Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Fountainhead Central
 

Red - Splits

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was to be a nice day so even though I was tired from the day before, I made sure to get out. Starting out it was in the upper 50s F. I rode comfortably which meant slower. I got passed by one guy going just a little faster so I drafted off of him until Georgetown. I moved ahead there keeping a steady pace into my office building. There were minor headwinds along the water.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I'd worked late again so I started off in the dark. Getting through the 15th St. and Main Ave. traffic in the dark makes me a little nervous but didn't slow me down. I had my flashing helmet. It's not a full headlamp so I have to be careful about riding up on people without any lighting. I had a tailwind and it was very comfortable in the mid-60s F. Once through Georgetown, I kept steadily passing others. It was good to have someone in my sight almost all the way home. I did ride off the edge of the trail at one point--it was just for a second before I was able to ride back on smoothly. I hadn't seen a very subtle bend on what most would call a straightaway. Later a deer jumped out in front of me. Fortunately it ran forward, giving me enough time to use my brakes. Later, I saw another who was on the side of the trail staring and wondering. I'd shifted my helmet from flashing mode to steady light and that helped. One other rider passed me going up the hill, but he was cruising while pedaling his electric bicycle. This night was oddly different from others in that I felt I was riding in a tunnel much of the way.

From Riffleford Rd., I set out to place control streamers in Seneca State Park. I got a slow start with getting to the right locations even missing some controls. The bushy vegetation had grown up a lot, over the wet summer. Other places traditionally open were just as open. I'd planned to do all of the controls but I also got to a big area and soon realized it had changed a whole lot. I spent a lot of time re-mapping it. As I got away from remapping activity, my progress improved and I felt better despite being tired. I did run between controls when possible. It was a +70 F sunny day which was much better than being at work! I surprised one hunter in a blind and came across 2 more--I guess all of them were bow hunting. Two of them asked me if I'd seen any deer, and I hadn't on this day up to that time. Later I saw a few deer including a nice looking buck. Everytime I saw them they were running.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I worked late so it was dark.

Event: Susquehanna Stumble XX - Pine Grove Furnace State Park
 

Event: Harriman Orienteering Festival
 

Harriman State Park, NY; at Lake Welch Beach. This was the walk to the mass start.

Harriman Orienteering Festival in Harriman State Park, NY. Greg Alswede set the mass start goat course as a Junior Team fund raiser. It raised around $3,000 which they'll use for traveling. The weather turned out to be pretty well.

S-1 I lined-up near the back but got a decent start going to the road. My son Max was running the Baby Goat, his first time running more than Yellow in Harriman. He had seen a road route to #1 which turned out to be my #1 too, but Joe Brautigam had pulled over to go that way just in front of me, after we got through the tunnel. I felt okay running and that was good. I kept the pace comfortable. There was a big group of people converging after we left the trail and went down a reentrant. I had to wait a minute at the control where there was only one punch and a line of people waiting.

1-2 - I went fairly straight but got pulled right, into the briars. Once out of them I used the walls to get close but I felt a little lucky coming out of the briars close to it.

2-3 - I went fairly straight. Pavalina Brautigam was up ahead and I closed the distance.

3-4 - Behind Pavalina in the blueberry, we were on our line when we came to a control. It seemed early and again there was a line. I was hurrying to punch because of the line behind me, and I didn't check the code. Kristen turned off and I started to follow when I heard Peggy behind me say this isn't our control. That made sense so I doubled back, then down the hill much further. I have navigated well in this area previously. I can only think it was me running too fast, getting distracted by people, and fog on my glasses that made me make this bonehead error. Peggy had punched just behind me.

4-5 - I chased a group upward along the hillside. Jeff Seager was leading but Bernie was near me too. I was on a good line kept my basic position.

5-6 - I went straight with the group. Again Jeff was ahead and seemingly pulling away. I wasn't climbing so well. The vegetation clued me in at the end, but the group was pulling me along.

6 - 7 - I went straight like those around me. Along the way heard others talk about skipping and I'd just about forgotten we could! I thought skipping #8 would be good. Half-way there, Jeff Saeger was ahead and leading again. JJ Cote was off to my right but he converged behind Jeff. Once we hit the mountain laurel a few went left and a few went right. Peggy was falling behind. I went more to the right but not so far as Jeff. I climbed a bit of a ridge and should have realized it. I broke into the open and went more right but I was high and past the control already. I cut right seeing more people going that way, and then realized how far above and past the control I was. I turned quickly but it probably took me over a minute running to the control.

7 - 8 - As I was intending to skip 8 by taking the trail to #9, Daniel Schaublin passed me and quietly suggested skipping #18. While I was evaluating that and behind him, I committed to getting to #8. JJ led us there up a trail. I concluded that skipping #8 would have been better but it didn't matter at that point.

8 - 9 - I liked running straight down the gradual hillside. I was on target parallel to JJ, when just before the control I saw Max. Max looked worried and said he thought he'd run off the map. I had to let JJ and Daniel go. I didn't want Max to have a bad experience his first time deep into the back woods of Harriman. Max told me he was going to #108, where I'd just come from. Max's map had a different scale and I think he had run off the printed map. I eventually got it oriented and pointed him in the direction he needed to go in. I found out later that he was able to find it, even with it being 300m away. I punched after that and I figured I lost almost 2 minutes.

9-10 - I ran straight but got a bit to the left. I'd been reading up and down incorrectly. People started crossing my path--the were coming from #11 and going to #12. I corrected and hit the control with little time lost.

10-11 - I ran straight and got gained ground on a man I'd see later.

11-12 - I was again fairly straight. Another guy was on my right. That probably pulled me right since I had to turn left near the end. I was able guess the control location from far off before I descended to the bottom of the hill.

12-13 - I hit the road after breaking through some mountain laurel. I gained ground and caught Daniel Schaublin. It turned out that he and JJ had a slight error getting to #10.

13 - 14 I went around the right side of the mountain laurel. JJ Cote passed me on the right, but after we turned left, he slowed later. I was able to get to the control ahead of a group, and I was feeling like I was reading the map better.

14-15 - I didn't consider the trail option to #15. I went straight. JJ and Daniel S. seemed to be doing the same. I and the guy I'd caught at #11 were on the right side while they were on the left. At one point, I saw a distinctive edge of some mountain laurel ahead, and correlated it to green on the map. I ran confidently to get passed it before cutting more to the right. What I found out later was that I was seeing a second patch of green, and that I was already passing the control. At the bottom, people were running toward me from my right. Pavalina was leading a group and asked me where I was going. When I told her #15, she pointed back where she was coming from. I was over a minute getting to it from there.

15 - 16 - I ran and walked straight. The other guy I'd been with passed me on the climb but we both got to the control at about the same time.

16 - 17 - I was slow going up the steep climb. As we climbed we thought about skipping #18, as Daniel had suggested long ago. The other guy got ahead and to the right a bit. He'd corrected at the top by the time I got there.

17 - 18 - The other guy paused for me and recommended going to #18 since it was just along the ridge along an intermittent trail. We moved well and got there w/no problem.

18 - 20 - We decided to run trails to 20. My glasses were just foggy enough and I was out of breath keeping up with the other guy enough that I just didn't see this leg being forked! We came down the trail south of #18. At the intersection, we went straight, w/me leading. It was a bit rough. We popped out on the big trail near #19B, but I still didn't see it. The other guy had gotten ahead of me and I was trying to catch-up. We moved well on the trail but I slowed as we started to climb. Three West Point runners led by a woman passed me. The all passed the point I wanted to jump off the trail. I yelled ahead as the other guy was thinking about it. We cut right and SW on a trail through some stone walls. We stayed with the walls too long, and then made a general run down to the stream to correct. We hit it well. The other guy got there first, and David Oxertierna was just coming in on my right.

20-21 - I chased the other guy and was trying to get some ground on David too. I fell back a few steps by the time we'd gotten to the tunnel. On the other side, I went a bit further to get past the worst of the green. It sounded like the other guy had gone in early but I wasn't sure. I hit the open woods and moved well. I could see Carl Alswede ahead of me near the end but I couldn't run down the hill very fast without fear of falling.

21-F - I chased Carl, making up all the 30m distance except for the last step. When I realized he'd get there ahead of me, I slowed and punched the left control, less than a second behind.

It was nice running in Harriman again. Peggy remarked that she was having a hard time imagining running another 15K like the Hudson Highlander usually does. She hasn't missed any of the Highlanders and this race unfortunately took the weekend for it. I didn't feel like I navigated well and neither did Peggy. I think the fog on my glasses had a lot to do with that. I found myself reading around them a lot. I was happy that I felt strong enough to run the whole time. I even finished with an almost sprint. I cramped up a lot, later in the car when I was trying to put my dry socks on.

Fall Goat - Splits