Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC: Manassas
 

Stuart's Hill, Manassas, VA. With dire weather predictions, QOC went ahead and had an nice meet. It stopped raining by the time I got out and the temperature was in the low 40's but very damp. It didn't get windy until the end. I ran pretty well in this fairly open, less technical, and flatish area. There were a few baubles like at #1, on the way to #7, and #15. The rest weren't all easy but I got through them fairly well. The complexity was raised by a problem with the map printing; the rough open came out as white. Fortunately there were distinct vegetation boundaries on the map. I felt decent starting out but on the way to #3, I felt odd and needed to slow. It was sort of like being out of breath but somehow different; more in the stomach and head. I started feeling tired toward the end and got a little more complacent than is wise. My back/tendons felt good through the run. I was thinking about declaring myself healthy again but I could feel things tightening at the base of the spine and through the right buttock afterward.

Red - Splits

Rock Creek Park, DC. From the DC/MD border, I ran the Western Ridge Trail to Bingham Dr. to the Valley Trail, then back to the parkinga area at the DC/MD border. It was right around freezing starting out but the damp parts of the trail hadn't frozen hard. I got out early; too early and slow for me to feel the hills much until later. I ran in tights which I don't usually do. They felt fine for the weather and almost like shorts feel. They spurred me to run a bit faster on the flat areas and down hills. I also had some women runners who were going parallel along Beach Dr. that spurred me to push a little. It was hard for me to keep pace with them due to curves and the trail obstacles. This was a nice way to start the day.

Rock Creek, MD. From the southern Lake Frank parking area off Avery Rd. Using just a USGS topo, I ran west across the valley then north over the hills to viewpoints above Lake Needwood. I looped back counterclockwise up and down a lot. It was a beautiful sunny 45F day making it well worth the hassle of getting around the holiday season traffic. In the past I had mostly run in these areas at night. It was really nice to see in the day becuase I could really tell how open the woods were. I think the areas I ran in can be mapped fairly quickly if using a GPS for the point features. It's unfortunate that there aren't a lot of features one the hilltops. There is less rock than the areas I had mapped to the south; there are various dot knolls, rootstocks, areas of stony ground, a ruin, a cairn. Though off trail almost the whole time, I ran in some trail shoes that I hope will be useful for a rogain in 2008. They were a little harder to use running across the steeper slopes on damp leaves. I hardly felt my back at all.

I got a late night ride in just before going to bed. My back feels better.

My back was feeling a bit tight after running yesterday and we decided to do some shopping too. I came back and rode after that watching a Southpark episode on imagination.

From Rosedale Ave. Battery La. to Glenbrook Dr. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Maple Ridge Rd. to the NIH Trail to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I did this about 40 seconds slower on 11/20/07. I hadn't been feeling much from my back the last two days so I thought I'd try a run. It didn't take long to fee something though not exactly where I expected it. I felt a bit of soreness in the right buttock but after the run, the mild pain and tightness sort of migrated more the left side of the base of the spine. Weird. I've been eating too much.

I finally got the correct replacement shoes and installed new clips on them so that I can use my indoor cycling trainer again. Who knows, maybe I'll find the old shoes one day too. This was late so just long enough to call it a workout. I miss using rollers--they are more fun but I don't have the space right now.