Training Log Archive: Nadim

Summer Short Series:. Ted Good setup the first SSS event post QOC's regular season. It was partly to benefit those competing internationally but none of those competitors could make it. It was pretty fun and on the University of Maryland campus. My knee didn't feel so good starting out but it got better. The first course was a woods sprint. Having rained the night before, it was humid and damp in low lying places but not excessively. I was in a rush to get ready so I didn't even wear o-pants. Running in just a shirt and shorts turned-out to be fine, as long as I took some precautions. I started near another QOC runner and almost caught him at the first control. I did the longer wood sprint and I think the other guy was doing the shorter one--we were together trading leads up until #7 which I got to first. I actually missed #8 because I misunderstood the clue description for upper stairs. I went all around and inside the bottom of a parking lot garage stairwell and concluded someone must have taken the streamers. I made a mistake dropping down for #10. I corrected and saw Peggy approaching #12. At #13, I didn't read the clue and went to a building corner, then all the way around it (it was a shed-like building) before seeing it on the corner of a hillside spur. I did however find some bee hives at the building and managed not to get stung--Ted hadn't seen them. After leaving #16, I got ahead of Peggy by hitting #17 well. Something seemed a little off with the map there (I'm not sure) and Peggy was off to the right. I changed my route to #23 but got hung up in some green anyway. As I said, it was fun overall! I ran 4.8K for the 3.8K course.

SSS at UMD, College Park, MD. The second sprint was mostly across the UMD campus. Max's girlfriend Sammie did this with Max. I did well avoiding most traps. I went on the western route for #2 though I'm not sure that was the best route--I also made a small bobble turning-in one building gap too early, then quickly correcting it. I had trouble sometimes distinguishing colors correctly, such as the difference between a lone tree and a fountain. I did make a mistake getting to #8, but not for the obvious trap. I went right initially, to try to get through the upper level stairs to the inside corner, but that way was blocked; I was interpreting a purple narrow out-of-bounds area (partial purple Xs) as black fencing. I also paused at the mapped tunnel which I felt should have been mapped as a canopy. I left #9 kind of funny so I ended up taking the long way around a building rather than using a narrow passage trail. It was still fun. Later a lot of the group went to eat outdoors at a place called The Hall where more fun was had.

From Northfield Rd., I went downtown to pickup dinner for Max and myself. I'd been busy all day and didn't have much time to ride so this was a good chance to get some blood circulation going. It was breezy and I was downtown in 4:51 minutes! I took the longer way back to avoid traffic but it was into the wind.

From Northfield Rd., to Moorland Ln., to Glenwood Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Kingswood Rd., to Hurst St., to Grosvenor Rd., to Beach Dr., to Broadbranch Rd., NW, to Ridge Rd. NW, to Military Rd., NW, to 27th St., NW/Utah Ave., NW, to Pinehurst Circle, to Western Ave. NW, to Primrose St. NW, to Brookeville Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Wilson Ln., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. Starting out, I wasn't sure how long I'd go since rain was on the way. I had to start and stop a lot at traffic lights/stop signs. Since most of Old Georgetown Rd. is busy with commuters leaving work and eager to get home, I would get up to what's a quick speed for me, and then have to do it again. I'm not in shape for accelerations so it tired me early. On Beach Dr. in Rock Creek, MD, I caught and passed a guy. I slowed and we exchanged leads for a while. I eventually lost him at the hill at the Wise Rd., NW intersection, however I did gain on him again until he turned around shortly before Military Rd., NW. A couple of other faster riders passed me while I was moving well somewhere past the park police station. Climbing out of the Rock Creek valley, I got passed pretty easily where it was steep. I didn't feel as strong as the last time I did this route, however I was actually moving as fast or faster. With some wind behind me on the flat part of Bradley Blvd., I moved over 20mph but I got stopped by traffic in poor places to keep a momentum later. As I turned up the gradual climb on Glenbrook Rd., the wind shifted to a headwind as I was moving towards home and the approaching storm.

From Nortfhfield Rd., Custer Rd., to Wilson Ln. to MacArthur Blvd., to Sangmore Rd., to the Capital Crescent Trail to Falls Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Wilson Ln., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I was a little tired from running long on Sunday. However, this helped get some soreness out of my legs.

Event: QOC Jug Bay
 

QOC: Jug Bay - The Chase (a.k.a., the Beer Chase). I ran Blue. On the first loop, I was not keeping up with the pace. Peggy was slowly pulling away after the first control. I had people around me a fair amount but I relied upon myself. In a few places, it helped me to have someone nearer to the control however I was following bearings pretty well and successful at reading the contours to see which direction to turn to find a control along the side of a gully. I saw Marie Pangracova near the end of the first loop, but she wasn't looking like her usual form. She was walking as if she had gotten injured.

My beer drinking wasn't quite in form either. I had to two-gulp it. Going outo on the second loop, which was a score-o/random order format, Jan Merka and I were near each other. I moved ahead attacking but I'd read the control to be on a stream bend and didn't find it, as I came straight at it. I went north, crossed and came back on the other side once realizing the control was on a small reentrant, not the stream. Jan had moved out, along with his daughter Alexis and friend Lucy; the later 2 had caught-up to Jan and I. We had all decided upon the same counter-clockwise loop, and there didn't seem much worth in going any other way. Jan and I both confided after running that we wanted to use the road towards the end, when we'd be more tired. Leaving the 3rd control the 3 others were still ahead, but they opted to cross a spur rather than go around it through the sometimes marshy flat land like I had. I got ahead of all 3 that way, but instead of continuing up the valley like I had, Jan crossed and climbed. The better footing up there got him ahead of me again approaching #109. I did back-track a little to use a trail bridge at one point, so that might have aided Jan in getting ahead too. The girls were not far back at #109. I went straight to #107. Jan had done so mostly too but I passed him and he was falling behind. I hit the edge of the next stream valley and correctly turned left to pretty much spike the control, and Jan was only a few steps behind, having corrected earlier. I went over a small spur to get to and cross the Pindell Branch stream. That kept me ahead of the others. Once climbing up and on the Pindell Bluff Trail however, the girls were right behind me. Lucy seemed strongest at that point. I thought she'd pass me but she seemed to wait for Alexis. Jan had dropped off the pace. At the road I stayed on the trail. and then cut in when I saw some marshyness to my right. The girls had come off of the road somehow. I'd gotten slowed by thicker vegetation near the marsh and they were somewhat ahead of me. However, I was reading the marsh edge well enough to look to my right and see the control first. After getting there, I left quickly and got back ahead of Alexis and Lucy to down my next beer a little better than the last.

The last loop was fairly short but with some still significant navigation necessary. I did not hit #22 well. I'd missed my attack point along the road, mistaking the mapped distinct tree symbol for a cairn (because of the smaller than usual symbol sizes on this map). I saw a ditch but wasn't sure it was the mapped linear marsh. I ended up getting north of the control and coming back. Alexis and Lucy passed me and got back to the road before me while heading towards #23. Their route seemed to be going on the wrong side of the larger marsh, so I made sure to go my own route around and on the east side of the green vegetation. The vegetation extended more to the east than was mapped. I picked-up on it and adjusted to hit #23 pretty well. Alexis and Lucy later told me that they had to go back to the road before getting to #23. I took the trail route to #24, and was a little to the right approaching #25. Recognizing it by the contour of the valley edge, I corrected and spiked #25. I went straight to the barn control and finished still feeling good--perhaps better than I had on the first loop. I think my recent cycling training has helped.

We had a nice picnic lunch on the lawn overlooking the bay. The weather was the best that I could remember ever for a Beer Chase. It was in the 70s with a pleasant breeze. People went into the water and we watched the club awards. We hung around a long time an enjoyed everyone's company.

Blue - Splits