Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Post Super Bowl Saturday Bumble at Morven Park
 

QOC: Morven Park, Southern Parking Area, Leesburg, VA. This was the first run that I did more than a couple of minutes consecutively since November. I held up pretty well. I was just pretty slow. I wasn't sure that I'd get to go out since I had taken Max and Samantha to Max's basketball game before the event. The kids were hungry so we had to stop to eat too. I got running 40 minutes later with less than an hour to complete the course before it closed.

David and Heidi Onkst setup their Stumble Bumble format; popular for the last 2 years. I enjoyed the courses. I opted to do 3 windows which is what my age group would do in the overall handicap. The initial window was in rough open terrain which this time of year meant wide open. I figured I'd be slowest on the hills and that was true. However since I figured with controls not in windows on the big hill, that I'd still need to climb which is what the second window did. I also figured it'd be more fun to navigate in actual wooded terrain (the last 2 windows that I opted not to do were in more rough open terrain). There were a bunch of controls and many were close together. I navigated pretty well but I just didn't realize that I'd skipped control H after getting to G easily. It was only 80m away from G. I wondered why I wasn't climbing much going to K. After the second window, I opted to go left and attack #16 from above. This worked well. In the 3rd window, I hit everything well and was feeling good about my running. However, I missed seeing control N entirely. Several others did the same. It was tucked in a corner amidst some scattered green and the control circle was broken just enough that it didn't register (I'd forgotten to take my glasses along so that could have had an effect too). I hit a trail briefly in the window, on the way toward P. I was reading the map when all of a sudden I caught my right foot on something. As I was going down, I wondered what it'd do to not only my back, but my left shoulder. I figured that because my right side is weak, that I dragged my right foot just enough (as I'd done several times during 2014 leading up to my back episode). That caused me to twist just enough to have my right arm hit the ground first and take the brunt of the fall--that saved my left shoulder. My back was fine as far as I could tell so I got up, shook it off and got to running again. I was glad that the course was kind of downhill toward the finish (except for the last control). I was just weak enough that it mattered.

Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was 14 F when I first checked the weather outside, 15 F when driving the kids to school, and 17 when I rode. After the first quarter mile, my face hurt but after a half mile from the house, I felt fine.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I caught the traffic lights just right. Thought it had warmed up during the daytime, it was a little colder than I thought going home.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was 33 F and I had a nice tailwind. That was nice since I had a big heavy coat on that catches the wind.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. It was 21 F and I had to ride into the wind going back. It was chilly. My old mid-weight winter cycling gloves helped but they are pretty thin in spots after 13 years.

Riding and watching a movie. Maybe now that I'm past a busier time with work, I can focus on working out more again. I was in all day meetings the last two days and the base of my spine was getting sore. Overall, I feel I'm not improving much.