Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the water side, went through the Roosevelt Memorial, and passed the Martin Luther King Memorial too. I ran comfortably.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. It was in the mid 30s F. I had a steady headwind in places and that slowed me down. For most of this, the winds seemed calm. I got passed before the trestle bridge so I drafted off of the guy until Georgetown where I passed him on the streets. I was slower the last couple of miles.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. After a little traffic starting out, I pretty much rode home in the dark alone. There were a few groups of other riders that I passed, and some alone too. There was probably a slight tailwind most of the time and it was 58 F starting out. I packed my jacket and just rode in tights.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I stayed up late working on updating the Cabin John map last night.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the water side, went through the Roosevelt Memorial, and passed the Martin Luther King Memorial too. I did almost the exact route from Wednesday last week. The temperatures were similar but this time the wind was from the west and not quite as strong--there were no whitecaps on the Tidal Basin.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was feeling a bit on the tired side

QOC: University of Maryland (UMD) College Park. Don Fish had set a 90 minute score-o. It was his first attempt at course setting. It was pretty fun. The map was mostly okay but there were a few new buildings. In some places stairs weren't mapped as stairs. For a couple of controls, the placement was a little off, and for 3 more the epunch box had gotten stolen (just a bag). I had trouble getting into the map on my first control and lost about 40 seconds. After that I was clean but on my way in, I took a less than optimal route to the stadium entrance. Construction in the area, plus some uncrossable fences had me going farther than needed. If I had taken more time to read the map, I could have saved some of this. The younger members of QOC are asserting themselves, with 3 finishing in about 40 minutes.

Rockville, MD. From Lorraine Dr. E, Jefferson St. to Executive Blvd. to Woodglen Dr., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd, to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd. After breakfast with the retired MCRRC members and some shopping, I ran home. I certainly felt the overeating of the last few days but it was very nice out. It was 63 F starting out, sunny, and I had a tailwind. Lots of people were walking together.

From Tuckerman Ln., I updated the Cabin John Regional Park map in several areas. Some changes were corrections. In other cases trail changes needed to be captured. Unfortunately, the most prevalent difference was the greening of the park. There are far more thorns and other undesirable than there used to be. I updated heading southward until it got dark, then ran north on trails most of the way back. I was feeling in the groove by the time this was done. In the dark, I managed not to trip. The terrain was still much drier than it has been--some minor streams and marshes were dry. In a field area in the dark on the way back, I did manage to find a muddy spot, and to fall as my foot slipped--landing on my hand, I hurt my right pinky finger again.

From Sheilds Dr. to the YMCA parking lot (near Beech Dr.). I jogged over to our meeting spot while Peggy, Max, and, Samantha waited in the car. For once this year, we were relatively early. I was the first to show-up.

35th Annual Bethesda Turkey Chase. The crowds seemed lighter this year. It was in the 30s F starting out with Ted Good and David Onkst. I had pre-planned to just run with David this year, as he'd done for me when I was coming back from back injury. Peggy started with Max, Samantha, Heidi Onkst, Darcy Good, and Kathleed Lennon. Don Fish and Tom Nolan also ran; Tom ran competitively and seemed to do well. Ted finished about 2 minutes ahead of David and I. We all had our now traditional breakfast at Bagel City and enjoyed finally being able to catch-up with one another--life had gotten so busy for all of us over the last year that we haven't been able to get together much.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the water side, went through the Roosevelt Memorial, and passed the Martin Luther King Memorial too. Though about 54 F, it was very windy and much cooler than expected. My route kept me out of the worst of the wind. Whitecaps were splashing over the walls of the Tidal Basin and flags stood on end.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. It was in the upper 30s F and I had a steady headwind the whole way but at Fletcher's Boathouse help came up from behind. After a spell drafting, I passed them and we split up before/in Georgetown.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I had a pretty strong tailwind most of the way home. There were a lot of other riders out. One passed me but overall I felt stronger.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Event: QOC Great Falls
 

Great Falls, MD. I warmed-up along the canal, then uphill on the rocky trail to the start area for QOC's event. It was windy and much colder than expected.

QOC at Great Falls, MD - This was a pretty good run for me, even though it was in a park where I did a lot of mapping and course setting. The forest was fairly open so going straight worked best most of the time. Sam Listwak made a pretty nice course setting variation off of the 50 or so control locations that the park lets us use. During the run, I found myself clenching my right hand, and having to relax it--maybe that was unconsciously me trying to hold on to my epunch but I don't recall it happening previously.

S-1 - I ran up the trail and on the right side of the trolley loop to the main trail, and a spur coming down from the north. From there I went in.

1-2 - I went a little left of straight, and onto the spur.

2-3 - I was going to save climb by going to the right side of straight, but I hit the deadfall. I cut sharply left and uphill to get around it most efficiently.

3-4 - I ran this fairly straight but a little left of the line to contour the climb. I walked the steepest part.

4-5 - Past the boulder, I almost went to the trail intersection but stayed right of it. From there I read the reentrant and hilltop contours to find my way in.

5-6 - I went the right side of straight to save on climb and to spread it out.

6-7 - I ran straight and once across the trail, I recognized the small reentrant I was in before going across the larger one. I adjusted my attack (walking the steeper parts) and spiked it.

7-8 - I bailed to the trails on the left, and came in from the fence corner to avoid the terrain detail. I should have just gone a little to the right and up the larger broad reentrant with a trail in it. I probably lost time on my route but I did spike it.

8-9 - I ran straight and spiked it.

9-10 - I ran left of straight to the trail, then cut right at the next intersection. I attacked from the intersection after that but had already read ahead to know my exit.

10-11 - Back up to the trail on the ridge, and right at the fork. I left from a trail bend and went right past the small broken fence to spike it.

11-12 - I ran to the right to get on the big Gold Mine Loop trail. After crossing the stream on that and climbing the next hill, I left at a trail bend and ran down a nice open reentrant. I pretty much went straight across the trail but drifted left a bit, since I was not watching carefully, the detail ahead. When I got up the hillside in reentrant, I saw some boulders and then a control not far away--it was #18. I hadn't thought I was that far to the left. I adjusted and hit it perfectly, though I couldn't see the control coming from my direction until I was right on it. Overall, I probably lost some time on this leg.

12-13 - I ran straight and made minor adjustments at the boulder cluster on the side of the ridge and again after crossing the trail.

13-14 - I ran straight but had to force myself left at one point just after crossing the trail. I dropped into a reentrant after getting through the light green, then I contoured onto the ridge after passing the spur with the boulder on my left.

14-15 - I ran straight and had to walk some of the way. I adjusted a bit to the left at the end.

15-16 - Fairly straight the whole way but I got into the reentrant a little low.

16-17 - I ran straight but after crossing the reentrant, I got closer to the boulder than I had planned. It was okay since that saved me climb. I adjusted there and spiked it.

17-18 - I ran to the trail intersection and down the trail a little way. I left from the bend and went straight from there reading off stuff the whole way.

18-19 - I ran a little to the left at first to save climb. Going to the trail might have saved time and climb but this was good practice and more of what the course was supposed to be. I cut right after past the ridges. I recognized my location at the gully crossing, and again after crossing the trail. I spiked it.

19-20 - I ran straight, passing the cairn in the green, and the dot knoll on the trail. I cut down to the next trail and ran on it to the trail intersection. From there I went the right side of the reentrant edge to the cairns.

20-21 - I cut to the right a bit for faster running, and let loose. The reentrant kept me on course. Fun!

Great Falls, MD. I warmed-down on the rocky trail, from the course finish, to the event center for QOC's event. It was still windy and cold.

Advanced - Splits

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. It was in the upper 30s F and I had a nice tailwind the whole way. I felt weak and slow. Two or 3 riders passed me before getting to Georgetown.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I worked late and it was totally dark going home. The winds from the morning had died down. I kept a comfortable pace and moved well for a while. I had to slow sometimes; the glare of oncoming lights, watery eyes, and the tunnel vision of my headlamp made it hard to pick-out pedestrians. I saw a few cyclist going the other direction and there were just a few runners out too. It was 35 F by the time I got home.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Tenleytown Metro Station, to River Rd., to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Bethesda Ave./Woodmont Ave., to Edgemore Ln. I ran in the dark, being a little cautious to not trip with fallen leaves on the misshapen sidewalks, tree roots, and other obstacles. I didn't feel very strong.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down The Mall, past the Washington Monument past Constitution Gardens and the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

QOC Quinquagenary @ Quantico National Meet in Quantico Marine Base, on the Hangman Tree map. More later...

Day 2 - Green X - Splits

Event: QOC Quinquagenary @ Quantico National Meet
 

This was a surprisingly good day for me. I went into the race with low expectations since I hadn't trained much over the +1 month (many demands of life). I thought about just keeping a steady pace. The map was new to me but it played to things I like such as subtle features and contours, plus open forests without a whole lot of rock detail. I thought Francis did a great job with the mapping and I'm used to his style--I had even course set just a few miles away 2 weeks earlier in Prince William Forest (steeper but similar terrain). I enjoyed Tom Strat's course too, having run many others he had set before.

S-1 - I ran on the trail until the saddle, then dropped to the stream. On the run, I hadn't been able to read the formline for the small dam that I went across on but it did confuse me with expecting the mapped pond to be further up (it was further up but was not visible). I paused briefly, then went on with a good feel of what to expect from the small reentrant.

1-2 - I ran straight, reading the contours pretty well. I felt I was a little left and was losing contact where the map flattened-out. However, hitting blue and yellow streamers surprised me. I cut right to go around them and presumed I was rounding the mapped out of bounds area. Attacking and seeing a reentrant on my left that was deeper than expected, I stopped and cut right. I relocated in a small reentrant with the only green in the area and proceeded on to hit it with no further trouble.

2-3 - I went straight at it on bearing and saw it upon cresting the hilltop.

3-4 - I ran straight and my bearing was true. I did see other runners going over the ridge in different places but did well ignoring them. There were some that I followed coming from other directions, into the reentrant.

4-5 - I dropped down, then climbed the hill long the stream.

5-6 - I stayed somewhat high to the road, crossed the creek and cut in from the trail intersection and a small reentrant since that was a good attackpoint.

6-7 - I was a little left of the line initially but just kept my bearing. I think I first saw AJ Riley pass me on this leg. AJ had gone around to the right but we converged with him a little ahead of me.

7-8 - I again went fairly straight. I converged with the stream as it gently bent but I didn't see a boulder I was looking for. I spiked it.

8-9 - I thought about bouncing off the road and even aimed that way. However, I found myself right of the mapped open ground which was straight-on the line; I kept going straight and spiked it.

9-10 - This time I did go to the road. I was moving slowly so I counted the road bends easily. I left from a bend to avoid climbing as much as possible. I did go over a small knoll and caught a guy. After that I cut right without losing any time at the first reentrant.

10-11 - I ran fairly straight along the hillside and expected to see the trail. I could see it briefly before I got to it but where I'd converged, it wasn't visible. I crossed without really knowing it and dropped to the stream. I paused briefly and a fast young woman closed in before doing the same. I ran along the stream and paused again to debate crossing. I chickened out and went the way the young woman had (she decided faster than me) up a hill and around some green to the bridge. From the bridge I ran the trail and crossed again at a bend. I was aiming straight at it initially but thought I might be faster staying low and going around the left. It was further up to the right than I anticipated.

11-12 - I went straight-ish, dog-legging my way in. After crossing the stream I threaded between the deadfall well. I stumbled on the man made objects near the top and knew to go down and around the spur from there. I ran straight at it this time, and hit just above the control, still close enough to call it a spike. The green in the area was thicker than expected.

12-13 - A few had found #12 just before me, including Evelyn Brautigam, coming from other directions. They all seemed faster than me but I chased them to the trail. I was able to pass all but Evelyn by staying on the trail, though I had to pass one guy twice who'd gone straight.

13-F - I was tired from the climb to #12. A West Point runner whom I'd just passed when going to #12, out-sprinted me easily.

As I said, I was pretty surprised to be leading the M55+ field as I knew many had been running faster lately, and I anticipated that they would beat me. The courses didn't seem that hard to me but it was basically home terrain. Additionally, there were other M55+ runners who competed in other age groups or weren't able to travel to the competition.

Day 1 - Green X - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to Bradley Blvd. & Arlington Rd., then back. I had some errands to do on my day off from work, and I had lunch. At only 42 F, it was somewhat cold and windy and I was underdressed.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. via Battery Ln.

DVOA’s 50th Anniversary National Event, at Mt Penn. I jogged down the trail from the start with Ted Good, Max, and Peggy. It was cold and breezy up on top so it felt good to run, even if it was foggy and damp.

DVOA’s 50th Anniversary National Event, Mt. Penn, PA. I was hoping for a slightly better day. Overall, I didn't feel that I had done badly. There was definitely room for improvement, both physically and with my navigation. Mainly, I didn't pickup on the better route choices. It was foggy and windy at the top of the mountain where we started.

S-1 - I didn't run hard down the trail, and kept going where it ran out on the map. There was easily enough there to still follow it. After crossing the road, I went forward in the same direction, saw the ditch, and ran back up to the control. Aside from the relocation at the ditch and hesitation at an early trail intersection, I didn't think I had lost a minute to everyone, as AP shows.

1-2 - I got on the wrong trail initially, then cutover to the one that angled downward. At the next intersection, I turned right, and ran to the next intersection again. From there I attacked and spiked it.

2-3 - I walked up initially, then as it leveled out, I ran to spike it.

3-4 - I suppose my glasses had fogged while climbing to #3. I didn't see the high trail route. Though it was 4 contours up, it might have been better for me. I cut across, climbing a little and dropping. I thought I was above #1 when I hit a trail and decided to go down to bend near #1. However, I was already near #1 when I went further down. I made my way back up when I saw the road and tried to avoid the out of bounds area as I climbed. I wandered over to the triangle intersection a little confused with the road symbol for what I thought was more of a vehicle track. I spiked it from the intersection but lost a few minutes on this leg.

4-5 - I went straight and turned right when hitting the trail. I took the ziz-zaggy trail upward and saw the control from the end of the trail at an intersection.

5-6 - I thought about going far left on the road but ran to the intersection, along the power lines, into the field, and across to a trail that got me to the top of the mountain. I had to pause a little along the way to read. My glasses were foggy enough that I had read the power lines to be a trail. From the trail bend at the top, I got to the reentrant north of the control. I ran along the side of that until hitting it.

6-7 - I was catching another older runner on this leg and then a Blue runner came by from above attacking the same control. The Blue runner hit it first, then the guy I was chasing.

7-8 - I ran on bearing and passed the runner I'd seen on the previous leg. I went on the left side of the vegetation and in. The Blue runner had led the way.

8-9 - I thought about the way around to the right but felt I wasn't navigating that well, nor running well through the rocky terrain. I climbed slowly at first. Getting over the top, I drifted right a little. Crossing the power lines, I'd unknowingly picked up on my pants a whole lot of the very scratchy seeds on top of my right thigh. Later this leg would hurt a little and was a bloody mess when I finished. I'd picked up similar seeds in the Stumble a few weeks ago and was just getting rid of the scabs. From the road, I cut left and then right to go out along the spur. The end of the spur was rocky as mapped, but I hadn't expected that to slow me down as much as it did. I descended and saw Istvan with some other runners coming back at me. I thought they had been coming from #9 but they were leaving #10 and had passed #9. I got drawn off by them to the right, where I punched an incorrect control I recovered and went on to hit #9 well--it was just lower than I'd thought it'd be.

9-10 - Straight at it, I didn't go all out but hit it perfectly.

10-11 - I thought to go around the rocky spur and hill but mainly went straight. This took me up and down a few times. I crossed the road near a spur with a control and went on to spike it. I never saw the downhill trail route to the left.

11-12 - Straight up and around to the right of the unmapped bit of deadfall.

12-13 - I ran straight. A West Point runner coming from my left changed directions as our paths crossed and we both ran toward the knoll on the other side of the road. I punched the control there, then realized it was past the knoll.

13-14 - I aimed off to the left. I don't think I saw the trail paralleling the streams. I got hung-up in the green and rocks along the stream. Fortunately I pulled to the right for faster running. On the run, I hadn't seen that there were 2 streams but pulling onto the spur between the streams, I saw it--sloppy.

14-15 - I took trails but ran with caution. I wasn't seeing things well with foggy glasses. I expected the control to be more above the trail.

15-16 - I let loose to finish. It felt good being able to run downhill without worrying about tripping on rocks or sticks. It felt good running overall!

I finshed 6th in the age group with a few runners not far ahead but Peter Hartman and Greg Balter 8 and 10 minutes ahead. I didn't expect to win or anything like that but could tell I'd lost some physical conditioning by not working out much in October (work and other family things were especially busy that month). Overall, I had a fairly solid weekend for navigation (considering the fog on Sunday).

C • thank you 2

Mount Penn - Long GreenX - Splits

Event: DVOA National Event Nov 4-5
 

DVOA’s 50th Anniversary National Event, Hawk Mountain, PA. I had set out to just have a decent run. It'd been a rough week at work and getting some things done at home. I didn't get much sleep the last 2 weeks.

S-1 - Despite a pre-start view of where the start triangle was, I stood at the start line 15 seconds trying to find it. I had found control #1 on the map but couldn't see the short leg back to the start for a while.

1-2 - I stayed on the road, then turned left in front of the buildings and in. I was getting a feel for the terrain and mapping of the tent platforms. It felt a little slow. Lack of training and stress overeating was taking its toll going up the hill.

2-3 - I expected to see the trails more prominently. I guess leaves were covering them. I paused in the first set of tent platforms but went on to spike it.

3-4 - I ran the between the building and the pool.

4-5 - I went counterclockwise around the pool and in from the field corner. Had I planned it, going clockwise looks slightly faster but the second or 2 more it would have taken for me to see that wouldn't have gained me anything. I didn't expect the feature to be so small but as a symbol, it made sense.

5-6 - I ran past the pavilion, then up to the small clearing.

6-7 - I went around on the trails on the left side. A fallen tree on the trail made this longer route slightly slower.

7-8 - I ran straight until above the 2nd pavilion. From there I used trails to attack the control from above. The pavilion near the control was a dead give away and had I seen it when running, I would have gone straight.

8-9 - I used the edges of the tent platforms to keep me straight.

9-10 - I ran a little higher at first, then straight. This had me hitting the small field before the road. I had second thoughts about using the road a few contours up at that point but it wouldn't have made sense. Once again, I used the pavilion near the control to zero in while going straight.

10-11 - I ran out to the field near the small pavilion. It confused me a little since I was only reading the one larger pavilion that was further SW. From the field I was surprised that I couldn't see the road intersection but I kept going and saw it soon enough. As I was about to punch, I could hear a West Point runner coming from behind. I thought I could finish ahead of him. My new epunch wasn't clearly punching so I punched twice.

11-F - The West Point runner gained on me quickly. It was close but he probably got me at the end of the uphill finish.

DVOA’s 50th Anniversary National Event, at Penn State Berks County Campus. I circled the parking lot, trying to settle my lunch and loosen-up

DVOA’s 50th Anniversary National Event, at Penn State Berks County Campus. The day had warmed-up and was sunny by race-time.

S-1 - I started accelerating on the strange short through the forest. The parking lot came up so fast that I thought the control was further ahead. I cut back a little when I realized I was passing it. After trying to punch, I wasn't sure that it took. My epunch is new so I suspected possible version incompatibility with the box. I tried again but it wouldn't beep. I went on, presuming it punched the first time, but I wasn't sure until after finishing and downloading.

1-2 - Straight through the forest and back of the first building, to the pavement and the second building. I expected the control on pavement so I looked past the wall before coming back to it.

2-3 - Straight on the pavement.

3-4 - On the ground, it looked to be more of a copse straight ahead so the mapping confused me a little. I went beyond the trees to see it without much hesitation.

4-5 - I was starting to get into reading the map on this easy straight leg.

5-6 - I considered using the trail but my reading of the control had me expecting it to be lower. I ran the left side through the soggy field and saw the control way up high.

6-7 - I stayed on the spur a bit, for easier running, then came off the field corner.

7-8 - I ran a little left of straight, and on the left side of the building, left sidewalk, since I wasn't sure the right walkway went through.

8-9 - Straight.

9-10 - Left, around the building, then up on the stairs, and past the pavilion.

10-11 - Straight through the pavilion to the building.

11-12 - Straight to spike it.

12-13 - Straight, but the micro route 3m to the left and around the small rise of the parking lot was bugging me because I didn't take it :)

13-14 - At first, I intended to go past #8, but I realized that cutting to the right side of the building was faster. After the curve, I cut through the buildings to come at it from the south. I took the micro route through the passthru this time.

14-15 - I was trying to muster up some speed to finish with, but felt too heavy and slow and tired.

15 - F - I gave it a good effort but flubbed the punch at the end.

This was another fairly clean run. AttackPoint shows no errors, but I probably lost at least a few. I was reasonably happy with the result, but others were faster.

Hawk Mountain - Sprint 1 Green - Splits

Penn State Berks - Sprint 2 Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Battery Ln.

From Battery Ln. to Northfield Rd.