Training Log Archive: Nadim

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. From a ballfield parking lot in the center of the map, I did some light field checking. This was preparation for QOC's upcoming event, later this month. Russ Damtoft is setting courses for that event. Like most areas in the county, the park has gotten greener overall. It's more than the summer growth. I updated vegetation mostly. Most of the rootstocks had gotten below a mapping threshold though some were changeable to dot knolls. Going late in the day, I didn't dress properly since I was rushing to get out. I was walking around in shorts with no gaiters, and with my old running shoes. Consequently, I stuck to the trails mostly. It wasn't a problem since there are many trail in the area and when I did go off trail it was slow. Down low by the creek, the remnants of hurricane Ida had left a mark. I was following one trail and found myself off of it--flood water put new sand and flotsam on the shores making it hard to follow. It didn't take much to get back on course. Walking around wasn't bad regarding my back, though it did affect stability a little. At one point, I slipped backward on some unexpected mud on a slope. I caught myself and was glad I didn't wrench my back in the process. I've had some swelling in my right leg the last few days. Over a period of about 20 minutes, a deer had followed me around. From away, she came right up to me a few times, as I was walking through forest. I think it was interested in the smell of the bug repellant I had sprayed-on. Her fawn stayed more distant.

After the nice orienteering last Sunday, I was hurting in my hamstring for the next day or 2.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Moorland Ln., to Overhill Rd., to Hampden Ln. to Charlcotte Rd., to Northfield Rd. Samantha and I went for a short walk before dinner. The weather had been rainy much of the week, though time got away from me on Thursday when it was cool and nice. Samantha got scared on the walk and wasn't talkative. She needed encouragement to keep going, but even close to home she had troubles. I wasn't feeling that well this day either. Though my back isn't hurting as constantly, it still affects my right leg when walking.

Summer Short Series, Washington, DC. Gary Smith setup what was probably the best SSS of the summer. He'd extended the already large and extensive downtown Washington, DC. map that had covered the National Mall and surrounding buildings, by building it out to the Foggy Bottom (northwest) part of DC. A lot of this covered parts of the George Washington University (GWU) campus but it was much more than that too. We did see a lot of new and older students walking around--a student welcoming committee even offered Peggy a bottle of water. The usual amount of federal government buildings were there but interspersed were plazas and back alleys of corporate buildings and residential areas. The map was well done considering the great amount of complexity in the area. Controls were either small construction flags on the end of a wire, or patches of green tape. There were a surprising number of homeless encampments in some of the parks and this was the only sad part of the day.

I navigated well, but I walked for the first 10 controls. Feeling much better, I felt I should try to jog and did. After that jogged mostly. I think I had the optimal route except for 3 legs. The rules were that we had to cross at crosswalks and obey traffic controls. I stuck with that with one or 2 exceptions. I also made one mistake that put me next to the State Department building, where the map wasn't exactly finished. My GPS track showed 5.3 miles but with the building canyons it couldn't keep a straight track where I know that I went straight. There was less 3D terrain on this part of the map but stairs were involved for multiple controls. There were plenty of uncrossable walls to plan for. An additional aspect was trying to plan which intersection to use to cross a street, when going on the way to a control.

After finishing and changing clothes, a group of us ate at Tonic, a restaurant in an old building which was a pharmacy. They had plenty of space for us on the porch. Having had time to cool down, might right leg was not so good. Most of the pain was in the right knee but I was feeling it in my hamstring too. For the last 2 days prior to this, I'd been feeling pain in my left knee, right side--an entirely different place than I was feeling it before. My toes returned to some numbness near the end of the course. At least the pain in my right ankle was better.