Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. N. Bethesda Middle School to Bradmore Dr. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I got out kind of late but it's better than nothing. With it around 70 F with a nice light breeze, I was tempted to go all the way to Bulls Run Pkwy. but I thought it better to end the night as soon as possible. About 3/4 mile later, my left calf was tightening so it was probably a good decision to keep it shorter. At least my back was pretty good.

Dolly Sods, WV. After a decent sleep at camp we shaked-off some sore muscles and warmed-up on a short climb back up to TR-523. From there it was down, down, down the very long gentle slope on TR-526 into a wide and open valley. With all the adults being orienteers we could see the navigation potentials of everything we'd been through so far and this open valley continued that. Even though visibililty was very good, clumps of blueberrys, a few areas of fight, and some small contour features would be just enough to obscure some controls at boulders and rock fields. There were lots of single trees too so all of it could be challenging. We talked about having a training camp week sometime. The area would have made great rogain terrain too. Though we'd stayed on the flat lands, there were serious slopes down from the high plains--what we saw of them were really nice open woods too.

The landscape continued to be painterly. Ferns patches were either fiery orange or lime green. A sort of blueberry like low vegetation was usually red. It was usually set off against tan or white grasses. The rocks were white too and the sky this day was gray. I wished that I'd brought my better, heavier camera and had the time to play photographer like I used to do.

We'd made wooden boats earlier while eating breakfast. In his unfiltered self, Max voiced his concerned that my knife was't as big as Jan's. When we got to a crossing of Red Creek, he and Alexis sailed them and had fun. We had to keep making repairs. A longish walk up the valley along Red Creek on an old railroad grade brought us to TR-520. Near there was evidence of an old dam to the side of the creek.

Our biggest climb of the trip was only 150ft. up to FR75. We took a break at some cool boulders. Dasa showed us what she'd been doing for much of the walk--she'd made some very nice boy and girl dolls out of grasses. The moms of the little girls from the little houses on the praries over a century ago couldn't have done better. We finished our hike walking on FR75 to get back to the TR-522 trail head and our cars. The temperature had remained in the 50's F.

It was a really nice trip and my back felt better right after the hike than it had starting out. I stiffened-up in the car again and in the evening, some sorenees in my back returned but I felt in pretty decent health.

C • sounds like lots of fun 4

Dolly Sods, WV. Leaving from FR75 not far from Bear Rocks, Peggy, Max and I met the Merka family and began backpacking west on the Bear Rocks Trail (TR-522). This was throwing caution to the winds for me, coming off a pulled back that wasn't fully healed. I also probably hadn't carried a full backpack on a hike since 1990's. This time I was loaded with a 4-person car camping tent though I made efforts to pack other things extra lightly by leaving out some extras I usually take (clothes, food, emergency stuff). It had been in the 80's F when I left Bethesda for the drive but on the ~4,000 ft. mountain, it was in the low 60's and windy.

Whenever I'd been in Dolly Sods before, the backpacking had been further south or coming in from the southwest while XC skiing. I'd explored Bear Rocks but never got out onto the very inviting miles of open mountaintop for lack of trail info. The Merka's had been on a version of this loop before and perhaps picked the best stuff. None the less it was really nice. The climate and plants of the mountain island are said to resemble northern Canada. Fall colors were in early stages but offered a lot. We took our first break at a secluded easy rock hopping crossing of Red Creek. Max carried his school backpack which had his sleeping bag, some of our dinner and his own water. He did pretty good not having a belt and bounced along happily almost all of the time. He had a determination to stay ahead of Alexis Merka who is about a year older, just as emotional but more mature.

Our climb over a knoll was awsome. From the USGS map, I hadn't expected it to be wide open with such good views. White dried grasses were blowing in between some type of berry bushes. Some lone trees were there but they were stunted and wind sculpted from the harsh winters. We could see miles away. Later on the Raven Ridge Trail (TR-521) and the Bear View Trail (TR-523), we saw a few other day hikers but had our choice of camping spots. A couple of miles later we went into a hollow near an all but dry stream. The moon came out early. We saw it light-up thin cloulds from underneath and could make-out moon rays similar to sun rays. Jupiter, Cygnus(?) and Lyra were out too. Unfortunately it clouded up too much to get the view of the milky way that I wanted to show Max. We did hear owls after a great dinner and before sacking. Peggy later heard coyotes.

My back has been getting better slowly. I could move much more freely whenever I warmed-up by Thursday night; that is, I had to walk gingerly anytime I got up from sitting a while and then it felt pretty good.

Event: EX2: Bushwhacker Adventure Running Race
 

EX2: Bushwhacker Adventure Running Race. For the National Orienteering Day, several of us forewent the QOC score-o meet (Jon Torrance did both) and did a trail race which allowed for getting off-trail and navigating shortcutts. We only had 4 checkpoints and it was worth using the woods to shorten the route. It was advertised as being about a 10 mile run if one stuck to the trails. I hadn't really prepared as much as I'd have liked so I was expecting a longish run. I skipped warming-up not because I didn't want to but because I just ran out of time before the start.

At the start at Hemlock Overlook, most of the pack went off to the right following Jon Torrance. A Runner's World writer was interviewing Jon before the race and asked questions that betrayed a lack of knowledge about off-trail navigation. I went a bit more left on the road and plowed into the woods to avoid crossing a reentrant. I rejoined the pack just behind Andy Britton and Dave Onkst. Other adventure racers were with us and moving fast. I started losing track of where we were. The map was 1:16,000 and with the pack and terrain, I overran what I could read. Still in the first mile as we were descending toward a trail, I pulled my back, low on the right side. I slowed considerably at first but willed myself to keep going figuring that it would loosen. What turned-out to be the lead woman went by--a good runner who ended up stuck chasing Andy for several miles. Before too long after the pull, my back did loosen though I kept my pace slower. Going up the first hill on a trail, I really felt slow. Plowing into the woods at the top, I was on my own. My level of effort slowed on the downhill but I felt better and more in control. I rejoined the trail with others in good position. I'd forgotten my bib so I took some extra time a the check point to identify myself--I was ready to go having e-punched (courtesy of Valerie Meyer who was also watching Max--Yeah!) they at least gave me my bib number which I used later.

Using a trail through the field but staying out of the soccer fields, and cutting through an area mapped with fight on either side, I shortened my way to the trail route again, just behind Andy and the leading woman. They both were running stronger than I so I let them slowly get ahead wanting to conserve energy--I still didn't know how my endurance would hold-up. Jon Pifer passed too, running much stronger than all 3 of us. After the next checkpoint, they rerouted us under a bridge and I made a trail error. I saw a fork but because the right fork was so small looking, I thought it was only a fishing trail that kept close to the Occoquan Reservoir. I went out of the way but made up for it a bit by navigating across the woods back on course. I got passed by a guy moving quite quickly before reaching a section of trail with a lot of wiggles. By cutting across, I was able to pop-out in front of him at least 3 times before the next checkpoint and beat him there. They didn't have controls flags. A woman holding a clipboard seemed to be taking names and bib numbers so I gave her mine as I drank and had a Gu. The fast runner caught-up and so did Andy. I left just ahead of Andy but almost 100m up I heard them calling me back to epunch--the woman with the clipboard had it and was holding it.

After leaving for the second time, I'd seen Andy take the trail up ahead but I hesitated a lot about taking a navigation route. Ultimately, I stuck to the trail too but lost contact with Andy. With the decision resolved and looking ahead at how much was left, I speed-up on the downhill. The fast woman who'd been following Andy was now behind me, along with another guy who at one point earlier in the race told me to have a good race as he passed me on the trail (he didn't expect to see me again). I left both of them on the next longish climb. Another runner was catching me but never passed. Once at the top, I knew it'd be flat or downhill for a ways and I speeded-up again, leaving all who were around me. At the bottom, I took a micro navigation route and was strong enough to run up a very steep slope. Near rejoining the trail route, I saw Andy coming the other way. He stayed ahead of me and helped me notice a minor shortcut at the cemetary to get to the finish at Fountainhead Regional Park.

I finished 3rd in the 45-50 age group behind Dave Onkst (Dave had dropped out of 2nd overall in the last section when he ran through unmapped deadfall) and Andy Britton. Somewhere in the last section, I had passed Jon Pifer who got 4th. Jon Torrance had won overall by about 9 minutes over the 2nd place finisher (Pier was the fast runner sticking ot the trail who went by me at least 4 times in the race) and Peggy was 3rd woman overall. The second place woman was only a few minute ahead of her but that person had forgotten to bring her epunch and would have gotten a 15 minute penalty.

C • Penalties 6

Great Falls, MD. I got out to the park to make map updates and fixes around some control locations. The control locations have been submitted to the park for the QOC meet planned for December. The woods were pretty nice as usual though there were significant areas with silk grasses. On some of the steeper slopes, I took off green from previous mapping and added others. I fixed-up an area with many newer root stocks too.

My left knee kept oozing last night. I woke-up several times and each time I stood, I'd get a delayed but rather painful reminder. I was able to move in the woods okay but I'm a bit worried about racing Sunday with branches touching the raw area. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a bandaid to stick long enough. The scrape on my hand had been hurting yesterday too but it was much better today so there's hope.

Peggy, Max and I rode from Northfield Rd., to Bethesda Ave. with Max on his trail-a-bike. We took the long way and ate dinner before returning in the dark.

My left knee had been hurting from the scrape that I got on my run earlier this week. It's only a half-dollar size scrape but it took a lot of layers of skin off in a bad place. It oozes and solidifies, then gets cracked or caught on clothes for the cycle to start all over. It causes much more pain when brushed than I would have guessed and it is hot around it. Taking the day off yesterday was probably good thing and even better since it rained.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. It was in the low 60s F. If there was a tailwind, I didn't feel it. I had just been moving better than earlier. I took a long time catching-up to a roadie while doing 23mph on the down grade. Finally getting up to him at about the Canal Rd. trestle overpass, I decided to sit on him to catch my breath. After slowing down when we reached the flats, my temptation to pass went away quickly. Everytime we passed other cyclists, we speeded-up. Eventually we were doing 24mph and I decided it better to drop-off just before Glover Archbold Park. I had planned on taking it easy. My time could have been faster; it is an estimate since I only started the clock after dropping off Max.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. (via the Mall) to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD, to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd. I started out taking it at a nice comfortable pace. Snaking through pedestrian traffic along the Reflecting Pool and car traffic on Water St. in Georgetown, I hit the Capital Crescent Trail doing 18mph. As I got passed near Fletcher's Boathouse, I was going to let the guy go but he got slowed and I got into his draft. Sometimes he was slow and sometimes fast. We might have had some tailwinds too. I stayed behind till past MacArthur Blvd. and then I took a long faster pull to around Dorset Ave.

From 12th & Independence Ave. to the National Mall, crossing at Jefferson 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 National Zoo rather than use the tunnel, to the Melvin Hazen Trail, to Connecticut Ave., NW, to the UDC Metro Station. With fall races coming up, I lack the confidence to run far so I really needed some longer training. I ran a version of this route just about a year ago. It's evident that I'm slower than last year. I think much of it has to do with being sick for 2 weeks last August even though I had gotten sick the previous August too. The weather was great and overall I felt better than I have been feeling on runs lately. The longest split I took was fairly comfortable at a 7:36 pace. I got slowed a lot in the dusk climbing the rooty and rocky Melvin Hazen Trail (other runners coming the other way on it had lights) out of the Rock Creek valley. My calves tightened-up after 45 minutes too--probably the result of not enough running in relation to cycling training.

It was a fun run but it just started off badly. After waiting to locate satellites, I eagerly took off while looking at my watch starting. I then I got distracted as I rounded some tourists who were toward me. Literally my second step forward, moving over to let them by, was on the edge of the sidewalk where the grass was worn bare and the ground was two inches lower. I went down on both knees and arms scraping 3 of the 4. Asked if I was injured, I was too embarrased while trying to get out of there to quip that my pride was stricken.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. It was a bit foggy this morning. The sound of my bell was off because of the moisture deposited on it. I felt like I was straining much of the time. After Georgetown, a headwind was more evident. I detoured up the Mall again. At one point on Lincoln Circle I was in a line of 4 cyclists waiting out a traffic light. Later, I caught an apparent executive in shirt and tie pedaling his electric assisted bicycle toward the White House. Another lady in the elevator at work inquired about cycle commuting. It's a good thing and growing.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD. The winds were mixed with some strong headwind parts and some strong tailwind parts. I rode a bit too fast early and poked-up the hill. Peggy met us at Arlington Rd. along with all of Max's classmates and everyone enjoyed a picnic dinner of pizza and ice cream. Max rode back with me on his trail-a-bike to Northfield Rd.

A planned outing of field checking at Great Falls, MD did not materialize due to rain. After sleeping-in, most of the day was filled with errands, a social visit and some extending of the base mapping of downtown Bethesda.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Johnson Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Running after a party and after midnight, I was really slow starting out. My stomach was full and I was a bit sleepy. I got only slightly better. Earlier in the day I had bought some slate and sod for a few projcects around the house. My arms got a decent workout moving and putting those down.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. It was somewhat chilly starting out (upper 50s F?). It felt good whenever I was in the sunshine. It was also breezy and at times I felt like there were headwinds. It could have been that I just was a bit tired from running yesterday. After Fletcher's Boathouse while doing around 19mph, I got passed. Tucking-in behind him, the pace quickened to 23mph across the flats; I'd only been doing 21mph down the long grade earlier. Along the water after Georgetown I had good tailwinds but like Tuesday, road work construction detoured me at the Memorial Bridge underpasses to go up the Mall past the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD, to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd. Heading out through pedestrian and and auto traffic, down the Mall unlike my usual route around the Jefferson Memorial, I avoided underpass construction as I rounded the Lincoln Memorial. The headwinds weren't too bad and I pushed through at a moderate pace. The traffic on Water St. in Georgetown was just about as bad as it's ever been. Even on bicycle, in the gridlock I had to wait in places to get through. Halfway out of Georgetown to Fletcher's Boathouse on the CCT, I got passed by a guy whom by looking at him, I wouldn't have guessed to be as strong as he was. I accelerated and tucked in behind him. Eventually I took some turns leading too but the stronger rider did more. I got to Arlington Rd. in 40:03, then home in another 4:47.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Rd. with Max on the trail-a-bike, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was a bit pre-occupied trying to figure out how I'd take Max's scooter, my running clothes and his lunch while cycling so after getting almost half way to Arlington Ave. I realized that I'd left his lunch by the door. Circling back, we picked it up and got there pretty well. With Max being older now, there are lot's of commute variations to work out.

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 Connecticut Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Woodmont Ave. to Edgmoor Ln., to Arlington Rd., then back to Edgemoor Ln. and to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was much cooler today and still low in humidity. Like earlier in the week, I ran with a backpack lightly filled with my bicycling gear and some essentials. I couldn't really tell my pace much. I was a bit tight initially. Halfway through I frequently put more focus to bringing my heels up higher. It felt awkward since I'm not in much shape for running but I've been running so slow lately, it just seemed time to re-learn my stride again. I was passing other runners but it felt like it was happening too slowly--when I looked at them seeming to run so slow, I was a bit incredulous and shamed that I was only running a tiny bit faster. At the end, I had started to go to Arlington Rd. but once I approached where I had been stopping, I realized that I had locked my bicycle at the Bethesda Metro Station today and had to run back.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Arlington Rd. to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd. As I arrived, Max greeted me and was happy to see me but he had been crying since it was bed time.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. It was in the low 70's F but there were some pretty good headwinds. Due to road work construction I got detoured at the Memorial Bridge underpasses. I ended-up going up the Mall past the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd. Bethesda, MD. I was carrying extra clothes home from the day before and some books I'd bought for Max. With a change in weather coming, the winds had shifted to become strong headwinds as I headed home. Because of the construction, I had to detour around the Lincoln Memorial again. Once through Georgetown, I was either protected from the wind or going at a better angle to it. It was much less a factor and I moved along pretty well. At Fletcher's Boathouse, I picked-up a drafter and then slowly picked-up several more. I lost or outlasted them all getting to Bethesda Ave. After stopping off at a bike store to get a new lock for Max's trail-a-bike, I picked-up his trail-a-bike and took it easier going home.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Rd. with Max on the trail-a-bike. I rode in my work clothes again and was glad it was cooler than last week when I did this.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, Colesville Rd., and N. Portal Dr. to E. Beach Dr. to Kalmia Rd. to W. Beach Dr. to the Valley Trail in Rock Creek Park, to an unammed trail on the east side of the creek, onto the paved Rock Creek Trail to East-West Hwy. to Freyman Dr. to Terrace Dr. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Pearl St. to Montgomery Ave. to Wisconsin Ave. to Edgemor Ln via the downtown Bethesda walkways, to Arlington Rd. to Moorland Ln. I keep leaving work late while just trying to get what needs to be done, done. I started out well getting into and through most of Rock Creek Park. It was in the low 80s F with around 60% humidity--not bad as my longest run in a long time, but enough to slowly wear me down. My calves started tightening up toward the end--just a sign of not having trained enough. The pace wasn't bad considering that a hunk of this run was on dirt trails and I was carrying a small pack--bicycling gear, wallet, phone and keys so I can get back to work tomorrow.

From Arlington Rd. to Northfield Rd. with Max's trail-a-bike in tow. I was rather thirsty but it was a nice evening to be on a bicycle.

Crownsville, MD. Joining other orienteers, Peggy, Max and I walked most of the day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I would have liked to have gone running but this was fun and one just has to take time out for fun like this when the opportunity strikes. My brief workout was swinging the rubber mallet to try to ring the bell. My arm strenghth is clearly diminished but my technique wasn't quite there either. I got 2 levels below Valhala and ringing the bell :(. It was a nice day. I had a little better success throwing knives and shooting arrows.

It was a shame that I didn't run today--I was just too busy. It was my 35th anniversary of being a runner; going by when I ran my first organized Cross Country workout. I don't count the few races that I did for field days and physical education before then.

From Northfield Rd. I field checked a street-O route that I'd set. Had I set it after field checking, I'd have been able to make a better course. The first part of it was set with almost only route choices. Part of my thinking there had been to make a shorter version easy enough for novices to do. When I got into checking the more urban areas, I was delighted to find it interestingly tricky with some good variety. Even with printing at 1:4,000 scale, there was enough detail for those whose eyes are worsening like me to want a magnifying glass. I actually set out streamers while I was field checking and only made adjustments to 2 controls. I'd like to get much of the downtown Bethesda area mapped a little bit at a time. I hadn't even gotten to map the areas yet which originally inspired both Peggy and myself to make such a map.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. This is an estimated time since I encountered issues with my cycle computer. I was riding pretty smoothly and passed people steadily. An apparent tailwind helped me keep up about 21mph on the flats into Georgetown but the willow trees were not moving on Ohio Dr. It was overcast and a bit humid from hurricane weather out at sea but the temperature was probably in the upper 70s or low 80s F. I had been pretty slow getting going this morning after staying up to work on drafting an orienteering map.

From 14th and Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Ave., Bethesda, MD to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, then to Northfield Rd. Leaving work after 6pm, I rode the obligatory hallways in the basement to the front entrance/exit. I rode pretty steadily making good speed going up the hill toward Bethesda, and not slowing as much as the last time.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD to Arlington Rd. with Max on his trail-a-bike, then to C St. SE, Washington, D.C. I felt better than I had on Tuesday but after a while of pushing gears too big, I backed it down. I passed a lot of people but one guy went past on the flats doing 23mph. I was doing just under 20mph and could only stick with him for a short way. I caught him later, just after Georgetown. He was going my way and pulled ahead for good on Ohio Dr. where there were some slight headwinds. With my new routine, I anticipate getting to work in under 40 minutes again in the near future.

From C St. SE, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd. Bethesda, MD. I started to pickup Max's trail-a-bike, but I turned away once I realized I was short on time. I had to make it to my first parent/teacher night and picked-up the trailer afterward. The ride was easier than expected. I suppose I had a tailwind. I climbed much better than on Tuesday though I did get a bit tired toward the end. It was pretty warm out.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Ave. with the trail-a-bike. I rode in my work clothes so after dropping off Max, I walked to the Bethesda Metro station and got sweaty.

I had trouble getting to sleep last night partly due to mysterious itching behind my knees. Peggy, Max and I all have symptoms of poison ivy. I usually don't rash from it and it usually doesn't bother me from casual contact (very minor red spots were there last week). I'm not sure how we all could have picked it up and why it's still around after over week. Is it something else from our swim in the bay? It's going away.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station, Western Ave. to Connecticut Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Woodmont Ave. to Edgemoor Ln. to Arlington Rd. It had been slow getting through the crowded metro system but it felt good to be wearing cool running clothes. I donned my backpack with my work clothes and got running in the heat to make up for it. It didn't feel so bad and I could definately tell that the heat had broken for the day. On Western Ave., I felt I was doing okay keeping up with the cars stuck in almost gridlocked traffic. Along Connecticut Ave. I was leaving the cars in the dust. They'd move faster than me for 15 seconds or so but because they had to stop and I didn't, they didn't have a chance. On the Georgetown Branch Trail, I felt rather weak but mustered enough to pass a guy who joined the trail from the other direction about the same time that I did.

From Arlington Rd. to Northfield Rd. with Max's trail-a-bike in tow. It felt great to cool off from my run by riding. It was 94 F after finishing though the humidity was relatively low.