Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Peggy, Max, and I had been out after work and school looking for Halloween costumes and the right paint color for our room addition to our house. That didn't leave much time to digest dinner and run. I watched more of the enthralling National Parks series on PBS but even after 11pm, I was still feeling full. I finally got on the road 15 minutes before midnight. I was a bit tired but wanted to go to get 60 miles (running only) for the month and to complete the whole month of doing some kind of loggable workout each day. Though I took it at a calm pace, my left knee troubled me a bit. The temperature was supposed to be only around 57F but it seemed a lot colder. With a long sleeve t-shirt I managed to sweat some and it felt better than being inside since with the construction work at our house, the heat was not working.

From 12th & Independence Ave. to the National Mall, crossing at Madison Dr., NW to the Washington Monument, past the WWII Memorial and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, through the tunnel near the National Zoo, back to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Melvin Hazen Trail, to Connecticut Ave., NW, to the UDC Metro Station. I left work around 6:30pm. At first I felt a bit of sciatica down my right leg and but it went away and by the time I got to the Washington Monument, the sun was hitting the horizon in Virginia and blinding me. Left knee discomfort (where I had surgery) was feld earlier during most of the day but that went away when I was able to pop it right before the run. I moved along quickly, feeling good from the cool weather, a rice filled burrito lunch, and spurred along by feeling like I needed to pass other runners. I was probably running too fast sometimes but I backed-off the pace more than once. It was getting dark fast in the Rock Creek Valley but I decided to push on instead of turning off at Woodley Park as I more often do. I slowed down in a few places when it was too dark to see the paved trail or when I was getting blinded by cars driving on the parkway with their lights aimed at me. My run before I turned off the Rock Creek Trail, was later calculated at 7:14 pace. Next, the real darkness had me walking several times as I made my way up the dirt, root and rock strewn Melvin Hazen Trail. It was dark enough that I lost the trail at a forked switchback and I used street lights above to guide me out on some light underbrush. Once back on the lighted and paved Connecticut Ave. sidewalks, I got moving fast again all the way to the metro station.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. Max and I were a mail delivery truck today (according to him). We dropped off some bills in a mailbox en-route. It was a bit damp here and there still.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I also stopped to pickup some milk.

Event: QOC Patuxent
 

QOC: Patuxent, MD. Peggy was course setter for the day. I started-off by running her Blue course. It had rained a lot the night before and the sun had poked through the clouds for an hour or so before I ran making it a bit humid by not really hot. I ran pretty well for most of the course. Of my 3 errors, one was a repeat from last weekend when I did a 180 leaving a control. The other two were affected by vegetation. Vegetation played a more prominent part of the runs today. QOC usually runs here in the colder March weather, after winter has already cleared out the leaves and underbrush. There were several times where my progress was hampered by hitting unexpected green so I guess it's not too bad that only 2 of them caused outright errrors. Heidi Onkst who was behind me at #15 and running the Green course, beat me on the short leg to #16 when I banked upward trying to avoid the vegetation. I lost a lot of time unexpectedly by hitting a wall of green when trying to cross a marsh stream. I crossed that stream easily and quickly but ended up in taking several minutes inching my way through about 20-30ft. of thorns. I made an error on #18 after passing Heidi who was by this time going to a different control and hadn't had my #17. I drifted left in the green and had never done that on very similar legs on Springtime runs. Upon relocating I had bumped into Tim Good who had also been wandering; I was able to get us both to the control. While these errors sound back, they probably were 1.5-2 minute errors each. The few walls of green that I hit were probably as big a part in my slower than expected pace. I was not so energetic this day either but Peggy's often deceptively tricky course setting gets credit too. I ran the Blue course planning in advance to run the Orange Long course afterward but probably wouldn't have run much faster even if I hadn't planned for the second course.

QOC: Patuxent River Park, MD. About 20 minutes after having finished the Blue course and getting some refreshments, I got out again on what was dubbed as an Orange Long course. I had actually encouraged Peggy to set this course not because I expected to run it but I thought it more appealing to adventure racers and we had some success drawing them to a similar course last year in Pohick Regional Park, VA. Peggy obliged by using controls she had planned for other courses. Peggy recommended that I run it instead of the Green course which duplicated a lot of the Blue course.

I wasn't executing very well at first, taking a less than efficient route to #1. There had also been a change in trail heads on the way, where I was expecting to find an intermittent trailhead but it had become enough grown-over that it wasn't there. The map had been updated regarding this but I was kind of on autopilot having been to the area on many previous courses. It threw me for a few seconds and I backed up to make sure I hadn't missed it. Since this was an Orange level course, I ran trails a lot. Attacking #4 from a trail intersection, I found myself a bit left and missed seeing a large reentrant. Thus I lost another minute :( Can I chaulk this up to being tired? I executed the rest of the controls well.

The course was sort of two loops with the last one being most of the Yellow course. The second loop crossed a large historic field several times that is used for growing corn now but it was once the first African American owned airport in the country. The corn had been cut with the stalks remaining and pushed in alternating directions. Sometimes they were like little gas pedals to step on and sometimes they were like daggers aimed at my shins. I ran across pretty fast but I was too tired to run really fast. Control #13 was a water control but with only 5-6 minutes left I didn't stop to drink there. On the way to #14, I was again crossing the flat field when suddenly my energy level just fell through the floor. I took this to be hitting the wall and being out of glycogin. It was odd in that it was just so sudden. I almost had to start walking whereas I was just cruising along before it with no redline type of warning. I later checked my heart rate monitor and was rather surprised to see that my heart rate had dropped from 156 to 108 in about 30 seconds while still trying to run. It stayed low just over a minute until I got to the next control and had a chance to catch my breath just a little. I recovered my pace after that and my heart rate had climbed back up to 157 right afterward, in the same 30 seconds. Wierd. If it was hitting the wall, that's good. I wanted to get a longer run in today to train for the Hudson Highlander and I'd take this as a good chance for my body to get reaccustomed to switching over to using other fuels. Too bad I didn't have longer to go after that...

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to W. Cedar La. to Rockville Pike, to Woodmont Ave. to St. Elmo Ave. to Wilson Ln. to Custer Rd. Peggy was out this morning course setting and I visited my parents, taking them and Max to the Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. All of that mixed with the arrival of rain meant that I could not go field checking as planned. I was a bit loath to run in the rain and I felt a bit chilled before going out. Most of the rain I encountered was light or steady. I wore a gortex jacket but took it off after about the first mile. Starting out, I could still feel lunch in my stomach and I had some more left knee pain which has frequented the start of many of my recent runs. I also noticed in two places that not only are the acorns falling now (they didn't grow last year in the area prompting some scares of squirrel starvation--when running the previous night, I heard some falling), but some walnuts have been falling too. I noticed some walnut balls on the sidewalks in two places on the run today and was glad that I hadn't twisted an ankle running near them recently in the dark recently.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I had intended to ride to and from work this morning but since it was raining, I went to plan B. Having left work late again, I ran after dinner. I had an uncanny repeat of a route that I did just on September 9th, a little over two weeks ago, except that I ran it backwards. The weather was similarly breezy and cool but less humid. What was odd was that I ran the exact same time, down to the second. I wasn't trying to do this (I couldn't remember the actual time as I was running) though I worked harder for the last mile which had more uphill. I had run the route backwards because overall by distance, the way I went tonight has more downhill.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station (at the DC/MD border), I ran from Western Ave. to Friendship Blvd. to Willard Ave. to the trail in Willard Park, to River Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail to Dorset Ave. to Kennedy Dr. to Bradley Blvd. to Huntington Pkwy., to Irvington Ave. to Madison St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Though I still left a bit late, I was ready this time to run after work. It was still humid but cooler than I thought it would be--only in the mid to upper 70s F. I took it at a steady pace and added on the loop at the end to get closer to 5 miles. I was fortunate not to have to pickup my car or bike today after the run since after meeting with our builder in the morning, Peggy dropped me off at the Bethesda Metro Station.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Cheshire Dr.. to Grosvenor Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail at Fleming Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Northfield Rd. via Greenwick Park. After chatting with my neighbor who was walking his dog, I got running a little before 10pm. All during the day earlier I had been feeling very tired. My thighs even felt a soreness which was absent on Monday. Perhaps it was a delayed reaction, my run the day before or not getting enough sleep. However once I got running on this night, I felt fine. I took it at a comfortable pace. Even with it still in the mid-70's and being humid, enjoyed it feeling cooler than the during the daytime. This was a nice little flatish route even though most of it is along what most would consider a busy road. At 10pm it's almost quiet.

Today didn't go as planned in many ways. As far as my workout, I had planned a longer run but once again left work too late to do that. My parents also stopped by and dropped off some holiday food so I couldn't run home with that. I finally ran after eating dinner. I got out at around 11pm, having waited until I digested. I often do that with this run. Before the run I'd been watching the first half of "The Meaning of Life"; Monty Python's often crude yet still cleverly funny attempt to bring some sense of our existence.

From Northfield Rd. I ran up to Custer Rd., to Wilson La., to Exeter Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. It was warmish, in the mid 70s F and humid. I felt some soreness fromt he weekend but I think most of my lethargy was from not getting enough sleep fretting about home addition progress. My legs wouldn't move very fast but once again it was probably the fastest that I've done this route.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I was tempted to drive-in for my work commute and run later but I thought a day of rest from running would be better in the long run. I clearly have been eating too much lately, first in preparation for the races last weekend, then afterward.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I was feeling the winds from the south. They were making me sweat in my work clothes though I tried to avoid it.

ROC A-Meet, Mendon Ponds Park, NY. US Ultra Long Championships. I was looking forward to running this but like the Middle Distance race the day before, I got off to a bad start. I had trouble adjusting to the 1:15,000 scale and completely didn't see the trail route to #1. I crossed through some green areas and eventually popped out onto the trail above the control. Dropping down, I passed it and saw one of the two rootstocks in the area before relocating much further down. I was 19 minutes in before getting to it and that was probably about 14 minutes too long. I just wasn't seeing things well enough on the map.

Dismayed, I slogged my way toward #2. I hung in there knowing it was going to be a long race and that others could have troubles later. I hit #2 and #3 pretty well (and I saw Sergiev Krum(?) around both of these) but I was still feeling a bit shaky with reading the map and navigating it. On the way to #4, I ended up being with Bernie Parker. We were descending most of the way to a tricky control and just being around each other seemed to help me gain confidence. As we attacked from one reentrant to another higher up, I climbed higher than a straight attack would have taken me and I did so to go around some green. Somehow I lost Bernie in the process as I spiked the control. I kept expecting to see him pop over a hill after I'd punched but never did.

In doing this, I lost focus and ended up doing a 180 back the direction that I'd come from. To recover, I did an abrupt u-turn and didn't focus on the best route. Instead of taking a road like many probably did, I ran straight at it. This did have the fortune of keeping me out of a marsh that was on the way to the road but also kept me off-route for the food stops that were on the road. The route felt fast. Spiking the control increased my confidence and I was also glad that I was running fairly strong still.

On the way to #6, I'd gone a fairly direct route and gotten to one of two green areas before a road at the top of a big hill. I used the edge of the green as an attack point and as I was descending toward what I thought was where the control would be, I saw Clint Morse and another guy coming up from the right. I realized then that I was too far left. I'd mistaken one green boundary for another and it was lucky that I crossed Clint's path when I did. Clint had started all 3 races this weekend ahead of me and the last two he started 2 minutes ahead. When I caught him, I felt somewhat relieved to know that I'd made-up a lot of my error at #1. I was almost 2 minutes behind again at #6 and as I was attacking #7, Clint said that I was gaining on him. I saw him again at #8, and just before #9; I'd spiked each of these.

On the way to #10, the best way for me was up a long road. I never looked back but felt I was pulling ahead. I passed Jeff Shapiro along the way. I was running mostly on the grassy part, next to some gravel and think I hear one of the namesake residents as I ran along--a rattlesnake. The road run was a slog. My left knee was hurting a bit but the road made for the easiest running with fairly a good attack point too. Just before #10 I started to cramp and tripped just after this started. It didn't last long and perhaps eating my second Gu at this time helped keep it away. I hit the marsh that the control was on about 30m uphill from the control.

Going to #11, I started straight then realized it would be best to go around a bit again, on a road to a field and an intermittant trail. I ran this leg pretty well, stopping only for a water stop. On the intermittant trail, I hesitated at just the right spot and the stopping let me see the control to my right.

The way to #12 was downhill at first to some marshland. I was running pretty well still. I didn't have a great plan except to get to a road on the other side. I'd skipped this marsh area earlier on my way to #5 via a more direct route. When I hit it this time it was easy to cross initially. However, I soon got stuck at a waterline surrounded by thick green. I knew where I was. I backed out and reasoned it best to go around on the right side to some white woods. I started to do this but cut in again too soon crossing the water on a beaver dam and again getting stuck in some thick green underbrush. After finally getting to the road and turning left for less than a minute, Clint Morse popped out too. We ran together to a water stop where he stopped to get some water. I felt good with only a little way left to go so I didn't stop. Since we were together, Clint knew that he was 2 minutes behind me and that it'd be difficult to make it up on me before the end. I spiked the last two controls and ran the downhill finish at a good pace.

I was mostly happy about the run despite the bad start. I'd gotten to some tough controls in a type of terrain that I'm less familiar with. A lot of the white woods were greener than expected. They were often bland too. It felt like a rogain for the first couple of controls. I also was happily surprised that I was able to run at a good pace for the whole race. Even when I was making errors, I was moving most of the time. I hope this will help me in the other longer races this Fall. My actual distance traveled was just over 12 miles according to my GPS track.

UltraLong: Red X - Splits

Event: US Sprint & UltraLong champs
 

ROC A-Meet, Mendon Ponds Park, NY. Warm-up from the parking area to the start area. I cut the time a bit close thinking I had a 10:06am start but it turned out okay. I actually was to start the race at 10:09am.

ROC A-Meet, Mendon Ponds Park, NY. US Sprint Championships. I started out okay but made too many bobbles and was probably just running too slow too. None of my errors were huge but amounted to half a minute here and there. Along the way, I'd caught Clint Morris and Jeff Shapiro. Clint passed me back when I made an error and did not recover with a poorer route choice going around instead of crossing some rough open. I felt just enough winded along the way that I didn't feel I was able to run fast when needed. Whenever I got off course a little bit, the 1:4,000 wooded map also had me appearing to make a much bigger error. I guess this is a baseline for a return to A-meet racing.

ROC A-Meet, Mendon Ponds Park, NY. Middle Distance. I started out getting drawn off my line by a control that I shouldn't have gone too. I think the switch from 1:4,000 in the morning to 1:10,000 in this race contributed to that. I was feeling better when I spiked the next two and caught-up to Clint Morris who had started two minutes ahead of me. However, as I was leading Clint toward #6, I got confused by a trail that I couldn't see on the map--it was partially obscured by the course leg line to the control. Clint got away and made-up the time I'd caught on him after that. Also from that point on, it seemed like most of the trails on the map confused me. For a while I started ignoring the trails--my eyes aren't as good as they were. At least some of what I saw were newly created elephant trails from orienteers going to various controls. I was hesitant and made errors in the rough open areas too. I had hoped to do better but it will have to be another day.

Middle: Red X - Splits

Sprint: Red - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I returned in the middle of the day to pickup Max and head out for the ROC A-meet.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was much cooler this morning. We got a late start and also ran into much more traffic along the way.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was nice and cool returning to home and drier than it was in the morning. I ran into some traffic again getting through downton Bethesda. I came pretty close to running late this evening but I had too many errands to do and spent a while inspecting construction at home.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. This day just started off wrong. After I got the scale to work, I weighed in heavy somewhat inexplicably and nothing else seemed to work either--not even the toaster. I wanted to run later but I couldn't locate both my work shoes and running shoes. I gave up on that but still planned to drive to the metro station and I found that the interior lights had been left on, killing the battery. I finally got my bike and trailer ready and endured the chain skipping while trying not to sweat in my work clothes again.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. After dinner out and another trip to the store to pickout building materials for our house addition work, Peggy and Max dropped me back at the Bethesda Metro Station in the dark so that I could get my bike and trailer. It was pleasantly cooler.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was yet another nice cool morning. I was a bit sore this morning. Had it not been for the ROC US Sprint and Long Champs races coming up, I would have liked to have ridden all the way into work.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I left work with clouds in the sky and by the time I reached Bethesda on the metro train, the rain there was over. I had intended to run on the way home but I'd left too late for that. The result was having to ride home in my work clothes with it still warm out and the humidity being very high. I sweat a bunch more than I'd wanted to :( To make matters worse, my bike chain, which had been skipping a lot for a while now, was getting worse. Just starting from a stop to cross a road popped it off the crank today--I thought I'd broken it. I had tried derailer adjustment before the ride yesterday but it's something like a bad chain link that squeaks and skips with two different cycle periods yet it is still regular. Being stuck in the busy intersection and having my fingers get greasy while sweating in my work clothes wasn't fun. I managed to push myself and the trailer across.

One other development that's a bit disconcerting is the development of some foot pain. As I was going to lunch after getting off the elevator and while walking across a flat lobby my left foot gave some sharp pain below and in front of what I'll call my elbow (outer side ball-like joint). I hadn't tripped or anything. My left knee had also been feeling uncomfortable before this, like it needed to be popped but it wouldn't. The pain on my foot felt similar except a lot more intense--like something was going to pop outward from the top left side of my foot if I put too much pressure on it. I was worried I'd have to turn back but I shook it off. It hurt a few more times like that during the day but with less intensity. Maybe it was the result of pushing too hard on the ride yesterday. I'll have to just watch this for a while.

C • foot 8

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max in his trailer, then to C St., SW, Washington, D.C. via the Capital Crescent Trail and Ohio Dr. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and woke-up tired. Having seen the weather forecast, the best in over a week, I had already planned to ride all the way in to work. I was 9:48 getting to Maple Ave. which is one of the fastest times to there that I can remember. It was pleasantly cool though I still managed to sweat some. I was doing 21-22mph down the grade and 19-20mph on the flats. I got passed just before getting into Georgetown but that guy slowed down there and I passed him back. I ran into a few areas with traffic slow downs. Overall I was faster than the my last rides all the way in to work which were in mid-August.

From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Maple Ave., then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I rushed out of my office just before my bike got locked in the courtyard and that got me going pretty good from the beginning. The conditions were oddly average--not much wind, humidity or heat. There were lots of other cyclists and runners out and this created some traffic starting out and near the end. Somewhere after Georgetown I picked-up a drafter and pulled him until just after the Air Rights Building tunnel in Bethesda. I guess he kept me a bit more interested in pushing harder than I should have. I also didn't know how fast I was going. In my rush to leave the office I'd left my cycling computer there so I timed using my wrist watch and used the distance from many earlier rides. I got to Maple Ave. in just under 38 minutes and home with the trailer in under 10 minutes from there.

Event: QOC Hemlock Overlook
 

QOC: Hemlock Overlook Regional Park, VA. I did the Freestyle Long course--it was a fun score-o with no time limit other than being in by 4pm. The time limit was not totally trivial since Peggy and I were splitting watching Max (I got a lot of help from Dasha Merka and the Lennon family). Victor Lin was the course setter and setup the event to be similar to a rogaine. Victor stated the distance of my course to be approximately 9.2K though my route was not quite as efficient as that. It was too bad that I left my GPS at home too. I wonder how far I really ran. I started running a few seconds after seeing the map for the race and didn't do any extensive control planning. I made a few errors but none were big. Perhaps the worst was one in which I looked for a depression in a small clearing (#133). Having reached the clearing I expected to see the control on one side and missed seeing it for about a minute behind some grasses on the other. I also over ran a pit on a ridge (#137) and missed a shallow ditch in some green (#120). I also had a change in direction going first for one control then changing my mind when almost there to go for another. I left the geener areas in the north which also happened to have some steep hills for the end. With only one water stop early on and it being somewhat warm, I was running out of steam by the time I got to that loop and was a bit slower than expected. I was a bit disappointed at not having broken 10 minutes per kilometer. Besides the small errors and sub-optimal route, there was a fairly good amount of climb and an unfield checked green area that contributed to that.

Great Falls National Park, MD. Starting from the intersection of Falls Rd. and MacArthur Blvd. I moved into the park and worked on updating the map in some areas where courses will pass through for a planned QOC meet in December. I took a lot of GPS tracks. One was for a trail but most of the others were to update the vegetation. Many areas that were mapped as light green or green on the previous master map have opened-up quite a bit. Clumps of saplings and small trees form navigable features in the park and in some cases there are clear corridors for faster running that just didn't show up before. I got a late start and will need to go back to update other areas. I ran quite a lot of the time as I moved around the groups of trees. It was fun to be mapping again and I felt pretty good.

From Northfield Rd. to Wisconsin Ave. at Elm St. to see a late movie, then I wandered a bit on the way back, stopping to pickup a snack. I was riding around in the dark enjoying the kind of solace in the cooler air and quiet steets.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln., to Maiden Ln. to Whittier Blvd. to Woodhaven Blvd. to Bradley Blvd. to Valley Rd. to Ridge Rd. to McKinley St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I would have cycled to work today had the forecast not been calling for more rain--once again it never came. The first time and last time I did this route was on 3/2/2009 when I was about 9 pounds heavier and there was some snow and ice on the ground. I was about 3 1/2 minutes faster today. I did have to slow in some spots today where I couldn't see the dark unfamiliar sidewalks or trails very well. Once again I got started running at 10pm. It's not a good habit to have to run this late since usually by that time I'm too tired and often other needs take priority. The continued nice cool and sea breezy weather from the SE sure did make it easier though there were a lot more hills this evening. I do like running on suburban streets at night as I did for much of this run. The streets were rather quiet. Street running like this lets me get a good stride going and reminds me of summers long ago when I did a lot of running at night.

From Northfield Rd., to Roosevelt St. via the trail at Charlcote Rd. to Garfield St. to McKinley St. to Hartsdale Ave. to Folkstone Rd. to Bradmore Dr. to the trail along the school to Bulls Run Pkwy., to Singleton Dr. to Beech Dr. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd. I left work late. I started running at 10pm after having had dinner at 7:30pm. The weather was breezy and nice but humid. It reminded me of sea breezes which is probably accurate too--we've been getting some rather unusual winds from the east. I saw several people outside and walking about.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station (at Maza Gallerie), Western Ave. to Friendship Blvd. to Willard Ave., to N. Park Ave. to Fallstone Ave. to Warwick Pl. to Dorset Ave. to the Little Falls Trail to Little Falls Pkwy. via Bethesda Pool, to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station at Edgemoor Ln. I left work late and got delayed on the Red Line. By the time I got to run, there wasn't much time left so I did this shortish run. It was downhill starting out, then had good hill in the middle. To finish I had a more gentle railroad grade but overall there was a modest net gain in elevation. On the CCT I moved well and had to work to pass a guy.

Great Falls, MD. From near the intersection of Falls Rd. and MacArthur Blvd. I ran parts of the Gold Mine Loop Trail to the Tavern area. This was to be a warm-up and a way to get me to the start of where QOC plans to have a meet in December that I'm course setting for. Along the way and at the bottom, I've discovered a few things to update the map with including a new bathroom building that sits right where there was a parking lot previously. Rains were light starting off but got steady and heavier as I descended. I still managed to warm-up, aided by the high humidity.

Great Falls, MD. For training and to checkout a course I made, I ran what will be callled the Advanced-Long course for the QOC meet to be held here in December. Standard color names are not going to be used since we're only submitting 4 courses for the park to review. The date for the QOC event is subject to change since several of us want to also run the A-meet at Vasquez Rocks that is currently conflicting.

As I started out, the rains were really picking up a lot. Visibility was poor with some areas being foggy and much of everything being dark. I got started around 4:30pm so even without raining clouds, the woods with full leaves would have been darkening. This was good training for me in several ways. First, I was out running for a good while. Despite setting out the streamers for controls earlier, navigations in many of the control areas is always challenging. I also ran at what one might consider a tempo pace; a bit short of racing. It helped my confidence that I felt I could run through most of the hills and ground debris. I hadn't really been lifting my knees high as this for a while. The course alternates through various legs emphasizing either physical or technical skills. A mix of green and open woods were used (green in this park is never that bad but it does make it harder). I have yet to calculate a climb. I made a lot of mistakes and they totaled to 13:12 minutes :( I bailed-out to relocate on one control which I had done fine with when I set it a few weeks back. I think the darkness and rain did contribute to the reason for my error on that one. On another control a streamer had fallen down but I didn't count the little extra time it took me to find it as an error since I had come to it pretty well. I also screwed-up one control near the end which I should have nailed. The darkness and some needed trail updates on the map contributed to that. On this run I actually found two areas needing trail updates as well as a pair of sizeable cairns not on the map (I didn't stop to make map corrections and in the rush to get out to the park I'd forgotten to take my GPS with me too. I hope to fix the things I saw though the vegetation is off in so many places that I doubt I'd have time to make significant updates for that).

Unless the park approves it, the course I set may never get officially run as a club event (I set it specifically trying to avoid sensitive areas so it's a bit different than I otherwise would have done). There's also a new potential issue with the park charging onerous fees too. The club will need to make a decision on what to do about that if the park insists on still charging it.

I didn't get to running a race pace in the places where the woods opened up. Fear of tripping or slipping on wet fallen branches as well as not feeling all that strong kept me from doing that. My left knee, the one I had surgery on, was also bothering me on hillsides and sometimes when going downhill.

Here are my splits:
Control Leg Cumulative Error
1 2:47 2:47 0:30
2 2:13 5:01
3 1:52 6:53 0:12
4 5:22 12:15
5 1:02 13:17
6&7 10:01 23:18
8 5:10 0:28:29
9 9:45 0:38:14 0:05:30
10 8:39 0:46:53
11 4:32 0:51:26
12 2:34 0:54:01
13 4:25 0:58:26 0:01:45
14 4:19 1:02:46 0:01:00
15 2:19 1:05:05
16 1:58 1:07:04
17 2:58 1:10:02
18 8:05 1:18:08 0:00:45
19 4:42 1:22:50
20 7:15 1:30:06 0:03:30
F 1:25 1:31:32

Great Falls, MD. After finishing my test run, I walked over to check a control location for a beginner course. I hadn't been to it before and I'm glad I went. The trails had changed significanctly. I'll have to come back and fix the map in this area if the control is to be used. I started my warm-down run back to the car from near the control location and I used a different route.

Going back, I passed two yahoos that I'd seen earlier when I was finishing up my course. They were on a little used trail, not far from a lot of people and they had started a small controlled fire in the rain. They were probably in their 40s and 50s which seems far too old to find facination in being able to light a fire in these conditions--it's not that hard and I told them so. I told them it was illegal on my first encounter and seeing them still there upon returning, I emphasized the point on my second pass. One of them tried to make light of it even after I pointed out that the fire was at the base of a tree--he said the fire needed shelter. I didn't have my cell phone when I reached my van (I need to replace it so those who can shouldn't try to call me on it for a while) so I couldn't tell the park service. I figured they'd be gone by the time I was home since it was dark by then.

From Northfield Rd. to Woodmont Ave. at Bethesda Ave., and back. Peggy, Max (on his Trail-a-Bike), and I rode into downtown Bethesda to see Ponyo at the Landmark Theatre. We also had dinner there. The movie was quite refreshing. Max's one-liner for the night stated during the movie in all seriousness was something like "That's one serious mom." I had intended to run today too and felt motivated. The day got away from me with much of it spent cleaning and waterproofing our deck.

Pentagon City, Arlington, VA. Warm-up on Army-Navy Dr. for the Arlington Police/Fire/Sheriff 9-11 Memorial 5K. The temperatures started getting much better not long before the race but I guess they were still in the low 80s F with a slight breeze. Jon Torrance had organized a QOC team for the main event. Tom Nolan rounded out our small group as many other intersted QOC runners had already made other plans. This race was in remberance and for a good cause; previous runnings of the same race had benefitted families directly affected by the 9/11 attacks but funds from the event today were to benefit the families of veterans who were in the recent wars. As many can, I recalled the happenings on 9/11/2001. There was a muddled panic in my office as people scrambled to leave. I remember climbing out to a terrace and seeing the smoke from the crash at the Pentagon. The race course took us near but not on the same side where the plane struck.

This day also happened to be my 34th anniversary of starting running. On 9/5/1975, I ran my first official running practice (and logged it) while joining the Cross Country team as a freshman in high school. Prior to this I had run a few races for school fitness tests but I consider September 5th when I marked myself a runner.

Pentagon City, Arlington, VA. Arlington Police/Fire/Sheriff 9-11 Memorial 5K. This was my first road race in a long while where I felt like I was racing. As is often the case the last several years my preparation wasn't really there but I was pleased with what I was able to accomplish. Before the race, factoring in lack of recent running, a slowish 10 mile run on Wednesday, and eating too much being at a pool w/Max and visiting my parents earlier in the day, that I'd be doing well to keep the pace under 7:00 minute/mile. According to my GPS and Tom Nolan's tracking in GMaps, the race was a little long. My official 5K time was 19:56. That's closer to a 6:01/mile pace. My official time is still the slowest actual 5K race that I've ever done. I was faster in a much hillier one in Bethesda a few years ago (today's course was almost completely flat). I guess I was most happy about today since I haven't run this pace since prior to knee surgery last year.

I missed seeing the actual mile markers. I guess I was focusing on the road and weaving through the many runners too much. My mile splits according to my GPS track match-up with where Tom Nolan said he saw them: 5:50, 11:19 (5:29), 18:04 (6:45). I didn't think I had accelerated in the second mile though I was passing a lot of people then. If any of them could be said to be uphill, the second one climbed the most. I did notice slowing a lot during the early part of the 3rd mile and people started passing me back then. My GPS let me know how far I had to go to the finish so toward the end I pushed more and made-up a few places. The 40-49 year age group was won by another 47 year old (my age) in 16:59. Overall, I was 73rd out of 2,285 finishers and 17th out of 288 in my division. Tom Nolan was 147th place, 6th of 110 in his division in 21:35. Jon Torrance did the best. He was 10th overall and 3rd of 416 in his division at 17:22! It's interesting that my VDOT predicts a 5:27 mile pace from this effort since I had a 5:29 split. I guess I need to work on the pacing if I'm going to road race more.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was yet another nice cool morning.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. Since Peggy had told me that she was going to pickup Max and the trailer, I only needed to ride home. After about a third of the way there, with no pre-planning on the timing and me randomly taking an alternate route, our paths intersected at Exeter La. Peggy and I were surprised and Max seemed very happy at this ocurrance. We rode together slowly home. Peggy wasn't used to towing the trailer and Max's weight. I was tempted to run later but I thought that some rest would be better with a harder run planned for Saturday.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was once again cooler than normal outside. I was tempted to ride all the way into work but felt that less would be better than more for today. I weighed-in the lowest that I have all year.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. Before coming home this evening I acted on Jon Torrance's suggestion for a QOC team doing some road races this Fall. I registered for a 9/11 Memorial 5K that will pass along beside the Pentagon. It'll be on Saturday evening. I don't expect to be up to a race pace but it'll be some good training.

From 14th & Independence Ave. to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to the C&O Canal Towpath, to the Capital Crescent Trail, to the Little Falls Trail, to Masachusetts Ave., to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to Edgemoore Ln. With the lack of running that I've done over the summer, this was probably farther than I should have gone however missing the last two days and the upcoming Fall season spurred me on. I last ran this route April 30, 2009 to get ready for the Billygoat. Like before, I ran with a few essentials on a belt pack and I didn't feel very strong going into this. My only advantage was being lighter by 10lbs but I haven't finished adapting to that yet. Starting off, I reached the Lincoln Memorial at under a 7:30/mile pace. Temperatures were probably around 80F. I was slower getting through Georgetown. Passing a foursome of 3 guys and a lady leading them got me going quicker again. I had a sciatica-like feeling on the run until I passed Fletchers Boathouse. I didn't bother trying to hold pace much but was a little surprised to be running as slow as 8:00/mile pace. Available measured splits: 7:52 (1.02 mile), 4:01 (half mile), 3:57, 3:53, 3:54, 4:01, 3:57, 3:58. Some of these were the same to the second while others were up to 10 seconds slower than in April.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max via the Georgetown Branch Trail, then after dropping him and his trailer off, to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was rather cool out. I rode in my work clothes again.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I had been working late so it was nearly dark by the time I was home. I didn't have time to do a planned run.