Training Log Archive: Nadim

QOC: Jug Bay, MD. I ran the Red course. It was fun and Gavin Weise had set it. Running Red was a questionable decision. Having made reservations long ago, we'd originally planned to have gone camping on this weekend; when it wasn't clear that there'd be a Beer Chase. The pull of addiction got to Peggy the most and she thought the hot weather would have been bad anyway, in the mountains. I thought otherwise. We've rescheduled the camping weekend. Another reason that running Red was questionable was that I've been injured and not training much. Having run well for months, and through the winter, my left knee has been bothering me since March. I'd gotten better a little by running mostly on dirt and grass, but earlier this week I'd pulled something in my right calf.

S-1 - The first beer went down well. Ted Good and a few others were faster guzzlers. I didn't study the map but had glanced at it. I didn't start immediately to take the road. but did after rounding the house. I paced myself. It was already hotter and more humid that I've been accustomed to. I trailed both Ted Good and David Onkst. Some others followed but most went the direct route. I left the road before David did, and I didn't see where Ted had. I saw Wyatt Riley and Ted Good going to #4. I goofed early, heading toward control #5. I realized it after checking a reentrant. Sort of back on track, I climbed out after crossing the creek and aimed. I missed to the right. Relocating by seeing the ditch end, I attacked again and hit it well. I probably lost 90 seconds or a little more overall. Ted indicated the control was possibly on the wrong dot knoll.

1-2 - Dennis Doherty had punched #1 ahead of me but he went off to the right. I cut left a little, ran to the big reentrant, and cut right, getting there before him.

2-3 - I crossed the big reentrant, and trailed Jan Merka and someone else. I gained ground and spiked it.

3-4 - Running fairly straight, I caught Jan and punched.

4-5 - I basically went straight and gained on others. I saw Peggy too. I wasn't sure which control she was going to, but maybe it was #2.

5-6 - I went into the reentrant and ran the flats intending to go up the large reentrant on my right. However, it was a little thicker in there than anticipated. I had trouble seeing the reentrant on my right and thought I might have passed it. I cut right to get up the hill and on the trail. I stayed with it to the bend around the first stream and attacked successfully from there. I found that I was behind Dennis Doherty again.

6-7 - I went straight and hit the control pretty well. The location seemed vague. I was expecting it a little earlier.

7-8 - Straight and spiked it.

8-9, 10, 11 - Out to the field, and to the transition controls. I headed toward the finish too but stopped myself before punching it. I got ahead of Dennis by drinking beer faster.

11-12 - Taking the forest route, I gained on someone while talking with Dennis who was behind me. I used my view of the barn to know how far to go but the control was visible from the trail anyway. It did seem just a tad bit early based on the relative position of the barn.

12-13 - I intended to go straight but the elephant trail through the tall grass drew me to the barn. From there it made sense to run up the road a little. I felt confident enough to navigate straight but knowing how setting controls on the marshes here can be hard due to a lack of cross reference features, It was safer not to risk a misplaced control. I left the road at the trail intersection, hit the first marsh, ran north up it to the end, then attacked and spiked the control on the second marsh--both marshes were dry. I thought I heard Dennis behind me at one point but never saw him again.

13-14 - I went straight at first, but aimed off to the left later. I gained on another guy, eventually catching and passing him by running on the ridge. It was longer on the ridge getting to the control than I'd expected but I spiked it.

14-15 - I went around the green on the right side, but came in early. The guy I'd seen at #14 had gone straight and we crossed paths. I dropped into the control ahead of him again.

15-16 - Straight, but using the mapped green to align a little, after crossing the road. In the end, I spiked it with the guy at 16 still close behind me.

16--To the Transition - Without my map, I can't recall the sequence but I pretty much spiked everything and basically went straight. Flies started biting my back from time-to-time. I saw Wyatt Riley finishing his 3rd loop as I was going to the barn.

21-22 - I got confused and was heading to #28. Figuring I needed to go to #22, I went toward the barn, and took trails to the bridge. I rounded the spur and ran/walked along the base of the hill. After this point the flies biting my back were more frequent. I started regularly swatting my back to shoe them away and relished going through low branches.

22-23 - Crossing the flat marsh, I climbed the spur. About 5 ft. up, I almost stepped on a good sized black snack who was wiggling as fast as he could to get away. Once up the spur, I mostly took trails to save energy. I cut corners to save distance. I'd interpreted the ditch for #23 as 2 dot knolls. I saw Vido and Diana heading the other direction. Hearing them later, I figured they were trying to relocate. I missed the ditch, saw a dot knoll, went to the field edge to relocate, and lined-up with the barn. Going back, I saw Vido and Diana again heading toward #24. I found it seconds later.

23-24. I went on the left side of the changed and unmapped vegetation (saplings that had grown-up since mapping was last done here. I spiked it but was slow.

24-25 - I went fairly straight but very soon after leaving #24, I saw Victor Lin. Victor trailed me to my left for a while but I got to the control first.

25-26 - After crossing the reentrant, I decided using the trails again was best since I was weak. Victor went straight. I cut a corner and hit the next trail at a good bend. I should have stopped when the trail took a sharp bend, but I kept going until I hit the next big reentrant. I came back along the drop off and found the control. I probably lost +1 minute; it was just being fatigued.

26 - 27 I kept low initially crossing the marsh, I climbed out on the line and kept straight a while. I aimed off left a bit and followed the streamside to the control.

27-28 - Straight, emerging very close to the barn to spike the control.

28-29-30 - I was good getting to the transition but someone passed me on the beer split. I think he'd run Green.

After getting some water hose spray and drinking fluids, I enjoyed hanging out and seeing people's faces again. There was a breeze much of the time but the sun moved our shade away. Peggy had been in for a long while and had eaten too before she felt sick. Laying back on the grass, she passed-out and threw-up. It was likely heat exhaustion. She cooled off in Dave and Peggy's house but seemed to recover pretty well.

I was glad that I'd finished okay. It was harder than past Beer Chases for me. While sitting around I noticed that my right knee was hurting. I don't recall doing anything to it. I guess it was just a physical day for me. I think I'll be okay and not have 2 bad knees. I was more glad that my right calf didn't hurt too much. I did take it easier on the hills so as not to hurt it more. Pausing now and then probably helped too.

Red - Splits

From Bradley Blvd., I ran southward on the Cabin John Trail, and turned around at River Rd. To get similar miles to what I'd run previous, I ran west on Bradley Blvd. 3 telephone poles to the base of the hill. It was 86 F; cooler than around our house. I ran slowly and cautiously. Mostly this was a test run for tomorrow. I almost went running both of the last 2 days but thought it best to give my right calf more rest. I was certainly feeling it today so I probably did the right thing by not running then. I felt the injury more when going uphill. I walked going uphill in a few spots. After 1.6 miles, I felt more warmed up and less pain but I did also feel my left knee. There were lots of people and some animals outside. On the trail there were telltale small round holes from the cicadas. What I couldn't determine was whether these were emergence holes, or holes that they were burrowing back into the ground in, to hide another 17 years.

Glen Echo, MD. From the Lock 7 parking lot, towards the C&O Canal Towpath, but into the trails along the river. The sound of cicadas here was very screeching, and contrasted a lot with the whir sound heard most other places. I headed northwest using unfamiliar trails and the towpath, but trails wherever I could to the top of Lock 8, then I turned around. Making a similar selection of trails and the towpath, even going out and back on the same dead end that I'd found on the way out (apparently called Cedar Island), I got within sight of Lock 7, and took one last trail. This one got me onto one of the intermittent islands (apparently called Cabin John Island) for a nice loop and almost an extra mile. I crossed one of several dry stream beds to get there. The trails were fun but they were starting to get overgrown in some places. After the loop, I returned to Lock 7 and finished at the parking lot. I think there might be more trails to explore on a taller accessible semi-island near Lock 7 (apparently called Chatauqua Island). On average, the trails I ran today were more scenic than the trails south of Lock 7. Though along the river, they were in rocky sections where multiple semi-islands separated the main current.

A little more than a quarter mile before getting to Lock 8, on an almost flat and soft section of trail, I tweaked my right calf. There was no reason for it. It follows a pattern of calf pulls that I've had in Spring seasons before. Now I have my left knee and right calf slowing me down. I stopped but decided to keep going at a slower pace. It actually felt pretty good later but I did have to walk on steeper and rocky sections to keep from doing more harm. I also needed a bathroom for the last half of this run. Besides these things and missing dinner with the family, this was a pretty nice outing and I'm glad to be able to take advantage of the longer days.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. From the playground parking lot off Tuckerman Rd., I went to the northern end of the park on the flatter trails along the east side the creek. On the way back, I crossed the creek, but the usual sandbar had been displaced. I went further up the trail to a better crossing that got me across dry, but the only way out was through a deep gully that I'd mapped several years ago. With walls 10-12ft. high, I had to go along it a ways before finding a way out. Even then, I had to climb on a partly slippery side and use exposed roots that I could just barely reach after stepping up. Emerging, I surprised another runner on the trail. I passed him and 2 women runners further down the trail as I ran the western side of the park to Tuckerman Rd. In the central section of the park I headed up on the trail parallel to the power lines, and past the kiddie train. It was around 70 F and I didn't feel very strong. I was sore again. There were not a lot of people in the park. I did some shopping afterward.

From Query Mill Rd. on a spur trail near the intersection with Esworthy Rd., I ran up the Muddy Branch Trail (NE) to Turkey Foot Rd., then back to Esworthy Rd., and up to where I'd parked. It was about 70 F and sunny. The last 2 days had been far cooler than normal so the cicadas were roaring. I still didn't see any more than one might see a bumble bee. The trail conditions were good. With heavy rains Friday and Saturday, I thought it'd still be wet and for a particular section, muddy like the trail name. There were hardly 2 puddles that were easily passed. A few hikers were out. I didn't feel that strong, and my legs were sore for a while. My left knee held-up okay though I did feel it sometimes.

Afterwards, I dugout to expand one garden and re-did the edging on another. I could feel this in my back but hopefully it'll be okay tomorrow. I wasn't hungry much today. Waking up late, I didn't eat breakfast, but I also didn't each lunch. We had Cava for dinner. Normally I'd expect a drop in weight from missing 2 meals but I'm not sure that I will.