Training Log Archive: Nadim

Rockville, MD. From Mark Twain Elementary School & Park, I ran trails mostly through Rockville Civic Center Park to get tracks on my GPS for mapping. Though I'd mapped this area earlier, I want to make sure it lines up with the expansions around Lake Frank and Lake Needwood later. I felt okay. At one point in Rockville Civic Center Park a hedgehog chased me. it was wierd because these things don't usually even see people; they use scent a lot. It's never happened to me anywhere before. I wondered if he was rabid but he looked okay. I did have to accelerate but that's why we have ATP.

45 situps. I sort of let the day and evening get away from me as I worked on various projects. Eventually I got too tired for a short run as it got late.

From Rosedale Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail via Kentbury La., to Jones Bridge Rd. and back. I planned to go longer but would have been even later for dinner. This route also kept me out of the winds which were still going pretty strong at 29 F. I felt like I was moving faster and focused more on running form. Climbing the hill at the end I was pretty slow.

From 14th & Independence Ave., Washington, D.C. Independence Ave. to the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the trail along the Potomac River, to the Thompson Boathouse parking lot & the Rock Creek Trail, to the Woodley Park Metro Station. I started out feeling surprisingly okay but could soon feel the wind pushing back on me. It was around 30F and the winds were steadily blowing 20mph right at me. I noticed I got winded quickly; both the pun meaning and actually in my lungs. Oddly, my legs felt strong while the rest of me felt weak. I could only guess that I had some residual benefit of having run a week at higher altitudes but it couldn't have been much and I should have felt better in the lungs. The wind got worse along the river and my head started hurting. Finally in the relative shelter of the Rock Creek valley I ran better and I dragged myself up the hill at the end.

From the Medical Center Metro Station elevator, to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. My right calf and upper achilles protested a bit on my jog home. I felt tired.

After a day of traveling back to Bethesda, I rode the trainer. I figured it would give my left knee more rest. The knee does feel better but isn't quite 100% yet. My cadence was above 65.

Saguaro National Park (East), AZ. To start off the morning, Peggy, Max and I went out and back on a short hike off the Bajada Loop Rd. We went on the Valley View Overlook Trail. For a short hike it was quite nice. The desert around here looks better than most pampered gardens. Max enjoyed it though early in the hike, Peggy had an unfortunate brush with a Chainfruit Cholla cactus. The slight brush had gone through her insulated US Team windbreaker and into her arm. We got it out after a few painful moments. My left knee felt a bit awkward and sometimes hurt; like it was just a bit out of alignment. It was good to give it a rest. Later in the day we walked a bunch at the Desert Museum. It was a nice way to end the mini-vacation.

Western States Championships & Intercollegiate Championships in the Coronado National Forest near Sonoita, AZ. I jogged up to the start area with plenty of time before my race. I was to start with Peggy and chase Ed White by two minutes. I was about 1 minute behind Ed in the standings from the day earlier. Just as it was time to go to the call up line, I saw the e-punch and realized I'd left mine back at the car. I ran back, got it, then ran to the start again. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long to find get a new start time; just a few minutes past my original start of 10:30am.

Western States Championships & Intercollegiate Championships in the Coronado National Forest near Sonoita, AZ. This was run on the Kentucky Camp map, 1:10,000. I started out okay. For the first few controls the best way seemed to be straight over several ridges. These were somewhat long legs. It got a little less steep after that but I felt the need to pace myself by half-way and probably was too conservative--it had been a long 4 days of orienteering leading up to this.

I bobbled #6 by reading the short leg incorrectly. I went too low; nearly to the bottom of the reentrant, then had to climb back up. I was pretty clean after that until #10. This seemed to be in the area where made my first error in the sprint. Coming perpendicular over a ridge I was a bit to the right. I saw a control in a reentrant to my right and checked it, then came back and found the control on the saddle tucked low. I felt the placement was a bit off (in a reentrant rather than a saddle) but I am not sure. Getting tired and drawn off a bit by other orienteers, I messed-up #12 coming down one spur too early and going too far down. This was my biggest error of the day. My pulse dropped down to 130 while I was figuring things out. It cost me about a minute. Going to #13 after this, I had a good line initially but not thinking carefully enough, I just took a bearing over a bland hill into the wrong spur. I should have cut left a bit more first to get a closer attack point.

This was a good run for me but not as good as the day before. I was generally slower; the course was steeper. I made more errors and got sloppy toward the end. My consolation was that I managed to luck into 3rd in the M45+ age group. Ed White had a larger error on #8 which I spiked with just a bit of hesitation. Tom Hollowel was again 8 minutes ahead of me and Greg Balter was about 11 minutes up. I look forward to getting in better physical shape but know it will be a long road ahead. My left knee has been aching a bit after the last 4 days--part of it might have come from resting with my weight on my knees while typing Attackpoint entries on Friday--having the notebook located high was the best way to get wireless connectivity.

After the racing, Peggy, Max and I toured Colossal Cave. It was about a half mile hike with somewhere over 100ft. of climb. It loosened us up but made us late for dinner with Christina, some of her friends, Kris Beecroft and Michael Platt. It was a nice way to end the weekend. The cave was not as interesting as Luray Caverns in Virginia but was interesting because it was different.

C • dinner companions 3

Red2 - Splits