Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC- Glen Artney
 

QOC: Glen Artney, MD. I was gettting ready to go out on the Blue course myself when Max told me he wanted to go out. I'd been mountain biking in this area once and I didn't remember it being very hilly compared to the south side of the Patapsco. This was the first orienteering meet on the new map that Ted made. We were warned of there being a lot of green on it but it seemed much more than expected and a hillier than I remembered it. The White course went down a long way before coming back up. Max navigated well to the first control. Anticipating being able to see the power lines shown on the map just past #2, we both ended up turning around at a parking lot. Max was doing okay though sometimes he'd get mixed up. Once out in the sun after climbing up again, he got hot and we walked most of the rest of the course. I talked with him most of the time to get him in practice of planning a leg but I kept silent on the 7th control. He was getting bored and got it in his mind to turn right at the next intersection. When we got to the wrong control, I remained silent and he figured out that he needed to go back to take a different fork. He did pretty well. I felt a bit tired from the day before.

QOC: Glen Artney, MD. Peggy still wasn't back but with Jan Merka keeping an eye out for Max, I took off up the road to #1. I'd already seen the steepness and thickness of the forest and rough open fields but it still struck me that running in the park would have been much better earlier in the season. I fortunately had some elephant paths to follow. Still, #1 was not very visible until I was right on it. I wanted to go on the left side of the pond to #2 but the vegetation looked nasty. I found that going around to the right didn't turn out to be much better. I took the road around going to #3 but I was so focused on the footing in the elephant trail that I overran #3.

I spiked #4 but AP shows me having an error. It was just thick. Somewhere on this leg or just before, I noticed a new pain. I don't think I stumbled. It just must have been time for something to snap. I'd had a good time running since January. The pain was on my right thigh along the inseam and going towards, but not to the knee--I think it is some sort of muscle pull. It restricted my range of motion but I felt I could still run if Ikept it slow.

The terrain to #5 was not very nice with steep and sometimes rocky hillsides but it was better than the way to #4. I spiked that control though I'm not sure if my route was efficient. Getting out of #5 was no fun. After the drop and steeper climb past the creek, I used trails. I was going slow enough that hitting the controls was not much of a problem. I did misread #9 by not seeing the second root stock on the map. I would have headed to the right root stock first had I read the map better there. I did get too low going to #10 and it took a minute extra to relocate. Despite spiking it, my route to #12 used the trails too much compared to other people's times. I didn' have confidence in the vegetation mapping to risk going across what was supposed to be white forest. Leaving #14, I wanted to go to the right but it looked too steep on the other side of the creek. I went left to spike #15 with a little hesitation at the hard to read ditches (I hadn't worn my orienteering glasses). I had a similar problem at #16 and #17--not reading the detail without eyeglasses cost me time. However, my memory is such that it did seem like there could have been a formline knoll mapped at #17. I hadn't realized that I'd started so late in the day (delayed by doing beginner instruction and shadowing Max). I also thought we had till 4pm to get out of the woods however pickup starts earlier these days. I spiked #18, back in the nasty vegetation and steep hillside, even going back to the location to verify it but the control had been picked-up. For this reason, I didn't have a legal finish; a mispunch result. By this point, I was ready to head in and didn't appreciate #19 taking me up and right back down to get to #20. I did drift too far right climbing over the ridge to #20 and got trapped in the thorny green stuff. Once finally got the trail, I went straight to the control. Getting out of the green leaving #20 for the road was not fun again and my right leg was keeping me slow. I jogged into the finish with just one other person left out on the courses.

I think using this area will be fun sometimes but needs to happen when the leaves are fully off and the grasses are mashed down. It was disappointing to have an injury but I didn't feel it was so bad that a rest day wouldn't help repair it.

Blue - Splits

From Blackrock Mill, the Greenway Trail to Riffleford Rd., trails north of Riffleford Rd. to Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and Smokey Glen Farm Barbequers, then back down the trail to Riffleford Rd., and back to Blackrock Mill via the Seneca Ridge Trail. With Peggy running early and Max having a soccer game after that, I got a late start. It was in the mid-70s F starting out--I'd felt warm just driving over in Peggy's old Saturn. I hadn't been on these trails since the 50K race last March and training before that. My legs were tired early on the steep hills. This was probably from recent cycling. The stretch above Rte. 118 still going out was somewhat overgrown. The actual trail was not covered but grasses on the side were leaning over it. North of Riffleford Rd., I knew the run would be too short so I explored the side trails. I wandered my way into Smokey Glen Farm which appears to be a private place open for company and other large picnics. It'd make a good place for a sprint or the start of the QOC Beer Chase with scattered bushes and rocky outcrops amidst mowed grass. It was reminicent of Fort Hunt Park but much hillier. I moved along okay on the Seneca Ridge Trail's zig-zagging reentrants of doom. It was good that I carried enough Gatorade.

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. Today was Bike-to-Work Day. I rode along as Max rode his own bicycle. The seat was too low for him and he struggled getting the heavy steel steed up the hills. There was still some fear from the time we had our accident last year. Otherwise he did fine.

From Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Woodmont Ave., to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I took a detour to the Bike-to-Work pit stop in downtown Bethesda. I saw Jon Pifer there and picked-up some free swag. After the pit stop I got into a steady pace. I felt somewhat slow and tired though I wasn't moving that bad. There was a lot of bicycle traffic and it seemed that half the time I wanted to pass, I had to wait because there was someone coming from the other direction. There were so many touris buses along Ohio Dr. in D.C. today that I almost couldn't see the river.

C • how the bike commuter looks 2

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD. In contrast to Bike-to-Work Day, I watched as the tourists build-up their skill at driving Segway vehicles at the Old Post Office Pavillion.





Riding myself on bicycle, I might have had a slight tailwind. I was moving steadily. There was a lot of car traffic in Georgetown.. I felt weighted down by carrying back 12.5 lbs. of clothes from both today and yesterday. I also had some books for Max and an umbrella from earlier in the week.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, Colesville Rd., to N. Portal Dr. to E. Beach Dr. to Kalmia Rd., to Beach Dr., to the Valley Trail in Rock Creek Park, side trails to Ellingson Dr. to Ross Rd. to Donnybrook Dr. to Grubb Rd. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda, to North Ln. to the Bethesda Metro Station. I left work late because I had to recreate some work after a file I'd been working on throughout the day got corrupted. I set out to do a shorter run because of it. I was tired and Peggy's report on my snoring indicates that I didn't sleep well. I have an odd bump in weight too. On the run I didn't push a lot. I didn't want to aggrivate whatever was banging around inside on my last two runs. I've been able to feel some soreness still. I didn't know my pace either. Sometimes it felt like I was working but still going slow. My urine after the run had only a hint of red. It's probably good that I plan to ride for Bike to Work day tomorrow.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 12th and C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I delayed departure for about 10 minutes worth of cycle maintenance. I keep having to retighten the cabling on my front derailer. That work, pumping my tires and lubing my chain seems to have saved me 90 seconds of riding time :). There were no apparent winds. It was humid but only damp in a few places from the rains yesterday. I got off to a good start and kept up a good cadence. It did seem like one guy was shadowing me from far but I also seemed to have lost him along the way. This is the fastest that I've ridden-in in a long while. I would have been under 36:00 if not for some traffic at the end.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD. I started out pretty good but definately was feeling tired. After Georgetown, 3-4 guys went past movng fast in a pack. started to go with them but they were moving too quick. At Fletcher's Boathouse, they appeared to break up and slow so I caught at least some of them. I guess they had been sprinting. I tired too after getting past the reservoir. I had two sets of clothes to carry-one from the run yesterday, and one from today. It was 10 lbs. altogether. Upon finishing, I met Peggy and watched Max practice soccer from a way off.

From Arlington Rd. to Northfield Rd.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, to the Lincoln Memorial via the Reflecting Pool (rehabilitation construction continues), along the Potomac River past the Kennedy Center and Thompson Boathouse to the Rock Creek Trail (RCT) ). Up the RCT through the zoo to the Melvin Hazen Trail, up to Connecticut Ave. to the Van Ness Metro Station.

This week is the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where I work. President Lincoln created the Department in the middle of the Civil War--that explains a lot... Celebrations were being held throughout the week. I'm told several celebrities came but I was too busy to go see. I did hear that one anticipated very high level visit didn't happen--instead we got a video brought by one of his staff. Such is the state of the USDA. I used to see celbrity more often, sometimes while just walking on the streets at lunchtime. To see celebrity today (I don't chase them), I had to happen upon it at the SE end of Lincoln Circle--there the honerable Senator Al Franken from Minnesota was smiling, posing with tourists, and creating a pedestrian traffic jamb--hard to run through. His smile was the same so I half pictured him with a huge satellite receiver over his head; He's come a long way from SNL.



It was in the mid 70s F while running but with high humidity. I cruised along for a while. I was going faster than I thought I was. I was a little sore from the night before so I didn't push it. After about 5 miles, hitting the first real hills, I slowed a lot more. I was partly conserving energy, anticipating the climb out of the Rock Creek valley and partly getting tired. Some rain showers started and the full leaf growth made it feel jungly and dark on the Melvin Hazen Trail. I climbed slowly but much more easily than I thought it would be. I was surprised but once again after getting home I peed orange. This time there was more of it. It's probably internal irritation caused by running and a doctor had told me years earlier that some of this was normal for some runners. It hurts now right of center, after the run; I couldnt feel it at all while running.

C • The Honorable Senator Al Franken 3

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Huntington Pkwy., to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Running after dinner usually means a slow run but I had been somewhat rested from sleeping better on the weekend. That usually helps me a lot. It was really humid out since it had been showering all day; fortunately the rains had stopped but it the wetness required caution in some places. It was around 68 F. After the initial climb I seemed to get my momentum going and pretty much kept it up. I did focus on running form especially on the long down grades. That usually gets me going faster than needed. I had to work more toward the end. I peed orange afterward.