Training Log Archive: Nadim

Prince William Forest, VA. I did some block vetting of courses. With a breeze going, it was kind of cool out and I wore a light jacket. I started out sticking to trails to get where I needed to really start, but even on the trail, I wasn't reading the path well. It may have been that my head wasn't in it or how much my eyes were watering. The water in my eyes continued for longer than normal, about half an hour or so. It was hard to focus on the map detail, even when I stopped running. A little while after I got past some White and Yellow controls and the first real control that I had to find, I was reading the map better. The woods were nice overall and got better as my loop continued. There was some new downfall in places and I made map notes along with the control notes.

My left knee was hurting on the right side. It had started hurting more the day before, even though I did no running, so yesterday I thought it was weather related (damp and cold). Today was cool but the hurt felt like more than the weather. It seemed to be tendon related and for a brief moment I felt a twang going down from the knee to the inner ball joint of my foot.

From Northfield Rd., Custer Rd. to Wilson Ln. to Glenbrook Rd., to Bradley Blvd., to Arlington Rd., to Old Georgetown Rd. to the Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. It was 57 F when I started. I moved faster the first mile than I thought I was going. Most of the rest of the way was more difficult. I'm still feeling sore from orienteering last weekend.

From Northfield Rd., to Custer Rd., to Huntington Pkwy. to Old Georgetown Rd., to Maple Ridge Rd., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail to Rockville Pike, to Woodmont Ave., to Battery Ln. to Wilson Ln. to Custer Rd., to Northfield Rd. It was damp out and in the mid-40s F. I was tired from not sleeping enough and a little from the Georgia Navigator Cup races. I took it easy and the first mile seemed a long way despite being downhill. Eventually, I picked-up the pace getting home. I needed a bathroom.

FDR State Park, GA. Walking to the Day 2 Classic orienteering course starts of the Georgia Navigator Cup.

Georgia Navigator Cup & 2023 OUSA Junior Nationals in FDR State Park and at Lake Frankline. Day 2 Classic.

S-1 - A little left to cross the stream in a good place, then straight up to the ditch with the control. I went up the ditch just a short way from there. The control was so low that it seemed to be touching the ground and wasn't visible on the approach until I was in the ditch.

1-2 - I tried going straight but got too far left. I realized this when crossing the ridge with the saddle but didn't correct enough for it. Once a the stream that hte control was on, I turned back but I found many small unmapped streams there. when running through the low bamboo.

2-3 - Straight. I saw Mike Eglinski going through the saddle just behind me but he was headed to #7. Going through the left side of the reentrant near the control, I passed a guy probably in my age group. I went in-between the gullies at the end.

3-4 - After climbing to the spur I intended to contour more of this when crossing the reentrant, but didn't execute that very well. I dropped down to the stream and was confused after crossing it, when seeing a root stock much closer than expected. I cut left presuming I was higher and that got me in-between the 2 reentrants. The contours on the map didn't seem very sharp here. The reentrants seemed deeper but that may have been a result of the steepness (6 contours in a little over 100m). I got into the wrong reentrant but corrected close to the top. A young man was in the left reentrant but I saw a young woman crossing to the right and that helped.

4-5 - I climbed initially and eventually hit the intermittent trail east of a light green area. I had wanted to hit the higher one. From the angle of the trail I was on, I'd presumed that I'd crossed the one I was actually on without seeing it, as was common for the smaller trails and rides in the part this weekend. The trail wasn't making sense and seemed to bend incorrectly. The younger guy I'd seen going to #5 was catching-up. I figured I'd better bail to the more distinct lower trail and actually hit it. However, I still wasn't making sense of the trail bends. At a trail bend that I thought was much closer to the control, I attacked and found small reentrants that dropped at an angle different from the one with the control. I couldn't believe that I was still 300m from the control so I paused trying to figure it out. I was unsuccesful until going further west. I hit a seemingly well formed trail in a reentrant that was mapped as a small trail. I climbed the reentrant to another trail and confirmed that I was still 3 contours and 90m from the control. I think I lost 5 minutes on this leg but AttackPoint shows no error. That's probably because so many other people had trouble with this leg.

5-6 - I went pretty straight but did move a little higher when vegetation thickened ahead of me.

6-7 - I went straight at first, then used the trail when I hit it. It was hard making sense of the trail bends since some small onesseemed to not show-up on the map. I cautiously dropped to the small building in the clearing. From there I ignored trails and went straight on bearing. I was a little shakey knowing where I was even after crossing the larger spurs, until I got to the saddle that I'd seen Mike Eglinski at when I was going to #2. From there I read the way pretty well. I came-in a little south of the line and saw the ditch SW of the control, using it to attack from.

7-8 - I went straight. My son Max was chasing someone else, seemingly coming from #8, and headed to #7. They were moving much faster. I think I got to #8 just before they did.

8-9 - I started straight but looking ahead, the light green on the leg line looked much thicker and extended more north of where it was mapped. Max was ahead and seemed to go through it. The other kid had gone south. I went around it to the north. I lost time to Max but would have anyway since he was moving much faster. I corrected for my jog to the north gradually and knew where to go without Max being ahead of me.

9-10 - I angled a little left of straight to make the downhill more gradual. Once across the creek and hItting the trail, I took it to the road. I left the road when it felt right rather than seeing the manmade feature that my GPS track shows me leaving from. I spiked the control but had to do some walking.

10-11 - Around the green to the trail, then to the road, then to the grassy trail.

11-F - I felt more energetic than the day before. I pushed harder going up the chute and didn't get caught by anyone this time.

I finished first for the day for M60+, but didn't finish far enough ahead to catch Clint Morse or Rick Bresman for the overall 2-day race.

GREENX - Splits