Training Log Archive: Nadim

Germantown, MD. From the Germantown Soccerplex, to Hoyles Mill Rd., and back. While Max's team put on a score rally in the second half to win the game, I missed it. I was running out the Hoyles Mill Trail.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I hit the traffic lights well leaving the station so I pushed a bit.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I carried home dinner.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 51 F this morning and unlike other days as cool or warmer, this time 51 F, felt just fine to me. I had on about the same clothes so I must be getting more used to the cooler weather. I passed someone on Little Falls Rd. I think he and a few others I'd passed fell in line behind me. I kept a smooth and fairly steady pace. Someone finally passed me in Georgetown. I slowed a bit along Ohio Dr. and the rest of the way into the office.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C., to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I got started at just before 6pm but I ran into early traffic. There were significant headwinds getting into Georgetown, then again as I neared Bethesda. I tried to keep my level of effort down but I still got tired. My back still hurt some today (not while riding), but not as much as the day before. I felt it more when bending down.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C. From between 14th & Independence Ave., SW, down Independence Ave., to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial circle, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. It was raining lightly in the first mile. I wasn't running fast but it felt like one of the better runs for me this year.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. I was a little cold from having clothes still damp from the sweat of running.

From Northfield Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. and back. Peggy and I had a conference to go to. Earlier in the day, I had moved some heavy boxes of tile around and done some asphalt work which also involved lifting some heavy bags. My back hurt more than it has in a while afterward though it's not clear how much of that was from the day before.

Fall Short Series, Washington, D.C. Gary Smith had been putting together an orienteering map of Washington., D.C. for a few months and today he was able to share it with us. It was a pretty nice map and it made for a fun day. It was 1:5,000 map and we did a score-o. Coincidentally making it more complicated, there was the Army Ten Miler going on at the same time, and the Taste of D.C. being setup. Both events caused the closing-off major roads (parts of Independence Ave., and Constitution Ave.) and these weren't even crossable by the orienteers on foot. These obstacles didn't mess up things too much since the score-o didn't cross the Ten Miler route, and there was some room to get around the Taste-of-D.C. by going off map half a block. There was another obstacle that got me; one of the sculpture gardens used for control sites was not to open until 45 minutes after we'd started. I was pretty familiar with most of the areas that we had gotten to but I just forgot about the time constraint which Gary had warned about. I ended up going to that sculpture garden, then having to return later. I ran and orienteered well enough though I was not quite ready at the start due to settling the kids (Gary watched Samantha--she and Max rode the Carosel which is right next to where we started/the same carousel location that I rode when I was a kid younger than them). Right after starting I had gotten to the first sculpture garden and gotten 2 controls, then went back for my eyeglasses. I saw orienteers scattered about. Dave Onkst and I ran some legs close to each other until I had made the mistake of going to the sculpture garden too early (Dave was running faster than I). At least one tourists who had been sitting near a control site (most were statues which we were not marked and we were not to touch any of them, being on our honor to just get close), cheered me on as she saw me and probably others running up with a map. The weather was perfect for this--sunny and in the upper 50s F starting out, then warmer in our 1 hour time limit. The event was well attended, around 20 or so. Several of us got all of the controls. My back hurt some after this.

After the training, we got lunch, then visited the Natural History Museum. Max was surprising drawn to the gem and mineral exhibit (he remembered the Hope Diamond from a school field trip), while Samantha was drawn to the mammal exhibit. I think they both liked using the trains too. Even later in the day, I spent a couple of hours doing yardwork. My right heel/arch hurt throughout the post orienteering activities though it didn't when I was running the score-o.