Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: West Point A-meet
 

From Northfield Rd. to Heampstead Ave., back to Northfield Rd. then to Del Ray Ave. and back to Northfield Rd. I rode to Max's soccer game. Peggy and Max had gotten a head start. At the game one parent backed up from an approaching ball and tripped over my bike. After the game I rode home with them and went on to get some lunch at Cafe X. On the return trip, I noticed being unable to shift my rear derailer; probably the result of the parent at the soccer game who fell over it. It was a nice day out.

From Rte. 28 at Dufief Dr. south on the Muddy Branch Trail to the second trail head at Query Mill Rd., then back to a trail fork that went to Dufief Mill Rd., then back on the Muddy Branch Trail to Rte. 28. David Onkst ran with me on this nice 70 F day. The trail was pretty empty except for a cyclist and another runner. It was dry too. I saw a few new trail forks. David and I explored the little branch to Dufief Mill Rd. for the first time. It was kind of narrow but had some rock in it. The terrain was very open and pretty. The callus on my right foot was bothering me especially on the last mile.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was warmer, in the low 50s so I only had on a t-shirt. The winds seemed neutral but once past the Jefferson Memorial, I detected some winds from the NE. I passed a lot of other cyclists. The Chipotle burrito dinner was sticking to me.

From C St., SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd. in Bethesda, MD. It was busy getting out of D.C. I whipped around the Tidal Basin after som initial traffic, and I drafted off bus headed up Ohio Dr. along the river. Things were slow in Geoegetown. Once on the trail I set a decent pace. Slowing down to wait to pass, I got passed before I could speed up. A pace line formed behind me and eventually I caught the guy when going up the initial hill. Two more passed as I paced myself. I almost caught them before they turned off. I towed one more all the way to Falls Rd. My ride after picking up Max's bike was a nice warm-down.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. Max was off with Peggy on Bring Your Child to Work Day.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, onto The Mall, past the Washington Monument and down between the Reflecting pool and the Vietnam War Memorial to Lincoln Circle. to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., NW to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station. This was the same as my April 4th run. Today the winds were calm instead of pushing me along, and I finished in close to the same time. Mile splits were 7:18, 7:09, 7:18, 7:30, then much slower up the last big hill. Starting out, the first 100m felt really good. After that I was getting winded but the temperatures and seeing other runners kept me moving well. I had planned a longer run but Max set me on a mission to bring home dinner. The timing of that also motivated me to keep moving quickly.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. I carried Chipotle dinners home in a hand bag.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was cold feeling, in the 40s so I wore a jacket. After leaving Max, I moved calmly down Arlington Rd. There were headwinds from the SSW and they continued to slow me the whole way. I got a little sweaty in-town.

From C St., SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd. in Bethesda, MD. It was windy! As I waited at a traffic light starting out, winds bouncing off the buildings pushed me enough to make me catch my standing balance. I mostly had tailwinds but there were swirling areas. I pushed a little to get back in time for Max's soccer practice. There was a good bit of bicycle and auto traffic. Even with the tailwinds, being heavy, I wasn't that swift.

From Northfield Rd., to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. Max was pretty reluctant to ride today. He'd ridden 12 miles with the Lennon family on Sunday, while Peggy, Greg Lennon, and I were at the Billygoat. He was also up late and thus cranky in the morning. I don't think the physical part of riding bothers him much though the initial hill takes some work. He likes having more time to play before school when we drive, a 5 minute difference. I pressed him and we went slowly. He was angry and didn't say hello to his friend whom we passed on the street. I was more tired than I thought I'd be from the Billygoat on Sunday.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Arlington Rd. From there I rode in the twighlight towing Max's bicycle to Northfield Rd.

Event: The 35th annual Billygoat Run
 

Jog to the start of The 35th annual Billygoat Run.

NEOC: The 35th annual Billygoat Run on the Earl’s Trails map in the Holyoke Range in Western Massachusetts. Going into this for the last couple of days, I had big concerns about feeling worn out and about some painful callus on my right foot. I got two good days of rest and did an lot of callus removal. I also used new O-shoes, never worn before. The combination helped a lot as most of the soreness from my Thursday run went away.
The start was confusing for everyone going different ways. I went with the crowd, going on the right side of the mountaintop but I was not keeping up very well. Eventually I found myself in the company of several West Point cadets who suddenly stopped when trails ran out and we had a good look at a hillside ahead. I could tell where we were so I led from there. I was coming into the trail just right but dropped down right before it when I saw others shuffling along. I had to come back up a contour but had an easy attack to #1. I saw Ted Good ahead of me by 15-20 seconds but when I left #1, I never saw him again until the finish. I led the cadets most of the way to #2 until Alex Jospe passed us. I drifted off my line with her ahead and we came in low where there were some unmapped cliffs. We lost 30 seconds to a minute. Alex pulled the group along mostly. I took a few different lines up to #5 but didn't get ahead and couldn't break away. I was running too fast and not reading carefully. I was going to drop going to #5, to avoid a spur but went a parallel path with Alex across the spur instead. Not thinking well, I started reading the leg for #6 and kept adjusting my bearing to the right. I stopped this later but was off-line at that point. I ended up a few contours high at the right distance and looked over to see the cadets punching where Alex had been. I was concerned about keeping with the group to make time and didn't read leg #6 very well. About 1/3 of the way up the climb, I moaned realizing that this would have been a great skip for me--I like to avoid hills when possible. I walked on up the hill, committed to #6 and disraught about there not being a good skip for the next several legs.

I was in the midst of the cadets getting to #6, then started catching the leaders. Going to #8, I considered a skip bud didn't see it being worth it. The cadets were faster on the initial trails, As they got ahead, I chose a lower route to stay on trails. I got there right at the same time as the cadet leaders. I jumped in the woods early going to #9, so as not to make an easy mistake and the cadets did the same. Going to #10, the cadets got ahead and I was getting tired. I didn't want to go straight but did anyway. I should have read the trails more carefully. There seemed to be extra unmapped knolls so the contours weren't making sense. I dropped a little eventually following a trail that took me to the controls but it was a little out of the way for a loss of time.

Going to #11, I got ahead of the cadets but they were trailing me. I was doing well but got distracted when seeing others below me one reentrant too early--the control circle on the map obscured the reentrant I was in. After a drop and climb back up, I hit the control-another minute lost. I took the trail to #12 and some others were too. For #13, I gained and caught a group of younger people but they punched before me. When leaving behind the crowd, I decided climbinb right away made sense--they were all going either across or down and up to the left for some reason. Once up, I made good time in the open flatter terrain with one cadet in pursuit. I left #14 and started catching others who perhaps were doing the Minigoat. On the approach, I decided climbing and attacking #15 high was best. I did but lost concentration and went right over the control (about 10m to my left) when I crossed a reentrant. I did a slow circle, coming back and wondering why I hadn't seen it from below even. Another group of orienteers including Jeff Saeger led me in but I'd figured it out at that point. I chased Jeff, eventually passing him. Another cadet followed me when I left the trail early and we got to #16 first. I ran too quickly going to #17 and ended up to the left. David Onkst was close behind. We corrected for a 30-40 second loss. When asked, I told David that I was skipping #18. I moved out fast and used the trails to the left, spiking #19 easily but losing David inadvertently. I ran past the finish and back into the woods going to #20. I felt bad for a cadet who'd lost his epunch in the leaves; another cadet stopped but I was feeling I wanted to compete and catch others. I hit #20 well. I went straight toward #21 but pulled-up short by one spur. I relocated on the steam below but had to climb right back to where I was to get to the control. That cost me a minute or 2 and a bunch of cadets were then there. I chased and passed some, getting to #22 (my control "NA" from last year) well. I ran fast and straight to #23, spiking it, and passing most of the cadets. I ran on bearing and where the running was good going to #24; I hit the trail unexpectedly and then got stuck in the green behind some others. There was no way to catch and pass after punching as the run-in was short.

It was fun running this. I felt I navigated most of the course on my own and I incurred errors that I was disappointed with. The hillls weren't that bad but I'd much perfer a flatter Billygoat next year.

Billygoat - Splits