Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield are to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was tired from the orienteering race yesterday.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I got hung up at traffic lights. There was a slight sprinkling of rain as I went home in the dark.

Event: QOC Patapsco Avalon
 

Patapsco State Park, Avalon Area. I warmed-up up in the field and on the way to the start.

QOC at Patapsco State Park, Avalon Area. I ran Red, since I hadn't been 100% lately and have done so little training. The steep hillsides of the area convinced me too. Ted Good set courses through the north side of the creek where we hadn't run previously. He'd also taken the trails off of the map to make people actually read the map. I read it pretty well but that's what happens when one is moving slowly. I did make a slight error on the way to #1, but going up too early and having to come back to the train tracks and climb again further up. I think I should have returned to the tracks a second time after #1, but instead I went straight with more climb, and was slow. I was on target but perhaps not taking the best routes on most other legs. #4 was an example of me hitting the control perfectly but being slower. I did the same for #5. I had pulled-up a little short for #6. For #7, I was right on. After leaving that I saw Victor Lin who was running Blue, make an attack. Our courses were the exact same from that point so the chase was on. I kept ahead of him hitting things well and not even seeing him until #12. For #12, I came in too high and knew it, but thought I was able to see low to a reentrant. However, somehow I missed it and lost about 3 minutes. Victor passed me there but made an error going to what was #13 on the Red course. I caught-up and we crossed paths with Victor getting there just before me. I chased Victor but he was pulling ahead on the steep down slope. On the road, I ran harder and was able to pass him and stay ahead to the finish. It was sort of a good way to finish. I liked the second half of the course better but had fun overall.

Red - Splits

I still have a touch of being ill. I had enough to do too, so I didn't get around to running and I should have.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd., to Hartsdale Ave., to pickup Samantha from after care. Peggy had the day off at a quilt show. I was rushing to get there and made it with just a few minutes to spare. Samantha and I walked back home and I talked about her bad day.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I had a long day at work.

From Northfield Rd., Custer & Glenbrook Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail, to River Rd. I towed Samantha on her trail-a-bike to a McDonalds for lunch. It was a nice warm day.

From River Rd., to the Capital Crescent Trail, Northfield Rd., Glenbrook Rd. and Custer, to Northfield Rd. I towed Samantha back home on her trail-a-bike. She kept telling me to go faster. We stopped at a variety store and picked-up a few things.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Colton Ln, I continued my march south and west. I got a lot done, reaching the next utility line break. There was some nice terrain but a lot of it was disappointing. I ran into big areas of deadfall. It was situated over a hilltop of a pretty good 200-300m square area. Coming out of the worst of the deadfall were a bunch of ditches and gullies. There was enough usable terrain to make this a successful outing. I also improved the mapping of some areas I'd covered earlier.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd. I had the opportunity so I decided to finish-off an area I'd rushed through earlier. With it being late in the day, I was somewhat rushing again but I did get through what I needed before it got dark. This was mostly a floodplain area that was open, but I did cover a few hillside cliffs too.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd., I covered a valley and a ridge beyond where I'd gotten to last time. I almost didn't go out since I still haven't been feeling that well. I was weak walking around but the warm air (mid 60s F) was pretty good. Too many more days like this, and the perfect conditions will be gone before we know it. The terrain was failrly open and seeing what I have to do ahead, it looks encouraging, despite some scattered deadfall.

Still not quite fully well, but I went back to work.

Still sick. I slept a lot.

I'm feeling nausea and I vomited. I feel rather weak too.

Event: QOC Pohick Bay
 

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffeford Rd., I got out and made good progress field checking areas west and south of where courses got to last year. Though a large field was very thorny and there were areas of deadfall, overall, the terrain was good. The parts with deadfall were not so bad as to stop one from running. There were a lot of ditches and long gullies. The white forest was really nice! I covered an area about 350m x 750m. I hope I'm able to get out and do more. What I covered was about 1/3 of the area I'd like to finish for the event that's coming up in late April.

From Northfield Rd., to Norfolk Ave. for lunch, then back. Going out, I avoided the traffic and moved quickly. I took my time coming back. It was good to get out since the weather had been bad.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was fortunate to hit the traffic lights at a good time.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Seneca State Park, MD - From Riffleford Rd. I field checked grounds north of Seneca Creek, on both sides of Riffleford Rd. A lot of this was green and the features weren't as densely packed as on the North Branch or Rock Creek where I'd been field checking earlier this year. A lot of what I covered were field edges too. I felt I covered a good amount of ground. Starting out, I'd not noticed that I left the car without my eyeglasses. I couldn't pinpoint what felt funny until about an hour into this. By that time I didn't feel it worth the time to go back to the car.

Event: QOC: The Bumble
 

QOC: The Bumble, at Lake Frank and North Branch Parks. Having mapped the parks and having recently updated most of the areas used I had an advantage and was fairly accurate. This was further aided by there being many short legs. My errors had to do with heading to the wrong controls.

I felt that David Onkst set a fun course. It's not easy to set in this narrow terrain, which we had to double-back on for part of it. Exiting the first window I didn't see that I had to go to a control that was adjacent to the window (there was no leg line). I had seen the control but figured it was for the Orange course or for on the way back. I actually passed it a second time but that would have been accurate as I went right to control #15. It was there that Vido Alexsiev asked me whether or not I'd punched #8. I stopped and found it on the map and went back. To be legal, I would have had to do the whole second window again. Running Blue (above my age groups on this age/sex handicapped race), I figured that I was out here for fun. I went back to punch #8 so that I could say I went to all the controls butdidn't bother going back through the second window again. This was of course a mispunch.

I ran through the rest of the course making 3 or 4 more bobbles. I was a little inefficient in getting from #18 to #O. Similarly I added unnecessary climb from #R to #S. My route from #T to #30 was mostly on the trails and I lost a little ground to a guy who went more directly (he was stronger too). I ran over #W, expecting to see it a little further up, so I got #X first.

My window selections were:

Window 1 - ECDBA
Window 2 - KJHGF
Window 3 - ONPLM
Window 4 - QRSUT (I'm sure this was most efficient)
Window 5 - VXWYZ (not efficient due to missing W)

I didn't feel that fast but kept running wherever it wasn't too steep. It was a fun day and I'm glad to see these mapped areas finally getting to be used for a standard club event, instead of just for a Summer Short Series. I also look forward to mapping the areas north of the ICC sometime so we'll have even more terrain, and could possibly start out of Magruder HS, further north on Muncaster Mill Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There were headwinds and it was cold.

From Northfield Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Ave. to Johnson Ave,. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I felt much better than on Tuesday, but not that strong through the run.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.