Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Rosedale Ave. in Bethesda, MD to C St. SW in Washington, D.C. Fairly dry and in the mid-60's F. I towed a guy from Bethesda to past Fletcher's boathouse then we traded a pull. Traffic on roads in DC was light so I took a shortcut up Independence Ave. instead of rounding the Tidal Basin as usual. Lack of recent exercise made my legs feel knotty. I had used some of the time when not training to improve my ability with OCAD for mapping. Some that time was used for getting over being sick and some, some of it for cleaning-up water in the basement and some of it was just being lazy.

From 12th & C St. S.W., Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. Working late, I cruised home at a steady pace spinning. I got some leg cramps in the calves. There was quite a bit of foot traffic in Georgetown and Bethesda.

I woke-up with a sore back again and it stayed that way much of the day. However, my constitution and appetite improved gradually. While sitting out the rain and watching TV in the evening, our neighbor knocked on the door and she calmly indicated that her neighbor on the other side needed help. Rising flood waters filled their backyards poured into a window well, broke the glass window and flooded their basement. I got my shovel out to build a small dam around the window well of the kind I played making as a kid. Later I dug small trenches to keep the water from pooling near with window wells and in other places near my house too. Both the neighbors had a foot of water in their basements. One had to turn-off the electricity and the other called the fire department to turn off the gas. I was spared with only a half inch at the deepest in our laundry room. I wet vacuumed about 20 gallons out. After all the fuss and nervous energy I did my 45 situps. The first two hurt a little but seemed to help my back feel better.

I woke up on Saturday feeling a bit better. I was able to hold down some food. While Peggy was out, Max found my bicycle glove then dragged me down to the basement to get my bike and take him out. From Rosedale Ave. we went through the nearby hilly streets staying close to home. It was a bit hot too. Toward the end we stopped for time at the playground. My legs and back continue to be sore too.

C • Get Well!! 2

Apparent food poisoning from the restaraunt last night. Couldn't hold anything down and very weak.

45 situps. We had an evening out after dropping Peggy's mom at the airport.

From Rosedale Ave., Maple Ave. to Kentbury Rd. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Grubb Rd./Terrace Dr. to East West Hwy, to the Rock Creek Trail to the Old Georgetown Branch Trail via Susanna La., to Kentbury Way to Lynbrook Dr. to Maple Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I'd stayed home and worked from there today because we woke to find Max with a bloody nose in his crib. He seemed to choke a bit eating breakfast too. He's okay and seems fine now. Even though Peggy's mother was home to watch and take care of him, I might have needed to drive him to a doctor. Later with him in fine spirits, we went for a short ride before dinner. In Rock Creek Park I saw Jon Torrance on his run commute home. I think Max had fallen asleep at this point.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Just as I poked my head out the door, it started raining. After a few minutes delay and another radar check I went ahead encountering more fog. With no headwind, I felt better and rode with a guy in my draft most of the way on the trail. As I neared my office it started to rain but I got it before the worst again.

From C. St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. I looked at my watch and suddenly realized it was half an hour past when I was to go home. There were strong sustained headwinds along the water in E. Potomac Park that weren't abated until I got through Georgetown and behind some trees. A good effort for a slow pace.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was already 77 F with a strong southern headwind when I started and with it humid enough for thunderstorms to be predicted for later. I kept a steady pace.

From C. St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD. It had been raining around the time to go home. Checking the NOAA website for the radar Composite loop let me see that there was a window of opportunity to get home before the next wave. I had hoped for a tailwind since I fought it in the morning but the first wave had calmed it and even turned it so that at the end I had a small headwind. It was so humid that there was visible fog. I cruised home steadily and just as I got inside I heard the first thunderings. Two minutes later it was raining.

From Rosedale Ave., Bethesda, MD to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Georgetown, across Key Bridge to the Custis Trail, to the W&OD Trail, to the Fairfax County Pkwy, to the Algonkian Pkwy, to Timberland Pl. to Traskwood Ct. in Potomac Falls,VA. As a first-time father on Father's Day Peggy brought Max around to wake me up. After a leisurely morning and mowing the lawn it got hot (about ~90 F starting out) but it was time to go see my father. My road bike had been tuned-up nicely and rode the best since I got it a few years back. I felt like I kept a good pace but didn't have my cycle computer. For a little while, after 55 minutes in my right hip flexor started giving me the warning signs I experienced in the recent rogaine but was fine after cresting a long grade. Bucking some headwinds initially, I got some tailwinds to finish-up. My thoughts also drifted along the way to the determined competitors on the Race Across America (RAAM). Valerie had updated me on them the night before and I was having second thoughts about not joining them when given the opportunity last winter. When I got to my father's place, Max's inflatable pool (along w/Peggy and her mom) was waiting only for me to add water and Max. Lunch and time with family followed. It was nice and these are the choices we make!

C • Choices 3

Ken Gar, Rock Creek Park, MD. From mile mark 7 to mile mark 11 and back. Humid and about 70 F starting out. Peggy's mom took Max to the playground so unencumbered with the Babyjogger, I ran freely. Besides Peggy, no other club members were there; they either ran early or went to the Women's Distance Festival race in Wheaton. Recently, whenever I've gotten more than 6 hours sleep I've been waking up with a stiff back. Still sleepy with deficit I hadn't made-up from the Rogaine, it took me a while to get going. I also felt it on hills. Splits: 7:40, 7:04, 7:06, 7:01 (28:55), 7:02, 7:08, 6:59, 6:42. Most of this was at intensity 3 but I had to push a bit on the return to keep up the pace.

C • Topsy turvy world 2

Cabin John Ice Rink, Potomac, MD. Peggy's mom watched Max for us. After a nice anniversary dinner, Peggy and I went ice skating at a local rink. It was funny seeing all the clics doing very normal things. I was wearing shorts and short sleeves so it felt a bit cold. I rented hockey skates. I'm not as good as I used to skate which wasn't all that good before. At least I didn't fall.

From Rosedale Ave. Battery La. to Glenbrook Rd. to Kennedy Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail to Pearl St. to Rosedale Ave. I had left the last day of our management conference around 7:30pm; too late to meet Peggy's mother Helen, Peggy and Max for dinner. I used the time to finally get a run in. I felt okay but found it hard to know my pace. The straightaways seemed long with so relatively little being passed by when compared to the recent rogaine terraine. Parts of my feet were still tingly and numb but my hip flexor didn't give me any trouble.

45 situps. I had gotten ready to run and upon going out the door I saw that it had started to rain. I decided to go back in and eat dinner.

45 situps. It was a busy day at work again. I'd have rather gone out for an easy jog but there wasn't available time.

45 situps at home in Bethesda, MD after a busy day at work. I felt a bit sore from the rogaine but overall okay. My hip flexor didn't hurt much.

North American Rogaine Championships in Allegeny State Park, NY. (w/Dave Onkst). For our first control after midnight, Dave and I came from #406 toward #804. Coming off a broad spur and then a trail, we missed--it wasn't until later that we learned the trail had been re-routed. We lost well over 30 minutes hunting for it and going well out of the way. Dave got us back on track by interpreting the stream to be the one shown on the map. There were many others that were unmapped. Mentally drained, we opted to drop control #405 to get back onto schedule. Later we started dropping others like #403. I was just moving too slowly with my hurt hip flexor.

By morning, things started looking better. Perhaps there was even some healing but I found that I could start running more. We made it back to the start with 4 hours left. We rested a half hour and lightened our load for a final loop in the northeast. We toyed with getting #401 and #702 but felt it was going to be too close to our time limit. It was probably the right decision given our speed and the fact that we had trouble with a few controls (#601 and #308). Dave also started having hamstring problems the last two controls so he had to walk when I could finally run again. We did run in most of the last 3k with Alan Young and Declan Honnelly.

Our route after midnight was: #804, #506, #604, #306, #802, #501, #606, #602, #402, base camp, #302, #414, #503, #301, #601, #308 and to the finish. The straight-line distance shown was achieved by actually covering 24.6K (15.3 miles)from midnight to 11am. The climb for this period translated to 4,100ft. That means the total distance traveled over 24 hours was about 62K (38.5 miles) and just under 10,000 ft. of climb. The distance was 15 miles less than what we did in the SVO Rogaine but the climb achieved was 12% higher.

I felt we made a good effort. With a little more training, I might not have gotten hurt and we may have been able to get more controls. As it was, we got 3rd in the Male Masters category and 6th overall. I can be happy with that. Once again, partnering with Dave Onkst worked well. I think he let me lead a bit more to keep our pace together since I was going slower most of the time.

C • Congrats 3

Event: North American Rogaine Championships
 

North American Rogaine Championships in Allegeny State Park, NY. Dave Onkst and I ran as team NADAV. I found the terraine physically challenging. Our route called for a longish first loop finishing back at the hash house by morning. For this we had to take a good bit of food and gear for the night. We probably carried too much water/Gatorade. There were plenty of water stops and I never got to one with an empty Camelback bladder. The coolish weather contributed to this. It was supposed to get to 39F at night; we did see our breath.

I felt pretty good initially. We started going the same direction as eventual Male Masters team winner UNO-DUO (Ernst Linder and Alar Ruutopold). Appearing to be outfitted lighter, UNO-DUO were going a bit faster. We were hitting our controls well and staying on our intended route ahead of schedule. We thought we had a good route. After about 6.5 hours, I started having trouble lifting my right knee. The tendon connecting to the hip (Dave said this was my hip flexor) hurt every time I lifted it. It soon felt like I was dragging it. It might have been caused by stumbling on something, overuse (for the day), lack or training or it just being too soon after the SVO Rogaine for me. I started needing to walk a lot more than I otherwise would have. Muscularly I felt fine. Dave gave me some Motrin and I gutted out the rest. Rest breaks did help but the pain kept coming back and forcing me to walk. It got worse climbing the steep hills.

We had a few baubles but kept at it hitting controls and plugging away. While I was eating a PowerGel going from #409 to #608, I folded then stuck my map in my pocket. After finishing the PowerGel I reached in my pocket to pull out the map and discovered it to be gone. It had worked its way out. We backtracked for about 3 minutes and luckily I sort of spiked the map in a small depression of ferns. We hit our 24th control before midnight at #406. Dave saved us several times over the course of the day where I'd gotten off track a bit such as going from #706 to #409. We had come across several areas where the 1:30,000 map showed only one stream but in reality, there were several parallel ones. This made some approaches tricky.

The route we took was: #505, #407, #408, #703, #504, #803, #310, #411, #701, #508, #312, #805, #509, #706, #409, #608, #507, #806, #413, #609, #704, #605, #307, #406. The distance shown for the 13 hours reflects straight-line measuring from control to control. The actual distance covered was about 46.4K or 28.8 miles.

From Rosedale Ave., Maple Ave. to Kentbury Rd. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail to Grosvenor La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail to Old Georgetown Rd. to the NIH Trail to Rosedale Ave. via Chelsea La. and Maryland Ave. Max and I got out before it got hot again. He clearly showed a preference to getting in the Burley Trailer rather than the Babyjogger; perhaps because it is faster. I was faster for a while but the bumpy parts of the trail and some parts on sidewalks with tight widths as well as a few hill climbs slowed us. I walked at one narrow sidewalk on Grosvenor La. over the I-270 spur. Max got a little splattered from puddles but seemed fine.

From Rosedale Ave. Battery La. to Glenbrook Rd. to Edgemore La. to Arlington Blvd. to Bethesda Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Kentbury Rd. to Lynbrook Park. Max and I got out before it got too hot. We slowed-up at road crossings and bumpy places then ended at the park for some swinging. He was drawn to where 3 other girls were swinging but they all left.

Bethesda, MD. 45 situps. Busy.

St. Paul, MN. From Montrose La. to Randolph Ave. to the trail along Mississippi River Blvd. to Goodrich Ave. to Woodlawn Ave. to Randolph Ave. to Montrose La. Before flying back home, Paul Dickison ran with me through the gentrified neighborhood streets where he and Peggy grew up. The houses were rather expensive looking. It was a nice run. The heat was kept at bay by a nice breeze.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, near Chanhassen, MN. Peggy's mom suggested that we go here and it was nice. From the Snyder Building/Visitor Center, I went on a counter-clockwise route around most of the arboretum. I started out in the maze of trails in theBennett/Johnson Prarie, eventually got to the Three Mile Drive, jumped off on the Berens Trail to the Forest Trail to the North Star Trail through the Oak Savanna Restoration to the Spring Peeper Meadow, looped back across the boardwalk rambling my way back to the Bog Trail (not so boggy) and finished the last bit through the formal gardens. I timed it just right to be about an hour. Peggy, her mom and dad and Max were all waiting to eat lunch. I ran at about noon. The prairie was a bit sunny but the wind kept the heat from getting bad. There were some good hills that would have been nice for orienteering or XC racing too. The park had many pretty places but the formal gardens were the nicest. I ran in my Merrill Overdrive shoes again but with thinner socks. They were better but I'm still not sure about using them next weekend. I used GMaps Pedometer to measure my route--though a little out of date for this run, I could see many of the trails and measured well. One can save routes to show to others with this tool but I didn't this time. It uses Google satellite photos and streets. I was definately a bit tired from recent runs.

St. Paul, MN. From Montrose La., to Hartford Rd. to Mississippi River Blvd. S. to Ft. Snelling via the bicycle trail, then back up Mississippi River Blvd. to Cleaveland Ave. S., to Highland Pkwy. to Cretin Ave. S. to Hartford Ave. to Montrose La. I went at around 10:30pm. It was another beautiful night with cool breezes; around 70 F. I tried on my replacement Merrill Overdrive Shoes that EMS gave me after my first pair blew out on the SVO Rogain. Though the same size, they were too tight; it may have been the thicker socks. I would have rather they gave me something else but w/o a receipt, I didn't push it. I thought they'd be okay and I could ship them back to Merrill if I destroy them again. Now I don't know if I'll wear them that long. I had to interpolate the time on this since I'd inadvertantly stopped it in the middle. Though I had to go up and down stairs getting to Ft. Snelling, the trail on the other side of the river keeps going.

We caught another flight to Minnesota. It took most of the day getting there and when we arrived we went straight to Peggy's niece's graduation party. After returning and in St. Paul, it was past 11:40 pm ET but since we were on Central Time and I really needed to run, I went out for the standard loop. Unlike last winter when it was around freezing, it was around 70 F, nice and breezy. From Montrose La. I went to the Mississippi River Blvd., over the Mississippi river on the Lake Dr. bridge (into Minneapolis), along the Grand Round Trail to the Ford Bridge, then back along Mississippi River Blvd. to Hartford Rd. to Montrose Ave. I felt fast and strong until crossing the first bridge; I cruised along after that still feeling some residuals from the last Rogaine. A time check at the beginning of the Ford bridge alerted me to pick-up the pace a bit or else I wouldn't have broken 42 minutes. The time for this run was almost a minute faster than in winter.

It was supposed to be a travel day going to Minnesota however, traffic did us in after work. Missing our flight, we returned home from the airport. 45 situps. I really felt like I should be running but there wasn't the time.

From Rosedale Ave., I was shamed or inspired by AttackPoint logs and the prospect of no or little workout tommorow to do the Two Mile Loop around the neighborhood. My intention had been to run right after work but I had to work late. I felt fairly well. It didn't feel like I was pushing very hard but I noticed the hills a bit. That could have been the near midnight timing.