Training Log Archive: Nadim

Washington, D.C.; From C Street NE, & 7th Street NE..to Stanton Park, to the Union Station Metro. I felt tired and my foot callus hurt.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, to 2nd Ave. to Grace Church Rd., and following the Georgetown Branch Trail over the road portion, (Talbot Ave. Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas Ave. and Stewart Ave.) to the unpaved portion, to Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda, to the Bethesda Metro Station. On the way to his run, while changing trains at Fort Totten, I was socially sneak attacked from behind on both sides. Patti and Mark Mace tapped my shoulders as I was reading and waiting on the train platform. It is always nice to bump into or be bumped by friends in strange places. They were headed downtown to a festival on H Street. I started my run making sure not to push hard because of starting out tired and carrying more than usual in a backpack. I kept a fairly steady pace and had tailwinds from the approaching rain.

From The Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was tired but it felt good to cool off on bicycle.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C.; From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, up Independence Ave., and along The Mall to the Capitol Reflecting Pool, then across the Capitol Building grounds, to Maryland Ave.to Stanton Park, to C Street NE, to 7th Street NE. It was a bit more humid today but still fairly pleasant. I ran with a backpack again. The setting sun was casting good light on the Capitol building and off of the Reflecting Pool there. Let's hope it was a good omen for next week.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. Down The Mall to the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Rock Creek Trail, through the tunnel near the zoo, to Tilden St., to Connecticutt Ave. to the Van Ness/UDC Metro Station. A big event was setup with a lot of tents on The Mall. I didn't feel all that well starting out but got better before slowing it way down after a few miles. I was just weak enough that the uneven places in the trail in the dark made worry about stumbling. It was in the low 70s F. I weighed-out at 177.

From The Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was full after eating burritos with Peggy and Max.

From The Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was full after eating burritos with Peggy and Max.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was 52 F. Max wore shorts and wouldn't admit to being cold.

Washington, D.C.; From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, up Independence Ave., and along The Mall to the Capitol Reflecting Pool, then across the Capitol Building grounds, to Maryland Ave.to Stanton Park, to C Street NE, to 7th Street NE. It was an excellent night for a run with mostly calm winds,+ 60 F dry air. I ran with my rogain backpack and it was very comfortable. Tourists were takinkg pictures off of the water. It is funny seeing how open to pedestrian trFfic is around the Capitol Building when so many other places of lessor stature are walled or fenced off. Maybe this reflects a government of the people though that assertion seems challengeable these days. I can't remember the last time that I ran up Capital Hill--perhaps in the last decade.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was cooler with the threat of rain for later.

Washington, D.C.; From the Eastern Market Metro Station, 7th St. SE, to C St., NE, to Stanton Park, to Maryland Ave., NE, Constitution Ave., across the Capital Building grounds, to The National Mall, across The Mall to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. At about 70 F, the weather was perfect for a comfortable run. There were lots of other runners out. More than one group were running up The Mall opposite the direction I was running. Running along the (Lincoln) Reflecting Pool (I also had run past the much smaller Capital Reflecting Pool), I saw 3 guys running close to my pace or faster on the other side. I guess I picked it up so that by the time I was at the Lincoln Memorial end, I was just ahead of them. The cooler air and lighter weight make a pretty big difference. My quads were a little sore from orienteering yesterday.

From The Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. It was dark and I was tired. I took it easy. I was too lazy to go run afterward.

Lake Needwood, MD. Warm-up getting between the parking lot, bathrooms, and the start.

QOC: Lake Needwood, MD. I ran steady with only within-the-circle bobbles. I just wasn't in very good shape. Still, I was happy that I ran as well as I had. Not making errors helps as did my familiarity with the park; I had mapped it. Had I known Ted Good's time was only 15 seconds ahead of my time, I would have pushed the run-in harder.

On the course, I ran up the parking lot toward #1 and almost ran into a car that was backing out while I was reading the map. At #1, I rounded the fallen tree on the south side, instead of running right up to it from the trail so there's a couple of seconds missed. The first part of the course was so simple, it was more like running cross country. The local high schools and MCRRC run cross country races here.

I punched at #5 but paused a while thinking something was wrong when the code didn't match-up. I was thinking that I was at #4.

I hit #6 and #7 pretty well, using the trail bend to the south to attack north from to #6. I went low to #8 and walked up the hill at the end--glad to see that someone had used the little cliff that I'd mapped.

I stayed high leaving #8 but thought about going low. I had to correct a little at the end on #9.

I probably lost the most time on leg #10 by dropping low. I figured the running would be better--it wasn't, and the callus on my right foot hurt running sidehill most of the race so far. The leg was too short to go low, and I walked up the reentrant at the end.

I ran trails efficiently to #11 and #12 though I paused for #12 expecting it to be much lower and not seeing it for a while. I dropped low again for #13, coming in off the spillway field. I misread the control feature for #14, pausing at the rocks and trail instead of looking just beyond at the spur. There was basically no water there, a consequence of a lot of people, little water, and starting late. I literally got a couple of drops before leaving.

My run to #15 was my next worse bobble. Once over the dam, I descended a little, zigged across the reentrant, then dropped all the way down instead of contouring over. I was just thinking it was farther ahead and I ran about 10m past what would have been the right place to climb again. Heidi Onkst was going to the same reentrant control on the steep hillside from above and that looked much more precarious.

I ran and walked right to #16 by keeping an eye for the hilltop to my left. I stayed high for a while going to #17 but I didn't want to attempt crossing the high grass on the landfill hillside. I passed the fenced area just to the south, then walked up the road. Going to #18, I was surprised at how difficult it was to see the intermittent trail--an old road bed. I think the dryness obscured it. I ran to the cairn at the bend, then to the next cairn just NW of the control to spike #18.

I was not very fast descending when leaving #18. I angled my way down. Going straight down might have been faster but my angled path did put me right at the rocks that let me cross Rock Creek staying dry. I didn't have a lot of energy but wasn't feeling too bad. Control #19 was super easy. I did have energy to run faster on the run-in as I had in Scotland over the summer but I didn't, consciously not wanting to risk injury like at Greenbelt earlier.

It was fun to run and enjoy.

Blue - Splits