Training Log Archive: Nadim

Shenandoah National Park, VA. From the Stony Man parking lot, Max, Peggy, Samantha, and I hiked-up to the summit of Stony Man Mountain, and back. Just before the hike, I'd learned of my uncle's death during the night--we'd been expecting it. Max and I mostly hiked together this time, while Peggy coaxed Samantha up the hill. This climb was much longer than I'd remembered it too. There was some rerouting and forking, plus a temporary trail for and AT re-routing. Max had done this hike on a freezing late November day in 2007, when he was almost 5 years old. It's not a very hard hike at about 86m of vertical elevation change (about a 4,000ft summit). It was inspiring to see an older woman who'd lost her left leg, having gotten herself up with only crutches and moral support from her male companion. We enjoyed the views north, west, and south.

Max's first summer school class started this day and he logged-in for it while we all relaxed outdoors at the Skyland Lodge area. There was a little extra noise from a parking lot resurfacing effort but it was still enjoyable.

Shenandoah National Park, VA. Our family started an extended weekend with a hike down to Dark Hollow Falls. I went a little further to the Rose River Fire Road below, then back. We spent a while at the falls, including a look at the upper pool. Samantha, had needed rests on the way down, and rest a lot more on the way back up. In my memory from doing this hike 12 years and 1 day earlier with Max and his friend Miles, it was a much shorter hike, and a larger area at the bottom. The distance being much longer than in my memory makes me feel like I've gotten that much slower, but really we were going Samantha's pace, and the pace had little to do with my impression of the distance. I also don't mean to suggest the corollary to the adage of time flying, when having fun. I did have fun.

It was warm and humid enough to have gotten wet but the water wasn't flowing that hard. I just felt weak enough from being sick., though the good night rest the day before helped. With my right knee, I also didn't want to do much bending. I was being as careful as I could going down the steeper slopes and over rocks.

Shenandoah National Park, VA. From the Big Meadows Amphitheater parking lot, Peggy, Max, and I went down the Lewis Falls Trail to Lewis Falls. It was about a 900ft. descent that got rockier as we went. We got a few views to the west along the way, and could see some rain on the other side of the next mountain ridge, and in the valley. I'd last been to Lewis Falls in the wintertime and remembered it being much more grand. The angle for viewing he falls was different from memory too. Leaves obscured a lot, and the volume of water falling over the cliff was low on this outing. We hiked back up to the Appalachian Trail to make a loop. We did so at a good pace. This went a little higher so we got closer to 1,000 ft. climbing back. It was on the climb that I started feeling somewhat stronger again in regards to being sick. Maybe I sweat it out of me. Max was still hiking stronger than Peggy or I. Samantha had waited at the car.

Shenandoah National Park, VA. From our campground at D161, we hiked over to the Amphitheater to listen to a presentation. I was rather sleep during this and kept nodding off. It was dark when we went back.

In the evening, it was breezy and the sky opened up pretty nicely! I always have liked that about camping. It was in the Shenandoah, when I was Samantha's age of 14, that I'd first seen the Milky Way. I'd started my first ultra-marathon the next morning. This night I slept pretty well.

I caught a cold or flu. Max had it first, but I'd also took my mom to get an MRI the day before I got sick. I ran a high temperature, had watery eyes, etc...

From Northfield Rd., to Jefferson St., to Madison St., to Heampstead Rd. to Roosevelt St., to Garfield St., to Northfield Rd. Samantha suggested going for a walk before dinner and so we did. She was a bit more talkative today. As we walked, especially starting out, my right knee was wobbly and going down slopes, I needed to be careful.

From the Poolesville Elementary School in Poolesville, MD.
L Catail Rd.
L Fischer Ave./White's Ferry Rd., (Rte. 107) to Dawsonville
L White Ground Rd.
L Old Bucklodge Ln.
L Bucklodge Rd.,
R White's Store Rd.,
L Peach Tree Rd.
L Catail Rd.
L into the Poolesville Elementary School.

There was a wind and oddly, it was from the east. Temperatures were about 92 F as I started. I moved pretty well considering all things. I might not have done this at all if not for my right knee feeling much better than the day before. It's still painful on stairs. I kept using my gears and eased-off on the few steep parts (where it did hurt). Most of this was well graded. This was just about the right distance for me since I haven't been riding much. The longer, similar ride that I did with Max last year had hillier parts in the north. Max wasn't feeling well to day so he wasn't up to riding with me. Peggy needed to watch Samantha.

Great Falls, MD, at the Angler's Inn parking. I went to most of the locations that I had been to on Wednesday to check codes and make sure there was a streamer on each one. I went to new control locations too. I had also gone to the remaining reflectors that I'd set out last fall. They were all there this time. I moved okay at a walking pace but a few times, I aggravated my right knee injury. One time was when trying to go up a steep slope. A few times were when my right foot got caught on something as I was walking forward. It hurt sharply each time. Going down or up steeper slopes got harder after that.

The forest was pretty good. Despite walking, I missed on 2 controls. Both involved approaches through long sections of saplings with no nearby attack point. Neither will be in a course planned for Saturday. Going earlier and having better light helped me do some map updates. Most of the updates had to do with vegetation changes. The saplings have grown and spread in most of the updates. I did get at least one more boulder. I found a new social trail too.

Great Falls, MD. I got out after work and it was already getting late when I left home. About half a mile away, I realized I'd not brought my roll of streamer, but I didn't want to waste any more time, so I didn't turn back. I had some markers. I both set controls and picked-up controls, often moving the ones I'd just picked-up. The controls being picked up were reflective, and had been out since last fall. They looked to be in good shape. Most of the streamers were gone. One reflective marker was gone too. I did some updating of the map as I went along on legs. There were several new trees down in the southern end of the map. Saplings had filled-in some places too. Despite cooler temperatures mosquitoes were out for a while. Though cool, it was rather humid and I sweat a bunch. I didn't finish, so I plan to be back.

I did try running a few times. The ground was soft. Paces mapped wet on the map were wet, and more. I was able to run okay but one time crossing a big log and jumping down, my right knee didn't like that. As it was getting darker and I was less able to do fine navigation, I decided to head in. I jogged an easy downhill section off trail and for some reason, I tweaked something in me left hamstring. It wasn't bad but trying to run some more didn't really work. Eventually I walked back and did so quickly. I even had another hiker just about behind me when our trails merged and both of us were pushing to get back. I left the parking lot at 8:32pm with a little more light in the sky, but not in the forest.

Blockhouse Conservation Park, Potomac, MD. Peggy whipped together 4 training courses on the old Blockhouse map that I first started field checking in 2006. I'd made some updates to the map over the years, but none of it was a comprehensive update. Much of the map held up okay, and the woods are generally nice for meteorological summer in this area. The old root stocks didn't hold up of course, and since this map was my first, there were many smaller things not quite right. There were too many dot knolls and some point features were not placed well, including some ditches and gullies. The GPS I use today is better than my watch, that I used to use for field checking; so some trails were not good. Though the base map was made with 5m contours, I never had finer detail so even some smaller reentrants and reentrant tops had an uncertain feel.

Though my right knee was feeling better today, I didn't run the training. I could still feel it enough to know better than to try. About 8 others came and ran. We went out to dinner in Potomac Village later. That was the first time eating out in a mixed group in a restaurant since March 2020. While people ran, I used the time to update the map. Peggy had told me of finding some new trails and it took almost all of this time to get GPS tracks on them. I did update a few point features, etc... I may come back some more over the summer since the woods are pretty open.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd., to Wilson Blvd., to Maiden Ln. to Whittier Blvd., to Wynkoop Blvd., Winston Dr., and Tone Dr., to River Rd., to Stardust Ln., to Redwing Rd., to Goldsboro Rd., to Massachusetts Ave., to the Capital Crescent Trail to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd., I went out for a short ride, trying to get it in before dinner and potential rain. There were a few sprinkles as I started but nothing after that. I was a little sore from riding the day before but that went away as I warmed-up. I tried to find a way down to MacArthur Blvd., but on Goldsboro Rd., the way was blocked by a rescue crew responding to an accident. I got in steep hills getting that far, then had another big hill climbing Massachusetts Ave. It felt like I was climbing most of this ride and my speed was slow too. When stopping my watch at a traffic light I didn't restart it correctly so my time is estimated.

From Northfield Rd., to Huntington Pkwy. to Irvington Ave., and McKinley St. to Bradmoor Dr., to Greentree Rd., to Fernwood Dr., to Democracy Blvd., to Rockledge Dr., to Rockspring Dr., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Tuckerman Ln. to Rockville Pike., to Beach Dr., to Connecticut Ave., to Jones Bridge Rd., to Rockville Pike., to Woodmont Ave., to Battery Ln., to Park Ln. to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. It's about time to start cycling again. I'd been working late a lot and some days there's been rain. The rain came late today so I rode. I wouldn't have been able to run. My right knee is hurting above and to the left of the knee cap. Sometimes it feels like the knee cap is injured and sometimes it feels like a hyper-extension. I don't recall hurting it at all on Sunday when I ran--only afterwards. I have to be careful going down stairs and it hurt both going down and up. I was able to cycle okay but on climbs it hurt too. I kept the pace comfortable and was happy to average above 15mph with the lax effort. Though I wore a cotton shirt, I hardly sweat. Though the ride was not long at all, it felt weird to ride a little longer; probably the longest this year.

QOC: Jug Bay, MD. I ran the Red course. It was fun and Gavin Weise had set it. Running Red was a questionable decision. Having made reservations long ago, we'd originally planned to have gone camping on this weekend; when it wasn't clear that there'd be a Beer Chase. The pull of addiction got to Peggy the most and she thought the hot weather would have been bad anyway, in the mountains. I thought otherwise. We've rescheduled the camping weekend. Another reason that running Red was questionable was that I've been injured and not training much. Having run well for months, and through the winter, my left knee has been bothering me since March. I'd gotten better a little by running mostly on dirt and grass, but earlier this week I'd pulled something in my right calf.

S-1 - The first beer went down well. Ted Good and a few others were faster guzzlers. I didn't study the map but had glanced at it. I didn't start immediately to take the road. but did after rounding the house. I paced myself. It was already hotter and more humid that I've been accustomed to. I trailed both Ted Good and David Onkst. Some others followed but most went the direct route. I left the road before David did, and I didn't see where Ted had. I saw Wyatt Riley and Ted Good going to #4. I goofed early, heading toward control #5. I realized it after checking a reentrant. Sort of back on track, I climbed out after crossing the creek and aimed. I missed to the right. Relocating by seeing the ditch end, I attacked again and hit it well. I probably lost 90 seconds or a little more overall. Ted indicated the control was possibly on the wrong dot knoll.

1-2 - Dennis Doherty had punched #1 ahead of me but he went off to the right. I cut left a little, ran to the big reentrant, and cut right, getting there before him.

2-3 - I crossed the big reentrant, and trailed Jan Merka and someone else. I gained ground and spiked it.

3-4 - Running fairly straight, I caught Jan and punched.

4-5 - I basically went straight and gained on others. I saw Peggy too. I wasn't sure which control she was going to, but maybe it was #2.

5-6 - I went into the reentrant and ran the flats intending to go up the large reentrant on my right. However, it was a little thicker in there than anticipated. I had trouble seeing the reentrant on my right and thought I might have passed it. I cut right to get up the hill and on the trail. I stayed with it to the bend around the first stream and attacked successfully from there. I found that I was behind Dennis Doherty again.

6-7 - I went straight and hit the control pretty well. The location seemed vague. I was expecting it a little earlier.

7-8 - Straight and spiked it.

8-9, 10, 11 - Out to the field, and to the transition controls. I headed toward the finish too but stopped myself before punching it. I got ahead of Dennis by drinking beer faster.

11-12 - Taking the forest route, I gained on someone while talking with Dennis who was behind me. I used my view of the barn to know how far to go but the control was visible from the trail anyway. It did seem just a tad bit early based on the relative position of the barn.

12-13 - I intended to go straight but the elephant trail through the tall grass drew me to the barn. From there it made sense to run up the road a little. I felt confident enough to navigate straight but knowing how setting controls on the marshes here can be hard due to a lack of cross reference features, It was safer not to risk a misplaced control. I left the road at the trail intersection, hit the first marsh, ran north up it to the end, then attacked and spiked the control on the second marsh--both marshes were dry. I thought I heard Dennis behind me at one point but never saw him again.

13-14 - I went straight at first, but aimed off to the left later. I gained on another guy, eventually catching and passing him by running on the ridge. It was longer on the ridge getting to the control than I'd expected but I spiked it.

14-15 - I went around the green on the right side, but came in early. The guy I'd seen at #14 had gone straight and we crossed paths. I dropped into the control ahead of him again.

15-16 - Straight, but using the mapped green to align a little, after crossing the road. In the end, I spiked it with the guy at 16 still close behind me.

16--To the Transition - Without my map, I can't recall the sequence but I pretty much spiked everything and basically went straight. Flies started biting my back from time-to-time. I saw Wyatt Riley finishing his 3rd loop as I was going to the barn.

21-22 - I got confused and was heading to #28. Figuring I needed to go to #22, I went toward the barn, and took trails to the bridge. I rounded the spur and ran/walked along the base of the hill. After this point the flies biting my back were more frequent. I started regularly swatting my back to shoe them away and relished going through low branches.

22-23 - Crossing the flat marsh, I climbed the spur. About 5 ft. up, I almost stepped on a good sized black snack who was wiggling as fast as he could to get away. Once up the spur, I mostly took trails to save energy. I cut corners to save distance. I'd interpreted the ditch for #23 as 2 dot knolls. I saw Vido and Diana heading the other direction. Hearing them later, I figured they were trying to relocate. I missed the ditch, saw a dot knoll, went to the field edge to relocate, and lined-up with the barn. Going back, I saw Vido and Diana again heading toward #24. I found it seconds later.

23-24. I went on the left side of the changed and unmapped vegetation (saplings that had grown-up since mapping was last done here. I spiked it but was slow.

24-25 - I went fairly straight but very soon after leaving #24, I saw Victor Lin. Victor trailed me to my left for a while but I got to the control first.

25-26 - After crossing the reentrant, I decided using the trails again was best since I was weak. Victor went straight. I cut a corner and hit the next trail at a good bend. I should have stopped when the trail took a sharp bend, but I kept going until I hit the next big reentrant. I came back along the drop off and found the control. I probably lost +1 minute; it was just being fatigued.

26 - 27 I kept low initially crossing the marsh, I climbed out on the line and kept straight a while. I aimed off left a bit and followed the streamside to the control.

27-28 - Straight, emerging very close to the barn to spike the control.

28-29-30 - I was good getting to the transition but someone passed me on the beer split. I think he'd run Green.

After getting some water hose spray and drinking fluids, I enjoyed hanging out and seeing people's faces again. There was a breeze much of the time but the sun moved our shade away. Peggy had been in for a long while and had eaten too before she felt sick. Laying back on the grass, she passed-out and threw-up. It was likely heat exhaustion. She cooled off in Dave and Peggy's house but seemed to recover pretty well.

I was glad that I'd finished okay. It was harder than past Beer Chases for me. While sitting around I noticed that my right knee was hurting. I don't recall doing anything to it. I guess it was just a physical day for me. I think I'll be okay and not have 2 bad knees. I was more glad that my right calf didn't hurt too much. I did take it easier on the hills so as not to hurt it more. Pausing now and then probably helped too.

Red - Splits

From Bradley Blvd., I ran southward on the Cabin John Trail, and turned around at River Rd. To get similar miles to what I'd run previous, I ran west on Bradley Blvd. 3 telephone poles to the base of the hill. It was 86 F; cooler than around our house. I ran slowly and cautiously. Mostly this was a test run for tomorrow. I almost went running both of the last 2 days but thought it best to give my right calf more rest. I was certainly feeling it today so I probably did the right thing by not running then. I felt the injury more when going uphill. I walked going uphill in a few spots. After 1.6 miles, I felt more warmed up and less pain but I did also feel my left knee. There were lots of people and some animals outside. On the trail there were telltale small round holes from the cicadas. What I couldn't determine was whether these were emergence holes, or holes that they were burrowing back into the ground in, to hide another 17 years.

Glen Echo, MD. From the Lock 7 parking lot, towards the C&O Canal Towpath, but into the trails along the river. The sound of cicadas here was very screeching, and contrasted a lot with the whir sound heard most other places. I headed northwest using unfamiliar trails and the towpath, but trails wherever I could to the top of Lock 8, then I turned around. Making a similar selection of trails and the towpath, even going out and back on the same dead end that I'd found on the way out (apparently called Cedar Island), I got within sight of Lock 7, and took one last trail. This one got me onto one of the intermittent islands (apparently called Cabin John Island) for a nice loop and almost an extra mile. I crossed one of several dry stream beds to get there. The trails were fun but they were starting to get overgrown in some places. After the loop, I returned to Lock 7 and finished at the parking lot. I think there might be more trails to explore on a taller accessible semi-island near Lock 7 (apparently called Chatauqua Island). On average, the trails I ran today were more scenic than the trails south of Lock 7. Though along the river, they were in rocky sections where multiple semi-islands separated the main current.

A little more than a quarter mile before getting to Lock 8, on an almost flat and soft section of trail, I tweaked my right calf. There was no reason for it. It follows a pattern of calf pulls that I've had in Spring seasons before. Now I have my left knee and right calf slowing me down. I stopped but decided to keep going at a slower pace. It actually felt pretty good later but I did have to walk on steeper and rocky sections to keep from doing more harm. I also needed a bathroom for the last half of this run. Besides these things and missing dinner with the family, this was a pretty nice outing and I'm glad to be able to take advantage of the longer days.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. From the playground parking lot off Tuckerman Rd., I went to the northern end of the park on the flatter trails along the east side the creek. On the way back, I crossed the creek, but the usual sandbar had been displaced. I went further up the trail to a better crossing that got me across dry, but the only way out was through a deep gully that I'd mapped several years ago. With walls 10-12ft. high, I had to go along it a ways before finding a way out. Even then, I had to climb on a partly slippery side and use exposed roots that I could just barely reach after stepping up. Emerging, I surprised another runner on the trail. I passed him and 2 women runners further down the trail as I ran the western side of the park to Tuckerman Rd. In the central section of the park I headed up on the trail parallel to the power lines, and past the kiddie train. It was around 70 F and I didn't feel very strong. I was sore again. There were not a lot of people in the park. I did some shopping afterward.