Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Manassas
 

QOC: Manassas National Park. Vido Alexsiev set a nice course through this generally fun park. I ran okay but tired initially. A few times I missed and passed controls only by a little bit. The controls were set low which is fine but I think some features were a little bit off.

S-1 - I went straight to the rough open, crossing 2 fences that might have been better to go around. 2 kids had just punched.

1-2 - I closed-in on David Onkst as both of us hit the control well.

2-3 - David and I started to hit the road but jumped back in when we realized it was not an allowed route. Coming back I got a little low. When I hit the stream, I had to come back up a little bit.

3-4 - After rounding the pond, I got in the fields and followed the stream to the confluence, then in.

4-5 - I hesitated midway because I wasn't thinking I needed to cross the first ridge. I didn't see the control until I was right on it.

5-6 - I had to convince myself that I wasn't going too far, but I hit it okay.

6-7 - Similar to #5, I had to convince myself that I wasn't going too far. I hit it just to the left. I think coming up short is a sign of my weak running.

7-8 - I cut across the scattered trees which are filling-in each year more and more. After crossing the line of trees and ditches, I was pushed left. I still recognized the V-shaped light green corner. Once back in the forest, I was just south of the control.

8-9 - I spiked it and Peggy was just leaving going the other way.

9-10 - I got too far left near the deadfall. I kind of was running there when in retrospect I shouldn't have.

10-11 - I spiked it and a few others including Kim Jepsen and Tom Nolan were leaving it going the other way.

11-12 - Admittedly, my technique wasn't so smooth. I tried to run along the edge of the deadfall, then turn left. I wasn't making sense of the cairns much until I got just past the last one, I turned around following them back, and still almost didn't see it behind the fallen log.

12-13 - I climbed to the ridge to get around the deadfall, but I went a little too far. I went right past the open area with the building, then to the next rough open and in.

13-14 - I retraced my steps and was looking for a cairn like those near #12. I stopped at a rootstock and knew a control was behind it, only I didn't think it was mine. Not seeing anything else, I went to it after 2 guys that 'd seen earlier punched it (they were headed to #14 when I was going to #13). I never saw the mapped physical cairn but looking at the map more closely after punching I realized it was a root stock feature after all. The 2 guys claimed that I really owed them for finding it.

14-15 - I zipped off well, staying in what was mapped open, even if it wasn't all open. It was not bad to run through. I ran straight all the way and spiked it.

15-16 - I thought about taking the trail but gave it a go straight anyway. I got through the scattered rough open area well, despite it closing in like the area near #8. I ran to the corner of the mapped deadfall. I've made errors here before so I think the corner isn't mapped in alignment with the root stock. I ran all the way to the far edge of the field at a dot knoll, then ran back.

16-17 - I ran straight and spiked it.

17-18 - I risked going straight and should have known better. I ruled out going left but didn't think enough about going right. In the deadfall, I found a huge mappable rootstock, and a 6'x6'x5' shed of some sort made of cinder blocks. These were just about on the line to #18, but I had to zig-zag and climb a lot of stuff to get to #18.

18-19 - I ran straight and remembered trouble once before in the area. The trouble wasn't with the reentrant, it was with the depression west of the control before downslope tags were added. I got to the reentrant just fine. I ran above it rather than in it because I was pretty sure I was seeing all of it. I went around an area of denser vegetation, then into the reentrant as I got really near the road. I turned back and had to run 60m through the reentrant to get to the control.

19-20 - Around to the right side of the deadfall, around the north side of the pond, then in.

20-21 - Out to the field on the right side, then back in before the pond. I started having trouble matching-up the edge of the vegetation so I thought it safer that way. In the small woods, it wasn't quite white terrain but I could run around things until I got to the fence.

21-22 - Out across the fields taking a southern angle a little, got me through the low part and into the next field. I turned south there like the leg I ran from #3 to #4, and crossed the creek to the trail. I got a bit confused matching-up the trail so I returned to the creek early running west up it to the control. I hesitated once, being too early.

22-23 - I ran straight and at the thicker vegetation I cut right. I knew this would put me left of the control when I hit the stream. Sure enough, when I hit it near a confluence, I looked left and saw the control.

23-24 - I ran straight, crossing the stream, then getting on the trail. I had a moment of hesitation thinking I was on the trail further NE and that didn't match-up. I kept to the trail that I hit first. I cut off a few corners. Getting across the field, I wasn't reading the vegetation well. That made it harder to fit the contours but I got into the right reentrant and spiked it, just before a father-son team got there. I kind of thought they were the guys I'd seen at #14 but they probably weren't.

24-F - I got across the stream fast, and when I was approaching the fence, I could hear the younger guy of the team I'd passed at #24 approaching just to my side. I hurried through and picked-up the pace. Somehow I was able to outsprint the teenager - yahoo!

Blue - Splits

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd. I did a figure 8 loop going up the Greenway Trail initially, and branching to on the un-named trail toward Thurgood Marshall ES. This loops back to Riffleford Rd. near where I started. I took the Seneca Ridge Trail west from there. I branched off on another un-named trail, to get over a ridge and hit the Seneca Ridge Trail again. I took that back to Riffleford Rd. I moved slowly, especially on the climbs. I was at least able to keep running on the climbs. I still felt tired and not used to running this much. It was nice to run on single track again. I used my new Solomon trail shoes and they felt good--they are somewhat mid-weight. I had gone out to this park again to check on a few things for the QOC meet that's going to be held on April 10th.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Ave., to N. Bethesda Middle School to Bradmore Dr. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. I didn't feel very good on this run. I was a bit tired from increased training and it was in the 70s F. It was the first humid day in a long time. I sweat a lot.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was in the mid 50s F and I had a little headwind.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was in the mid 30s F and it felt like there was a headwind.

From the Tenleytown Metro Station to River Rd., to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda, MD, to Edgemoor Ln., then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was comfortably cool out and the winds were at my back most of the way. I didn't feel that strong but ran confidently. On the CCT, I caught a perhaps older but bald guy who looked like he was running okay. I was very slow catching and passing him. I headed to the garage in Bethesda because I had forgotten that I'd ridden my bicycle this day.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I kept having to stop at the busier intersections.

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station, Western Ave. to Chevy Chase Circle, to Connecticut Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Woodmont Ave., to Edgemoor Ln. It was rainy this morning but I noticed that it would clear-up. In place of the rain came sunshine and strong winds. To stay out of the winds, I took this route which I haven't run in a long time. A benefit was getting off the pavement and better scenery. The problem was I'd expected the run to be a mile shorter but that was okay too. I need the mileage. I felt slow.