Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Lake Needwood
 

40th Annual West Point National Meet: Green Y: I'd reached the start line about 30 seconds before I'd gotten called-up to start. My glasses were a little foggy.

S-1 - I made a mess of this leg by leaving the road on a bad bearing, just walking. The terrain was steep. I suppose I was drawn left by others ahead of me. I thought I was leaving the road at a higher location. Once I'd gotten around a spur and could see a second reentrant with boulders all around me, I realized I had to go back.

1-2 - I'm so weak climbing these days that I opted to go around the top of the hill. I also thought this would give me a better attackpoint, off of a distinct reentrant. All of that worked and I spiked it.

2-3 - I had a general plan to stay high and attack from high. Fog on my eyeglasses was a factor so I read the map by looking over them. I'd picked out the marsh and some curving contours to get to--I did that successfully. They way was slow. At the curving contours, I cut left to avoid thicker vegetation. Looking at Spike's GPS track animation on AP, going straight on the shorter way through the green was better. Hitting the big cliffs, I paused to read and attack carefully. I dropped down and ran across the hillside, seeing the control from far off :)

3-4 - I contoured around while others were going straight. I made-up ground on them and may have passed some.

4-5 - I ran a straight bearing and hit it well. I read some of the detail along the way, but in retrospect, this was executed in a risky way.

5-6 - I ran straight, and again not reading enough detail along the way. This time I paused, feeling that I was well short of the control. I saw a bit of a stream and mistook it for the one past the control. I figured I could be sure by checking on top of a cliff to my left, and then resuming if wrong. That sort of worked, but I made a bigger search loop with a little more doubt creeping-in. I covered more ground before going back and proceeding. It did turn out to be one cliff line below where I thought it'd be but if I'd just gong on, I'd have saved a lot of time.

6-7 - I went at this fairly straight. I clicked off the larger features and opted to climb over the ridge continuing straight, rather than go around and through the green where there was a ridge gap. I passed close to #11 and turned to get close enough to read it. Continuing on to the road, I ran up it a little, cut in at an estimated place between bends, and spiked the control.

7-8 - I suppose I'd gotten over confident in my ability to follow a bearing. I felt the the blueberries and other vegetation pulling me this way and that and I wasn't careful enough about reading things along the way. I'd gotten far enough left to see a reentrant and knoll, but these werern't the features I was looking for. I went further left to be in the right place but it was the wrong place. Finally hitting the ridge top and a reentrant, I didn't see a control and someone else told me to watch out for un-flagged concertina wire. I cut left a bit, saw the road, and turned back. I realized I wasn't at the hilltop where I was before and saw other orienteers like Phil Bricker heading that way. Phil led me in.

8-9 - I was not happy about missing at #8, but happier about going downhill. I ran fast and straight using cliffs to keep me true. At the road, I paused. I knew going straight all the way wasn't going to be fast--after all, I'd just come from there on the 6-7 leg. I wisely decided to take the road and probably should have decided that earlier. I went around the hill at the bottom. Following the marshes in the flatter valley seemed best. As the vegetation closed in, I thought it better to climb the ridge middway--it was smaller there and more open than the valley had become. Examining other GPS animations, this cost me some time. I kept moving and went wide around the last marsh before crossing the deepening valley to the ridge and cliff-line with the control. The control was visible long off.

9-10 - I kept getting pulled right to get through the vegetation, and I knew it. I forced myself out of the shallow reentrant to make a straighter line. the hill ended quickly and it was slow and rocky descending to the next valley. I kept on a line but found myself heading between two ridges. The one on the right looked like the feature on the map from where I was so I went to it--that was an error. I should have known since I'd been pulled right earlier. I corrected fairly quickly but I was moving slower at this point.

10-11 - I went a bit left through a shallow reentrant to the marshy area below #11. I cut right through the marsh, and this felt fast. Since I'd been near #11 earlier, I was confident about getting there. I saw Carl Alswede come in from my right, moving along the same way and I got there a little ahead of him.

11-12 - I wanted to get to the road. I thought angling a little would be faster than staying on top. However as I picked my way through the rocks and vegetation, I could see Carl pulling ahead. I abandoned going lower and chased. I caught Carl at about the road, then pulled ahead on the descent. I wasn't reading well with foggy glasses and bouncing about quickly on the road. I got to the bridge and caught someone else. Once across, I cut left a little way up the hill, where an elephant track was forming at the end of the green. I reached a building but found no control. Once again, the printing the control # on the map was covering up a needed detail. After a pause, I went on higher. Carl had come up from my left at his point. I got to the control before he did, but not before the other guy I'd passed earlier--that person took the road nearly the whole way.

12-13 - I gave it a descent push on the run-in. I feel too out of shape and freshly recovered from my last injury to sprint really hard.

Overall, I enjoyed the run this day--the mistakes were costly, but I got some more confidence running in the technical terrain and going the distance.

Long - GreenY - Splits

Event: 40th Annual West Point National Meet
 

40th Annual West Point National Meet: Middle Course: I started out fine. The first few legs were so short, it was hard to miss. I started out fine on the longer 5th leg. After initially dropping, I contoured across, getting into the green a bit, then dropping a little and climbing back up to the long cliff. Once just above and past the long cliff, I was nearly on top of the control. I looked at the map and in a brief instance, I lost focus. The control circle was broken a lot due to the surrounding rock and I just didn't see it any more. I figured I'd made a mistake coming up there so I proceeded to the next control that I could see--#6. I hit most of the rest perfectly. I'd gotten to the roads on the back side of the commissary and through a small gap between vegetation. I made a micro error on the control before the Go control--in the rough open I expected to be able to see the control so I shifted right a little where a small reentrant seemed partially obscured by tall grass. I saw Ken Walker Sr., and then I went straight to the control. I rushed to the finish and did okay at that--I was happy that I could run semi-quickly without hurting my calf. I'd realized that I'd mispunched somewhere either before or just after finishing. Often that doesn't happen until I download. I was also happy that I'd navigated fairly well. It was just the slight loss of concentration that did me in.

40th Annual West Point National Meet: Sprint - It was nice to see the West Point campus. I didn't perform so well on this sprint. I paused a the start for a long time, not being able to find the start triangle. Having the river on the map would have helped with that. In the initial few controls, I didn't make errors. I ran low toward #2 but realized immediately that the control was going to be above me. At #4, I turned right behind the small building at the bottom of the stairs, but didn't see it. It was narrow so I backed-up up, scratched my head and went around the other side to find it. I started to follow Mitch Collinsworth across toward #5 but saw him turn back. As Mitch went up the stairs, I thought about going low to the right--I couldn't see a way through without going way past the control--I climbed the stairs too but later found out that there was a way to go more directly on the lower route. The #2 or #5 partly obscured the break in the wall. I caught up to Mitch again on the way to #6. At #7 I worried about crossing the garden but it wasn't mapped out of bounds. For #8, the tunnel seemed like it should have been mapped a little differently--it slowed me a few seconds. I went on the outside to #11 to simplify. I debated going clockwise and counter-clockwise to #13 but chose clockwise. The contsruction was unexpected but I adjusted quickly. However, once to the parking lot, I was a bit confused. I crossed it almost to #14, then had to come back to the stairs to get lower. I messed up good on #14 by passing right by it as I was reading ahead on the map. I was have the straight distance to #15 before I turned around. Mitch punched before I did. I took off going high to #15, and expected the control to be under the canopy--this was one of the few controls that I hadn't read the clue sheet on, and I didn't do that because of the mix-up at #14. Once at the canopy, I kept running straight as others were standing and wondering. Someone passed me before I could get around the wall and down to the underpass. On #19, I went left to the stairs rather than around the wall on the right. It wasn't as good a run for me as the morning run had been. Peggy ran well beating a lot of people including myself and I think that made her happy.

Middle - GreenY - Splits

Sprint - Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to Norfolk Ave. I went into town for lunch. There were headwinds from approaching rain. I didn't seem to each much yesterday so I'm amiss as to the jump in weight.

From Norfolk Ave. to Northfield Rd. The wind was swirling but most of it was a tailwind. I got home just as the first rain drops were falling.

From Northfield Rd. to Bethesda Metro Station. Slow on the mountain bike.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I went back on a slightly different route along the backside of Bethesda Elementary School. It seemed less hilly even though there's a potential for more traffic. My left knee has been causing discomfort at times when I walk, and am on stairs.

From Northfield Rd. to Bethesda Metro Station. I had taken my road bicycle in for maintenance so I rode my mountain bike. There was a little bit of traffic.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down Independence Ave., to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial circle, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. It was an even better day for running today than it was yesterday. The sky was lightly overcast with little wind, and in the low 70s F. I felt better running today than I had on recent runs. At one point, past the Lincoln Memorial, I was starting to feel my right calf. I slowed a little and ran a little more stiff-footed on my right foot; not bending at the ankle so much.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was on my mountain bike again but also was carrying dinner in one hand.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. The air was nice and comfortable; probably in the upper 50s F. I wore a t-shirt and shorts. The wind was calm. I rode a steady pace. Two guys passed me separately after River Rd., and I caught back up with one, drafting him until about the Trestle Bridge. He slowed as the trail got flatter. I eventually dropped him. Another guy was drafting me distantly. There was various trail and road construction work going on along the river after the Watergate complex. I felt pretty good riding.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was about as nice a day as it gets. I started out feeling sore from the morning ride but I had a little tailwind most of the way home. I got passed on the flats by 2 guys riding together. Later an electric mountain bike passed me on the climb, and after that, another cyclist. Just about everyone seemed to be outside either riding, running, or walking. Of course there was some driving traffic too. Overall though, the trails didn't seem overly crowded. I could pass without too much trouble.

From Northfield Rd. to Bethesda Metro Station. I had intended to cycle all of the way to work today, but clouds were threatening rain. It's going to be a good day for weather after all. Walking fast down the metro stairs, I could feel some more warning pain in my right calf.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Woodmont Ave. to Wisconsin Ave. to Norwood Ave. and Norwood Park, to Arlington Rd., to Kenwood Forest Ln. to Bradley Blvd., Fairfax Rd., to Clarendon Rd., to Hampden Ln. to Denton Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. to the Bethesda Metro Station. After climbing the metro station stairs, I got off to a quick start. However, I felt winded right from the beginning. I took about a mile to get over that. Even afterward, I felt weak running. It was in the upper 70s F. I had intended to ride all the way into work and back, rather than run. I felt my right calf a little bit, but it held up okay.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. Like the last time I ran and rode home, I was a little tired from the running. I also ran into some traffic.