Training Log Archive: Nadim

Lake Needwood, MD. I pretty much completed field checking the west side of Lake Needwood. Perhaps one day I'll go up the Crab Branch area that connects to it but it's fairly narrow. Most of the day today was in greener areas. I did cover a large rough open area with some mappable trees. I plotted them from the aerial photos of the area and found that several of them had recently been cut. I suppose the park is trying to keep it open with smallish trees so that the the deer have plenty to eat. There were plenty of deer droppings there. There was construction in the lake bed along Needwood Dr.--this is probably the reason for the water being so low. It was a fairly cold though not breezy day for field checking--the day had a high of 26 F but was colder while I was out. I was dressed well so I felt fine.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. With my commuter bike still flat, but finally having a key for my new bicycle locker at the Bethesda Metro Station, I hopped on my road bike. I was able to use my Speedplay pedals with my work shoes and clothes. I had to keep it slow in places because the little bit of snow that fell the night before had frozen in spots on the street. Using the road bicycle is a lot nicer and with the new locker, I don't have to dismantle lighting. I can also drop my helmet and other cycling stufff there instead of dragging it through the metro system to work and back.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark It was kind of cold riding back. At one point a bag that I had in my pocket fell out. After that I had to carry it in my hand.

From Northfield Rd. Hampden Ln. to Wilson Ln. to Maiden Ln. to Radnor Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Whittier Blvd. to Woodhaven Blvd. to Bradley Blvd. to Fallen Oak Dr. to Valley Rd. to Ridge Rd. to McKinley St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I had been lazy yesterday and didn't do anything. I felt more energetic this evening so I got some stuff done around the house and went out. It was much warmer than it had been and was in the upper 30's F. My legs still felt a bit sore from XC skiing last weekend. This route was a bit hillier than average. I had planned to cycle to the Bethesda Metro Station this morning but as I was getting ready I discovered a flat tire.

45 sit-ups.

Lake Needwood, MD. I finally found some time to resume working on the Lake Needwood map. I covered some of the greener and steeper sloped areas today (north central western side) but there were still plenty of nicer woods. I spent some time improving some of the cairns I found and that warmed me up (it was not far below freezing). The shoreline of the lake was as low as I'd ever seen it. I knew it was low but not how far until near the end of my field checking. Just for fun, I ran out planning to cross the whole thing about 300m north of the island. As I got more than half-way across the frozen and cracked mud, I discovered a stream about 15' across was flowing with water and carving a bed so I retreated. The bottom of the lake looked devoid of plant life. All I found were bunches of large snail shells and clams. Despite the cold, there was a small stench.

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Area, PA. QOC setup a 7.7K and 5.5K training event here with Jan Merka setting courses. I did the 7.7K loop. It took a while getting comfortable pulling up the map that was pinned to my waist and trying to orient it. I made one less than optimal route choice and as I got tired, I made two other errors. One was going down the wrong trail. The other involved getting all the way to a longer leg control, then realizing that I'd skipped one--I went back to do them in order but lost about 12 minutes. This event was fun and I hope we can do more. I would like to get better at skate skiing but chose classic for this since I own classic skis and I'm slower skating.

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Area, PA. I set out to pickup 5 controls. After 4 them, I dropped them off at the warming hut. Still tired, I misread the map and proceeded to pickup the wrong control. It had already been picked up and so then I doubted my navigation. I went on to a trail intersection to verify my position, then went back. The control was near the hut and Scott Pleban volunteered to pick it up.