Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Wheaton
 

QOC: Wheaton Regional Park, MD. The big rains overnight ended before I went out to run. I'd awoken this morning with a stiff back which was also a little sore. It hadn't been that way for a while. I don't know if the rain and back issues are related; certainly I've been having enough back issues apart from the rain. I decided that even though I haven't been doing running training much, that I needed to move it up to Red. It was a lot easier to move than last week in the snow when I did a Green course. The course was very easy too, for a Red course. Many of the attacks were just off trails and one control was on a trail. It was fun enough however.

S-1 I realized after starting that I didn't have me eye glasses on. It was chaotic getting out of the house on the way to Wheaton so I didn't notice grabbing the wrong one of 2 similarly sized grey backpacks. I had to borrow an epunch and a compass from the club. I'd made the latest revisions to the map over the last 2 years so with the control being just a hop off of the railroad tracks, I used an intermittent trail that I couldn't read off of the map but knew was there to get from the open lake area to the railroad tracks, and the trail coming off of the tracks. I was glad that my back had loosened up by the time I got to the control.

1-2 - it was a dogleg coming out of #1. I stayed on the tracks mostly but veered in the field thinking to use the northern part of the track loop, Coming off the tip of the track loop, I ran up along the small ditch until I could see the control.

2-3 I ran out to the trail, and took it around to the right. Along the way, I made mental notes of where to update the map vegetation.

3-4 I went along the parking lot to get around the train station, then straight.

4-5 I cut off a little bit but mostly stuck to the trail. I'd forgotten about adding this dot knoll to the map--I couldn't read it w/o my eyeglasses and wondered if it was a rock before I'd gotten there.

5-6 I used the trails getting to and past the lake and didn't attack until the trail bend past the root stock. I was a little off on the attack and ended up at one of the cairns before correcting. I also had taken an almost 2 minute break on this leg.

6-7 I made a bad route choice on this. I knew that going through the parking lot would be fast but I didn't want to have to go down and then climb as the trail options after the parking lot did. I didn't read ahead enough to realize that I could have stayed all the way on the road and used the bridge to get back into the woods. As it was, I went around the field on the right side, used some trails and cut through elsewhere to end up at the same bridge. The attack from there was nothing as the control was easily visible.

7-8 I went back down to the trail and around to the left. I'd remapped the trail bends almost 2 years back so they matched-up easily to me. The control was visible before I left the correct trail bend. I made another mental note to add green for the deadfall around this control feature.

8-9 I went a little to the left but mostly straight. I again made another mental note to add green for the deadfall above the trail at the top of the reentrant on the leg line. I had walked up the hill until past the unmapped deadfall where the slope flattened.

9-10 I kept wanting to hold the map out of alignment with the compass on the way down the hill. I kept pulling left. Perhaps I was rushing too much for other orienteers around me. I was able to read the ditches however. I crossed above one but apparently veered left a bit after that. Keg Good was crossing from my left to my right so I knew I'd been too far left when I didn't see it near the top. I corrected about 40m. I think I had added this ditch onto the map.

10-11 I angled out of the control and found a deer trail to run on for a way. Crossing the first trail, I angled more toward the second and emerged near an intersection. I was slow trying to run so it seemed like I had to go a lot further up the trail than I would have guessed to get to the correct intersection. I doubted myself at one point but things I was seeing were matching-up on the map and I lost no time.

11-12 I doubled-back to the last 2 trail intersections then took trails back up toward the maintenance yard parking lot. I aimed sort of toward the maintenance yard parking lot. I cut off across the woods before getting to the parking lot to save distance. I didn't go further left because I hadn't wanted to dip down only to have to climb up. Going uphill is slow for me right now.

12-13 I ran to the corner of the parking lot, then down to the t-intersection and into the woods to spike it.

13-14 I ran across the woods to the trail intersection on the other side, then took trails to the ditch.

14-15 - straight up to the trail, then I attacked a little early. I came out of the green at the rootstock below it. Keg Good had just passed it and was going up to the pit by the time I figured it out. I got there just after her.

15-16 - I angled around a little bit and got close to the tracks without getting on them. Keg had been moving parallel to my right and was about lined-up w/me at the stream crossing. I was confident of my attack and remembered what the rootstock looked like when I mapped it. That rootstock was further ahead and south of where the control got placed. I was fortunate to see it and had to go north to it. I yelled-up to Keg to warn her but she told me later that she didn't understand what I was saying.

16-17 - I wasn't sure what was best. I decided to cut across the forest. It was slow at first and I got pushed north, in easy sight of the lake. After getting out of the green, I corrected and it was good running afterward. I finally got a foot wet when I slipped on the far bank when crossing the creek.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Spinning and watching a show.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a fair amount of traffic and the ground was wet from overnight rains.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Spinning and watching a show.

Spinning and watching a show.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. Over half way to work, I realized that I'd left my laptop back at home so back home I went.

From Northfield Rd. to Cordell Ave., for lunch, then back.

Event: QOC Patapsco Glen Artney
 

QOC: Glen Artney, MD. I was happy to get out into the woods. They were covered in about 5 inches of snow. I walked going up most hills but could run down them. The course set by Kim Jepsen was fun. I just made too many errors, partly from fatigue/lack of training. Thanks go to Valerie Meyer who kept an eye on Samantha while Peggy and I ran.

S-1 I had trouble getting into the map early on. Starting out with a big 6 minute error was no fun. I ran sort of straightish down to the wall bend getting to the creek then once there I got distracted by the control on the spring, across the second stream. I should have both looked at the map more, and checked the clue description.

1-2 - I ran straight until the road, then cut right and left a little, then down the reentrant to the rootstock.

2-3 - I was running straight but drifted to the right a little. I crossed the campground circle rather than using the road as intended. On the other side of the circle, I saw the spur and went right to the control.

3-4 - I went just a little to the right so as not to drop too far down. I hit the creek about where I'd planned but second guessing myself, I convinced myself that I had to go to the right more and around a bend before crossing the creek. I did this by going over some deadfall, and got up to a side stream before turning back for a loss of 2 minutes. Once on back to the creek crossing again, I went right to it.

4-5 - I climbed up the left side of the reentrant, got to the power lines and followed the trail back into the woods before crossing the power lines. At the trail bend, I cut back into the power lines, and went down the reentrant before crossing them. I angled into the woods but much of this amounted to following the right foot track to the control. I did however see it almost a minute before getting there.

5-6 I angled straight over, crossed the power lines and the road, then kept straight again to the control.

6-7 - I started straightish and thought I was reading things pretty well up to 1/3 of the way there. I thought I was to the right of the small ridge to the left of the leg line just past half way there but I became unsure. I recognized the curving stream but doubted that a little while later. I started feeling I'd followed the stream too long. Soon Jan Merka came across my path from right to left and I already had a hunch that I was too low. I cut up the hill and followed the track he was on to the control. I figure I'd lost almost 2 minutes.

7-8 - I ran down the track that I'd come up but had to cut left a the correct spot. After doing that and crossing the stream, I ran/walked up the reentrant to the top of the side stream, the cut over to the right to the top of the ridge. I read contours but also had a fair amount of foot tracks to lead me to the control.

8 - 9 - I went pretty much straight until getting to the trail. I cut right on the trail and took it to the road. Attacking from the intersection I spiked it and recognized location from contours from far off.

9 - 10 - I ran down the reentrant, crossed the larger stream at the bottom and cut right. Passing Jan Merka, I got to the control in my left. It turned out that Jan was on the Blue course.

10-11 - As I'd gotten #10, Jan and Benny (his dog) had passed me again. I passed them back and ran confidently down along the stream to the control which was hidden out of sight behind a contour.

11 -12 - I ran partway up the hill until it got steep. I could see the root stock 60m out.

12 - 13 - I contoured over left of the leg line, then aimed toward the campground road. From there I hit the trail since it pointed to the control so well.

13 - 14 - I climbed slowly and tried to stay to the right of the power lines unlike others who appeared to be heading to out-of-bounds terrain. At the road, I cut right for a little way, then cut left into the woods again where an elephant track was emerging. I went past the same fenced area that I had on the way out and then ran on a rough angle to the rootstock. An elephant trail was leading to it.

14 - 15 - Having had such a big error and having field-checked the area when hunting for #1, I ran confidently down the hill, past the spring and almost past #1 before crossing the creek. I'd seen the control from a long way out.

15 - F - I ran left a bit, made the slow walk up the steep part of the hill, and took a while to hit the trail. Not staying on it long, I cut off when I could see the contour in the field ahead. Only one other set of foot prints was anywhere close to where I cut across to the field. I ran about as well as I could albeit still slowly.

I was pretty slow across the course but did okay physically. My GPS says I climbed 330 meters, significantly more than the optimal climb set by Kim. My route was 4.91 miles or about 8K.

Green - Splits