Training Log Archive: Nadim

I had a bad stiff neck this day. I'd never had one that bad. It didn't go away until I'd slept. Maybe it came about from being in the cold for a long while field checking while a little underdressed.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd., I started mapping the areas to the west on the south side of the creek. I'd been running on the Seneca Creek Trail and on a short run through the areas the previous week. I'd even started a small part of a ridge near the road before so I had a good idea of what I'd find. Starting with the low flood plain, there were ditches that had shown-up on LiDAR. They weren't always neatly defined, with the same ditch varying in depth and width. The forest in the lowlands was just fairly open so it'll be fast when people race through. There were some somewhat interesting linear marshes and short streams popping-up and disappearing. On the higher ground the vegetation had more light green forest and an area of deadfall near the road. An old homestead had a lot of manmade features. Some of it was trash but derelict cars, a doghouse and a small wall were there too. I covered an area of about 600m x 300m and that was fairly productive given the features. I look forward to doing more. There is a good amount of rough open that I'm hoping will be easy to map, along with an area of light green to green bushes. A big field on a ridge where a shooting range used to be still has small buildings and should be really easy to map. I'm hoping to get part of this area south of Riffleford Rd. mapped to use before QOC's April meet, as I'm the course setter for it.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Charlcote Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Old Georgetown Rd., W. Cedar Ln., to Beach Dr., to Jones Mill Rd., to Jones Bridge Rd., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Maple Ridge Rd., to Park Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I knew I needed a few more miles of cycling to surpass my total from 2014 so I went out after dinner in the dark for a ride. I had lights to see and be seen with. It was nice though I was a little nervous about auto traffic in the first part. I rode on the sidewalk along Old Georgetown Rd. but Beach Dr. was pretty good. When stopped at a traffic light, a middle aged couple rolled down their window and chatted showing smiles and a little concern without saying it. I smiled too. It was a rough year for training so I'm glad I was able to surpass my effort in cycling by a little bit in 2015.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I had to turn around at one point when one of my ankle clips fell off. It was 42 F, humid, and with a breezy headwind. I was kind of glad to be riding since it edges me within 4 miles of surpassing my cycling total from 2014. I was in much worse health and unable to train for more of 2015 so this shows that I did put in some significant training work during the end of the summer and the fall.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There was some traffic along the way and a slight drizzle.

Seneca State Park, near Lake Clopper. I had intended to set a course for Peggy, watch our kids while Peggy ran, then do some field checking. With the late start, I was only able to set the course, and I didn't do such a great job at that. I used control locations for the local meet that's to be run here in April, so Peggy was in essence, vetting part of a course. Some locations were in common with the Summer Short Series training that Boris setup for QOC, using a course I'd put together last June. In these locations, streamers and even sticks/logs arranged to hang streamers were already out.

I got started in a hurry and quickly realized that I hadn't changed into my o-shoes. The trail shoes that I had on were slippery on some slopes so I fell a couple of times. It had rained significantly in the previous 24 hours so I took the long way around for one early leg, just to keep from getting wet crossing a stream. I paused a few times to make notes for map updates. There was a big new rootstock in one area, some unmapped ditches and vegetation in another, and I found a large depression/ruin too. All of this was getting me further behind so when I got to one control and needed a nature break, I must have forgotten to put out a streamer for Peggy--she found the ditches but not the streamer. Later, when I was rushing to finish-up, I skipped a control; I had the course in my mind and had been mentally running through it a couple of times when I was on travel, so I didn't look at the map. Many of the course controls seemed too easy to me but Peggy thought they were appropriate. The area isn't technical, and she was also running in low lighting. The terrain was mostly open so it'll be fast when people race it.