Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was in the low to mid 40s F. There was a headwind just about everywhere else but near the Kennedy Center. Like Monday, I just cruised trying to keep it easy.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to the Bethesda Metro Station, then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I worked my way through the traffic which is probably still higher due to tourist trying to see the cherry tree blossoms. There was a pretty good tailwind or the winds were neutral until I got to MacArthur Blvd. For a while there was a headwind but that abated. In a departure from my usual route, I stopped in downtown Bethesda to pickup dinner on the way home. Carrying it back was a little slow since my backpack was already full.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Wisconsin Ave. to Battery Ln. where I paused for an appointment, then to Cedar Ln., to the Elmhirst Trail., to the Rock Creek Trail, to Kensington Pkwy. to Connecticut Ave., to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Woodmont Ave., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was in the upper 50s F. and a pretty nice night for running. I didn't feel that good starting out, but after pausing and getting going again I was fine. I think not being concerned about how fast I was running had much to do with that. I'm not used to this distance yet and still tired from bicycling on Monday, which I'm also not used to doing. The distance was a little bit longer than I was thinking it would be but that was okay. I was tired enough where running on flat ground didn't feel that much easier than going up a hill.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I took it easy as a warm down from running.

Working late and evening plans spelled doom for working out today.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. This was my first ride all of the way into work this year. I think I last rode in on 12/2.2016. I was a little tired from the weekend workouts and my right hip area was a little sore. Today it was damp and the closer I got to DC, the thicker the fog was. It started out at 45 F. I kept a steady pace, not pushing. I did get passed by a woman after I hit the flats, but I passed her back without any more effort. I just upped my cadence. The Cherry Blossom Trees along West Potomac Park were blooming well, despite the recent freezing temperatures. Ohio Dr. had been shifted to one-way traffic and I was riding against it--there were few cars and all of them stayed to the right anyway.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. As usual, I was very close to getting locked-in the courtyard where I lock-up. I got out into a good deal of traffic. Rush hour traffic was amplified by tourists there to see the Cherry Blossoms. I saw them at lunch time and it seemed that there was hardly any frost damage. I was rather glad that I sucked it up and rode all the way to work today. I did have to weave my way around both auto and pedestrian traffic at the Jefferson Memorial. I did pretty well getting through it. I hit more traffic along the river at the Kennedy Center where there are no cherry trees, and again in Georgetown. Crew rowers were hauling shells back onto trucks and blocking a bridge to the the waterfront. Once through Georgetown, it was a complete reversal. There were relatively few cyclists or runners. It seemed strange since there were so many riders joining the trail in the morning. I cruised alone focusing on keeping my pace manageable, and no one passed me.

Event: QOC McKeldin
 

Patapsco State Park, McKeldin Area. I warmed-up from the parking lot to the rest rooms and the start.

QOC: Patapsco State Park, McKeldin Area. I hadn't read through the notes and we were a bit late arriving. I thought about doing the Green course along with the Memory-O but Peggy convinced me otherwise (to do Brown), with the kids being with us and it being cold.

I felt pretty well starting out. Sleeping well probably helped. I spiked the first few controls. #1 was physical and I went though the forest instead of using the road. I went straight at #2 and was right on the line going over the ridge at an intersection. I came down and was still going well as I nearly caught some others. I was still chasing them on the short leg across the road. We'd done close versions of leg #4 many times. I took the trail and went a little lower than a faster guy. I seemed to hold my ground or gain on him.

For #5, I contoured around the hill and reentrant to get right to the road corner. I went in from there and recognized the green area. Going around it, I spiked the control.

For #6, I went straight. On the drive up, I could see others running here and figured that the road might be a good option. I didn't bother though it might have saved me time. I stopped one reentrant early. The leg line obscured some of a key contour and I couldn't read it until I stopped for a while. The low vegetation on the map was also not so bad as it seemed to be mapped. Finding a deer trail helped. Once over the last hill I found the control in the reentrant a little higher than I was.

For #7, I again stayed in the forest. I spied the ruin to my right, and read the control description to know the control was inside.

For #8, I went left, climbing the dirt road. It seemed that the control was placed further right and that cost me a little time.

For #9, after getting into the areas, I saw Peggy and another guy running toward me. The control wasn't visible. I ran past them and started fumbling too. My glasses fogged-up. I read the contours on the ridge above us and concluded I was in the right place without seeing it. Meanwhile, Peggy had circled back. She was closer to the ridge than and she saw it first.

For #10, I passed Peggy and ran on bearing. Though the control looked to be in the middle of a black blob with my foggy glasses, the control description said, it'd be placed on the far side. I kept right of my bearing to not get hung-up in the rocks too soon and climbed. I saw boulders I think I've been to several times before and saw it there above me.

Going to #11, I angled the hillside starting out. Getting on trails, I climbed the ridge and went down the reentrant on the other side. I found remnants of the trail but couldn't see anything from the trail intersection. Once the creek took a bend, I began to climb. I was low at the end, but could see it above, between some boulders.

I ran straight toward #12, passing Chris Gross as I climbed. I read the contours getting to the edge of the forest and kept my bearing going down. I could see Patti Mace coming across the hillside from my right. I spiked it.

For #13, I ran down to the trail along the river, then stayed mostly on trails until just past the bend south of the control. I got as far as the depression and cut back to the right. Chris Gross had been coming from above again and I didn't know he was going for the same control as our paths crossed. I was too far left, thinking that the control lined-up with the trail that I'd run up, but I had read that incorrectly. Not seeing anything where I was headed, I had been able to see Chris get to it, so I pursued.

Going to the finish, I watched Chris far ahead but kept to a similar straight route. If he hadn't been there, I probably would have taken the trail. I walked some, but managed to run and pickup speed in the fields.

QOC: Patapsco State Park, McKeldin Area. Memory-O: I started after Peggy did. Immediately, I was having difficulty adjusting to the map. I kept being naturally inclined to hold 180 degrees off, and when I turned it back, I kept losing my place. The start triangle line seemed thin to me and was obscured by other stuff being under it. I thought I had it right and put the map down, then, then I needed to read it again. I finally got going and chose to go around all the low vegetation, then come in along the vegetation boundary. I saw it from far away but lost it when I got closer.

For #2, it was an easier leg, and I was familiar with the location, from other events. #3 was straightforward too. I gained on a woman in front of me and didn't pass her until after hitting #4,and plunging into the woods near #5. I used the boulder to get to #5, but didn't go all the way to the boulder. Peggy was just leaving when I got there.

I climbed back to the road going toward #6. It was more climb than I expected, but fast once over the top. I was having trouble remembering the location. Anne Jepsen was in the area and seemed to go over the ridge than in the middle of it. Peggy came in on my right and was higher. I recalled enough to get further along the ridge and to the control.

For #7, I knew the high route would be a little longer but I thought it'd be faster than making my way down the steep hill to the trail along the river. I thought going down an open spur would be faster. As I got near the trail, I could see Peggy ahead. I passed her after leaving the trail and climbing the reentrant to the control.

For #8, I climbed the spur toward the trail and got further ahead of Peggy. She climbed up the reentrant where it was less steep but I had my doubts about my route when I looked back and couldn't see her. I climbed the correct hill on the trail most of the way and turned off just before the top to spike it.

For #9, I kept to the trail until getting to the field. From there I attacked and spiked it.

For the finish, I fumbled a bit indecisively but ultimately got to the road and in.

Brown - Splits

Memory - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to Hampden Ln. in Bethesda. I towed Samantha while Peggy rode along. We ate lunch and it was in the low 70s F.

From Hampden Ln. in Bethesda, to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Moorland Ln. to Wilson Ln. to Hampden Ln. to Charlcote Rd., to Northfield Rd. After lunch, Samantha, Peggy and I took the long way back.

From Heartwood Dr., I started on field-checking the flatter parts of North Branch Park. It was slow going initially. I had to re-walk a couple of things with my GPS tracking it. I had also gotten off to a not so good start due to the area being really flat and close to the edge of what I'd printed. I did not know exactly where I was starting from. I got a lot of stuff onto paper and then realized that what I had drawn was really further north. The flat ground did turn out to have more in it than I expected. I found a pond that had been hidden by trees, several ditches, an old road bed, and an old ruin. The imagery wasn't that old but didn't show a lot of saplings where it looked like it was open ground. Where the contours were subtle, there were some boulders and stony ground. In the middle of the time I was there, I ran on a paved trail which I discovered was being built, the last time I was there. I ran it to the end. It mostly went near the edge of the park which was good but they had put up signs about the area off trail being a conservation area where foot travel was prohibited. It's not clear if that was just for areas near where they constructed the trail since the park didn't have a conservation label tacked to it that I'm aware of. I got into some areas where successionary forest is growing. Some of it was nice and some of it very thick. Some boulders and a sort of broken rock wall were found along the edges of the old trails which are disappearing--they were probably pushed/pulled there when the area was farmed long ago.

North Fork Park, MD. In the middle of field checking, I ran mostly out and back on segments of a new paved trail. There were a few side trails going to a school and neighborhood houses. I stopped for a while, then walked with a couple, talking about the park and the trail.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was cold again.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

A planned run didn't materialize. I had to get home early and pickup Samantha since Peggy was stranded when her car got broke into at Carderock.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I had a tailwind.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Woodmont Ave. to Battery Ln. to Park Ln., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. It had gotten cold again and there was a headwind most of the way.

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 58 F starting out, and still sunny. I had teleworked and I was glad to have been able to fit-in a run.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Event: QOC Wheaton
 

QOC: Wheaton Regional Park, MD. I ran the Green course. I had been volunteering with beginner instruction from 10:40 until about 1pm so I felt I didn't have time to do a longer course. Besides that, I was tired from my little run the day before, and I was planning to do control pickup. I'm pretty familiar with the park and the map since I did the last major map update. I knew it needed more updating but hadn't had the time to focus on it with other mapping projects taking that available time.

I hit #1 just fine, having been to this totem pole many times. While doing beginner instruction I had pointed out that the paved trails at the start triangle had changed.

Going to #2, I knew there'd be new construction that had been hand drawn with markers, onto the maps. I got to it and saw a sign that led me to believe I needed to go to the left. I got trapped by a construction fence and had to back out. As I got onto the right trail, I could see Peggy (also doing the Green course) doubling back up the trail I was going down. I hit the control just fine.

For #3, I ran down along the permanent fence and this time I should have known there was a fence, since the hand drawn bit showed not to go that way. I ended up climbing the fence, which was not a simple thing. It slowed me down. I got down to the dam spillway and up to the trail tracks to back-door the control. John Baker was leaving the area as I attacked off of the train tracks and I wondered where Peggy was.

For #4, I reversed my route, got onto the dam and angled off of that to the trail leading toward the Nature Center. The control was visible a long way off--more of a yellow skill level, than #3 was.

For #5, I ran straight up the spur. I paused a little early, expecting to see it sooner.

For #6, I ran NE to the dirt road neat the building, then I got on the paved road. I came in to #6 off the bridge over the creek. Peggy was approaching from the trail and jokingly asked me what I was doing there reading the map better than she had. I got there a few seconds before she did.

For #7, I ran back down to the trail and ran it all the way to the ditch NE of the control. The map version which Mihai Sirbu had used, was an older one which didn't show green which I'd added a while back.

For #8, I walked and ran up the hill, noting some more green which I'd put on the map earlier. I was pretty slow but knew where I was just about the whole way. I was feeling the run yesterday on the climb. I came in from the pits.

For #9, I got on the small trails and didn't think it worth going to the larger road tracks. I climbed a spur after crossing the creek and turned left on the road track. Cutting right, left, and right on trails got me to the control. A guy in a green shirt (Adams?), was punching ahead of me.

For #10, Adam was reading the map still before I left. I thought to risk crossing the light green forest south of the little fenced area to get a shorter distance. Adam was running faster than I but easily passed me going around on the trails that I 'd come to #9 on. Adam led the way up toward the maintenance yard. I made more mental notes about adding green slash to that hill, for the deadfall. I walked up a lot of the hill, then just north of the maintenance yard fence. I went straight in after crossing the road. Adam had gotten there a little faster. and had just finished planning a route as I got there.

For #11, I angled back to the parking lot and got on the muddy road track. Adam and another younger guy who'd caught me from behind, were ahead. Adam went straight in, while the other guy led a little to the left. I came in behind the other guy and we both lost a little more ground to Adam.

For #12, I chased after the 2 guys ahead. Adam got to the trail first. The other guy stopped there, seemingly unsure of where he'd hit the trail. I'd ended-up at this same spot in several races which leads me to believe there's a bit of a corridor through the green there. I got across the road near the soccer shelter and then saw Adam pause and veer left--I guessed then that he was on a different course. I ran to cross the ditch and on the paved trail, than followed that and the stream to the control. It was hung a little high away from the stream, more on the ditch than the ditch/stream junction.

I angled up over the hill toward #13. I had given thought to contouring around along the stream but the climb wasn't much. I even ended up climbing more steeply than was optimal. I came down to the lake and into the open ground. Guessing that the control would be on the left side of the stream, I came in along the paved trail, and that was a good choice. Anne Jepsen was leaving the control as I was coming in.

I ran straight up the reentrant chasing Anne toward #14. I caught her at the top of the hill and paused when I came to a fallen tree. I decided to go left around it while Anne went right. I think left was the best. I could seen the control before even crossing the paved trail.

I wondered about going to the train tracks but just decided to use the paved trail. I passed someone and ran between the house and train tunnel. I ran around the fence and in. It seemed efficient. I wasn't moving that quickly.

It was fun to run the park on this nice sunny day. The course felt a bit too easy. Mihai had tried to avoid using root stocks since they are out of date (many from the original mapping that Ted Good had done). One day I'll work on cleaning more of that up.

QOC: Wheaton Regional Park, MD. I picked-up the farthest away controls on the old campground hill. Along the way I made map updates. I found some new rootstocks, fixed some boulder mapping, fixed a reentrant, and even found a cairn that I'd never seen before. I hauled a gallon of water back with trash and was moving pretty slowly.

Green - Splits

From Cedar Ln., the Rock Creek Trail to Ken-Gar Park, to Plyers Mill Rd., to Connecticut Ave. to Howard Ave./Kensington Pkwy., to the Rock Creek Trail, to Cedar Ln. It was in the upper 50s F. starting out. I stated off about 30-40 seconds after a younger guy ran past. The other guy looked fit enough but I couldn't tell how fast he was running. I felt pretty good and as I gradually caught-up, I could see that the other guy had been sweating. When I moved past him, I could tell he was working hard. I hit 8:06 that first mile and our paths diverged as I crossed Beach Dr. I started to feel the second mile. It was hillier and so it was natural to slow a bit. It seemed to take a while. I really started feeling it going up the hill after skirting Ken-Gar Park. There was a very small bit of slushy ice there as I ran up the hill next to the train tracks. After that, I struggled along feeling like I was crawling my way back. I could feel the pavement shocking my quads a lot. My calves got tight but I didn't cramp. It was good to do this route again. I was remembering it to be only 5 miles.

I was feeling some minor back pain on my lower right side; it was probably due to shoveling the snow earlier in the week.

We got about 3-4 inches of wet and icy snow. Samantha helped clear the car and shovel some of it off the sidewalk. I cleared most of the driveway. I was shoveling fast but probably shouldn't have.

QOC: Prince William Forest. I led a group of students in QOC's Training Weekend, through a White course. There were only three (since 2 from the day before didn't return) and I was mainly doing a map walk, to get them to match-up features with the map. We did route planning too. The kids were pretty good--they understood the map. The controls were often really more in the Yellow range. Some were off trail. Later. 2 kids did 2 maps of a 1-person relay. Both did well.

QOC: Prince William Forest. I picked-up a few controls from the training relay.

Event: QOC PWF Happyland
 

QOC: Prince William Forest Training Weekend. I only went out for the night-o. I had been hedging on doing the Long Advanced course, but was leaning toward the Short Advanced course. With slow traffic the whole way there, I settled comfortably for the Short Advanced course. Knowing the area and the likelihood of error with as much green as there was, I it made sense. I was confident going out at 8pm, that I'd be back in less than 2 hours and that I might be cutting it close on the longer course, with it being 3K longer. Though I messed-up at #3, my fears were unfounded.

However, starting out for #1, I started after Miles, whom I gave about a minute head-start. It was almost all a trail run to get across the creek and to the first control. I caught Miles just at the trail bend where one should leave it and get into the woods. I tried to get around where I saw it was thickest, but didn't really succeed. Once through the green, I had to hustle to beat Miles to the control.

Even on the way to #1, I was feeling like the contours were printed too lightly. It might have just been my eyes or the very bright light I was using making it hard to read. Going to #2, the difficulty seeing the contours was worse for me. I simplified by picking out the reentrant midway, and the spur just before the control. My bearing was pretty good, so I hit the control pretty nicely.

For #3, I crossed the stream and then the broad reentrant as I kept close to a bearing. Over the ridge, I was on target and I descended almost along the leg line. I ended up missing the control by being to the left of it--if anything, I had been concerned about being on the right of it. There was more green around than it appeared to have been mapped. I got well past the control, into a broad and whiter reentrant. Again it was hard for me to see the contours, and the 4-5 leg line obscured part of a reentrant line. Seeing others ahead and knowing I'd gone too far I cut down this broad reentrant. The guy who'd been following me turned with me. I was headed back toward #3, but we saw #4 and ran to it. From there it was easy to hit #3. From my GPS track, I lost 4:30 minutes.

I put some distance on the guy who'd been following me, by running back to #4 pretty well.

I ran straight off to #5. Again, it'd been hard to read the contours and even more so with the green. However upon crossing the stream, I realized I was above the stream junction, and I went right to the control from there. Some others were converging from on right but I got there first.

This was a cool leg with a lot of contour detail on the way to #6. Forced to simplify, I knew all I had to do was to reach the ridge and follow that down. The ridge was green on top so I went do the far side and then south to the control.

I was feeling more confident at this point, and the woods were more open going to #7. I ran fairly straight and put some distance on someone who was tailing me. However, it turned out that I was also in the process of being caught. I thought a guy whom I been dropping was catching me again, but after I got to the control, it turned out to be John Torrance. The leg wasn't that hard. I just had to hit the stream and cross the 3 small reentrants--I spiked it.

I ran straight again (still not really knowing it was John Torrance whom was running along nearby) toward #8. John had seemed to drift more left (south) than I had, but he was running faster. He corrected, as did I a tiny bit. I didn't see him punch but I saw him leaving. I guess we both spiked it.

I went the low route to #9. The marsh extended closer to the hill than it seemed to be mapped. I contoured around the last spur and into the reentrant with the control. Someone ahead was just leaving as I got there.

For #10, I paused to read the leg and the someone ahead pulled ahead. He was staying in the reentrant, but I decided I'd climb out for better running, and run along the edge of it. I hit the green south of the control, so I cut through it and into the reentrant. For a few seconds, I'd confused control #11 on the map with control #10--fortunately, the final attack was similar. Once I hit the reentrant I cut right. This was reinforced soon after by seeing the guy I'd seen at #9. We both saw the control shining through the green and went around to hit it pretty well. After getting there, I realized the other guy was Vido Alexsiev.

Going to #11, I passed Vido after the first reentrant. The green had been pushing us too far right and north. Both of us picked-up on this and turned at about the same time to cross the last reentrant. I saw the control first, probably since I had a brighter head lamp.

Going to #12, it was even greener than all of the other controls. I pushed around to the right, but it was much more to the right than the mapped green. Once nearing the stream, I knew to cut further left (south) and soon hit the control.

For leg #13, I felt pretty good. I got to the first reentrant a bit on the low side and was reading the control to be in the next. It seemed easier to drop a little, and cross the stream where it was flatter. I did that while Vido took a more direct route. Once I saw the reentrant, I climbed up, but the contours here didn't seem to fit well. Maybe the control circle is hiding a bit of another reentrant, and that was more extensive than is mapped. I climbed that reentrant. It was bigger than I expected and I could see Vido high above. Worse, there was no control in it. I could no longer see Vido from the top, so I thought to bail to the trail. As I was getting there, I saw the control on my left--I hadn't really lost much time but had added some climb. I probably lost 40 seconds.

I left #13 a little to the north and quickly got stuck in green. I began to think I might have run over the trail because it kept going and I was starting to descend. I backed out enough to see #13 again, and went south until I could get around the green and hit the trail. My GPS track shows I backed out just before I would have hit the trail. Once on the trail, I ran okay but I was tired from this run and the increased running this week. I walked up part of the hill after the dam.

Overall, this was a fair to good run for me. My baubles on #12 and #13 weren't so great and the error on #3 could have been reduced. It was a pretty fun course. Given the green terrain, Ken found some pretty nice woods

Prince William Forest. John Baker and I walked from Camp 5 (Happyland) to a remote field parking lot. There was a nice gibbous moon that was casting shadows. Earlier, when we were parking before our races, John and I could hear nearby machine gun fire that must have been practice in the Quantico Marine Base across the road from the park. It was a little unnerving.

Night - Short Advanced - Splits

Bethesda, MD. From Northfield Rd., Charlcotte Rd. to Hampden Ln. to Wilson Ln., to Aberdeen Rd. to Aberdeen Pl./Garfield St., to Jefferson St., to Lincoln. St., to Grant St., to Northfield Rd. It felt good to be out. It was in the upper 30s F. with a nice breeze. I didn't think I was going as fast as I had.

Overland Park, KS. From 110th St., near Metcalf Ave., to Grandview Rd., to College Ave. to the Indian Creek Trail near Corporate Woods, east on the trail to 106th St., to Metcalf Ave., to 110th St. I was glad that my meetings finished early and I was able to get in a run before it got too dark. I had thought I'd run all of the Indian Creek Trail but now seem to recall that a segment of what I'd run today had been blocked off for construction earlier. Most of the route was pretty nice and it was in the low 60s/upper 50s F. Since this was after work, the office parks I ran through getting to the trail were about empty--mapable for a sprint even. The run on the trail was pretty nice in the quiet woods but got busier along some low rent housing and then a golf course. The last bit on Metcalf was the worst due to traffic, but at least it broke up the run where I needed it. My legs were getting tight in the calves.

Overland Park, KS. From Marty Ave. and 110th St.,to College Ave, along Metcalf Ave., to 119th St. and back. I didn't have a car so I walked out to do some shopping and get dinner. It got colder and a brisk wind to walk into going back.

Overland Park, KS. From College Ave. near Corporate Woods, west on the Indian Creek Trail and back. I ran after work with Mike Martinez. We took it easy. The sun was going dowrn as we ran and it was 55 F. It was pretty nice.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffeford Rd., I placed streamers at control sites. It was a little slow early as I ran into some areas needing map updates. There were areas where sewer line replacements, started right before the meet last year, were still being worked on. I had to map a few areas including a long boardwalk with fencing around it. I also added mapping to an. area that wasn't fully checked before. It was good being out. I ran between controls and hit just about everything.

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.