Training Log Archive: Nadim

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte. 118, I started field checking to expand the map. This is intended for possible use at The Mid-Atlantic Championship in December. I had worked up a very good base map for the new area from good LiDAR and good aerial imagery. It made the work a lot easier. That was good since the leaves are fully on and grasses are still high in places it grows. Since it had rained so much this month, I planned to stay off the flood plains along the creek but ended up on some of it anyway. It wasn’t bad nor was it that marshy. On the hillsides I found a nice amount of rock. On the flatter parts of the main hilltops I was on there was more deadfall than I would have wanted and it was challenging to map. I’ll look at the hilltops some more. With a slow start, I made a lot of progress but lost some time going back to the car when I realized I needed bug spray. I cut this outing short when my GPS batteries died and both sets of spares turned out to be dead too—Samantha got the good and bad batteries mixed up.

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte 118, I continued what I’d started earlier. This time I hit the flatlands first. There was a nice mix of ditches and earthwalls. I’d rushed back from getting a drink and batteries and forgot to re-apply big spray. Mosquitoes were bad on the flatlands. I was about to make some notees and looked at my paper to find a drop of my blood that landed right where I needed to draw. At least almost all of the flats near the marsh and creek was open forest. I covered a lot of gullies and some ditches that were close together and leading into a marsh next. I finished with high ground in some regularly spaced pines and some thicker vegetation near a saddle and a trail junction. It was fun.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was trying to move slowly in places since the roads were wet and there were fallen leaves in places.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down The Mall along Independence Ave. and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station. I paced my way through this run feeling slow and heavy. At least the weather was nice; 70s F and finally sunny. There were lots of runners, some cyclists, walkers, and more electric scooters than I’d seen in a long while. A few peaceful protesters were on the steps in front of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial using an amplifier. A park policeman who was approaching while I ran past, had the unenviable task of checking for permits.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I started more wet than I finished.

THOMASS - Splits