Training Log Archive: Nadim

Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort, FL. From lodge 34, I started out going around Sassagoula Circle and I took a detour on Old South Rd. trying to get to the trail along the Sassagoula River (we'd taken a ferry home from Port Disney the night before and I saw the trail there then). Old South Rd. wasn't supposed to be one of the tourist areas and as I got within 100m of the river trail, I could see fencing ahead, where there was employee housing. I turned back getting to Sassagoula Circle again and continued clockwise but as I did, I saw the employee propaganda on signs leading back to the touristed resort area. The signs were all meant to ensure good business and the happiness of the customers. They were 4-5 consecutive signs to remind the employee to do all they could to provide good service. They just tended to remind me of the iconic posters out of the old Soviet Union. The trip to Florida was pretty nice and fairly relaxing. I caught-up on some sleep and enjoyed walking around all day. The rides weren't bad either.

Event: QOC Mason Neck
 

QOC: Mason Neck State Park, VA. Mark Hicks setup a score-O with a twist. Besides normal controls, there were 6 required controls that were marked on the map, and several others with higher point totals (20 instead of 10) that weren't marked except in the forest. All of the higher point totals had something in common which one had to guess at--these turned-out to all be dot knolls. Rain showers were passing through with more expected late. It was in the low 50s F. As I got started it had just started raining harder so I wore a jacket. The rain stopped and I got too warm before I took off my jacket. Though I had been a course consultant, I hadn't memorized routes or control locations. My strategy had been to get the easier and closer together controls first and assess my time along the way. My route and comments are:

121 - I was a little tentative getting used to distances and too far left so I almost crossed to the wrong spur.
145 - spiked it going straight.
139 - spiked it going straight, though I used the trail intersection to be certain.
126 - via the road, and attacking from where the power lines crossed.
122 - spiked it going straight. Another younger guy was going there too.
133 - spiked it going straight. I also passed the water pit along the way.
124 - spiked it going straight, and reading the reentrant at the end.
130 - spiked it using the trail.
129 - I made an error jumping off the trail too early and going around the wrong large reentrant. I had to back track. I probably lost 3-4 minutes.
142 - spiked it using the trail and attacking from the saddle.
127 - spiked it going straight.
131 - nearly spiked it by going around the marsh at first. Eventually I crossed the marsh south of where is split--that meant I had to cross it twice but each was a small crossing. The ice helped mostly. There were dry reeds that were well over my head in height. On the second marsh crossing, while stepping on a 1 square foot patch of ice, my foot broke through and didn't stop going down until I was up to my knee. I got out of that careful not to lose my shoe. The control was just west of the small reentrant that I thought it'd be in. Peggy thought it was off too. I heard from others who'd crossed the marsh. Ted Good had been up to his hips on every step, and had taken a more direct route.
141 - As I'd gotten to #131, Kim Jepsen had gotten to it just behind me. The two of us double-helixed our way to #141. I had taken a straighter approach at first, with Kim behind me and further north. I kept on my route intending to go to the saddle as an attack point while Kim ducked further south on a straighter route with a less clear attack. I saw the control far off but had to push hard to catch back up to Kim. He got there just before I did. I was surprised to see it at the unmapped trail.
146 - The rain had stopped a while earlier and running harder with Kim, I was getting warm. I walked along the trail starting out so that I could pull my jacket off. Kim hadn't used the trail and went direct. After crossing the road, I was gaining in the forest and though I didn't use the trail, I could see a big bend when we were almost due north of the control. I ran confidently to the control, getting there just behind Kim, who was coming in from a little to my right.
137 - I was feeling confident so I left #146 quickly. I checked my location at the marsh edge. Kim was behind me somewhere and off to the right a bit. I continued on to just about spike it by going straight. I had been off about 20m to the left but stopped at the right place and was able to look over to see the knoll (the controls was not visible but was behind it).
134 - I started out by being off bearing for about 20m but I corrected and spiked it going straight. I probably rushed this one too much trying to get away from Kim, because I should have gone to #135 first. When I last knew, it seemed that Kim was going to #134 too but was behind and to my left. I never saw him again in the race after that point. I think I was around 50 minutes into the course at this point. I figured I'd have to make some choices and leave out some controls.
144 - Spiked it going straight.
140 - I went straight but was off to the right a little.
128 - I figured I would have just enough time to get this control if I didn't miss. I hit the edge of the marsh that is west of the control, and kept going after adjusting a bit. I didn't seen the rootstock, and my glasses were foggy making it hard to read detail. Most of the rootstocks that I could see in the forest had trunks going the wrong direction. I could see the vague wide curving reentrant off to my right and ran along the edge before curving back. As I turned and ran toward root stocks, I had really gotten off bearing. I gave-up, not wanting to lose too much time, and hit the trail.
#136 - this came up fast after hitting the trail and I was glad that it was visible from the trail.
#125 - I ran on the trail to the control but at one point I thought I'd gone far enough and the bends didn't seem to make sense. I passed Tom Nolan going the other way. I kept on and soon found it.
#123 - this was the last of the 6 required controls and I'd left it to get on the way back in, along with optional control #143. I ran along the road reading where the power line crossed, before cutting-off the corner to the big but shallow reentrant. I crossed and got on trails. Cutting across I ran a bit blindly and ended up at a huge dot knoll. My foggy glasses didn't let me figure out where I was from the small features--I expected this dot knoll to have been marked with a contour because it was so tall, but it wasn't. I figured where to go from the orientation of the big reentrant and the trail, but I'd lost some time. It could have been 30-40 seconds or more lost. I ran over to the rootstock on the other side of the big reentrant, and saw that I had only 3 minutes left before I'd be over time. Someone else was coming away from it as I got there.
Finish - I ran across the forest rather than go a little way back to the trail. I popped out in the light green area on the NW side of the road and had gotten ahead of the guy who'd left #123 just before me, since he was using the trail. I finished 52 seconds over time so I'd lost 20 points.

It was a fun course and people I talked with seemed to like the "Twisted" score-o format. I liked it okay too but that was partly since I was generally navigating well. I think I like a normal course format a little better since planning counts more in a score-o and detracts from navigation to an extent. For today, I had been so focused on time that I hadn't even seen the markings for the bonus controls. It just so happened that I'd gotten them all. I got 246 points but with the penalty it was dropped back to 226 points. Some people got all of the controls.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd., I went back over a lot of the areas that I'd covered the previous week before getting to new ground. I had to do this partly since I'd made a lot of adjustments to the map. Having gotten some better ortho-rectified high resolution imagery through Greg Lennon, I realize that I had needed to do some shifting mostly in the areas south and west of Riffleford Rd. It amounted to adjustments of 0 to 10 meters which was just enough to make a difference in some objects. Greg had also provided additional Lidar based contour data that will allow me to continue mapping further west in the areas that get wider. The OCAD rubbersheeting process allowed for the needed adjustments so that things match-up really well with the orthorectified imagery. I've now field checked all of the terrain south and west of Riffleford Rd. to the first power line cut. The areas beyond that should be even nicer.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was carrying dinner on the way home.

Spinning and watching television.

I cleaned-off about 4 inches from our driveway.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd., I continued mapping areas southwest of Riffleford Rd. I knew I had a fair amount of green to get through. As luck would have it, the snow from weeks back was still on the ground. It was really crusty ice and about 4-5 inches thick on the green side of the ridge. The snow seemed to make it easier to get through the green by making me higher. The green areas weren't too thick. The sunny side of the ridge that I came to map had white woods and was basically all dry. It was probably under 20 F the whole time I was out. I think I did a fairly thorough job. I have more to do before I'm ready for the April QOC meet that's scheduled to be in this park, but there is not much more of what I plan to use for that, left to field check.

From Gracehill Terrace, Stoneridge, VA (Near Aldie and Acrola), Marsh Hope St. to Stonecutter St. to a dirt vehicle track on a high tension power line ride. then south to a somewhat non-descript place (a gap in an earth wall on my west), then back. It was about 18 F and the wind was blowing a fairly steady 15 mph or more. It was more at my back going out so I had a chance to warm up slightly. The vehicle track was in a bit of disarray. New towers were being installed in several places so they sat horizontally in partly assembled pieces on the ground. I ran on rail ties at times--these were laid to keep the heavy construction vehicles from getting stuck in the mud. There was no fund this day; it was all frozen solid and that made it harder to run when I wasn't running on wood. Still, it was good to have gotten out for a run. Heading back into the wind wasn't too bad but I felt pretty slow at times.

From the Tenleytown Metro Station, to River Rd., to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Bethesda Ave./Woodmont Ave., to Edgemoor Ln. It was below the freezing point when I started and I ran into moderate headwinds most of the way. I was a bit tired in the legs from my last run, again because of lack of training. I saw 2 cyclists on the CCT and no other runners.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There were a few icy spots from the continued melting and freezing of leftover snow, but it was sunny for a change. It was also 30 F. I had been busy over the weekend so I didn't get a chance to workout then.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station at the DC/MD border (Western Ave. & Wisconsin Ave.), Friendship Rd. to Willard Ave. to River Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I felt okay and eventually a bit on the warm side. A light rain started falling but it wasn't enough to get me wet. There were some areas with snow on the sides but it was pretty much gone where I was running. More is expected tonight.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. The light rain continued and I needed a bathroom.

Event: QOC Little Bennett
 

From Northfield Rd., to the intersection of Norfolk Ave. and Cordell Ave. for lunch, then back a slightly different way to avoid traffic. I felt slow and there was a headwind when returning.