Training Log Archive: Nadim

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. It was cool and breezy; temperatures were about 58 F. With a long sleeve t-shirt, I probably wore too much but that will be good for later on. I had been feeling sleepy all day and discoveriing various aches, and scratches that I didn't know about after the race yesterday. I felt adequately sore in places. After working late, coming home and eating dinner, it took me a long time to gather motivation for the run but it was rather pleasant out when I got going. I focused on form and this drove me to run a bit faster. Toward the end, my form was falling apart and I was trying to hold my pace. I hadn't been pushing-in to the finish on runs in a long while but I did a bit of that today.

Moreau Lake State Park, NY, near Glens Falls, NY. Warm-up jog around the parking lot once, before walking to the start of the 34th Annual Billygoat race.

34th Annual Billygoat hosted by EMPO at Moreau Lake State Park, NY, near Glens Falls, NY. It was a great day for running and we sure did that. Behind at the star as I scanned the map for the first control, others were off fast, I chased Dave Onkst for a while eventually catching him and I think JJ Cote. Rounding the hill, I knew roughly where we were but pinpointed it as we approached under a cliff and crossed a trail. Ernst Linder was leading the way up and I was struggling to keep up. I lost track of where we were but Ernst got us to the control directly. Going to #2, I felt he was going to the left too much. A DVOA runner stayed low and followed the reentrant. When Ernst stopped, I cut right and got to #2.

Dave Onkst suggested taking the trail toward #3 and the DVOA runner had already moved toward it. I angled up getting in line behind the DVOA runner. I saw Clint Morse at one point, down below going through the reentrant. Ernst dropped off the pace. Upon seeing the uncrossable marsh, I was looking for the right trail bend. The DVOA runner went past the bend and paused. I cut right aiming for the longer marsh and converged behind Clint Morse. As we rounded the marsh before #3, I started reading the wrong leag. The bearing to #4 was the same so I got confused not matching-up the terrain. Others found it and I chased again toward #4. Clint and I were more to the right going to #4 and catching-up. Others found it to the left.

Andis Vitolins had come up from behind and took off. Dave Onkst and I conferred that the right fork looked better since there was a trail along the way and there were some better attack points to #6. I struggled to keep up with Andis' pace. He spiked #5. At least I knew it just before we could see it. Going to #6, the pace was hot. Crossing the many ridges was wearing me down. David Onkst was falling off the pace and so was I but less so. I didn't want to leave Dave but figured I'd better stay with the group to #6. Unfortunately we lost Dave.

The pace slowed to something more reasonable. Clint and I set in running more together after that. Somwhere along the way we saw Jon Torrance who'd made a big mistake and was going to #6. In memory, #7 and #8 were a blur but I felt okay assessing where we were along the way. 150m or so after #8, I saw Dave Onkst running the opposite direction. He' missed #6 and was relocating while towing another guy behind him. I misread #9 and seriously misjudged the distance while running through the reentrant. When one other runner cut right to cross the marsh to the control, I was thinking it was further ahead. Clint thought so too so we went off on a 3 minute loop by ourselves. Clint figured out how to get us back on track.

I read my way to #10 well and gained some ground on a DVOA runner. Leaving #10, Ijust wanted to hit the big marsh half way there. I kept getting pulled ot the left by cliffs and vegetation. I was corrcting too so probably doing some zig-zagging. I knew we were getting too far to the left but didn't expect we'd miss the marsh entirely. Continuing on bearing, Clint and I seemed alone. Finally seeing the second marsh, I felt better and cut across the northern end. Once across I was to the left and didn't see the control. I was pretty confused and about to go on when I looked to the right and saw Clint punching. I'd been very luck to basically hit it on a bearing.

Alex Jospe and 1 or 2 other guys were leading at first toward #12. I caught-up and recongnized the 2 marshes before the control. I accelerated to punch. Alex Jospe was leading mostly to #13, #14, and #15. She was seemingly reading the way rather calmly while I was having trouble just scanning and reading along. Clint and I both stayed with her. On the leg to #14, Nathan moved to the left and we got ahead. However, he caught us at #15 again.

Going down the hill to #16, Nathan took off and I was not far behind. We moved well on the trail but at the bend, I paused. Nathan went left. Alex caught up and went more to the right which seemed to make more sense. Hitting the intermittant trail in the rough open, I felt better about falling into the right reentrant and cutting left to the control, still behind Alex. I rushed out toward #17 getting ahead, and cut left at the trail. I paused as the trail flattened-out. I saw the parking lot in the distance but it was hard figuring-out the map there. I cut right and soon enough saw the control to my left when I had expected it to be closer. At the aid station, I quickly debated whether to drink a Gatorade that I had set in the drop box. I decided to drink most of it even though it was feeling like the race was just about over. Upon seeing the length of last loop, I felt better of it.

Earlier, I had been thinking of skipping #16 or #17 but closer examination and being convinced by Alex and Clint, skipping #18 made more sense. We chose to use the road but initially however, Alex turned up the trail that would have had us attack #19 from above. I paused. Both she and Clint backed out and a bit water-logged, I chased them down the road. From the road bend, Alex had planned to just follow the base of where the hill changed steepness, most of the way to the control. This worked pretty easily and I got to the control first. Going ahead, Alex led us right, over the saddle. I would have gone straighter but it made sense to get over the big reentrants. I could see some hikers ahead and knew the trail was coming up. I cut left and accelerated to the field. However when I got there, I didn't see the control initially. I had turned left first. Alex and Clint coming from behind punched ahead of me. As they took off, they were going more to the right as if they were going to the finish. I stayed left. Alex suddenly pulled-up stopping behind us. It turned out that she'd lost her hair band in a branch and couldn't find it. Clint and I didn't know what had happened as we kept running. At the water, we were both too far to the right so I got to the control first.

I debated using the causeway trail and in the meantime, Clint took off going left around the lake. I chased. It seemed that Clint was moving rather strongly and I was several steps behind. After seeing some others finishing-up their race going the other way (Greg Balter and Vadim Maskolkov), I was looking at the map when suddenly Clint was falling down ahead of me. He rolled and got up but remarked that the fall took a lot out of him and understandbly so. I picked-up a small change in the shoreline as an attack point so when I turned still behind, Clint turned at about the same time independently. I saw it first and punched first. I led on the trails mostly to #23. Suddently some leg cramps set in and I commented on the poor timing while slowing. They went away and I went on. I'd stopped when I didn't see the triangular intersection that I expected to. Clint got us to that, whereupon I ran on across the ditch to the control. I didn't read the whole leg and wasn't really seeing the ditch very well on the map goint to #24 so I crossed the ditch again. I realized we'd missed a turn and had to cross it again after the intersection. A big line of horses were coming at us on the trail so Clint and I ran off trail along the ditch to get past them. I was a bit high using the trail and Clint pointed out the control right on the marsh. We got on trails, taking care to use the right ones going to the next control. I climbed when going around might have been quicker. Clint climbed too but left the trail a little earlier than I. Attacking from a trail intersection I was confident and ran faster to the control. Ahead of Clint, I moved out on the trail but Clint caught me quick enough. I hesitated on one intersection and Clint removed the moment of doubt. I was able to get to the Go control first and asked Clint if he wanted to run it out or finish together. I didn't hear it well but it sounded like he wanted to run. I took off but soon realized Clint wasn't running that hard. I slowed a bit, then more in the chute so we could finish toghether After all, we'd run most of the race together already and he was fine company.

I felt better about my run than last year when I overran a late control and lost a lot of places. Wearing Vapro eyeglasses helped me a lot this year. I was also glad that I was in much better shape this year.

Billygoat - Splits

Event: QOC Rosaryville
 

Event: Billygoat XXXIV and 2nd Annual Speedy Goat fund raiser
 

Harriman State Park, NY. From the Rte. 106 parking lot, roads, trails, and off-trail terrain running. I looped counter-clockwise around the ridge, site of which has been the assembly area of many of the Hudson Highlanders. I didn't feel so good while running.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. Max went off with Peggy for Bring Your Child to Work Day. It was damp out from an early shower.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. After dinner with Peggy, Max, and freinds, I rode home in the dark with my work clothes from the last 2 days. The timing of dinner, work at home, and rains precluded a run.

With a not so stellar 370 miles running so far this year, I have surpassed all the miles that I counted as running in 2011. That doesn't count miles run while orienteering. This means I'm doing about 3 times as much running but really this is a statement on how little I had been doing in recent years past.

C • I just passed 500, which co... 2

From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. Independence Ave. to the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Rock Creek Trail, to along the Georgetown Waterfront, to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to the Glover Archbold Trail, up to the Tenleytown Metro Station via Van Ness St. and Wisconsin Ave., then to the Friendship Heights Metro Station at the DC/MD border (Western Ave. & Wisconsin Ave.). I didn't feel as energetic as yesterday but kept a steady pace. Conditions were good in Glover Archbold Park despite the recent rains. It was around 69-70 F. Climbing up on the dirt trail, I kept a relaxed pace. At one point, my left knee on the left side hurt suddenly with no apparant cause. I slowed and the pain went away. At Tenleytown, I discovered that I was ahead of my pace running this about a month back. I decided I had time to continue on past Tenleytown but didn't feel like taking it all the way to Bethesda with the Billygoat coming-up.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Rd., then back. It was Art Night for Max so after mowing the lawn, I rode out to meet them then rode back.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, Second Ave. to Linden Ln., down the paved trail to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Georgetown Branch Trail via Susanna Ln, to Woodmont Ave., to Edgemoor Ln. in Bethesda. Having rested a day was good for my knee but that and the cooler weather (around 61 F) also made me feel stronger running. I had some stops at traffic intersections and these helped me catch my breath off the clock. I hadn't run down Linden Ln. in a long while. Redevelopment in the area continued to make it more prosperous. The woods along the connector path down to the Rock Creek Valley had opened up and looked like they'd support a sprint. Really however, the area is pretty small. I ran out of the valley pretty strongly though it helped that this way out was not very steep. When crossng Jones Mill Rd., to get on the Georgetown Branch Trail, another guy looked to be starting his run. He kind of spurred me to run faster and I did so without pushing much. The time is estimated.

C • fast 4

45 situps. My right knee was not feeling good through the day when walking around so I thought it would be best to rest it.

Event: QOC Mason Neck
 

QOC: Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, VA. I felt good getting going. I had eaten a bit much yesterday but I was rested. The weather was rainy with some wind. It felt cold standing around in the upper 40s F (in fact, I stayed in the car a lot with Max while Peggy was running). Getting stripped down to just my O-shirt and pants got me reved-up. The flat land exacerbated my going fast trying to shake-off the cold. I bounded over logs and ducked under branches pretty well. I also hit controls well for the first third of the course. The challenges for me began after #6. Instead of going over the more contoured terrain, having come off some flat ground getting to #6 made me feel that going back over that ground was more open and quicker so I took it. I soon felt like I was getting too far to the right because the reentrant I aimed to follow was on my left. Vegetation pushed me more to the right. I ended up pulling-up short according to my GPS track. Eventually, I figured it out and didn't just luck into it. Going to #8, I crossed the hills but came up short again. I went back to the midde of the leg (one of the longer legs) to relocate and found it fairly well after that. All of that extra running about, while being unsure of where I was going took a toll along with perhaps starting out too fast. I kept having small problems again off and on after #8 to the end. I felt fine while out there but after stopping I realized how cold my hands were; my fingers moved slowly. This is a fun park to go to especially if you like flat terrain like I do. I did manage to lean my already injuted right shoulder into another tree but it didn't hurt. My right knee was achy after finishing.

It should be noted upon better examination of my GPS track on RouteGadget that I came up short on both legs #7 and #8. I don't usually pace count and it would have helped. In most terrain, there are enough features to go by them instead of estimating the distance, multiplying my pace count for each 100m, and factoring in vegetation, slope, footing, etc... What was wierd was that on my leg to #8, I was on a straight enough bearing but when I got to a reentrant, it was flat enough that I had misinterpreted the direction of it. It seemed to me that it was sloping with the high side being on my right but the GPS track shows that where I turned around to relocate, the contours were sloping with the high side being on my left. I suppose that I was standing on the side of it a bit and that I couldn't tell the difference in my tired state. Had I been running up the reentrant it would have been more obvious but I was crossing it after already having lost contact with the map.

Blue - Splits

From the Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver Aquatic Center off Executive Blvd., to Tilden Ln., to Old Georgetown Rd. to Rock Spring Dr. to Rockledge Dr. to Fernwood Rd. to Bradley Blvd. to Huntington Pkwy., to Northfield Rd. I started as the sun was getting strong and it was 79F. I took it easy but I was feeling it in my quads when going up hills. Fortunately, there were not many of those. I was just tired from the last couple of days.

From Northfield Rd., to 12th and C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. It was in the mid 50's F starting out. Yesterday when I ran, I could still feel soreness in my quads from when I rode earlier. Today, as I started off cycling, I could feel soreness from running, while cycling. I guess I'll soon just feel sore. As I bicycled, I had thought about how going down the hill, I was going bettter than twice the speed than I had run up it the day before. I started a little late, taking the time to adjust my gearing before leaving--that bicycle work stand Peggy got for me is coming in handy. I rode by myself the whole way, though there were still plenty of other riders. Winds were basically calm though I felt some slight headwinds on Ohio Dr. I kept spinning alright; that and perhaps just being in better physical shape kept me from feeling too tired toward the end.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Leaving the office the initial winds made me think I was going to have a headwind going home. Rounding the Jefferson Memorial, I got behind a tourist bus--there were many more of these today than usual. I zipped along right behind it down Ohio Dr. still feeling like I was headed into the wind. I kept up a good candence and felt like I was flying. It turned out that most of the way back I probably had a tailwind. I moved steadily grateful for it. Overall my time was nothing compared to what it proabably will be later in the summer but it was good for now, especially since I carred my clothes from both yesterday and today.

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 (CCT), to the Little Falls Trail, to Masachusetts Ave., to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to Edgemoore Ln. It was close to 70 F when I started. I didn't feel so good starting out but eventually I got pretty steady It was nice having daylight the whole way again. The construction in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool looks like it might get finished by Independence Day. Lots of cyclists were out and I even passed one when going up the long grade. Available measured splits: 7:35 (1.01 mile), 7:47 (1.04 mile), 3:48 (half mile), 3:47, 3:47, 3:47, 3:59, 3:48, 3:46. I had slowed when I got onto the Little Falls Trail but picked up the pace again when I got back to the CCT. Like 2 years ago, March 9, overall my splits were faster today but I'll still look for improvement.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was just going to continue to drive to the station after dropping off Max but then realized that I forgot my wallet and work ID. Once home, since it hadn't yet started to rain, I just rode.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I had to forego my run after work since it was getting late. It was sprinkling rain on the way home.

From Northfield Rd., to 12th and C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. It was blustery but winds were mostly pushing rather than slowing me down. I kept getting dust in my eyes--probably pollen. I had fast company pulling me from between Dalecarlia and Glover Archbold. I carried my laptop as well as my clothes; since I haven't ridden much, I'm not sure which was hurting more, my shoulder or my rear. Though I did a quick fix yesterday, my gearing still needs adjustment.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Headwinds nearly the whole way kept me feeling slow. My quads felt sore going uphill. I was spinning well but I had to in order to keep the gearing smooth and to keep from getting too tired--my legs aren't used to riding yet. I pulled for some other riders.

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. Like last month when I last did this route, ittook a while for me to get out the door to run. I was going to bicycle commute to work today but a fire/power outage had me working from home again. After working, there was yard work and dinner and loading pictures from the weekend, to the web.

Chattahoochee Bend State Park, GA. Warm-up before the US Individual Middle Distance Championships.

US Individual Middle Orienteering Championships. Running late in the line-up, I had a chance to place in the M50+ category. However, I got off to a slow start and fumbled for a while. with 15-30 second errors. On #5, I came off the bare rock in the right area but turned downhill before going back up and finding hte control. That cost a minute and I still wasn't feeling confidence in my use of the map. I got lazy going to #6. My plan was to stay out of the rock by using the ridge above them. I was going to come off the top and follow rocks into the control. However, I ran on the side of the ridge to save distance. Thinking I could see the top, I came off the top too early. I hunted quickly in the wrong set of rocks after wondering why there was a reentrant after the last one in the first set. I was starting to get tired before I cut the loss by going back to the top, all the way, and getting into the right set. I found it from there without much trouble. AP tells me that I lost 7 minutes on this leg alone. After this, I was more cautious but the terrain was nicer too. I still made some smaller errors. I continue to need to work at route planning when in races--this much was clear after Saturday and today. It was a fun weekend of racing. There were good challenges all around from the M50+ crowd and we all had some bright spots.

Middle - Green X - Splits

Warmup for the US Individual Long Championships, Chattahoochee Bend State Park, GA, hosted by GOC. I looped the parking lot and ran out to the start twice.

US Individual Long Championships, Chattahoochee Bend State Park, GA, hosted by GAOC. I ran okay starting earlier than other competitors. I like running flat courses like this one but couldn't open up my running in a lot of places. The light green woods in the first loop kept me side stepping, stepping in holes that made me fall, getting caught up in vines, and some slow spots crossing marshes. If I'd taken the nicer routes that others saw, these troubles could have been avoided. I got too far to the right on #1 and lost close to 2 minutes correcting. On #5, I got drawn up one spur too early. For another minute or 2, after already getting caught up in the marsh. I paused a control too early on the way to #8. I missed seeing the nice trail route to #11 and at the same time, aimed off to the left too much. That probably cost me another minute. The rest were executed pretty well. I just would have liked to run faster across more open ground. I was the first M50+ finisher but about 2 minutes later Joe Brautigam finished injured and over 12 minutes faster than me. Overall, I finished 4th in the class with Andras Revesz 15 seconds ahead.

Long - Green X - Splits

Event: US Individual Championships (Sprint/Middle/Long/Trail)
 

US Individual Sprint Championships, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, hosted by GAOC. Running steady through most of the race, I traded speed for fewer errors. I took a less risky route on the long 11-12 leg. I could of saved some seconds in more than one place where I didn't make errors too but this was mostly about safety and pacing. Besides making errors in races where I run too fast, I make some poor decisions too. Somehow, I managed to stay calm enough and place 3rd in M50+. See the Split List for leg comments. This was a nice campus and venue for a sprint. The GAOC did well hosting.

University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA. Warming up around the tennis courts near Love Valley, I thought I had about 12 more minutes before the US Individual Sprint Championships, hosted by Georgia Orienteering Club. As I finished a first slow loop not feeling so energetic, I heard Peggy calling my name. It turned out that my start time was 10 minutes earlier than I'd thought. I missed it by not much more than 30 seconds.

Sprint - Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd. To Bethesda Ave. and back. I rode into town for lunch. There was a headwind coming back and my gears need adjustment again.

From Northfield Rd. Charlcotte, Rd. to Hampden Ln., to Wilson Ln. to Radnr Rd. to Brite Rd. to Bradley Blvd. to Burling Rd. to Cornish Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to Elm St. to Clarendon Rd. to Hampden Ln. to Beverly Rd. to Edgemoor Ln. to Arlington Rd. to Moorland Ln. Teleworking from home today after getting Max to work, I still managed to work late. I squeezed in this short run on the way to see Max play soccer again. It was supposed to be about 50 F but with a steady dry breeze it felt rather much colder. My legs felt pretty good with a mostly just being lazy extra day off. I had been at work late and later upgrading to Windows 7 late into the night.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. There was a headwind.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a tailwind and it was in the 50s F. I would have liked to ride all the way to work but time constraints and predicted weather steered me away from that plan.

Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. From the north end of the parkting lot, north of Military Rd., to the hiker-biker trail paralleling Military Rd., along Military Rd. to Nebraska Rd. to 41st. St. NW, to Van Ness St. to the Glover Archbold Trail, to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Water St. on the new trail paralleling Water St. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Beach Dr. to the parking lot where I started. I used to run this route in the 1990s with some regularity and I called it Northwest D.C. in my online guide book since it crossed much of that quadrant of DC. I'm confident of the distance despite the GPS coming-up a bit short; when I had put it in my guide book I'd hand wheeled the trails where I couldn't bicycle and I had calibrated my bicycle for accuracy for better than one hundredth of a mile accuracy on other parts.

Taking off, I moved well up the initial climb out of the Rock Creek valley. Going across the rolling and mostly climbing streets to Glover Archbold on the pavement, I was steady. I had some time off the watch at traffic intersections. I was 25 minutes at the top of Glover Archbold. Going downhill on the steeper hills stressed my right knee but I kept a good pace. At the bottom, I was 48:00 at 6 miles for a flat 8:00 minute mile pace. I felt pretty good with that given the climbs but wondered if I went out too fast. I was tempted to run through the new water fountain in Georgetown but I wasn't really hot enough--the temperatures were around 70 F. Tons of people were in the waterfront park in Georgetown and in the parks all over. I took a break (off clock) on the Rock Creek Trail at the C&O Canal Towpath intersection for a Gu and some Gatorade that I'd carried. Feeling good after that, I made my way up the valley pretty well, even feeling stronger up to the climb before the zoo. On Beach Dr., after 13 miles, a guy I was passing did a double-look at me and told me that I looked like I'd gone a long way. I guess it was the dried salt on me. I didn't think I was feeling that bad and was slightly disappointed that I didn't look better too. The overall pace over the distance and hills was pretty good compared to what I've been doing and my knees held-up okay.

From E. Jefferson St., Rockville, MD, to Executive Blvd. to Nicholson Ln. to Woodglen Dr., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It hadn't been that long since I had brunch with Peggy, Max and a few MCRRC people. I got moving quickly at the start, not having a good sense of my pace. Seeing that I was 6:50 at 0.95 miles surprised me so I decided to keep up the effort. I focused on improving my stride and form. I need to do that more often since I can't hold it well until I've built-up the right muscles. My right knee didn't hurt and I speculate that's because I've been on dirt more lately and wasn't going that far. I did get somewhat tired.

Algonkian Regional Park, VA. Aiming to get GPS tracks of the trails that I'd ran over but didn't record earlier, I got them and more. I found a few intermittent trails that look like they were being forged by cyclists. The trails were often muddy. I slowed for these, sometimes not knowing where they continued. In other areas, I sort of ran some fartlek, feeling the need to get some faster running into my training again.

Afterward, at a large family gathering, it was great seeing so many relatives and friends, and catching-up on what they are doing with their lives. It was hard to comprehend that my brother's youngest son was 29 years old. My own uncles were showing their age.

Back to work, things were much unchanged. So much and so little happens in a few days.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I covered another hill and a valley with a long ditch. The vegetation is leafing. I had started from a parking lot that was close to the ball fields so when I started, I didn't see what the areas that I'd already finished field checking looked like. Consequently, I had a harder time judging how the rate the vegetation. I also covered some trails around the ball fields. It was a pretty nice spring day. Warm enough not to need a jacket. I got a lot of things done around the house.

Algongian Sports Complex/Algonkian Regional Park, VA. From the sports complex parking lot, I headed up the dyke, then onto a trail that got me onto the pipeline ride with not so nice to run on, fist-sized gravel. At Westmoreland Dr. or the theoretical extension of the road by that name, I went to the Eagle Trail, back to Westmoreland Dr, onto an unammed trail that brought be back to the pipeline ride (often marshy)., then to another ride that got me to the camper-trailer storage. I ran back upstream from there. At least some of this must have been the Potomac Heritage Trail as it was blazed green. I took splits along the way to denote trail intersections but eventually got back to the stream that the Eagle Traill follows. With all of my split taking, I got the buttons confused, thus stopping the clock by accident. My track misses 1.75 miles worth of trails. The recording would have shown 2 separate tracks along the river between the east and western loops. I noticed that time had stopped when running along the river on the way back; after stopping to set a little leaf sail boat into the water. I did a few more trails (white blazes) on the way back. I had to finish along Cascades Pkwy. The run was recuperative. The water reminded me of good things. Later I visited with family all day.

45 situps after a long emotional night and day.

Muddy Branch Greenway Trail: From the intersection of Rte. 28, and Dufief Dr./Alderwood Dr., I ran down to the intersection of Esworthy Rd. and Query Mill Rd. and back. With more good sleep, I felt much stronger today. It was in the 60s F and fairly sunny all day. I parked north of Rte. 28 on Alderwood Dr. in a neighborhood and found the trailhead a bit to the west of the intersection with Rte. 28.



This trail was made over the last couple of years and only recently had been completed. It stays on the SE side of the creek. Spring is a good time to run most of the trails around D.C. but this one was quite picturesque. Most the woods were very open and in the section preceding the horse center, it was wide enough with some varied contours enough to support some o-training if mapped. I concur with Ken Walker's log regarding the beginning of the trail having the feel of running through people's back yards. This is over quickly. Though never far from houses, there are many times that one can't see any while at the same time being able to view far across open valleys. There were millions of tiny white/pink flowers on a low, almost grass-like ground cover. I got the feel of running through a garden. The trail was generally located well above the creek so despite the name of the trail, there was almost no mud (only at side streams). Conditions were quite good. Some side reentrants varied the slope and direction of the trail. There were occasional rocky outcrops but not many. The footing was rocky for only a short stretch before I turned around at the NW end of Blockhouse Conservation Park.



There were few people out though I saw a few. I passed one father-son duo heading up the trail on mountain bike (the trail seemed to be designed with this in mind). They spurred me to go a bit faster as we had to pass each other more than once on the ups and downs. There were lots of forks in the trail. Some of these appear to be due to relocation so even the blazes were pointed in the wrong direction. It wasn't very confusing but I did have to stop and think about it when I got to the the horse center. Generally, going downhill with the creek kept me on track.



I stopped and started a bunch along the way. This was to take pictures, adjust my belt, tighten my shoes, answer the phone, relieve myself, drink, etc... I never ate a Gu that I carried. My right knee hurt a little on the return. This might have been due to the change in slope with uphill generally being on my right side. On the return, I crossed paths with Eugene, a QOC regular who happens to live near enough to run this trail regularly.