Training Log Archive: Nadim

Great Falls, MD. From the Angler's Inn parking lot, I ran up the Berma Rd. to the trail on the right just before the bridge to the towpath. After the short but steep/rocky climb that I walked most of, I headed left to the Upland Loop Trail. Staying high, I climbed again to the Trolley Loop, then back down to the Tavern and the towpath. I returned on the towpath to the Angler's Inn parking area. It was great weather--not hot or cold but around 70 starting out. I was wearing my Nike Triax Structure for more support, rather than trail shoes. I was surprised at the first mile split. The 3rd, on the towpath was surprisingly faster than I thought I was running. My injury felt good, in that I didn't feel it until the last quarter mile. It was tightening up so I slowed down to finish. It was a little harder to sleep after the Presidential debate debacle.

From Northfield Rd., to Georgetown Pike via Greenwich Park, to Beech Ave., to Anniston Rd., to Ewing Dr., through North Bethesda Middle School to Bradmoor Dr., to Folkstone Rd., to Hartsdale Ave., to Heampstead Ave., to McKinley St., to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to Jefferson St., to Northfield Rd. After helping Samantha get started making a nice pasta and pesto dinner (we did the homemade pesto together) I fit a run in. I was sore where I've been injured as I started so I took it easy and remembered to keep my stride shorter and faster. It started raining within a half mile and while not pouring, it was raining pretty good. The air was cool and the rain ended before finishing.

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 Glenwood Rd., to Moorland Ln. to Northfield Rd. I ran late since it was warm/humid earlier and I'd eaten dinner. Starting out, I could tell that I wasn't fully recovered from injury. I ran easy and with shorter strides. I was mentally relieved once I passed the point where I'd reinjured myself last week. I tried to use a faster cadence to make up for the shorter strides. After getting out of NIH I felt like I should go farther so I cut through a neighborhood that I don't usually run through. It was kind of nice to add innovation after running this loop so many years. It wasn't much longer however. I was just glad that I got through uninjured.

Event: QOC Gunston Hall
 

QOC: Gunston Hall, VA. I'd planned to run Red earlier, thinking I might have been recovered enough to do it slowly. Warming up, I was still feeling some soreness where I'd pulled a groin to hamstring muscle. I decided to drop down to doing the Brown course. This was QOC's first official event since March. Social distancing protocols had loose but scheduled start windows. It was humid but not really hot, and some light rain fell during my run.

S-1 - I started behind another person running Brown. After waiting for him to get past the field and into the forest, I started, but quickly decided to use a trail route. When I got to the end of the trail, I cut right across the shallow part of a reentrant to a small ridge. The other guy who didn't use the trail was just getting to the area about when I did, but he turned back in the wrong direction. After a few more steps to the left on the ridge, I saw the control. I was not running fast. I was trying to be careful.

1-2 - I headed mostly straight toward #2. The vegetation was slow where it was flatter. I cut the right a little when getting closer to get to where I could run horizontally along the slope. I saw the rootstock and headed to it before seeing the control.

2-3 - I ran straight toward the field and across it. I was careful to reenter the woods to the left of the mapped bench. I spiked it but I wasn't running very fast.

3-4 - I ran straight initially and that got me to the crosswalk. I kept trying to head straight once across the road, but early on, I'd drifted to the left. Getting near, I went partly down a reentrant but didn't see the control ahead. I turned left before going down it and had to run around some green before I could go back down again. I was reading a spur to my left, but it was not the one near the control. At the bottom, I cut right going up the larger reentrant. The way was slow and I after a time, I had a hard time believing that I was that far off after passing one side reentrant; the one I'd seen earlier. I kept going and found it. I lost about 3:30 minutes.

4-5 - I went right of straight initially, then crossed the first reentrant. I saw the rootstock before confirming the control being on it.

5-6 - I went straight mostly, except at the larger reentrant where I saved climb moving to the right, then left. I saw a guy ahead of me leaving just before I got there.

6-7 - I tried going straight. The guy I'd seen at #7 was to my left and vegetation was pushing us that way a little. I saw the reentrant to my right so I corrected and was glad I'd recovered. I got confused for a second looking at the control code because in my head, I was thinking about the leg to #8. With the leaves on, the area was proving to be trickier than it looked, even though there were some nice woods there.

7-8 - I planned to run along the edge of the hillside but it was less defined initially than the contour appeared to make it. I kept going and made a point to go into the reentrant to approach the control from below.

8-9 - I did a lot of weaving to use the most runnable terrain. I put the reentrant near the end on my right to spike it.

9-10 - I got on the paved trail and crossed the road diagonally ending up at the far end of the crosswalk. I went straight in from there. The woods were great and relatively flat, but I drifted left a little. Once across the second road, I knew where I was but I paused a little to confirm. I was just running slowly.

10-11 - I doubled back and used the trail a little. I got into the edge of the field but came in again a little early. Following the drop-off, I saw #2 but actually went to it to confirm and use it as an attack point. This worked but again I was slow in the messier vegetation.

11-F - I figured that the trail helped me get to #1, so it'd be best to use it again. However, getting there was not so easy with the leaves on. I angled there to avoid thicker woods and eventually could run. I got to the trail just before hitting the field. I stopped to take a bearing and saw a control near registration that I thought was it. The finish control was at the tree, not the one I was seeing but my bearing got me there. I was just slow again and didn't want to risk an attempt at a sprint for fear of reinjury.

I was glad to finish uninjured. I was tired but not excessively; I felt guilty not running a longer course, however I think I made a wise decision.

Brown - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to Willow Ave. Peggy and I rode our bicycles to downtown Bethesda for lunch.

From Willow Ave., I rode with Peggy to a bicycle store on Bethesda Ave. Peggy headed home from there but I went on after picking up a replacement floor pump, to the hardware and variety stores on Arlington Ave.

From Arlington Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Wilson Ln. to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. With full backpack, I rode slowly home. I haven't been riding much but it was odd how weak I felt on the graded hills that I've been used to commuting on. My back was also feeling a little uncomfortable.

I just worked today and rested.

From Northfield Rd., up Custer Rd. almost to Harwood Rd. I felt like I hadn't done anything so I went to try to run after dinner. I was taking it easy and planning to just go out for a little over a mile. I got to the top of a gentle hill and suddenly felt pain in my upper thigh again. Starting out, I could tell that I hadn't healed all the way, but it didn't feel any worse than I had felt on Saturday when I jogged about a lot. On Saturday, my thigh had felt better the further I went so I thought I'd do okay for a single mile. Wrong again.

After re-aggrivating my injury, I stretched for a little bit, then immediately started walking. From Custer Rd., I made a parallel error walking down the dead end Harwood Rd. Some of the houses seemed rather more homely than I'd remembered them. As I got to the dead end I realized it; there was a public passage through the woods at one time but the brief trail there had gotten overgrown. I wasn't going to try it in the dark when injured. I reversed myself back up and down the hill. Walking, I could feel the pain. I didn't walk fast. I decided to take a slightly longer route back via Lambeth Rd., Mooland Ln., and Charlcotte Rd., to Northfield Rd., just for variety. It was just under 60 F, but being in shorts, it felt colder and my hands were chilled by the end at home.

I felt it best to rest and heal some more today. I spent much of the day adding pictures from our vacation, to
my Flickr account. I still have plenty more to add, including video but all of that will take time.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park and the South Germantown Recreational Park. From the lake, I went about picking-up the reflective controls that I had set out on 6/21/2020. I had gotten a late start. With the running I'd done in the interim, I felt much stronger than I had when I was setting controls last time. I traveled fairly light wearing o-shoes and ran in-between controls where I could. The summer vegetation, especially the invasive stilt grasses, made it too difficult to run most of the time--even the rides in the old farm area were overgrown with tall grass. I navigated well except a little as I was rushing toward the end. Last time it took me about 90 minutes more but I had also made some map update notes in June and had to verify some control locations then. This time I was having difficulty untying the knots for the control markers. I'd used 2 kinds of cord and on one of them, the rain and sunshine of 3 months seemed to shrink the cord making the knots tight. It took me 2-5 minutes getting a control untied since some had 3 knots each. No controls had been taken. I was getting tired too. I wasn't used to moving with the high knee step needed to get over debris and low vegetation. My thigh injury is still with me but it was not holding me back a lot. When crossing one ditch, the downward to upward motion caused some concern and injury aggravation. I'll need to take it easy for at least a little while still. My lower back was a bit achy afterward.

From Northfield Rd., I bicycled up to a food trolley at the intersection of Old Georgetown Rd., and Greentree Rd. and brought back lunch for the kids and myself.

My pulled inner left thigh felt better as the day went along but I tested it by jogging in place and felt it best to not run.

From Northfield Rd to Norfolk Ave to pick-up lunch, then back. It felt a little odd riding off at first since it had been a long time. My front tire was even kind of low on air and because the valve on my pump was wearing out, I couldn't inflate it properly. New neighbors were moving in next door and construction was taking place for my old neighbors to move across the street. I weaved through the traffic for them only to find more because of the new gas lines that crews were tearing up the street for further up the hill.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the middle 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.

The gentle remnants of hurricane Sally were passing through the area bringing light rain when I ran. I wore my old shoes and stretched a little before running, both of which are unusual. I felt tired in the first 2 miles but figured I'd feel better running downhill. I did at first but about 2.3 miles out, I felt a slight pull across the right side of my left thigh, and stretching toward my groin. I stopped for a little to stretch. Afterward I slowed down a lot, keeping my stride rather short and slow to get back home. I'll take it easier for a little but I had started to feel like I was getting used to doing 4 miles a day again. I hope it's just something that will go away quickly like some other aches I've had these last almost 3 months of trying to ramp back up. :(

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail/Fleming Ave. to Tuckerman Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Democracy Blvd. We'd planned to get some slippers for Max and I so I planned my run to end up at a shopping center. With late notice we tried to arrange an outdoor socially distant dinner get together with Heidi and David Onkst, but the timing didn't work out. I ran stronger but I was feeling the run from the day before a little. The second mile was a net downhill and at a paltry 8:47, it's still the fastest mile I'd done in months. The one-way run had a net climb and the last mile was slow with most of that climb. The temperature was around 70 F which felt nice but still got me pretty sweaty. Max, Peggy, and Samantha met me with a change of clothes and after our shopping we got dinner and headed home.

From the Anglers Inn parking lot, I ran up the Berma Rd., to the spur trails above it, taking the second reentrant with a trail, further up, rather than the first one. Once on the Gold Mine Trail, I looped most of the way counter-clockwise before heading off further north. I followed the old trolley line trail downward to the tavern area. I used the C&O Towpath and the Berma Rd. again to get back to the Angliers Inn parking lot. It was much cooler. I was slow climbing but got faster on flatter ground. It was getting just enough darker in the forest that I had to pay close attention, but the forested Berma Rd. was fairly easy to run on. I felt strong enough the last mile to pickup my pace a good bit. The Berma Rd. is flat but just enough bumpy that I needed to still pick my footing. I used a shorter quicker stride and was running under 9 minute mile pace, finally. It's been slow getting myself into running shape but it's been safer with my body having time to adapt. It was an amazing 61 F when I finished--quite nice after July and August.

From Northfield Rd. to Custer Rd., to Wilson Ln., to Maiden Ln., to Whittier Blvd., to Woodhaven Blvd., to Bradley Blvd., to Valley Rd., to Fallen Oak Rd., to Lowell St., to Mead St., to Ridge Rd., to Ridge Pl., to Greentree Rd., to Garfield St., to Jefferson St., to Northfield Rd. I wasn't sure where to run after work today. It's getting darker earlier in the evenings so driving to run somewhere else is less feasible. I sketched out a route in my head to get another 4 miles but missed a turn and added a little. After that I improvised because the streets in that area are a little confusing. I felt slow starting out but I picked-up steam on the downhill sections. Though I slowed, that carried me through the hilly sections pretty well and I finished with some strength. It was cooler; around 70 F.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park. From the gate at Hoyles Mill Rd. I ran the Hoyles Mill Trail to Clopper Rd., and back. In the middle I had some very short forays where there were spurs to parking and a small fork. Peggy started out with me but she was walking. I had wanted to get a better look at the forest north of Little Seneca Creek. I anticipate mapping it next winter and this was to get a sense of whether or not it would be too green. The parts near the water were green but moving away areas opened up enough to be usable. Like other parts of Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, the open forest was not speedy. It's undergoing succession so rather than mature trees, the trees are smaller and more closely together. It makes it interesting/challenging for navigating. I have the LiDAR on the base map and have added formlines. It all just seemed less steep than I'd anticipated it would look like. I was tired running and took it easy. The weather was around 70 F and sunny/breezy. I ran with a buff around my neck. When crossed paths with people I'd pull it over my nose and mouth. It allowed me to breath well when dry but soaking up my sweat I'd suck it into my mouth when breathing because it didn't breath enough. It probably did give some people reassurance but there were very few people compared to those I saw in Rock Creek Park, and few of them today were wearing masks.

Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. From the trailhead on Oregon Ave., NW, at the intersection with Beech St., I ran what's becoming a growing network of social trails to Beach Dr., NW. Turning north/left, I got to the bridge going over Rock Creek, then I got on the Valley Trail going south. I forked to Beach Dr., at the bridge just above Military Rd., where Beach crosses Rock Creek, and turned right/north for a short way. From there, I worked my way to the Western Ridge Trail, and to the Pinehurst Trail. I added on continuing on the Pinehurst Trail past Oregon Ave., SW. to get adequate distance. Taking forks to the left, I avoided creek crossings but added climb. I would have turned around a little earlier but there were not easy creek crossing after I'd gone the right distance. I looped on Western Ave., NW, and Beech St., NW, with one brief foray back into the woods where there was a trailhead. I felt fairly slow on most of this despite it being a surprising 68 F at noon. It was humid. The trails overall were not muddy since heavy rains washed them down to the clay, rocks and tree roots. There were many families and small groups on the Valley Trail and Beach Dr., but not many elsewhere.

From Cedar Ln., to Knowles Ave. via Beach Dr. and back. Since the Beach Dr. has been closed more hours during these COVID-19 times, I opted to use it rather than the trail. The recent rains had caused flooding and I wanted to avoid debris and mud. As I ran the road, I could see that most of the paved trail was okay. Some of it appeared to have been washed clear, but it was damp. Later, I saw other part still with mud and some runners faltering in those parts. The trail and road intertwine some but I was surprised at one crossing to find the distances (going from memory of the trail) to be pretty close. The road was more consistent in how it climbed however; not that there was a lot of climb. It was just stead and seemed like a grind at times because I was tired. I did not feel much from my right hamstring like on the run the night before. My right leg was more tired than my left, and the right quadriceps felt sore. I'm still not physicall used to doing 4 miles a day, though mentally it's not bad.

From Northfield Rd. to Custer Rd., to Wilson Ln., to Glenbrook Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Kennedy Dr., to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Woodmont Ave., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. With torrential rain earlier, I made dinner and ran late. As usual when doing this I felt undigested starting out. However the weather wasn't done with me. Starting out at 78 F, it was 99% humidity. I was swimming in sweat as I returned. Overall, the run went much easier than I thought it was. I started out leaving myself an option to run shorter. I was tired when running yesterday but I decided I felt okay today. On the dark incline of the CCT leading into downtown Bethesda, my right hamstring gave a few twangs. I slowed the pace which wasn't hard to begin with, and in Bethesda, I stopped to stretch for a while. Starting up, i felt it a few more times. I shortened my stride and took it easier to finish the last +1 mile.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the middle 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 started out a little slow but in the second mile, I had picked-up the pace without realizing it. I went on to feel it in the 3rd, and 4th miles. My right leg felt pretty worn out afterward.

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Ipswich Rd. to Fleming Ave. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Northfield Rd. via Greenwich Park. It was in the low 80s F, and a little humid. I thought I was going slower starting out. I didn't feel that strong. Sometimes I opened my stride and others, I shortened it.

Lake Needwood Regional Park, MD. Starting at Needwood Rd., up the dirt trail going up towards the Agricultural History Farm Park to Muncaster Rd. (not Muncaster Mill Rd., which I crossed), and back. I felt pretty good in the first mile, and okay the second. Except for the first 200m, it was shady route. Despite it being noon, the air felt pretty cool. I had anticipated going to Muncaster Mill Rd., if I didn't find a good turnaround point before then. Though there were a few opportunities, I kept feeling like I was nearer to Muncaster Mill Rd., so I kept going. I could use the extra distance anyway so all was well. The trail has a lot of modest ups and downs. It's probably used more by mountain bikers this time of year than hikers. Starting out a guy seemed to be doing cyclocross going the other direction. There were very few people on the trail overall. I was glad for the generally descending trail returning. I would slow and speed up depending on the slope.

Wheaton Regonal Park. From the dog park parking area, I ran down to Pine lake, and then took trails down to and on the Northwest Branch Trail. I turned around past the rock overhang a ways, where the old and new trail fork. There were a good many people hiking, including some groups of children and their collective parents. Most people hiking about were wearing masks. The air felt good; there was still some coolness to it. I felt pretty strong in the first mile which is the one with the most downhill. My pace wasn't indicative of it. I was a little tight in my calves the first quarter mile, which had some pavement.

Lake Clopper, MD. From the Chickadee parking area, Peggy and I started our separate loops. I ran down the road to the Greenway Trail, to the Mink Hollow Trail,, and around the Lake Shore Trail to the Kingfisher parking area, and to the Chickadee parking lot. This was hillier than I've been doing for most of my runs (but not as much as on my recent vacation. The hills were catching up with me in the 4th mile and I slowed. About 90% of the people in the park were wearing masks so I felt not so good about not having mine. I missed a sign indicating they were required in all public areas, which I guess means all of the park. Many people would put them on as I passed by on the trail or had them on already. Of course, most of the time I was alone. There were however significant numbers of groups I'd encountered. The air was nice. Starting out, it was around 68 F but the humidity was still not low. As usual, the trail had lots of roots to pick my way through. There were a few places where the trails had bee rerouted slightly.

From Cedar Ln., I took paved the Rock Creek Trail to the I-495 underpass, and back. The temperature was around 80 F starting out. The valley showed signs of recent flooding. The part of the trail going under the Kensington Pkwy. was technically closed off at the north gate, but not at the southern one. The mud was mostly cleared-out from the bridge underpass. I did make a bathroom stop on the way back. Like the last time I did a similar route, the mile from the turnaround to halfway back point was faster than going out--that's odd since it goes up and down more than other parts do.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Glenbrook Rd., to the county pool parking lot to the trail into Norwood Park, to Wisconsin Ave., to Woodmont Ave., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I went out after a thunderstorm had passed. There were a few small tree limbs down in the road. I wore my old shoes again because it was wet. Though I climbed okay again, I felt like there wasn't much power in my legs and that my stride was short--basically I was shuffling around. After about 2.5 miles, rain had started again but it didn't last much more than another half mile. By the time I was home my tech shirt needed wringing out and I'm sure I wrung out a few ounces from it; a combination of sweat and rain.

Starting out it was 85 F and 73% humidity. I was okay and not suffering but the conditions affected me along with being a little more tired from recent runs. I slowed but the hills didn't bother me. From Northfield Rd., I went into Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Alta Vista Rd., to Locust Ave., to Acacia Ave., to Chandler St./Benton Ave., to Cedar Croft Dr., to Rockville Pike. to the NIH Trail to Maple Ridge Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I've mostly avoided going into the Alta Vista neighborhood because it's got a lot of confusing streets, and because it make a hilly run. I memorized this way through using Google maps just before running. My GPS tracking seems to have had a rare major failure along the way.

Great Falls, MD. From the Angler's Inn parking lot, I ran to the towpath, then south to the next bridge (Marsden Footbridge), to MacArthur Blvd., near Masters Dr., then back to the Angler's Inn parking lot. I stopped a while to use the restroom, then ran back to the towpath, north past the Widewater to the bridge above Lock 16, to the Berma Rd., then back the Angler's Inn parking lot. As I was starting, a slightly younger Asian man was starting too. We happened to be going the same direction and I wasn't sure if I'd pass him or not. He seemed to pickup the pace, and I was running much slower than I had the last 2 days, so he pulled ahead. Overall, I didn't feel as strong. My endurance held up, but perhaps the increased heat and humidity or running with my heavier road shoes seemed to keep me moving at a very modest pace. There were plenty of people out. Most were walking in small groups. My right foot cramped more as I was relaxing watching television, with my foot up, after dinner. Putting it down seemed to help the bloodflow and stop the cramping.