Training Log Archive: Nadim

MCRRCP Winter Trails: From the playground parking lot in Cabin John Regional Park, to the Cabin John Trail, to Seven Locks Rd., to River Rd., to the Cabin John Trail, to the playground parking lot where I started. It was 42 F starting out and rains that had been going all night had just stopped. I got started toward the front of the group. I didn't want to get stuck behind people as they negotiated across the mud, rocks and puddles. I stuck within sight of the lead group until just after crossing Democracy Blvd. I was hardly running with anyone, but more nearby them. Runners would slow in the rocky, and muddy sections so I'd make up ground on them there. They'd slowly pull away until the next obstacle.

My left knee did start to hurt on the way out after 3.5 miles and sometimes my back would too when climbing. The left knee pain was on the inner, right side, extending a little above the knee but more down toward the shin and calf. My back aches were on the lower right side where I'd had surgeries. Coming back, the paid didn't get much worse. I took an easier pace, walking up the steeper hills. Peggy had run about a mile less and finished not long before me.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a headwind.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Woodmont Ave. to Wisconsin Ave., to Norwood Park, to the Little Falls Trail, to Dorset Rd., to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. and into to the Bethesda Metro Station. I'd forgotten to bring sweat bottoms but it didn't matter. It was in the low 50s F. I ran in my shorts and a sweat top that got me plenty sweaty. Unlike yesterday, today, I felt like I was running a little faster than I really did. My knee and other body parts felt okay. I was a little tired near the end.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There was a tailwind from the approaching rain. I felt overdressed wearing my sweat jacket and winter coat under my backpack, and then just my running shorts and shoes.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was 27 F and there was very little traffic.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the road side, went through the Roosevelt Memorial, and passed the Martin Luther King Memorial on Independence Ave., too. It was a quiet night and I thought I was going slower than I was. Starting out, my left hamstring felt precarious. I ran with shorter steps for a while and forgot about it altogether afterward. My knee was okay through this. I saw a big crowd of tourists in front of my office waiting for a bus or something. I guess that they were here for the march on Friday.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I hit the traffic lights and intersections very well.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was in the 20s F but less windy. My nose wasn't as cold as the day before.

Washington, D.C. From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, to Maryland Ave., SW, to 3rd. St, SW, to Pennsylvania Ave., NW, to Constitution Ave., NW, to 14th St., to The Mall, to 12th St. SW, to Independence Ave., SW. It was 39 F when I started. I thought I was running slower than I did the first mile. I could feel my endurance waning on the second. Running on Pennsylvania Ave., I saw a group of buses getting a police escort which is odd at this time of night. At first I thought it might have something to do with the Impeachment Trial going on at the Capitol building that I ran past. but later I thought they might have been here for the march on Friday. My knee didn't bother me much during this run, but I felt it more in the last half mile. I was pretty sweaty afterward.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I was a little sore from orienteering the day before.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, MD. After getting others going on a training event that I'd organized on Martin Luther King Day, I took up part of a course I'd set, rather than stand around in the cold. It was in the upper 20s F and there was a breeze going. This is the first time I got to run a leg on this new map that I'd been making. The map is getting nearly complete but there's a small area to field check still, and then there are some areas to go over a second time. I enjoyed actually running here. I'd forgotten to wear my eyeglasses but I knew the map pretty well and could read enough of it to navigate successfully without errors. The training focused on point feature navigation. There were a few times that I drifted but was able to correct myself.

I got good feedback on the map. People didn't seem to mind running around in an area that I call the thorn maze. They took it slow enough to use the corridors and told me that they matched-up well. A few people cut across thorny areas that I'd mapped as fight. I didn't use the low vegetation symbol for these areas since with slash, one would not be able to pickout the corridors well enough. Some feedback was about the contour interval and in one area, Peggy said I needed a formline. Many appreciated the ditches that I'd added though at least one person indicated that some of them could be linear marshes instead. Running the course and seeing the many boulders that I'd mapped, many did seem small and were difficult to observe in the field. It was a fun day--a bunch of those who came had lunch together.

C • Thank you 2

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, MD. After lunch, I went out to retrieve controls. I jogged about starting to go the reverse of how I'd sent them the day before. However, I quickly detoured and improvised coming up with a shorter route. I used an animal track through the thorns that I'd mapped earlier. I saw a fox on this outing and spiked all of the controls. It was below freezing but I was dressed pretty well. Afterward, I weighed out at 193 lbs.

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, MD. I'll label this field checking though the prime purpose was to set out controls for a training event. I was dehydrated starting out and didn't carry any water. I knew the map needed a second look over in several places. I got a slow start since I was doing so much adjusting early on. Most of it was to line-up point features better than before. I did find some more rock including one boulder cluster in an area that I'd been pretty near several times before. There was also some vegetation in one area that I hadn't really mapped through field checking. The further along I got with the controls that I was hanging, I had fewer and fewer map adjustments to make. I did get concerned about the onset of sundown at one point, so I all but stopped trying to do any more field checking. The map needed less of it anyway. I'd forgotten to bring a bag for the Go control so I had to go back a short way after getting back to my car the first time. The sun was low when I finished.