Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Wheaton
 

QOC: Wheaton Regional Park. For the early controls on the Red course, I felt slow. The last 3rd of the race I felt that I was moving better. Having done the remapping of Wheaton and some minor expansions I knew the map too well. It felt like I wasn't navigating so well, as much as just knowing where to go. Wheaton tends to be green too and that tends to disrupt my navigation more. Michael Dickey had also done a good job setting the course in this small place where practically all legs have been set before. There were 210 entrants registered and we started at Pine Lake.

S-1 - I went down the left fork of the trails and cut in before the first reentrant. Stopping in that reentrant, I felt silly and went on straight to spike it. I probably lost 10 seconds due to not reading the map well enough.

1-2 - I took the trail and used it to climb slightly above the control. I didn't see the small rocks and that worried me. Michael had warned me that there was a need to update the map where a tree had fallen. I didn't realize it was on this leg, near this control. I went to the wrong side of the fallen tree, and climbed up to the old rootstock after getting around the newer fallen tree.

2-3 - I used trail heading south and eastward. I approached the control from the paved trail bend to the north. There was an intermittent trail or a deer trail leading very close to the control in the gully. I was slow on the climb.

3-4. Someone had been making new trails going in the direction of the next control--perhaps mountain bikers, which is unusual and not permitted in this park. I ignored them and ran SW to the paved trail near the school. Using dirt rails to get near the ice rink, I ran in-between the ball fields to just east of the control. It was less hilly that way, and I got to use more trails, than the route that uses the paved trails more.

4-5 - I chose to run around on the paved trail and attacked from the north. This may have been a little slower but took less energy.

5-6 - I used the road and parking lots, the came across fields to the fenced nursery area for Brookside Gardens. I attacked from a bend in the fence, down a reentrant. I'd been tailing another guy and gaining ground. He headed into what i'd mapped dark green as I got to the rootstock.

6-7 - I wasn't reading the map as much as I should have. I headed off somewhat straight expecting to hit the intermittent trail, but I was above it. I did read enough to know how many ditches to cross and saw the control from afar.

7-8 - I headed to the dirt road, then across the fields to the playground. Lots of kids were there and I ran with my arm to my mouth and nose. running along the edge of the forest, I decided to plunge in just before the field corner. That was a bad choice that cost me 10-15 seconds in going through and around some thorns.

8-9 - I got down to the train tracks and cut right to get around the green forest with the stream. Entering the forest again, I went right across the small mapped marsh and could see the control ahead.

9-10 - I didn't want to go up and punch through the green. I tried to pickup the old intermittent trail that is disappearing. At first I was surprised to see that it was looking well used. That ended quickly after reaching the ridge top. After passing a side reentrant, I misread the center of the broken control and went to the bottom of the gully first. I lost about 10-15 seconds.

10-11 - I picked up the paved trail, then left it crossing the stream to get closer to the fieldhouse. I'd seen Ken Walker Jr. do this when I'd arrived. The map showed it to be green in this area and I could tell that the park service had cut back the growth (it'll probably grow back soon enough). I was able to spike the control on the shallow ditch, but I hadn't seen it from across the larger reentrant until I was right on it, due to it being behind a fallen tree.

11-12 - I ran straight across 2 trails and emerged on the 3rd a little south of the dirt road intersection that I'd wanted. Taking that to the maintenance yard parking lot corner, I went right back into the forest. My aim was bad. I ended up well above the gully, where I paused before going down to it.

12-13 - I felt like I was dog-legging it a bit as I ran up over the hill to the north. I saw Max heading to the control I'd just been to. He later told me he had been tailing me for a few controls. I got slowed in the green and unnecessary hill climbing and later once across the maintenance road, I hesitated deciding which trail would be faster. Max came up behind me as I took off. I chose a more direct route with less trail which crossed open forest. There I could run like I used to, going downhill. I kept running crossing trails and the stream to get to the gully system cleanly. However, I hadn't read the map well enough--the broken circle confused me on the run. Even though I looked in multiple directions in this familiar place, I somehow didn't see the control on my left, and I passed it to the next gully intersection below. As I came back, I saw Max coming in and he punched just before me. With all the baubles I think I lost 20 seconds on my route.
An even better route I figured out after the race, would have been to go out the east and to have used the road.

13-14 - I cut right of going straight to avoid some of the greenery. Max had gotten caught-up in it and I passed him before the creek crossing. I went straight and was just a little to the right as I saw others leaving the control.

14-15 - I went straight on this climbing leg. There was new deadfall just before the mapped old deadfall that the control was on. I led Max around it on the right side and spiked the control.

15-16 - Max said goodbye and I wasn't sure if that meant he had a different control or not. I went due west, crossed the creek on the bridge, and cut uphill at the next intersection. I decided to use trails to the south after this, but in hindsight, straight might have been better. I attacked from a trail bend while running fast and didn't pause to set a bearing. I saw a control ahead in a reentrant or ditch and the magnet pulled me in even though I knew the dot knoll that the control was on. I got near the trail to the north, the cut south. I probably lost close to a minute.

16-F - Continuing my bad decisions, I was worried about crossing the green on the route to the paved trail (right side of the dog park). I ran up the reentrant, then walked up the hill through some light and dark green. This cost me a minute, and I found that Max had finished before me :( - at least he was running the Green course.

Somehow I won the Red course by just a little bit. More competitors were on Blue and Green.

Red - Splits

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. From the Tennis Center parking lot, Peggy and I started out nearly together but quickly went different directions. I ran down the Cabin John Trail, past Bradley Blvd., to the base of where the first major rise starts. There were hills before then and the stream paralleling trail was gradually downhill to where I turned around. I didn't want to over-do it. I was taking it easy on the climbs going back. Even though I still got tired going up them, I was only a minute and 4 seconds slower on the return. It was cold today and breezy. Starting out it was around 28 F and remained under freezing until I finished. I saw several hikers and mountain bikers, and I also noted how in one section, an area of bamboo has been spreading over the years.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. From Hoyles Mill Rd., I jogged northward on Hoyles Mill Rd. until a ways past the Little Seneca Creek bridges. I spent most of the time trying to track the edges of various vegetation boundaries. It was challenging with the change from one area to the next being gradual. With my focus on the vegetation more than the map, I had to relocate a few times. The contours there are just too flat to track vegetation and to be able to know precisely where one is. Having some point features mapped previously helped to some extent, but it was still hard to know just which boulder I'd come up on. My GPS tracks will help me interpret my notes. On a flattish ridge I got some more features and made my way southward to areas mapped previously. There I made adjustments to the mappings of groups of boulders so as to align them better.

As the day was nearing an end, I wasn't able to get to an area I was trying to and I knew I'd need to bail to the road to make the most of the time left. My instincts were good and I hit an area I still wanted to get to, to re-check the alignments of point features I'd already mapped. As I was fixing some, I realized that my GPS was gone. I keep it on a lanyard around my neck and had the lanyard. However that was only connected to the battery cover. I went backwards from memory to various boulders and after about 4 or 5 of them, and a small stream crossing, I found it. That was good! My watch GPS would have helped me to reconstruct too, but my hand held GPS is more accurate, and the shorter segments and waypoints I collect with it amount to much better information. Much of the day's work would have been somewhat lost and I would have been looking at having to shell out several hundred dollars more to replace it. I jogged back from the bridges in the twilight again. It was 25 F and breezy when I'd finished. I'd come better prepared today but I still got cold at times.

From the intersection of Elmhirst Ln. and Elmhirst Dr., to Elmhirst Pkwy. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar Ln., to Knowles Ave. via the paved Rock Creek Trail, then back via Beach Dr. I thought that this run would be a little shorter than it was. It's fairly flat, with a few dips and rises. On the way out, it's upstream. Whether it was the darkness or that I was going faster, I seemed to notice all the rises more. Some nice moonlight led me to choosing the paved trail on the way out. It helped me see enough to run okay. Running the road, I worked on my stride. It was 39 F starting out. Oddly, I weighed out at 194 lbs.

20 situps.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Glenbrook Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Kennedy Dr., to Dorset Ave., to the Little Falls Trail, to Hillandale Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Arlington Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. I felt better today and that was surprising. I slowed on the hills as usual and eventually got past a woman who was running in my direction as I tried to socially distance myself. I saw several other runners. Temperatures were in the the upper 40s F.

20 situps.

Glen Echo, MD. With the road paving done and the parking lot open again, I started from the Lock 7 parking lot, to the C&O Canal Towpath, then south to just south of Lock 5. There I cut over to the unnamed trails along the river. I moved well down the towpath, but slowed a bunch on the uneven footing and twists of the dirt trails, even though they were overall flat. There was a little headwind coming back too. The riverside dirt trails don't parallel the towpath whole way without returning to it, but I took them just about everywhere there was an option. They pass through some scenic and tranquil spots. I had to loop around the small Lock 7 parking lot to finish at the right distance.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. From Hoyles Mill Rd., I continued to cover areas north of Little Seneca Creek. I got much further north, to within sight of the gate where car traffic is allowed on Hoyles Mill Rd. I did a lot to build the vegetation since there were green areas. However, between the greens, there was a lot of rock detail. I kept rock hopping. The vegetation got to a point where there was a very gradual differentiation with white forest, and that made it harder to map. I also got slowed by the weather and my GPS. Having a feeling that I was forgetting something when I left the house, I didn't realize that it was my gloves until I got out of the car. I was somewhat okay but had no strength in my colder right hand when I needed it. My GPS didn't like the cold either. It would track fine, but when saving a track, it would sometimes hang. I had to restart it more than once. I got to the center of what I was mapping and the woods were more open with rocks 30-40m apart in many directions; I found more in groups that were closer. Once again, I was out past sunset, frantically trying to finish a small but detailed area. This should be challenging terrain for most to navigate, and difficult for racing.

After getting home, drinking, eating and cleaning up, I got a cramp in my right hamstring from probably still being dehydrated.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Ipswich Rd. to Fleming Ave., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. Perhaps because of having more rest between runs, I was feeling better today, though not feeling great, on this run. It was 48 F, calm winds, and very few people were outside.

20 situps.

Great Falls National Park, MD. From the intersection of Brickyard Rd. and MacArthur Blvd., I ran up MacArthur Blvd. to the Angler's Inn parking lot, up the Berma Rd., over the bridge over the canal, just south of the Billygoat A trailhead. then down the towpath southward to the bridge over the canal for Marsden Tract campers, and to Brickyard Rd. As expected, the Angler's Inn parking lot was full. Most of the parking along MacArthur Blvd. had been taken away but I'd seen a little lot on my way in, so I went there to start. It was about 37 F and I ran into a headwind until I got way into the forest. Berma Rd. wasn't very busy with people, but the towpath was. I was holding my mask in my hand since I haven't been able to master running with one. Whenever passing people, I'd run holding it up over my nose and mouth. Sometimes this was a long way. The loss of using my arm and sucking air harder when I did, kept me not feeling so good. I sometime worked on my stride.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. From Hoyles Mill Rd., I covered areas along the southeast side of Little Seneca Creek to start out. This previously unmapped narrow area is pretty close to where I'd parked. It was just an area that I'd need to complete this overall new section that I've started mapping. Though it had some features, it wasn't very interesting. I would have rather gone across the creek to explore more in the areas I'd started last Saturday and a week ago, however it worked well since I had to be back at the car at 3pm for a potential conference call that didn't materialize.

Hoyles Mill Conservation Park, MD. From Hoyles Mill Rd., I jogged down to the bridge over Little Seneca Creek, then headed upstream to check some point features I'd mapped before, and to capture more of the vegetation. After that, I had to figure out how big an area of green was that I'd started mapping earlier. I followed around the far side of where I'd left off and it took me down into a floodplain. Some of that was marshy. I found myself trying to walk between muddy marsh and thorny bushes for a while. At first, it had a distinct edge. Later, the edge was less distinct. I chose not to go up a marshy spur. Climbing out of the floodplain, I saw a big field and knew where I was finally. The marshy spur that I decided against sloshing through was a stream end that I hadn't expected to cross. I had gotten a lot further north than expected and when a hill rose out of the marsh, I mistook it for a smaller hill further south. I'd almost run off the map (a full page of 1:5,000). I felt like I'd wasted a lot of time going between marsh and thorns that I hope no one sets a course through. Once to the field, I did find some nice woods on a hill the on the western side. It was steep but good traditional open oak forest with features. I continued tracking the edge of the green and the white forest as it was getting dark quickly. Ending up right where I'd last tracked it a week back, I amazed myself recognizing it from so many places that were similar. From there, I was able to do some more mapping, but the change in background lighting of the screen on my GPS told me that this went on past sunset. There was enough light to see my map and I rushed to capture more vegetation and rocky features. Heading to Hoyles Mill Rd., I again hit the nicer open forest with the very subtle contours. I was navigating well, including hitting several stone features that I'd picked out from the LiDAR. Once at the road, I jogged back.