a sweat top that got me plenty sweaty. Unlike yesterday, today, I felt like I was running a little faster than I really did. My knee and other body parts felt okay. I was a little tired near the end.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There was a tailwind from the approaching rain. I felt overdressed wearing my sweat jacket and winter coat under my backpack, and then just my running shorts and shoes.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was 27 F and there was very little traffic.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the road side, went through the Roosevelt Memorial, and passed the Martin Luther King Memorial on Independence Ave., too. It was a quiet night and I thought I was going slower than I was. Starting out, my left hamstring felt precarious. I ran with shorter steps for a while and forgot about it altogether afterward. My knee was okay through this. I saw a big crowd of tourists in front of my office waiting for a bus or something. I guess that they were here for the march on Friday.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I hit the traffic lights and intersections very well.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was in the 20s F but less windy. My nose wasn't as cold as the day before.

Washington, D.C. From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, to Maryland Ave., SW, to 3rd. St, SW, to Pennsylvania Ave., NW, to Constitution Ave., NW, to 14th St., to The Mall, to 12th St. SW, to Independence Ave., SW. It was 39 F when I started. I thought I was running slower than I did the first mile. I could feel my endurance waning on the second. Running on Pennsylvania Ave., I saw a group of buses getting a police escort which is odd at this time of night. At first I thought it might have something to do with the Impeachment Trial going on at the Capitol building that I ran past. but later I thought they might have been here for the march on Friday. My knee didn't bother me much during this run, but I felt it more in the last half mile. I was pretty sweaty afterward.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was a little sore from orienteering the day before.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, MD. After getting others going on a training event that I'd organized on Martin Luther King Day, I took up part of a course I'd set, rather than stand around in the cold. It was in the upper 20s F and there was a breeze going. This is the first time I got to run a leg on this new map that I'd been making. The map is getting nearly complete but there's a small area to field check still, and then there are some areas to go over a second time. I enjoyed actually running here. I'd forgotten to wear my eyeglasses but I knew the map pretty well and could read enough of it to navigate successfully without errors. The training focused on point feature navigation. There were a few times that I drifted but was able to correct myself.

I got good feedback on the map. People didn't seem to mind running around in an area that I call the thorn maze. They took it slow enough to use the corridors and told me that they matched-up well. A few people cut across thorny areas that I'd mapped as fight. I didn't use the low vegetation symbol for these areas since with slash, one would not be able to pickout the corridors well enough. Some feedback was about the contour interval and in one area, Peggy said I needed a formline. Many appreciated the ditches that I'd added though at least one person indicated that some of them could be linear marshes instead. Running the course and seeing the many boulders that I'd mapped, many did seem small and were difficult to observe in the field. It was a fun day--a bunch of those who came had lunch together.

C • Thank you 2

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, MD. After lunch, I went out to retrieve controls. I jogged about starting to go the reverse of how I'd sent them the day before. However, I quickly detoured and improvised coming up with a shorter route. I used an animal track through the thorns that I'd mapped earlier. I saw a fox on this outing and spiked all of the controls. It was below freezing but I was dressed pretty well. Afterward, I weighed out at 193 lbs.