Training Log Archive: NadimIn the 30 days ending Nov 30, 2009:
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Monday Nov 30, 2009 #
Orienteering (Course Setting) 2:35:26 [2] *** 5.2 km (29:53 / km)
spiked:16/16c slept:7.0 weight:169.5lbs
Great Falls National Park, MD. I finished setting out Advanced and Intermediate controls and 3 water stops. It was raining the whole time; either lightly or steadily and the temperatures (upper 40's & lower 50's F)felt like they were dropping. The woods continued to look fast. Some more of the least used trails were difficult to follow. I left the controls for the Beginner course to be put out by others the morning of the event. The woods were so open that I took in a view which I can't recall seeing before. I was well away from the river and no where near a clearing but I could see and hear the waters below. The white flowing roar of Mather Gorge was speckled with greens and lighter grays. A mist added to the view which was reminicent of that in some of the greater national parks. It's too bad that I'm going to miss the meet while I'm in California.
Sunday Nov 29, 2009 #
Orienteering (Course Setting) 1:49:05 [2] *** 4.0 km (27:16 / km)
spiked:12/12c slept:6.75 weight:169.5lbs
Great Falls National Park, MD. After working around the house a bit, I finally got out into the woods to put out controls for the course that I started on almost 4 months back. I ran and walked with a mostly full pack. With the leaves off, the woods were pretty much wide open. The young Beech trees which often grow in distinct clumps and look very uninviting in the summer almost looked open at times too. Leaves that had fallen did obsure some small rocks, other debris and at least one trail underneath at times. I went slow and paused to update the map here and there but I didn't do any extensive mapping work. The distance is measured in straight lines from control to control but with some of the mapping and more efficient routes, I did much more that what's shown.
Saturday Nov 28, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail) 30:16 [3] 4.05 mi (7:28 / mi)
slept:8.0 weight:169.5lbs
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 spent the night of Thankgiving with my sister and parents to celebrate Eid with them and because so many other people were stopping by, I didn't get a chance to run. With today being dominated by birthday activities for Max (his real birthday is later), I almost didn't run again. I finally got out to run after midnight. It was colder than I'd been used to. I had on full sweats and gloves. I was tired and my left knee kept me running a bit gingerly. I saw what must be some of the first holiday lights for the season on a few houses.
Thursday Nov 26, 2009 #
Event: Bethesda Turkey Chase 10k
Running race (Street & Trail) 40:51 [5] 10.0 km (4:05 / km)
ahr:164 max:172 slept:8.0 weight:169.5lbs
YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase Turkey Chase. With Peggy volunteering to take Max through the 2 Mile event this year, I was free to go for a good 10K run on this Thanksgiving morning. I had lots of company from the QOC family: David & Heidi Onkst, the whole Merka family, Ted and Tim Good, the whole Lennon family, Ken Walker Jr. & Sr., and perhaps some more. The rains we'd been having the last few days took a break and fortunatly the cool air was calm. Everyone came with a QOC jersey so I was shamed into wearing one too--fortunately David had brought two. David, Jan, and I started near each other, probably crossing the chip timed start in 5-6 seconds after the Go! was given.
David and I ran together last year. His pacing really helped me back then since it was the first hard road run I'd done after my knee surgery. However this year, we didn't plan on running together. I didn't run the two days before the race but I didn't get adequate sleep either. I was still unsure of the pace that I'd be able to hold but told David that I'd be happy to finish at 6:30/mile pace. I had the recent experience of two other road races this fall. This one was by far hillier and longer too.
I took off being pulled out with the crowd in the first mile but hardly feeiling any of it as we dropped elevation most of the way. I separated from David a little bit during this. The second mile was a different story for me. I felt the rolling hills and went into pacing my way through. I got passed a bunch. The third mile had the most uphill of the course. I continued to slow and was really feeling the effects of the first mile--it wasn't all that fast but I just haven't been doing any speed work. I held my own with the crowd around me during the 4th and 5th miles. The 5th and 6th were the flattest of the course. During the 6th, I started passing people again and perhaps finished with too much left in me despite starting a push a little before I thought I would. I hadn't felt good after the first mile so it was a bit wierd to feel better on the final kick.
Dave Onkst apparently was close by the whole way. He may have been closing in too as he saw me more in the last two miles, though I think he was faster or tied on just 2 miles through the race. He finished only 16 seconds behind. Jan had not intended to race hard but having felt good early on, he pushed and did pretty well, only 2:01 behind David. Ted and Tim weren't racing very hard and started in the second wave. Ken Walker, Jr. blew us all away easily in 35:52, 12:05 ahead of his father. Ken Walker Sr. won his age group and I got second in mine (I was 110th overall); I was rather surprised at this. There were supposed to be 8,000 people registered (10K, 2-Mile, Tot-Trots) though results showed only 4,326 finishers in the 10K. Perhaps it was a weak day for my 45-49 year age group. I didn't learn of my place until the day after but the race and breakfast with the QOC family was a nice way to start off Thanksgiving.
Splits:
1 Mile ~5:59 5:59
2 Mile 6:36 12:35
3 Mile 6:43 19:18
4 Mile 6:59 26:17
5 Mile 6:44 33:01
6 Mile ~6:24 39:25
David and I ran together last year. His pacing really helped me back then since it was the first hard road run I'd done after my knee surgery. However this year, we didn't plan on running together. I didn't run the two days before the race but I didn't get adequate sleep either. I was still unsure of the pace that I'd be able to hold but told David that I'd be happy to finish at 6:30/mile pace. I had the recent experience of two other road races this fall. This one was by far hillier and longer too.
I took off being pulled out with the crowd in the first mile but hardly feeiling any of it as we dropped elevation most of the way. I separated from David a little bit during this. The second mile was a different story for me. I felt the rolling hills and went into pacing my way through. I got passed a bunch. The third mile had the most uphill of the course. I continued to slow and was really feeling the effects of the first mile--it wasn't all that fast but I just haven't been doing any speed work. I held my own with the crowd around me during the 4th and 5th miles. The 5th and 6th were the flattest of the course. During the 6th, I started passing people again and perhaps finished with too much left in me despite starting a push a little before I thought I would. I hadn't felt good after the first mile so it was a bit wierd to feel better on the final kick.
Dave Onkst apparently was close by the whole way. He may have been closing in too as he saw me more in the last two miles, though I think he was faster or tied on just 2 miles through the race. He finished only 16 seconds behind. Jan had not intended to race hard but having felt good early on, he pushed and did pretty well, only 2:01 behind David. Ted and Tim weren't racing very hard and started in the second wave. Ken Walker, Jr. blew us all away easily in 35:52, 12:05 ahead of his father. Ken Walker Sr. won his age group and I got second in mine (I was 110th overall); I was rather surprised at this. There were supposed to be 8,000 people registered (10K, 2-Mile, Tot-Trots) though results showed only 4,326 finishers in the 10K. Perhaps it was a weak day for my 45-49 year age group. I didn't learn of my place until the day after but the race and breakfast with the QOC family was a nice way to start off Thanksgiving.
Splits:
1 Mile ~5:59 5:59
2 Mile 6:36 12:35
3 Mile 6:43 19:18
4 Mile 6:59 26:17
5 Mile 6:44 33:01
6 Mile ~6:24 39:25
Monday Nov 23, 2009 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:4.5
45 situps. Busy at work; cold and rainy at home. A planned run didn't pan-out.
Sunday Nov 22, 2009 #
Event: QOC Manassas
Running warm up/down (Street & Trail) 5 [2] 0.5 mi (10 / mi)
slept:8.5 weight:170lbs
Manassas Battlefield Park, VA at Stuart Hill. I did a warm-up jog or 2 loops around the parking area for the QOC meet.
Orienteering race (Foot) 1:01:47 [4] *** 8.6 km (7:11 / km) +96m 6:48 / km
spiked:11/16c
Manassas Battlefield Park, VA. QOC at Stuart Hill. I wasn't sure what to expect physically today but I had anticipated doing better navigationally. My bearing was a bit to the left on most of the controls where I was a bit off. I was running pretty good and perhaps ran too fast. I underestimated control #9 which was a depression 20m off of a main road. Though the map was lacking some features along the road, the big part of my error was reading a ridge to be a reentrant. I ran well past the control, to a reentrant and found a nice unmapped depression about 20m off the road, then figured out that I had to go back. That mishap cost me about 5 minutes. I made another serious error going to #11. At least this one was a parallel error. I got to the wrong ridge and took a while to realize it. That error cost me another 3 minutes. There were various issues with the map, like at #2 where the control was on what appeared to be an unmapped dot knoll. Not having read the control description, I got distracted by another control in the area and when I approached it, two unleashed dogs came up to me threateningly thus further distracting me (another 20-30 seconds or error). What had happened is that the map we raced on with hadn't included various corrections which course setter Tim Good had made and used. However, I can't really blame the map on my errors I think I was just going too fast in places where I should have slowed and read the map more. The one nice thing that I can take away from the day is that I ran solidly and had some speed at times. I need to evaluate routes better, adjust strategies, and thus stop making these big errors at our local meets.
Saturday Nov 21, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 25:31 [2] 3.4 mi (7:30 / mi)
slept:7.5 weight:171lbs
From Northfield Rd., Max and I rode with his trail-a-bike for lunch in Bethesda, for a mailbox and to a playground.
Running (Street & Trail) 47:09 6.63 mi (7:07 / mi)
From Northfield Rd., through Grenwich Park to Old Georgetown Rd. to W. Cedar Ln. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar Ln. to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Matthew Henson Trail, and to the parking lot. I started running about 2 1/2 hours after eating lunch with Max and felt pretty awful. The cycling that I'd done this week, short though it was, was very evident in my tired quads. I struggled through the first mile. I was happy to know that it was on-par with other recent splits and that the next mile was downhill to Rock Creek. Once on the paved Rock Creek Trail, I cruised along better. It's basically flat though there's a gradual climb to it. I felt like I'd slowed down and needed to to keep from pushing too hard. I mostly couldn't read my watch as I ran but I did pick-up on one mile split that again was encouraging. It just seemed like I was exerting more effort than I had been doing at this pace. I felt a bit better better after a while but getting up past Randolph Rd. from Cedar Ln. always seems farther to me than I think it is. I was happy to have a break for traffic at Garrett Park Rd. and again at Randolph Rd. I was only on the Matthew Henson Trail for about 100m. Peggy and Max were waiting for me--it was Max's 3rd playground of the day. My available mile splits were: 15:59 (for 2.24 miles or 7:08 pace), 7:10, 7:03, 7:10, 7:00.
Friday Nov 20, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 15:11 [3] 2.76 mi (5:30 / mi)
slept:4.5 weight:171lbs
From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. via the Georgetown Branch Trail with Max in his trailer, then after dropping them off I rode to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. In great contrast to last night, it was bright and sunny this morning but still warm. I felt tired so I took it easy.
Bicycling (Commute) 15:29 [3] 2.51 mi (6:10 / mi)
From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. There was a good bit of traffic and I was tired again. I had intended to go running afterward but I fell asleep.
Thursday Nov 19, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail) 57:18 [3] 7.64 mi (7:30 / mi)
slept:6.25 weight:173lbs
From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Glenbrook Rd. to Bradley Blvd. to Kennedy Dr. to Dorset Dr. to the Capital Crescent Trail to the Little Falls Trail, to Massachusetts Ave. to the Capital Crescent Trail to Bradley Blvd. to Glenbrook Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I was all ready mentally to run home after work but I forgot to bring my shoes. I went home on the metro system and ran into an old neighbor from Greenbelt who I was happy to see again after such a long time. I finally got motivated again and on the road running at 10:42pm. Within 5 minutes, frequent lightning and increasing rain was giving me more trepidation than I already had for going out late. The heavier volume of rain that came with it was steady and held up until the last two miles. I saw two cyclists also getting wet in the dark on the CCT. I ran into some big puddles myself and was soaked. The saving grace of it all was that it was right around 60 F. My run was steady. I've been eating too much for the last day or so but I think some of my weight gain is from shifting to more cycling this week. I felt better mentally and physically for having run tonight.
Wednesday Nov 18, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 15:01 [3] 2.76 mi (5:26 / mi)
slept:6.25 weight:171lbs
From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. via the Georgetown Branch Trail with Max in his trailer, then after dropping them off I rode to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Air Rights Building tunnel. I felt a bit stiff and slow.
Having assessed my current standings, I see that I need about 7 more rides all the way to work and back between now and the end of the year if I'm to get to the same number of miles bicycled last year. In 2009, I've already exceeded my orienteering and running miles from 2008. However, I'll need about 80 more miles of running to reach the modest goal of 500 miles for the year. It's not likely at my current rate and even the cycling will be difficult to achieve with the weather and travel days.
Having assessed my current standings, I see that I need about 7 more rides all the way to work and back between now and the end of the year if I'm to get to the same number of miles bicycled last year. In 2009, I've already exceeded my orienteering and running miles from 2008. However, I'll need about 80 more miles of running to reach the modest goal of 500 miles for the year. It's not likely at my current rate and even the cycling will be difficult to achieve with the weather and travel days.
Bicycling (Commute) 12:18 [3] 2.51 mi (4:54 / mi)
From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Maple Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. There was a bit of traffic here and there as is often the case. However interestingly enough, the time it took me to get from Maple Ave. to Northfield Rd. was exactly 10 minutes to the second not only today but yesterday too. My chain slipped a bit more despite it having been worked on professionally last week. I was going to run after this but after enjoying re-watching Barton Fink till 11pm, I thought some rest would be better.
Tuesday Nov 17, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 47:47 13.05 mi (3:40 / mi)
slept:6.0 weight:170.5lbs
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 didn't sleep well last night. It was colder this morning; about 42F. The winds came from the NE so they were often more often headwinds than tailwinds. A few of us more or less formed a trio and took turns. I felt tired and at times rode harder than I would have but staying together was better. I slowed a lot after Georgetown.
Bicycling (Commute) 50:39 [3] 12.89 mi (3:56 / mi)
From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Maple Ave., then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It's either that my slower speed matches up better with other people right now or that the cyclists willing to ride in the dark are more cooperative. I was fairly tired riding home but kept spinning with a pace that slowly and steadily kept me passing people. One of the guys I passed (there are still plenty of women riders too) drafted along for a while but he did take a short turn pulling at a nice time. I got us to Bethesda the last few miles and was 40:39 at Maple Ave. That was much faster than I felt that I was riding. My adjustments to my headlamp were pretty good too. Temperatures were in the low 50s F. I was a bit overdressed with a jacket and long tights appropriate for the morning but I rolled up my sleeves and unzipped too. That let the sweat keep me cool. I was surprised to be passing the long skinny parking lots otherwise known as roads--there seems to be a lot of traffic lately and I'm glad not to be in it.
Monday Nov 16, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 48:00 [3] 13.05 mi (3:41 / mi)
slept:6.25 weight:169lbs
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. My thought was to take advantage of the nice weather and cycle in to work. My left foot had some aches and pains (arch and ball) from the races yesterday so the idea of a no impact workout sealed the decision. I hadn't been able ride last week when my bike was in for repairs and later when it was so rainy. It took a while this morning to get going. It was our turn to bring the week load of snacks for Max's class so I had an extra +25 pounds in the back of his trailer. After the bike repair job there were still some issues (though less) with chain slippage and my bike computer sensor was loose. The sensor occasionally would bang the spokes. I timed with my watch for part of the way but overall I had to estimate the time.
Bicycling (Commute) 43:23 11.5 mi (3:46 / mi)
From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I hadn't ridden home since daylight savings time started; it was completely dark right from the start. I brought my light charger to work but was missing a crucial piece. I was happy to make it home with full light. The ride was busy along the whole way. I suspect the warmth brought out a lot of people who wouldn't be dissuaded by the darkness. I need to work on the angle of my headlamp which mostly points down as I ride whether I'm tucked or not. I'd come up on cyclists fast and with the leaves (they were wet in the morning) across the trail it was hard for all to share the trail riding a bit under 20mph. At one calmer moment a scene from Blade Runner came to mind in which a trio of in-line cyclists riding close together passed quietly through the night. I did pickup several drafters and one of them shared the load. I was happy not to have to pickup Max's trailer. Peggy rode over and retrieved Max with it earlier.
Sunday Nov 15, 2009 #
Event: QOC Oregon Ridge
Orienteering race (Foot) 1:22:31 [4] *** 10.5 km (7:52 / km) +360m 6:43 / km
spiked:9/12c slept:8.0 weight:171lbs
Mid-Atlantic Championship, Oregon Ridge Park, MD. The inaugural use of the new map of Oregon Ridge was quite fun. Francis Hogle did a pretty good job with the mapping and course setting though as with any new map, there were a few things slightly off. I ran Blue since I thought QOC was pretty well represented on Red and I tend to do better in longer events and open woods like those that were predominant in the park. The hardest thing for me was the climb. I didn't feel very good right out of the start. After climbing to #1, I was a bit disappointed to be lower than the start at #3. There were big climbs to #4 and #9 too. After the increased road running that I've been doing, I felt slow through much of the run. I totaled about +4 minutes of errors. Most of this was at #10 where I lost about 3 minutes according to my GPS track. I lost time at #4 and on the Go control too. It seemed to me that the finish placement didn't match-up with what was shown on the map but that didn't cost me much time. Overall, I was happy and mostly pleased with my overall 5th place. Of course some of the Mid-Atlantic regulars didn't run or didn't run Blue. My heart rate during the race registered an average of only 117 but it's likely that this was more of a sign of battery/mechanical failure rather than an actual measure. I know from looking at my GPS track that there were some gaps in the track. See the Split List for more.
Orienteering (Foot) 18:39 [4] *** 2.6 km (7:10 / km) +105m 5:58 / km
spiked:5/7c
Mid-Atlantic Championship, Oregon Ridge Park, MD. QOC had several teams put together hastily. Peggy, Ted Good and I made up one. Peggy started off for us and brought us in in around 3rd or 4th place. I took off with cheers from Tom Strat who was chasing closely behind me. Most of the time I was running near, ahead or behind Sergei Fedorov and Allison Campbell from DVOA. I closed some distance on Sergei in the first two controls and Allison trailed closely behind. Going to #3, I didn't read the map well enough. I could have taken the nice field route that I used in the Blue course to get there fast and easy but instead, I set in to going out the direction that Sergei did. Near the control, I didn't read well enough to understand that the control was behind a junk filled depression. I got behind both Allison and Sergei as I sorted this out. I made-up some ground in the field and then moved ahead on the steep climb to #4. Leaving #4, I didnn't want to drop down too much so I ran up the reentrant before cutting in the direction of #5. Once over the initial ridge, I didn't readajust my bearing enough to account for running up the reentrant. I found myself too high and in the light green. Allison and Sergei were well ahead by the time I got to #5. With that being the case, I again didn't think and got into chase mode. I made-up a lot of distance quickly, then trailed a bit until we got to some trails. I should have left #5 going more directly rather then following both Allison and Sergei down the reentrant to the lake. At the trails, I took a left route around the deep reentrant. Allison followed but Sergei went a lower slightly more direct route the less climb that I didn't see. I got to the control a bit behind Sergei and Allison was right behind me. I figured it'd not be likely that I'd catch Sergei before the finish but going to #7, he must have figured the control to be lower rather than on the side of the knoll. I had a more direct route so I got there just ahead of him with Allison right behind me still. I zig-zagged through the green similar to my finishing route on the Blue course and managed to stay ahead of Sergei and Allison. My sprint in to the epunch and to tag Ted wasn't stellar (I was tired) but it was good enough to have our team in first.
Unfortunately, I didn't give Ted enough of a lead. Perhaps if I made fewer mistakes and had a better route to #6 it would have given him enough of an edge but Vadim Masalkov and Greg Ahlswede were just running too fast. We got third. Ted would have needed around 10 seconds to take second and about 50 seconds if we were to take first. Though we were tired and could improve our physical shape, we had fun. I can see the need to do more speedwork and practice sprints if I'm to make better decisions in races that are this fast.
Unfortunately, I didn't give Ted enough of a lead. Perhaps if I made fewer mistakes and had a better route to #6 it would have given him enough of an edge but Vadim Masalkov and Greg Ahlswede were just running too fast. We got third. Ted would have needed around 10 seconds to take second and about 50 seconds if we were to take first. Though we were tired and could improve our physical shape, we had fun. I can see the need to do more speedwork and practice sprints if I'm to make better decisions in races that are this fast.
Saturday Nov 14, 2009 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:6.5 weight:169.5lbs (rest day)
45 situps. I did more shopping and playing with Max. Some of that involved running.
Friday Nov 13, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail) 43:27 6.07 mi (7:09 / mi)
slept:6.0 weight:170lbs
From Northfield Rd., through Grenwhich Park to Old Georgetown Pike, to W. Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar La. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Beach Dr. to Grosvenor La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. and to Northfield Rd. via Grenwich Park. I started this run rather late in the evening--~11:30pm. I cruised along pretty comfortably for most of the way and felt pretty good. It was in the low 50s, F. The Rock Creek Trail was puddled-over in places but I could see well enough to run around them without getting too muddy. As I started up Grosvenor Rd., I saw a guy putting up real estate sale signs. I saw the same guy again putting up signs along Old Georgetown Rd. and I think he was surprised to see me again too because he was hustling. In the dark, I misread my watch and thought I might have a chance to get in in under 42 minutes so I pushed the last mile or so.
Thursday Nov 12, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail) 30:24 3.25 mi (9:21 / mi)
slept:6.5
From the Shopping Center at the intersection of Tuckerman Ln. and Seven Locks Rd. I ran along side of and into Cabin John Regional Park and looped back. I had dropped off Max for time at the a gym class. I'd had taken the day off and spent most of it visiting my parents. When I got out running, I'd been full from a heavy lunch with them. I also was over-dressed with my Goretex rain suit (the rains had prevented me from doing any mapping again). I started off running off-trail but found a path much more quickly than I had expected it. It ran along the edge of the woodlands and through some grassy areas. After following it to the end at Heatherton Ln. I ran back a ways until plunging into some more off trail running. It was 5pm when I started running so it was already past dusk and in my rush to pickup Max from day care, I'd forgotten to take a headlamp. After getting past some hilly green areas, I got back on the new portion of the Cabin John Trail (seemingly built for mountain bikers) and was able to follow it in the dark. Reaching Tuckerman Ln. I headed east and to the playground looking unsuccessfully for an open bathroom. I returned along Tuckerman Ln. to the shopping center.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2009 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:6.0 weight:168.5lbs (rest day)
45 situps. Instead of getting some field checking done, I got rained out and had a busy day of errands and mostly shopping.
Tuesday Nov 10, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail) 36:59 5.23 mi (7:04 / mi)
weight:170lbs
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. I last ran this route on 9/21/2009 and did it then in 39:00. It was around 10:30pm when I got out this time. I was a bit tired but I found myself moving along right around 7 minute pace at the first mile. It was warm too--in the 60's F. I had a long sleeve t-shirt on and felt over dressed. As I was finishing up the last mile, I noticed and passed another late runner going my direction on the other side of Old Georgetown Rd.
Monday Nov 9, 2009 #
Running (Street & Trail Commute) 40:41 5.75 mi (7:05 / mi)
slept:5.75 weight:170lbs
From the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station to Tuckerman Ln., to Rockville Pike to Beach Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Kensington Pkwy. to Connecticutt Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Woodmont Ave. to the Bethesda Metro Station at Edgmoore Ln. I wasn't fully motivated to run with leaving work a bit late and it being dark outside. I got moving on the downhill out of the metro station and rolled along well through Rock Creek Park. The air was nice (upper 50s F) so I felt good. I climbed up the Kensington Pkwy. the best that I have all year. On the upgrade of the Georgetown Branch Trail I kept up the intensity and came up upon two men whom I thought were walking. I flew by them and found that they were actually running :). It was a good workout and I was a bit surprised to be running this pace at this effort.
Sunday Nov 8, 2009 #
Orienteering (Foot) 57:52 [4] *** 6.7 km (8:38 / km) +250m 7:17 / km
ahr:152 max:166 spiked:13/17c slept:9.25 weight:169.5lbs
Riverbend Park, VA. I had expectd a day of mostly doing chores and perhaps a long run. In the morning, we got confirmation of some training setup by the Lennons so we rushed out to it. It was really a nice day and the training was rather nice too--thanks Greg and Kathleen! Starting off, the sun was shining just enough to make the almost 70 F feel really nice. I took off near the end of the group however Jan Merka and Dann Quinn ended up starting after me. I hadn't been running in the steep hills here since the park banned official orienteering meets. The map was a bit out of date in places. It was generally accurate but the vegetation had changed in places along with a few of the trails. I was glad that the first few controls were easy. It helped me get going though having a longer sleep was really the thing that made me feel so much better running than I did yesterday. Along the way, I passed Addie Nolan, Mark Mace, Patti Mace, Dasa Merka, Tom Nolan, and Peggy. I'd been moving well until a little before catching Peggy at #8 but as often happens, I also started making mistakes after passing her. I took a wrong trail briefly on the way to #10 and ended up climbing higher than needed too. I'd misread #11 and went to the bottom of a reentrant instead of continuing my contour to that control. When crossing the road to #12, I got too far left, then didn't check my compass at the crossing. The area around #12 had changed extensively from when it was mapped so I had trouble making sense of where I was for a while. Once I figured it out, I got to the control just about the time that Peggy did (that error was probably about 3 minutes though altogether I probably lost 4-5 minutes). The navigation was not so difficult after that even though the hills continued. I spiked the last 5 controls. As we had done a month back, most of the others who trained went to lunch in Cabin John, MD.
Orienteering (Control Pickup) 54:06 [3] *** 3.51 mi (15:25 / mi)
ahr:126 max:153 spiked:7/8c
Riverbend Park, VA. I picked up most of the controls in the south part of the park along with some water. I followed most of the same order as the training had taken me but I took some different routes too. I messup going to #3 a different way by missing a trail intersection that was probably covered by leaves. With most leaves down now, visibility in the woods has increased quite a lot.
Saturday Nov 7, 2009 #
Running (Off Trail) 27:24 [3] *** 2.62 mi (10:28 / mi) +50m 9:52 / mi
spiked:3/3c slept:4.5
Broad Creek Scout Camp--Oest, Dublin, MD. Today I was helping at the annual scouting orienteering event. It seemed that most of the time I was keeping an eye on Max who threw more than a few tantrums over the day. I have to remind myself that he's not even 5 yet but he does have faculty beyond his years too. I did a run on and off trail as I headed out to my first assigned control for pickup. We planned to start pickup a bit before 4pm and that was to leave us only about an hour before sunset to get them all. I carried some cloth bags to carry controls back. After a short warm-up on a dirt road, I got off trail following a reentrant down, then up a spur on the other side. The contour interval here is 25ft and the climbs always seemed harder than expected for one who's used to 5m contours. I finished-up at a control on a spur-like cliff. I'd spotted the cliff at least 50m away, but not the control. Finding out that it wasn't on the other side of the base, still didn't see it until I climbed to the top and stood on the rock. Still above my head and over the edge, I finally saw the bag. It was fairly safe for me but guess Dave Linthicum didn't send any smaller kids on the course with that bag. Later Dave said he'd hung it there to give the kids a bit of a thrill.
Orienteering (Control Pickup) 50:50 [3] *** 2.83 mi (17:58 / mi)
spiked:13/15c
33rd Annual Md. Scout Orienteering Day. Broad Creek Scout Camp, Dublin, MD. I had a little trouble with the first control on this route. The map showed only a man made feature and a formline knoll. I saw the knoll and a vent pipe on top but no bag. About to give-up and presuming someone else already collected it, I finally saw it hanging at the bottom of some stairs that dropped under the knoll. I got the rest easier except for one which had apparently been stolen off of a road/telephone pole intersection. One exception to this was a pit near a border. I'd mistaken an unmapped ride to be the border and thus I was too low. The map overall could use some revisions but it wasn't as bad as some of the briars that I found.
Thursday Nov 5, 2009 #
Bicycling (Commute) 47:46 13.05 mi (3:40 / mi)
slept:6.0 weight:170lbs
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 wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and was less put off by the temperatures in the 40's F, having already had a similar comfortable ride not long ago. I was good about taking it easier and with a laptop on my back, I was less inclined to push. After passing a few people, another guy caught me on a downgrade. Eventually all of us formed a line and shared the load into Georgetown--very nice! It was good to find out that the office trip eating out thing didn't have a great impact on my weight.
Bicycling (Commute) 1:09:45 [3] 17.05 mi (4:05 / mi)
From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to National Airport, then Maple Ave., Bethesda, MD, via the Mt. Vernon Trail & Key Bridge. I had to go back to the airport after work to retrieve my cell phone from the Lost & Found. I'd left it at a security checkpoint on Tuesday morning. When I left work, I was surprised to suddenly find myself in a rain shower. It turned out that I was on the edge of a squall. Going against the wind over the river, Iooked back to see some wonderful rainbows nearly fully arcing into the monuments as I rode along the Virginia shore of the Potomac River. I had to get to the Lost & Found before it closed so I was rushing a bit. I made the 4.3 miles via the south entrance of the airport in about 16:30 with 3 minutes to spare. After that I enjoyed rolling into Rosslyn at a steady but comfortable pace. I had to use the C&O Towpath for a little bit but eventually got back to my regular route on the Capital Crescent Trail. I made it to Max's daycare with an ugly hissing sound in the air as I stopped. I hoped for the best and hitched Max's trailer despite knowing it was probably hopeless. I made it 200m or so; halfway to the tunnel and then unsuccessfully tried to repair the tube in the dark. Normally this would not be a problem but the tire on the this rim was so tight and my fingers so cold that I gave up on it. I knew I could probably get it off okay but in the dark I wasn't going to be able to safely place the repaired tube back in without more disaster. At least my ride was nice. I'd been going into the wind most of the way and didn't go very fast.
Hiking (Foot) 30:00 [2] 1.85 mi (16:13 / mi)
From Maple Ave. on the Old Georgetown Branch Trail, to Northfield Rd. I walked my bicycle and Max's trailer back home. I was glad to have put on my jacket since it was getting cold fast. It was a bit awkward walking my rig on the busy downtown sidewalks and with all my lights, I probably looked a bit wierd.
Wednesday Nov 4, 2009 #
Running (Trail) 40:17 5.66 mi (7:07 / mi)
slept:6.0
St. Louis, MO. My meetings ended early and with a late flight back, I got a run in at my other St. Louis standby, Creve Coeur. Though I'd been in St. Louis in 2008, I was injured and didn't run during that trip so my last run here was 3/5/2007. I followed the longer trail around in the clockwise direction again. It was nice with a breeze this time. Starting 8 minutes before sunset and finishing in the dark at the Sailboat marina parking lot again, I ran easy for the first couple of miles. I was feeling heavy from an undigested lunch and my legs were a bit tired from the run last night. I felt slow on the gravel portions but turning the corner after about half-way, I was moving smoother and faster on the pavement going into the breeze. I was just trying to keep up my pace mostly but I suppose I inadvertantly was pushing the pace faster too. The result was a surprisingly quicker than expected pace; and some more passing of blood--this time it was in my urine, unlike on 10/19. Passing it in both directions is unusual. Doctors who investigated this almost two years back told me then that the systems are separate and essentially unconnected. Scope work didn't reveal much before and they concluded that I fall into a group of people who's insides are sometimes aggrivated by running and get small lesions--part of growing old?
Tuesday Nov 3, 2009 #
Running (Trail) 39:54 5.77 mi (6:55 / mi)
slept:5.0 weight:170lbs
Saint Louis, MO, Forest Park. I hadn't had much advanced warning about this work trip and didn't know if I'd get to run. It was about 2 years since I last ran in the park. Fortunately, I got started at a bit after 8pm. The weather was optimal--in the 50s F with no winds. I ran in a long sleeve t-shirt and felt good starting out. I only checked my pace twice. At somewhere after 2 miles (GPS watch), after climbing a hill I knew I was on a pace a bit over 7 minutes per mile. I checked once again with nothing left but primarily downhill and flat ground for the next ~1.8 miles. I couldn't remember what kind of time it took to get around the park but figured I'd have ~<12 minutes left to get in in under 40 minutes. I love running gentle grades that are downsloping and with the nice weather, my pace kept gradually increasing. I think I was running on my toes the last half mile at a very brisk pace. Forest Park is a great place to run. I stayed on the bluestone footpath wherever there was a choice between that and the paved bicycle path. It actually felt good when I hit a hill and was able to use different muscle groups--I cruised up most of them. This was a satisfying run and felt like a return to faster running for me. Though I felt sore afterward, my joints felt good. With flight back scheduled for Wednesday, I felt I needed to take advantage of getting a good workout in since I might not be able to run at all on Wednesday. The distance recorded was measured by GPS but it does match exactly the Google Pedometer track link distance which is more on the bicycle path.
Monday Nov 2, 2009 #
Running 9:30 1.22 mi (7:47 / mi)
slept:4.0
From Northfield Rd. to Moorland Ln./Grant St. to Southwick St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Still awake after my wife's generous birthday gift to the Bruce Springsteen concert this evening, and with potentially few training opportunities for the next two days due to a work trip, I decided to take a little run through the neighborhood. It was 48 F outside with calm winds and skies clear enough to give strong definition to the moon shadows. I couldn't tell if my left knee was aching due to the hills and pavement or if it was hurting from the cool air.
Sunday Nov 1, 2009 #
Event: QOC: Pohick Bay
Running warm up/down (Street & Trail) 10:00 [2] 1.0 mi (10:00 / mi)
slept:9.5 weight:170lbs
Pohick Regional Park, VA. Warm-up from the start area to the bathrooms and back. The campground restroom was being renovated so Dave Onkst and I ran down to the park office along the Potomac River and then back.
Orienteering (Foot) 1:39:42 [3] 8.5 km (11:44 / km) +290m 10:01 / km
ahr:143 max:162
QOC: Pohick Regional Park, VA. I had a kind of damp run all around. It had been raining and did so off and on during my longer than hoped for run. I felt fine after running hard yesterday but got tripped-up by the map in several places. In my opinion, the map needs to be completely redone but the best orienteers do find ways to deal with map problems. Fedor Iskhakov, an older orienteer from Europe whom I hadn't met before told me he comes out for two meets a year and he thoroughly enjoyed the run today--no complaints. He wished he had terrain as decent as this near his home somewhere around Pittsburg, PA. Lots of our QOC regulars did just fine too.
I ran into troubles on the first control attacking from what I thought was a safe road intersection instead of a field because it was closer. Clearing that with +4:00 minutes of error, I moved well for the next few controls but I started thinking that I didn't like the course very much as we got into green areas at #4 (caught Fedor here) and a long easy to navigate but physical leg to #5. At #6, the control was flat out in the wrong place. After finding it in a reentrant on a trail, instead of on a spur in the woods, I started to leave the area but decided to go back and re-place the control in the correct place. Accoding to my GPS track, that whole bit cost me 7:30 minutes on the clock. #7 was very easy but a bit physical--go up a steep trail, across a parking lot and in. As I was leaving it, I saw Fedor approaching. #8 was pretty easy too but thinking that I was doing fine going to #9, I didn't find the control when I got to the correct spur. I soon found it back up a big reentrant on a higher spur. Leaving #9, I forgot to correct for being in the wrong place on the map and proceeded to go down the hill and turn left. I should have checked my compass but with the thicker vegetation and being falsely confident of being in the right reentrant, I just ran jumping over and around many unmapped fallen logs. I think this cost me another +8:00 minutes. Control #11 was one that probably should not have been set. It was supposed to be on a spur but the area was flat. I found it okay but it just added to my lack of confidence in the map. I was running okay to #12 but I let myself get pulled high when I saw Francis Hogel above me. The actual spur that the control was on seemed much bigger than mapped. I ran wacky going to #13 just using a very rough bearing and some trails but got there okay. Rushing out to sort of make up for all the lost time, I missed the reentrant that I needed going to #14. On my run-in, I saw Fedor ahead of me and beign somewhat disgusted w/my run I chased him down. At least I got a good workout from all of this. My knee held up pretty well too.
I ran into troubles on the first control attacking from what I thought was a safe road intersection instead of a field because it was closer. Clearing that with +4:00 minutes of error, I moved well for the next few controls but I started thinking that I didn't like the course very much as we got into green areas at #4 (caught Fedor here) and a long easy to navigate but physical leg to #5. At #6, the control was flat out in the wrong place. After finding it in a reentrant on a trail, instead of on a spur in the woods, I started to leave the area but decided to go back and re-place the control in the correct place. Accoding to my GPS track, that whole bit cost me 7:30 minutes on the clock. #7 was very easy but a bit physical--go up a steep trail, across a parking lot and in. As I was leaving it, I saw Fedor approaching. #8 was pretty easy too but thinking that I was doing fine going to #9, I didn't find the control when I got to the correct spur. I soon found it back up a big reentrant on a higher spur. Leaving #9, I forgot to correct for being in the wrong place on the map and proceeded to go down the hill and turn left. I should have checked my compass but with the thicker vegetation and being falsely confident of being in the right reentrant, I just ran jumping over and around many unmapped fallen logs. I think this cost me another +8:00 minutes. Control #11 was one that probably should not have been set. It was supposed to be on a spur but the area was flat. I found it okay but it just added to my lack of confidence in the map. I was running okay to #12 but I let myself get pulled high when I saw Francis Hogel above me. The actual spur that the control was on seemed much bigger than mapped. I ran wacky going to #13 just using a very rough bearing and some trails but got there okay. Rushing out to sort of make up for all the lost time, I missed the reentrant that I needed going to #14. On my run-in, I saw Fedor ahead of me and beign somewhat disgusted w/my run I chased him down. At least I got a good workout from all of this. My knee held up pretty well too.