Training Log Archive: Nadim

I spent the morning cleaning house, decorated the house for Halloween, then carved pumpkins after a late lunch.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. It was a long week and I was tired. We had a nice dinner out and it was on Peggy!

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. The ground was wet and it had plenty of leaves so I rode more slowly to keep safe.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark.

I had a doctor appointment today so I worked from home. From Northfield Rd., to Bethesda Triangle for lunch and some quick shopping, then back home to work.

10 situps. I was busy today so a run didn't work. My heel felt much better than it did the night before--that was pretty painful. A recovery day is probably good. I only did a few situps since I'm not really sure what they'll do to my back. I'd stayed away from that kind of strain. I'll take this slow.

Prince William Forest, VA. From Pine Grove, I jogged to the start of the Blue course. Heidi and Virginia were behind me for part of the time.

QOC: Prince William Forest, VA. I was starting pretty late and was in danger of not finishing before the course closing.

The first leg had an unexpected problem with a cabin area on the route becoming out-of-bounds since another group was using it. I took the trails around to the left. In retrospect, crossing the creek would have been better but I didn't want to get my feet wet.

That same thought set me off to the road route for #2. I eventually left the road following an intermittent trail most of the way to the control. I cut left at the end of it when if I'd read it better, I would have cut right. David Onkst was just leaving it and he'd started ahead of me. However, as I discovered later, David headed off on an unexpected direction, away from the next control.

I moved for the roads again. Reaching them, a combination of roads, cut throughs and more trails got me to #3. It was greener getting up the hill than expected.

For #4, I went fairly straight. I climbed over the earthbank from below to get to the control. I slowly dropped to the valley criss -rossing the streams to get into the right reentrant for #5.

I went straightish for #6 and landed in the right reentrants again.

Legs 4, 5 and 6 were slow and hilly but they did take some concentration. I followed the side of the reentrant to get to #7 and along the way, I saw David Onkst again, making his way up toward #6.

For #8, I used the road and stayed to the right after crossing the creek. I was happy to spike it.

I sort of dog-legged back to avoid steep climbs as I headed toward #9.
I got on the trail along the main creek and followed that past the road. Along the way, I noted how the trail had been re-routed just before the road. My heel/arch had been hurting for a while by this point but added to that, I was becoming tired. I ate a Gu. I did cut across some of the trail bends efficiently however at a point that I'd intended to leave the trail, I changed my mind. It looked greener than mapped so I decided to stay on the trail much further--in retrospect, that was a mistake. Once I attacked from a trail intersection some deadfall pushed me left and hitting the stream with the control, I turned more left when I should have turned right. I didn't lose too much time.

I crossed on the suspension bridge for #10 and remembered the area from when I was vetting and doing map updating for the 2007 US Championships.

I moved slowly but fairly straight to #11; I cut left around most of the green areas and read my way across pretty well to spike that.

The last part of the course was where the Sprint Championships were held in 2007 and I'd done spring map updates throughout--these weren't on the map we were using. I spiked all of the controls except #13, by going fairly straight to each. I had just gotten a little past #13 before crossing a reentrant but realized it right away. I was dismayed by having to drop down to #17 when so close to the finish. I was moving rather slowly by this point.

After punching #18, I did a 180 briefly but when I got on track, the original QOC founders were finishing-up going the other direction--nice to see all of these people who started something (QOC has as good a claim to being the first orienteering club in the US as does DVOA) affecting thousands.

I felt like I was running better today and perhaps continuing to get stronger again. My right heel/arch hurt a lot afterward. One more casualty was the continued destruction of my Garmin 310. The top had gotten pulled-off at Patuxent when I was course setting there. I ran with it open a few times. Today, the display fell out. Oddly, it still worked as evidenced by the beep every I got every mile. I have to push on the circuit board to start/stop and take laps or clear it.

Blue - Splits

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was around 57 F this morning. I felt a bit weaker than normal for riding in but there were headwinds. My late start probably was a factor in seeing fewer riders.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I flew out of the office, hitting the traffic lights just right and getting up to the little bridge where the Tidal Basin empties out into the Potomac River in just under 3 and a half minutes. However, after that I hit headwinds going to Georgetown, and some traffic once there too. On the CCT, I kept a steady pace, gearing down to try to keep up my cadence. I felt slow but finished faster than I had anticipated. Maybe hitting the remaining traffic intersections near Bethesda in a good way helped. I had been lugging some extra weight with my work laptop. Once home, Max and I went out again and saw The Martian with some friends. We all enjoyed that.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I had planned to run but ended up working late.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark.

I was a little sore from running the Highlander, but not as much as expected.

Event: Hudson Highlander XVIII
 

HVO: Hudson Highlander XVIII: Harriman State Park, NY. I had a lot of worries going into this. A huge lack of training and coming off of an injury was at the top of that list. I must admit some intimidation at not having run a Hudson Highlander in 4 years. The technical terrain and somewhat difficult to read map of Surebridge Mountain, the map of the first loop and also the longish trail run leg, was also intimidating. Once started, it took me a while to get used to reading it (I was fairly busy this week before the event so the only look at the map that I had was when David Onkst shared it with me the night before). Fortunately, I was able to dial it back a bit by planning to do the run with Peggy and Bernie. All 3 of us had ailments. They always are good company too.

On the Surebridge Mountain loop, we picked-up a few others running with or around us. We followed the trail up to the top of the mountain for #1. We fell off route a bit to the right going to #2 and had to climb back to the ridge. At the Time Square intersection, none of us saw the nice flatter route to the left :(. Bernie and I spiked #3 swinging to the right a bit. We spiked #4 too, coming over, then down just a tiny bit to the control. Control #5 was one that I was intimidated by. I Bernie and Peggy suggested the trail route to the right. I lost place of where we were more than a few times. They pulled us right to it. I had some similar confusion on #6. The rest on the Surebridge map, #7, #8, #9, were fairly straightforward. We did pass some cadets along the way.

The trail run back was fine. Rocky though it was, we moved steadily. There were a few times when whomever was leading (me at least once) missed a trail bend so we doubled back very short distances. At the end of it (6.7K?), we took our time at the aid station.

On the Rockhouse map, I led getting to # #11. Approaching from below, the actual area still didn't seem to be what I expected but we lost no time. Going to #12, I swung right a little to get higher and above what looked like greener terrain. We soon regrouped and saw a few of the faster runners getting close to finishing the map. I led on and spiked the control. Reading the vegetation helped. Going to #13, I had intended a straighter route, punching through the green on the ridge, and droping into the control down the reentrant. After the snow shower (Graupel was technically what fell), I stopped for a nature break. the group chose the left route down the long white reentrant so I moved to catch-up and did. The map showed some age with the green extending further so when we cut right, we were below the control closer to the marsh. Bernie figured this out and set us on the right direction and I saw the control about 150m off. For #14, we went down the alley between the green, then left on the trail. I wanted to use the trails to the right for #15 but we chose the intermittent trail that appeared to punch through the green on the left. The unfortunate part of that was that it didn't quite punch through and ended up being a slow route. Phil Bricker got ahead of us again there. We took the trail to the marsh north of #12, on the way to #16. I saw #12 as we passed it and we spiked the control. We dropped low early for #17. Control #18 didn't quite turn out to be what I thought but Bernie was leading there. At the aid station we again took our time and got a report on Max, who was already doing some burger grilling.

Peggy took off first, followed by a West Point woman who'd stuck with us since early on Surebridge. Bernie was not interested in running at first (he'd been recovering all summer from Lyme disease). We eventually caught up at #20. We passed Phil Bricker again at around #24. I led us into #25 and spiked that. Along the way, we passed Tori Campbel going the other way, and we also figured out our route to #31. I got a bit mixed-up going a hybrid route from the group to #26 but we didn't lose any time. We spiked #27 but Peggy got a little low going to #28. We hit #29 well. The misalignment of the north/south lines with the paper got me off bearing when leading to #30, but Bernie straightened us out. At the water stop on the way to #31, Phil Bricker passed us--he'd been carrying water on his back. After the dam, and going into the cabin area, we caught him. He was going a straighter route. Something in the trails there seemed a bit off so I got a little high too, but to the right of Phil. The group wanted to take the trail, so they quietly pulled me over. It was faster. We got into the control ahead of Phil, moving at a slower effort level, by about 40 seconds. We doubled back but there was confusion a the power lines. We eventually got onto the right trail but Phil was close behind. I expected him to catch up but that was the last time we saw him. We hit the road briefly before cabin hopping our way up to the reentrant that led into #31. We went straight to the road and I dopped back so we'd finish together. Jessica, the West Point woman who'd been with us nearly the whole way, pulled ahead. No matter, it was a fun outing and we were all just glad to finish. It was less a race for us than an experience. For Peggy and Bernie, and the rest of the Fab 5 who've done every Highlander that'd been run, the streak continues.

My right heel/arch had hurt most of the way through this run. It started hurting somewhere about the start of the trail run. I was partly surprised that it didn't get worse along the way. Taking an easier pace might have been part of the reason for that. I didn't feel so wiped-out at the end of the run like I have felt in earlier Highlanders. Additionally, unlike other Highlanders, I never cramped in this one, and I had to take more nature breaks.

I took some photos and short videos along the way. They are posted here:
https://youtu.be/LjgQEsDHaZ0

Harriman State Park. From Kanawauke Circle to the start of the Hudson Highlander on the Surebridge map.

HL - Splits

Germantown, MD. From the Germantown Soccerplex, to Hoyles Mill Rd., and back. While Max's team put on a score rally in the second half to win the game, I missed it. I was running out the Hoyles Mill Trail.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I hit the traffic lights well leaving the station so I pushed a bit.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I carried home dinner.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 51 F this morning and unlike other days as cool or warmer, this time 51 F, felt just fine to me. I had on about the same clothes so I must be getting more used to the cooler weather. I passed someone on Little Falls Rd. I think he and a few others I'd passed fell in line behind me. I kept a smooth and fairly steady pace. Someone finally passed me in Georgetown. I slowed a bit along Ohio Dr. and the rest of the way into the office.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I got started at just before 6pm but I ran into early traffic. There were significant headwinds getting into Georgetown, then again as I neared Bethesda. I tried to keep my level of effort down but I still got tired. My back still hurt some today (not while riding), but not as much as the day before. I felt it more when bending down.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C. From between 14th & Independence Ave., SW, down Independence Ave., to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial circle, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. It was raining lightly in the first mile. I wasn't running fast but it felt like one of the better runs for me this year.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I was a little cold from having clothes still damp from the sweat of running.

From Northfield Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. and back. Peggy and I had a conference to go to. Earlier in the day, I had moved some heavy boxes of tile around and done some asphalt work which also involved lifting some heavy bags. My back hurt more than it has in a while afterward though it's not clear how much of that was from the day before.

Fall Short Series, Washington, D.C. Gary Smith had been putting together an orienteering map of Washington., D.C. for a few months and today he was able to share it with us. It was a pretty nice map and it made for a fun day. It was 1:5,000 map and we did a score-o. Coincidentally making it more complicated, there was the Army Ten Miler going on at the same time, and the Taste of D.C. being setup. Both events caused the closing-off major roads (parts of Independence Ave., and Constitution Ave.) and these weren't even crossable by the orienteers on foot. These obstacles didn't mess up things too much since the score-o didn't cross the Ten Miler route, and there was some room to get around the Taste-of-D.C. by going off map half a block. There was another obstacle that got me; one of the sculpture gardens used for control sites was not to open until 45 minutes after we'd started. I was pretty familiar with most of the areas that we had gotten to but I just forgot about the time constraint which Gary had warned about. I ended up going to that sculpture garden, then having to return later. I ran and orienteered well enough though I was not quite ready at the start due to settling the kids (Gary watched Samantha--she and Max rode the Carosel which is right next to where we started/the same carousel location that I rode when I was a kid younger than them). Right after starting I had gotten to the first sculpture garden and gotten 2 controls, then went back for my eyeglasses. I saw orienteers scattered about. Dave Onkst and I ran some legs close to each other until I had made the mistake of going to the sculpture garden too early (Dave was running faster than I). At least one tourists who had been sitting near a control site (most were statues which we were not marked and we were not to touch any of them, being on our honor to just get close), cheered me on as she saw me and probably others running up with a map. The weather was perfect for this--sunny and in the upper 50s F starting out, then warmer in our 1 hour time limit. The event was well attended, around 20 or so. Several of us got all of the controls. My back hurt some after this.

After the training, we got lunch, then visited the Natural History Museum. Max was surprising drawn to the gem and mineral exhibit (he remembered the Hope Diamond from a school field trip), while Samantha was drawn to the mammal exhibit. I think they both liked using the trains too. Even later in the day, I spent a couple of hours doing yardwork. My right heel/arch hurt throughout the post orienteering activities though it didn't when I was running the score-o.

Event: UNO Boulder Dash
 

From Northfield Rd., Jefferson St. to Madison St., to Grant St., to Southwick St., to Old Georgetown Rd., to W. Cedar Ave., to the Elmhirst Pkwy., to the playground near the Cedar Ave., and Beach Dr. intersection, then Beach Dr. to Connecticut Ave., to Parson Rd., to Spring Valley Rd., to Jones Bridge Rd., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail on the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd., to Park Ln., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. Samantha wanted to go for a ride so we did; me towing her. She pedaled but it wasn't very noticeable for most of the time. We enjoyed the nice sunny weather. We had made a stop at the playground In Rock Creek Park before getting going again. I stayed on Beach Dr. rather than use the trail since it had rained recently but as we rode, I did see the new pavement on the trail which both took the bumps out of it and also raised it to be above most of the mud. I would have gone further but we were running out of time. We had to get back for Max's soccer game, and my mom's birthday celebration.

I worked hard and long today, like all week. By the time I got home with dinner, it was time for family movie night and rest. At least this time I hadn't dragged my backpack along under the illusion or hope that I might run after work again.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I felt okay starting off. As I hit the CCT, I was right behind another rider who was about my speed. I stayed behind him through to the sewage treatment plant, then I returned the pull all the way into Georgetown. I kept up the cadence and effort. I realized it'd be about the fastest that I've ridden into work this year, so I continued the effort. The conditions were pretty good with no wind and a temperature of about 56 F starting out. There was some fog.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I had avoided it all year (partly by not bicycling to work as many days) but I finally let myself get locked-into the courtyard. I just had too much happening at work and needed to get it out before leaving. I rode pretty well but got slowed coming through Georgetown. As I passed Fletcher's Boathouse, another guy whom I've ridden behind earlier this year passed me quickly. A second guy passed soon after. He didn't look very fast and was possibly older than I, but I kept up pace behind him. It turned out that half a mile later he pulled-off. I got slower in the last few miles. I was a little tired from the ride in the morning. It was dusk when I got home and Max, who had been leading a group of neighborhood kids on a ride, had just finished at the same time.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I had planned on running after work but work didn't end soon enough.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 45 F just before I started. I felt like I was going to be cold so I wore removable arm sleeves. After a quarter mile I was feeling pretty good. I didn't feel particularly strong. I slowed on the few climbs that there were. However, I did keep passing people all the way into Georgetown. One guy I'd passed started drafting off of me while hanging back a ways. I was sweaty as usual by the time I got to work.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was around 51 F. I had thought about riding into work but it seemed cold--I guess it was just the darkness. I also can use more running training. My right heel to arch area hurts while walking. While this has been the case after doing runs or orienteering since July, it has usually gone away a couple of hours later. This was hurting since racing on Saturday. It can be quite sharp sometimes.

From the Woodley Park Metro Station in Washington, D.C., to the National Zoo via Connecticut Ave., down the Olmstead Way to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Melvin Hazen Trail, to Connecticut Ave., to the Van Ness UDC Metro Station. I felt like I was moving okay on this hilly run. The initial climb felt better than I had been feeling on the run when I did a lot recent cycling. I guess the rest helped. As I got to the Rock Creek Trail, another runner converged on my path and showed me how slow I was going by moving past pretty easily. I didn't feel too bad. I continued to run okay even going up the long climb on the Melvin Hazen Trail. I ran all of it but parts that were too rooted while being steep. The climb continued on Connecticut Ave., until a block before the end of the run and I worked-up a pretty good sweat on this cool evening. As I finished, a guy was blowing bubbles at people entering and going into the metro station while a musician played for money.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I had cooled-off and some of my sweaty t-shirt had begun to dry already, by the time I rode home.

Warm-up for the O-In the Pines EMPO meet. I jogged from the parking lot to the start. Peggy had walked Max to his start earlier.

EMPO: O-In The Pines, on the new Pineridge map, near Greenbush, NY.

I started calmly, hesitating for a second while passing the first intersection. I was getting into reading the map. It was a pleasant start but didn't take much navigation. I went in from just past a trail bend and could have gone further. I just didn't want to risk missing the control.

I had been gaining ground on another runner who was ahead of me when leaving #1. I passed him just as he paused before entering the woods. I thought there'd be more of a reentrant going into the stream valley than there was. I had to keep forcing myself to run since I didn't see the control until the very end. This was another rather easy control. It setup the big contrast on the next leg.

I left #2 a bit in a hurry so that the guy behind me didn't pass me. I ran up the stream until it gave out, then went straight. I knew that I wanted to get to the trails on the right eventually. I should have forced myself to suck it up early because I could have run on the trails fast and for a longer time. As it was, I had drifted right or maybe aimed-off. I crossed a ridge where I should have turned left. Eventually I hit a marsh and went to a boulder with a control at the edge of it. I realized where this was but it still took me some time once I got to the correct ridge. When I didn't find it immediately on the ridge, I wondered how I'd relocate but other runners came by and I looked in the right direction to minimize the error.

For #4, I started cautiously going straight. Eventually I used an intermittent trail that took me just to the right of the control. I cut off that at an intermittent trail intersection which was a bit short of the control.

For #5, I went straight again but less cautiously. I started to loose count of the ridges that I'd crossed. However, as I dropped down to go around a boulder, it turned-out to be mine!

For #6, I went straight getting into the correct rocky reentrant. It seemed a long way to the control so I had to force myself to keep moving.

For #7, I should have looked more for the trail options. As it was, I went straight. I successfully read my way across all of the trail intersections and hit the reentrant before the control just where I'd wanted. After crossing the stream, I adjusted a bit to the right of where the control was but I still feel that I'd spiked the control. 2 other people were in the area and one had just punched before me. The route choice made such a difference that despite spiking the control, AttackPoint calculated 47 seconds of error.

For #8, I wizened-up ant took trails on the left side. This was quick. I saw Linda Cohen, Mr. Porter, and a few others leaving the control as I left the trail to attack.

When going to #9, I reversed my path leaving #8 and cut left at the 3 way trail intersection. I had a hard time reading the intermittent knoll that was to be along the trail. I cut it a bit early so as to not miss the control.

For #10, I thought about using the trail but it seemed too slow to have to climb up. I just ran straight.

For #11, I ran around the green to the left. Another couple of runners were converging.

For #12, I watched the other runners at #11 leave, then decided to take the road. I worried about things being out of bounds but they weren't marked on the map as such. I was going to minimize being close to the house but trying to cut in before the pond didn't look to be passable. I backed out and went past the house as another runner was doing the same.

The other runner at #12 was a cadet and was still just ahead of me. As we ran down the hill toward #13 on the ride, he pulled away but in doing so he passed the control. As he cut left it save me from having to do the same.

For #14, I ran around the green a bit on the right side.

For #15, I got to the road, getting there just behind the cadet who took a straighter but slower route.

For the road crossing to #16, I reasoned that I was warmed-up and reading the map fairly well. I jogged slowly across the road, knowing that the time would be subtracted. I didn't see any need to pause as that might just stiffen me up. I reminded the cadet to punch both controls

For #17, I was ahead of the cadet and closing in on a young woman. I passed her on the climb on roads. It was hard for me to read the trails but I recognized the boulders near the end, the saw the control too. It was lower than I had thought it be because I hadn't read the trails going as high as they did.

For #18, I contoured across, staying mostly below and on the edge of the rocky ground. I got on the trail at the end, crossing the strange u-shaped bend.

I was a bit overcautious leaving #19. I wanted to make sure not to have to pass and climb back to the control as much as I'd wanted to make sure I had the correct bearing. I realized part way down that the control was on the trail at the bottom of the reentrant.

For the finish, I had trouble reading the detail, I started off correctly but backed out to go around to the left. It didn't seem like I'd lost much time but I guess that was time trying to read the map.

I enjoyed the course and was happy about having few errors. As I saw other times come in I realized that I needed to focus more on the routes on this course.

Sunday - Long Green - Splits

Event: "O" in the Pines A meet
 

EMPO: O-In The Pines, on the new Pineridge map, near Greenbush, NY. This was some fairly tricky terrain. It was very rocky and hence hard to run through. The people who did best on this Middle Distance course figured out how to use the trails to their advantage. There were a lot of ski trails and some snowshoe trails that were only marked with blazes (nothing on the ground indicated there being a trail there. I started okay spiking #1.

Going to #2, when a trail I was following gave out unexpectedly, I missed and got too high. At least I corrected quickly.

Going to #3, I had drifted too low and ran into parallel features which didn't seem to be mapped. I wandered low, then got up to the right height, only I was just short of the control, again in somewhat parallel features. I saw Tim Parsons come through and hunt around before I went to relocate--I didn't want to follow him, and we were just a tiny distance away from seeing the control. I relocated on a snowshoe trail, and then went right to the control. It still didn't seem like the contours in the area matched-up. Neither Tim, nor I could see the saddle shape that the depression was supposed to be located in.

For #4, I went straight and spiked it.

For #5, I went a little bit off to the right, then curled around to the left after the little ridge. A few people were converging and I gained ground, passing some.

For #6, I went straight. Another guy was ahead of me initially but I passed him and turned left on the trail a little bit, to reset my bearing. I felt good about reading a boulder on my route just before starting to descend. I landed right into the reentrant that I was looking for.

For #7, I went straight across the marsh (nicest and softest moss to run across for the entire course), then straight over the hilltop. I walked my way up but ran the top and down. The attack from high up was easier. I had also reasoned that I'd just be moving too slow to go around, while increasing the risk factor of missing.

For #8, I ran straight and was doing good until I got distracted by the very large boulder off to the right, a little before the control. Several of those I'd talked with afterward thought that the boulder that had been a distraction was mapped incorrectly in that it should have been a much bigger symbol on the map.

For #9, I went straight and spiked it.

For #10, I again went straight. I used the reentrant in the green to attack from--I had come up along the edge of it. The control was visible a long way off.

For #11, I was fairly hesitant. It seemed that I was climbing too much (the map showed 2 contours). I had crested the hill and was right on target when I saw Jon Torrance descending on my left. He got to the control just before I did, and I was surprised that I was so right on target when I'd been so hesitant.

For #12, I went straight but perhaps got a little too far to the left. I cut left just before cresting a rise because I saw another control to my left, up the hill. That cost me time.

For #13, I descended but was a little to the left. At least I stopped at the right distance. As I cut right, someone descended and got there before I did.

I went straight toward #14, chasing the guy who'd passed me at #13.

For the Go control I went down the trail. I was a little unsure of things and while trying to chase the guy ahead of me, I was reluctant to pause to take a good look at the map. I took the right fork in the trail and it would have been quicker going straight (to the left over the small rise).

Saturday - Middle Green - Splits

I kind of had a week off. I'd been cycling and keeping-up my training pretty well since mid-August. I didn't plan to do anything on the Monday 28th, but after that, I was thwarted by rain (from early bands of hurricane Joaquin, several days in advance), or work or things at home. I suppose it's not a bad thing to do this once in a rare while. On Friday, when the rain and winds that'd been falling or threatening to fall all week had gotten worse, Peggy, the kids and I drove up to NY for the EMPO A-meet.