Training Log Archive: Nadim

We caught another flight to Minnesota. It took most of the day getting there and when we arrived we went straight to Peggy's niece's graduation party. After returning and in St. Paul, it was past 11:40 pm ET but since we were on Central Time and I really needed to run, I went out for the standard loop. Unlike last winter when it was around freezing, it was around 70 F, nice and breezy. From Montrose La. I went to the Mississippi River Blvd., over the Mississippi river on the Lake Dr. bridge (into Minneapolis), along the Grand Round Trail to the Ford Bridge, then back along Mississippi River Blvd. to Hartford Rd. to Montrose Ave. I felt fast and strong until crossing the first bridge; I cruised along after that still feeling some residuals from the last Rogaine. A time check at the beginning of the Ford bridge alerted me to pick-up the pace a bit or else I wouldn't have broken 42 minutes. The time for this run was almost a minute faster than in winter.

It was supposed to be a travel day going to Minnesota however, traffic did us in after work. Missing our flight, we returned home from the airport. 45 situps. I really felt like I should be running but there wasn't the time.

From Rosedale Ave., I was shamed or inspired by AttackPoint logs and the prospect of no or little workout tommorow to do the Two Mile Loop around the neighborhood. My intention had been to run right after work but I had to work late. I felt fairly well. It didn't feel like I was pushing very hard but I noticed the hills a bit. That could have been the near midnight timing.

I got busy mowing the lawn and other things so it's another day of unplanned rest. I did want to run around a little at least.

45 situps. I was tempted to do more than this but thought it best to let some delayed aches and pains heal.

From Rosedale Ave. After dinner Max and I went on our first test ride using the second hand Burley bike trailer that I'd gotten recently. I put it together just in time. The high temperature out earlier in the day was around 90 F. It was a good way to end our day together; Peggy had been out setting controls for the QOC Beer Chase. He seemed to enjoyed it including the faster than baby jogger speed. I had some soreness from the SVO Rogaine but it wasn't bad at all. The naps and good night sleep I got did wonders.

SVO Rogaine. The second 12 hours we went from #34 to: 64, 75, 71, 33, 65, 21, 61, 23, 40, and 55 (as with orienteering, the distance shown was measured straight line--the rough measure of the actual distance traveled the second 12 hours was 25.5 miles).

Continuing our fun in the dark after midnight, Dave Onkst and I enjoyed the pipeline run/jog to #64 where we rested, ate and restored our water supply. I made sure to drink all I could. We rounded the reservoir then dropped our packs. Eager to get going, we got off on the wrong road going to a valley just north of the reservoir. We had gone down the pink road which didn't show up well on the map. We corrected, then spiked the hard part of #75. We again noted the sign in times of Team Toxic Vomit which had taken a counter-clockwise route; we thought they would be the ones to beat. We returned on a better route, picked up packs and went up District Road on the way toward #71. We figured going the road would be much easier at night than going directly and would make the climb less steep. We dropped packs again at a prominent bend in the road then plunged in. Neither of us could see that a pink trail was shown on the map. We were happy to find it and use it to spike #71. Going back, we were a bit unsure of where we got onto the trail and thus unsure where to leave it to get back to our packs. There was also some preference to avoid some high blueberry getting back; in our minds it seemed like the trail would likely hit the road near the bend where our packs were but this wasn't the case. We eventually abandoned the trail and found our way back to a road but were unsure which direction to go. We turned the wrong way before figuring it out and having to come all the way back for our packs.

The long road walk to #33 brought us to dawn. I was still using the same 4 Lithium AA's in my new Black Diamond Soliras Hybrid LED Headlamp--it seemed worth getting it. I mostly used the LED's but found it great to have the Xenon search light capability when in the vicinity of controls. It really was bright. We saw the DeWitts again at #65 before another long road walk to #21. They explained that it was their headlamps that we saw near the water stop earlier. They also informed us that they had found #70 and made a mistake leaving it. Lastly they told us that they'd slept, something neither Dave nor I had for 24 hours at that point (altogether we went about 34 hours without sleep).

Dave had stopped eating for a few hours due to some nausea and was starting to weaken--the low point for him. We hit the next couple controls well and using staffs to climb a steep hill, Dave found his strength back. We hit the road near camp, and dropped packs for a third time to walk/run up to #40. The curve we attacked from was wide and vague. We missed, headed north then found it south. Finally we ran back to base camp getting there with about 2.5 hours to go.

Heidi Onkst was doing team support and right away tried to make us comfortable. I ate more red beans and rice and drank Gatorade. It was too cold to drink more than 32 oz. Given what we had left, we knew we didn't have enough time for more than one more control which was about 3K away. We trotted off to it, walking part of the way. After spiking it, we returned and ran just about the whole way.

We were finished with less than half an hour left on the clock. I found Dave to be a good partner and was glad we could do this together. We ran similar paces. We both had low points and I thought Dave pulled us both along when I had mine. Thanks go to Peggy too. She watched Max. I was happy that I did reasonably well on a physical level; especially given my recent conditioning. My feet did not blister though my the balls of them did hurt around the caluses. My new shoes felt good but upon finishing and examining them closer I found that the heel had fallen off on one and was about to fall of on the other--this Merril Overdrive model defect is just what a fellow competitor warned me about right at the start.

We found out that we'd won the Master's category soon after finishing. Soon after noon, we found out that we'd barely won the overall point total--our hats are off to Barb and Katia who were only 35 points behind. Though I think we had gone faster and farther, the Female team must have been much more accurate or planned better which is what the sport seems largely about. Going out again in the last two hours for that last 55 point control really counted for Dave and I.

Going home it was a good thing that Heidi drove. Both Dave and I passed out. I must have snored too loudley too because I woke up in the car at one point after Dave and Heidi had put a blanket behind my neck perhaps to improve the air passage. Though I ate and drank both during and after finishing, my weight when I got home was the same as when I left--171.5.