Training Log Archive: Nadim

In Prince William Forest, from the Pine Grove parking area Peggy, Dave Pruden and I each went off on our own runs through the woods. At first, I went somewhat backwards on Chris Harrison's US Champs course but quickly deviated. Later I spent a lot of time looking for 2 pits that were either very shallow or not really there. Other features confirmed my position. This was a little longer than intended. It was somewhat a damp cold in the 20's F with snow flurries.

Working late meant a late dinner and spinning afterward.

30 pushups, 45 situps, upper-body dumbells on a full stomach.

From C St. NW, around Hanes Point, then upriver along Ohio Dr. to The Parkway, to the Lincoln Memorial, to Constitution Ave. to 14th St. to C St. Winds from the south meant it was warmer today (~20F) which was nice because I started with a headwind. 75 seconds slower to the Point than with the tailwind last week, I made-up just about all that time by the time I reached 14th St. I started to run out of steam with very heavy and sore legs the last 2 miles.

From C St. SW DC, to the Lincoln Memorial, along the river to Georgetown, up the C&O Canal Towpath to Key Bridge, Mt. Vernon Trail to Memorial Bridge, to the Lincoln Memorial, to C St. It was in the mid-teens F with light winds. I was again sleepy and somewhat tired from the intervals run less than 12 hours prior. As I turned up river I got in behind another runner who soon pulled away. I found and picked-up my pace at the mental half-way point of crossing Key Bridge which happened to also be with the wind. I got very sweaty for as cold as it was and chilled at one point on the back of my neck. I forgot my watch so I timed from indoor clocks.

Warm-up on the cold (low-20's F) and windy UMD Track.

10 x 200m with an easy 200m jog in-between. Too cold to do much else on the track. Surprising because of the cold and wind and recent training, times are again faster than last week. They were still slow. The track was almost empty probably due to the weather--Peggy was off getting stuck with pins. The lack of company got me to thinking how my current 200m sprint pace is slower than my 2 mile indoor race pace was in college and only 3 seconds faster per 200m than my outdoor 5 & 8 mile PR paces. Splits: 35.4, 36.1, 36.9, 36.0, 35.8, 35.9, 35.6, 34.97, 35.8, 34.68. As I worked on form and warmed-up, times improved. I weighed-in at 170.5 this morning--too many recent cookie curls--more than 20 pounds over what I raced at when in college over 20 years ago.

Warm-down on the UMD Track.

From Quill Point Dr. I ran easy on the icy paved trail to Tanglewood Park. I just wanted to loosen up and it helped despite my left knee feeling sore initially. Doing the unpaved 2-1-5 loop in the park, I stopped many times to clear the trail of storm debris from earlier in the year. I started and stopped my watch each time I cleared wood and cut out thorns. It got dark before I could finish but I made good progress. I'd need at least a hand saw to take care of 2 of the remaining fallen trees and a chainsaw for the 3rd--that's not going to happen...

Spinning nicely on a recovery day.

30 pushups, 45 situps, upper-body dumbells. I felt kind of weak.

Great Falls, MD. Back & forth on the trail from the lodge to the start.

QOC at Great Falls, MD. On a nice new 1:10,000 map we started in the low 30's F in fog and rain with electronic punching. I've been trying to get in a long run each week so I went into this planning to do both Blue and Green courses. The scale threw me right from the beginning. I made many early errors plus one perhaps more legitimate error toward the end. All were a couple minutes each. I wasn't particularly strong on hills but did okay. Intensity was in-between 3 and 4. My cold wet feet let me feel the stones through my shoes. I ran with an old Goretex top. See the Split List.

After running the Blue course, I rested a few minutes and then took off again with achy cold wet feet. I had already been to all but one control on the Green course with 5 of the exact same legs. Though more tired, I executed all but the last repeated leg faster though not always perfect. I navigated okay through the anthill area to the one control that I hadn't been to before. My one error was going to control 6. Coming to it from below this time I was thinking I hadn't been to it before but actually I had... I felt fairly strong throughout but wasn't really moving that fast--the average pace was faster than I did for the Blue course but it was because I had a lot less error. See the Split List.

Blue - Splits

Green - Splits