Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Hoyle's Mill
 

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. From White Ground Rd., I vet controls for QOC's NRE, in the north part of the map that I made. It was 28 F starting out but by the time I was finished, it was 36 F. The initial controls were near a creek and after that for a while, they were not far apart. I hadn't been on this part of the map since last spring. It was good to be able to compare it to new terrain that I've been mapping recently in the same park. I'd forgotten to take my GPS watch this morning.

QOC: Hoyles Mill NRE in Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. I ran the green course under M-Open, but it was not a ranking event for me. I'd been in the park during the embargo period, mostly for new mapping, but also for doing some updates/corrections. I'd also vet in the morning.

S-1 - Course setter Sam Listwak had been on the starting line and he'd told me he was interested in seeing which direction I would run to leg 1. Rather than go left or right using the trails, I went through some light green to the left of straight, and used the ditch in the small patch of white woods before my first trail crossing. After crossing the trail, I stumbled on small rocks, hidden by leaves. I landed not so good with one hand and a forearm on another rock. After getting up, it was a little hard shaking it off. After that I went around what looked like new deadfall, and then straight. I could sometimes see some people following the creek to my right. I moved closer to the creek after a while, but saw the dot knoll to the SE of the control.

1-2 - I ran straight and did it pretty well with only a few minor corrections. Some people were ahead and passed a few before and after the green on the straight line. I did go through the green in a gap but didn't see the rocky pit (old well).

2-3 - I got on the right side of the stream, and got to the road. I ran up the road after crossing the creek, reentering the forest just before the small clearing and ride. From there I went straight. I don't think I saw the linear marsh, but hit the control well. I had been at this control when vetting earlier this morning.

3-4 - I went straight until to the light green. Once there, I ran the edge of the green. The boulders on the edge helped. Though I could see the rocks for the cliff far off, some people were coming at the control from the west.

4-5 - The people I saw leaving #4 seemed to be going straight. I went left for the gap and got into at least part of it. I popped out north of the control a little bit, but knew where I was. I'd vet this and all of the other controls on this part of the map earlier this morning.

5-6 - I ran straight. Initially I wanted to cross the stream before it got gullied, and I did. I kept straight afterward. Seeing the ride helped.

6-7 - I went a little left of straight, to get to the bridge. That got me there without going through any green or low vegetation. Once across the bridge, I ran the intermittent trail along the creek until the creek started to bend. I turned left (south) up the left side of the stream. I saw the 2 boulders and a cliff as my clue to leave the stream and go more directly. I saw one of the 2 cliffs along the way, and a small boulder on the edge of the green. I passed some people who'd stopped short, saw the depression west of the control, and was there.

7-8 - I tried going straight but perhaps drifted right. I thought I was going up the left side of the light green at the start of the leg. I saw a hill to my right and a control on a different hill to my left. Getting to that control, I punched but looking at the code and realizing it was not correct, I went on. I hadn't read the clue description so when I saw a hill that looked correct, I started looking on the side of it. Later I went to the top and found the small bare rock. There were hesitations and slight changes in direction for me but I didn't make any error other than mistaking the feature that I needed.

8-9 - I cautiously followed the dry intermittent marshes, the moved faster. Another guy was converging from my right but I got there first.

9-10 - I ran straight through the first green patch. At the second, it looked too thick so I went left (north) around it. Getting to the dot knoll that's north of the control, I attacked successfully.

10-11 - I stayed in the white forest to the field, then ran along the field to the control .

11-12 - Rather than fight my way back to the trail and run where it was stony, I stayed in the field and ran the edge to where the trail.

12 - F - I went straight, ignoring the arcing and mowed trail.

All-in-all, this was a good outing. I just didn't move that fast.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. I went back into the forest, and to several controls. I got some action pictures. It seemed like I'd missed most of the competitors. I was getting pretty tired just walking my way back and my left knee was hurting.

Once home, as usual after a long day when I've not been drinking enough, I got a leg cramp. This one happened just as I was standing up getting out of the car.

Green - Splits

Event: Crooked Compass Adventure Trek
 

Starting from Germantown East Local Park, I went up Gunner's Branch into the Montgomery College Germantown Campus and surrounding woods. Sam Listwak had recommended that I map this area. It could be used for training, club sprints, or Middle Distance, though overall it's not very technical. I'd spent a long while just doing the basemap. I had a lot of aerial imagery to help map the college buildings and sidewalks. I did this at 1:4,000 which works well, but the surrounding forest may have been better mapped at 1:10,000 or something less. From what I saw walking around, the overall base mapping was good. I didn't have to do much editing on the campus. The forests had more in them than I'd anticipated. Along Gunner's Branch, there was regular feature spacing. There were things like occasional rock, man made objects, a pond, and even a ride. There was some low vegetation and some parts just looked unpleasant. The other forest south of the campus, west of Holy Cross Germantown Hospital and north of the Hughes Network Systems campus was much more wide open with a saddled ridge a few broad reentrants, and some ditch systems. I got a lot done but will need a few more days to be thorough.

From Northfield Rd. I ran up to Custer Rd., to Wilson La., to Exeter Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I didn't feel so good today.

From Northfield Rd., to Jefferson St., to Glenwood Rd., to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to Ewing Dr., to Greentree Rd., to Garfield St., to Jefferson St., to Northfield Rd. This felt okay but the usual knee pains were there.

From Northfield Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Wilson Ln. to Custer Ln. to Northfield Rd.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park. I started from the Hoyles Mill Trailhead parking lot on White Ground Rd. The little field there had been let to grow except for where they mowed for the trail. I got a phone call just before I was to head out, and I subsequently forgot my eyeglasses. I ran down Hoyles Mill Rd. without them, then crossed over into areas I'd mapped on Saturday. I was pleased that I could navigate from what I'd mapped earlier since some of my notes had been sketchy. I checked some features, then headed to the areas further northwest. The further from the streams that I got, the better the woods were overall. Vegetation changes were gradual, making it hard to map. I was productive however. I found and mapped a lot of newly discovered boulders and low cliffs. This area is likely to be tougher to navigate than others on the map, due to density and the spacing of the rock. Though much of the rocky areas are to be mapped white, the occasional barberry bushes or small rises in terrain keep the visibility low. There were areas of fractured stony ground too that made treacherous to ankles.