Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: Western States + Intercollegiate Championships
 

Western States Championships & Intercollegiate Championships in the Coronado National Forest near Sonoita, AZ. This was run on the Greaterville map, 1:10,000. The terrain was mostly open grasslands with scattered trees in the reentrants. Though it sounds easy to run in, the grasses hid many loose rocks. The start was at just above 5,000 ft. so I felt the altitude a little. I ran pretty well with probably less than 1:30 minutes in error. I was pleased with the run and just wasn't in shape to do much better. Maybe if I hadn't gotten sick earlier in the month it might have made a difference. I had started out the race cautiously; at one point on the way to #1, I came to a dead stop for 15 seconds to make sure I was following the right reentrant. Like the training in the preceding days, the terrain kept me slow enough to keep in contact with the map pretty well. I just had a slight error after getting to the bottom of the reentrant after #8--I had followed a bad bearing over a fence that I shouldn't have crossed and was tentative for a little way. My other error ocurred coming into #11 high from the road and the broad spur--I was reading the control to be the reentrant junction when it really was an earth bank just before it. I'd gone over the top of the earthbank not seeing the control in the bottom and had to turn back after reaching the reentrant junction. I did have a poor route choice at the end when I chose to go along the longer way along the wash to the finish but this couldn't have cost me much. I was concerned about making it in under an hour and did. For my efforts, I landed in 3rd place in M45+. I was 8 minutes behind Tom Hollowell and about a minute behind Ed Hicks. Greg Balter would have beat me too if he hadn't made a 11-12 minute error at #1. He finished 4 minutes behind me. If Eric Buckley or Mike Eglinski had run I'd likely have been further back; Eric didn't make it and Mike was sick.

Western States Championships & Intercollegiate Championships in the Coronado National Forest near Sonoita, AZ. For the afternoon, I did the sprint. I did poorly and had trouble reading the contours. They appeared to have just been blown up from 1:10,000 to 1:5,000 and missed some detail in areas--still, I could have just been trying to run too fast. The start was in a very open area and people went in many strange routes. Many had wondered a bunch about which way was best. Near the last moment, I chose to go the way JJ Cote did; around the first reentrant low (many had crossed this), then up. I spiked #1 and then did the same for #2. Things were going by so fast that perhaps I got over confident. I went around along the wash toward #3 but missed it by being too far right--I misread the contrours and went way past where I should have gone, incurring some extra climb too. I was clean to #4, and #5. I was pretty close on #6 but going to #7 I was just a bit high. Passing the control, I could have seen it if I'd just turned around. I convinced myself that I'd mis-counted the reentrants we were crossing and went too far north. Looping around low but rather confused, I saw #8 and figured it was the wrong control. Not matching up anything else, I went to #8 then turned back to go the #7. After that, I was fairly clean on the rest but I'd lost a lot of time and was tired. Lynn Walker had started behind me by a minute and had made some errors too but we were together at #8. The total error was probably over 5-6 minutes. This didn't help me much for tommorow.

Red 1 - Splits

Sprint - Splits

Arthur Pack Regional Park, Tuscon, AZ. The US Team setup a compass bearing training exercise in this very flat park. It was a good place for it since there was enough spotty rough vegetation on the map to make some obstacles. To keep on course, I went through greener areas than I otherwise might have chosen. The point of the exercise was to keep on track using primarily bearings. I didn't use the trails which sometimes might have been better to go on. I had trouble early. The exercise was made tougher by the use of orange and white streamers instead of actual control bags. I was often near Kesenya, Stanislav and one of his friends. They sometime drew me off my line and sometimes helped. It was quite fun. The mapping was rather good though I'd be more likely to map a lot of this light green rather than white. The saguaro catcus made good controls as well as good landmarks to read along the way; they were mapped as green boulders. Though my spike accuracy rate looks low, I was often very close. My GPS track of this looks rather odd for an O-course with mostly straight lines.

Event: US Team training activity
 

Coronado National Forest, AZ. From the Italian Flats parking area, I did a contours only course with some line-O sections. This was a pretty area with great views of some snow topped mountains. We started at around 4350 ft as my GPS read it. I did okay in the first line-O section finding both controls. In the second, I drifted a bit too low to see another. The course portion was to be 4.8K but by the time I got finished with the line-O sections and the regular course, I'd done nearly 5 miles or 8K. I was fairly accurate on most controls but lost contact a bit for #9 and though I tried to backdoor #10, I cut in a bit soon for a slight bobble. I am not physically in shape to run hard yet. I?m still weaker than normal from being sick earlier this month. It showed in tight calves, in twisting my ankle slightly in one easy area and had to walk up the steeper hills. There was substantial rock in this area which did often slow the pace.
Splits:
From the parking area, through the start of the line-O, to the first course control, to the first course control. 22:15 (1.54 miles).
1-2 - 4:27
2-3 - 6:42
3-4 - 3:39
4-5 - 4:53
5-6 - 4:31
6-7 - 7:33 ? I got a bit low at the end and had to correct (0:45 time lost)
7-8 - 3:43 ? 50m out from 7, I could see 8 but lost it again.
8-9 - 9:45? lost contact toward the end but I recovered well.
9-10 - 3:52 ? I came around the back side but cut in too early.
10-F & Parking ? 3:11. I used the trail and road.

C • Coronado? 2

Coronado National Forest, AZ. Chimney Rock map. After eating a sandwich and waiting with Max for Peggy to return from her run, I went out. I was tired both from having run earlier and eating too soon after running. I was confused by the abundance of rock and steep reentrants on the way to #1, making a several minute error. The terrain was rougher than earlier in the day. There was mostly a lot of rock under foot but a lot of pointy vegetation to run around too. I got better as I went.

S-1 - 8:06 - leaving the road on the trail to the right, I started to go straight but the contours and abundant rock detail weren't making sense. I didn't see much rock on the map and the reentrant looked way too steep. I got off on the wrong side of things but corrected back after losing a few minutes.
1-2 - 4:08 ? I went high to #2 but was slowed by the much rougher than expected terrain.
2-3 - 3:45 - finally, I started getting on track but was slow.
3-4 - 1:23
4-5 - 5:44 - past the campers, then I took the high route in.
5-6 - 2:22 - fairly straight.
6-7 - 4:19 - down along the reentrant then over and up. I wasn't sure which side of the cliff it'd be on.
7-8 - 2:22 - it was hard to tell where things turned from spotty woods to open. Once in the open, I saw the control from far off. As often is the case in areas like this, I lost it again but went almost straight to it.
8-9 - 4:41 - I stayed a little high on the left but eventually did drop down to the reentrant. I should have stayed high.
9-10 - 5:59 - I thought this was the trickiest control of the course. I read it very well up until the end when I got too low.
10-11 - 1:11 - spiked this.
11-12 - 4:03 - fairly straight but around the right side to the knoll at the end.
12-13 - 3:49 - This was tricky. I got just a bit to the right but corrected well.
13-F - 1:14

From Rosedale Ave. I did the Two Mile Route. This was run the first thing in the morning and my body was not awake. I needed to do it early because the rest of the day is for traveling to Tuscon, AZ. I felt rather sluggish and didn't want to push so as not to aggrivate my calfs.

On the walk home from work my calfs were hurting. My legs are still not used to running. It was also cold out so I opted to ride the cycle trainer. I kept the average cadence above 65 rpm.

Rock Creek Park, MD (Candyland parking) After Peggy ran and I'd finished talking with Rich Feliciano about how it's harder to train and set serious goals with kids (Max, Miles and Rich's youngest son Reed were playing at the playground and we just happened to run into each other), I went for a run northward up the Rock Creek trail, then looping through the Linden La. trails. The trails were soft from recent rains but not altogether muddy. It was warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt. It was nice. These trails might make a nice Summer Short Series map. Almost 6 minutes into the run, my left calf started to hurt--just around the time I saw some other guy limping along going the other way. It loosened up okay but on the return, both calfs were tight and hurting a bit. I tried to open it up on the return on the paved trail. My feet felt heavy even though there wasn't much mud on my shoes. Earlier in the day we went to Haines Point to see the Awakening one last time before they dismantle and move it--he was afraid of it even though others were climbing around a lot (he did slide down the uplifted knee piece. This will probably be Max's only time seeing it. Rich said there is the Storm King Arts Center up near Harriman/West Point in NY with some similar neat sculptures that are somewhat kid interesting--perhaps well see it some time.

From Rosedale Ave., Battery La. to Glenbrook Rd. to Edgemoore Ln. to Arlington Dr. to Bethesda Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Kentbury Dr. to Rosedale Ave. I was reluctant to go out but needed to before it started raining. I felt slow and after two miles I needed to stop because my left calf was tight to the point of pulling something. After stretching it it eventually got better on the way home. I could have used a bathroom. I could have been tired from the run yesterday but in November I ran this in 26:09. My half mile split on the trail was 3:45. I need to get back to the discipline of road running. Though I was sick most of the time, this is my first road run this month.