Training Log Archive: Nadim

Out for a family ride, I pulled Max in his trailer while Peggy rode along behind us on her bike. We used a lot of sidewalks and secondary streets. The best part was in Rock Creek. From Rosedale Ave. Rockville Pike and the Elmhirst Trail to Beach Dr., to Grosvenor Rd. to Tuckerman La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Executive Blvd. to Jefferson St. With stuff in the trailer along with Max, I guess I was pulling 50lbs; Max alone weighs 27.5 now and is just under 3ft. tall. Once we got there, we ate bagels with MCRRC at Panera Bread Co.

From Jefferson St., to Executive Blvd. to Old Georgetown Rd. through various neighborhoods to explore for possible house locations, onto the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd., to the NIH Trail to Battery Rd., to Rosedale Ave. This was basically a return ride from Panera Bread Co. Max started getting tired while returning on the sometimes bumpy paths. They are now calling the NIH Trail the Bethesda Trolley Trail even though the two were separated by over a mile of streets.

QOC Summer Short Series in Greg and Kathleen Lennon's back yard. This is some of the best technical training ground around. The "hike" was a nice course using existing manmade point features. The flags were very low to the ground so you had to be right where you needed to be in order to see them. Several times I would stop, go a few steps forward or to the side and then see the control. There was significant climb, it was humid and the vegetation was a bit out of date; the vegetation was also mapped more appropriately for winter. The temperature at the start was around 90F but it was noticeably cooler in the forest. My water loss was substantial but I kept running. We got there a bit late so I started after everyone; I saw most of them in the woods. Here's a short summary:

S-1: 6:01, 6:01, Out along the trail. I should have climbed the spur but past it and went up an earth bank.
1-2: 1:49, 7:51, Climbed a bit too high to avoid some green that wasn't so bad.
2-3: 3:34, 11:25, I ran a bit to the right. left was probably faster.
3-4: 6:36, 18:02, Fairly straight but a little to the right and past the control at the end. I saw Mark and Patti along the way.
4-5: 2:38, 20:40, Tentative at the end in the silk grass. Though it'd be closer to the road.
5-6: 2:03, 22:43, I ran a bit to the right and then past it just a bit on the left at the end; I'd have spotted a real control flag w/o error.
6-7: 1:55, 24:39, Left a bit. It seemed a long way going right along the ridge at the end.
7-8: 1:43, 26:22, Fairly straight to the intersection and off the curve.
8-9: 2:27, 28:50, The mapping in the area has always confused me. I attempted to go straight and was a bit right at the last reentrant. Fortunately I recognized it. I still couldn't see the flags at the end until I was right there.
9-10: 4:12, 33:03, I should have sucked it up and dropped to the trail. I lost count of the reentrants getting too far right due to the vegetation and paused too often. The trash bag for the water helped me see it at the end. Going high like I did, I should have just pushed straight on until hitting the control or the trail.
10-11: 3:18, 36:22, Straight to cross the trail, up the ridge and off a spur and small knoll to the control.
11-12, 4:11, 40:33, Angle to the trail and down it to the bottom I saw Tom Nolan going up the trail toward my #13 along the way), left, then in. I first went to the prominent permanent manmade fenced sewer before seeing the actual control on the way toward #13.
12-13, 8:31, 49:05, After passing Francis who was getting to #12 and had gone straight, I went up, up, and away rather than take the easier trail like Tom Nolan did. It was a bit more climb and I executed it a bit poorly but it was for training. At the end, I passed some flags that I thought weren't mine and climbed two more contours to the top before coming back.
13-14, 3:46, 52:51, It was wierd that I left going too much south. Tom Nolan had done the same. I relocated quickly and got there okay after that but it was a bit farther up than I had thought.
14-15, 2:00, 54:51, To the trail intersection, then off a bend to spike it through the green.
15-16, 2:12, 57:03, Down the valley, but tentative with pauses. I was getting tired but things weren't mathing up well for me.
16-17, 3:34, 1:00:38, Down and around but I followed the right linear marsh that was mapped instead of the left one. I got too high at the top of that and took a while to figure out that it was just to my right--the low flags weren't visible with the green there so this turned out to be the hardest control on the course for me. I'd have been quicker finding it if we used real controls, but as Greg said, this way there's no control pickup.
17-F, 4:25, 1:05:03, Tired. Down the trails the whole way.

Fun day with a nice relaxing dinner at Tally Ho--a spot I hadn't known about in Potomac, MD. Max had gotten soake by jumping in a stream waiting for us and a bit manically tired.

From Rosedale Ave., roads around E. Bethesda. I thought we were out of diapers so I had another diaper run. This was pretty late; after working on US Champs logistics. Coming back, I ran with my arms full of diapers, baby wipes, pencils and my keys.

C • diapers 1

45 situps at home. I was thinking about running but having other things to do I let it go.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I felt much more tired today. I warmed-up eventually and got into a good pace. I caught a guy and traded pulls to Georgetown. It seemed there were slight headwinds.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. When I had rode in this morning, I had thought I was slipping on some debris on some of the sharper curves. It turned out that I had a slow air leak on my rear tire and the partially deflated clincher was getting stretched/deformed. Going home I had to stop to pump it up. When pumping, I have must have been stressing the presta valve with the tiny road pump I carry for such situations. The copper screw broke off after pumping it but it didn't lose all the air. I managed to make it home without further problem though I was going slower and being careful. I had some mixed winds and traded some pulls before stopping off to pickup both dinner and Max's trailer.

Rockville, MD. From Mark Twain School and Park, I ran a loop going north almost to Lake Needwood, down along Rock Creek, up to Lake Frank, then along the ridge to Rte. 28 before returning. I also ran into the old land fill area. Most of this was in open white woods but there were many steep hill sides to run across and sometimes over. I'll enjoy mapping some of this, hopefully during next winter. I think the land fill area would be fun to use but due to natural gas colllection, we're not likely to get permission to use it for a long while. It's rolling with open fields and various pockets of tree growth. This was a nice night to run. I started before 9:30pm. Though I had a compass, I didn't use a map; staying along big features, I remembered the USGS contours. It was cooler and a bit breezy with a quarter moon out. The people playing baseball at the school where I started probably didn't know what to make of me as I ran past them with my headlamp into the woods.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I got a late start due to the usual Monday gathering of stuff. My back was tight starting out and after getting to work. It has been that way since needing and taking a nap yesterday after my visit to PWF--I had slept fitfully on my side and had weird dreams probably induced by the aching in my hamstrings. It's a little bit of a good aching. It reminds me of college when I'd train hard and regularly have sleep like that. On the ride, after dropping off Max and his stuff, I got passed in the Bethesda tunnel. I started to respond but I needed to take it easier and the other guy was moving too fast. I caught others and traded a pull on the flats; using a faster cadence really helped on the flats. It was a nice cooler morning with some tailwinds.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. Like Friday, I had a lot of headwind. I took it easy until a young guy commuting with a track bike passed me on the flats. I never got on his wheel and was going to let him go but as we climbed, I gained on him. He stayed 100-150m ahead for a long way. He started to pull away again near MacArthur Blvd. so I eased off after River Rd.

Prince William Forest, VA. Starting from the parking lot at the Pine Grove Visitor Center, I ran a variation of what I call the Quantico Creeks route. It was down the Laurel Trail, to the North Valley Trail, to Pyrite Mine Rd., to the Geology Trail, to the North Valley Trail, to Burma Rd., to Taylor Farm Rd., to South Valley Trail, to the North Orenda Rd., to the Laurel Trail, to the parking lot at Pine Grove. It's been a long time since I ran this route. I used to run it from time to time from the 1980s until around the late 1990s but cycling and orienteering have since replaced that fun. I took the opportunity today while Dave Onkst setup some block vetting of his courses. I ran conservatively going out and felt good coming back. It's a rather pretty (and hilly) run and it was a cooler than normal morning (despite getting a later start due to yet another traffic accident on I-95). I saw a few other trail runners.

C • I'm jealous 7

Prince William Forest, VA. I walked and jogged along with Dave Onkst checking control areas, clue descriptions and the mapping.