Training Log Archive: Nadim

Muddy Branch Greenway Trail: From the intersection of Rte. 28, and Dufief Dr./Alderwood Dr., I ran down to the intersection of Esworthy Rd. and Query Mill Rd. and back. With more good sleep, I felt much stronger today. It was in the 60s F and fairly sunny all day. I parked north of Rte. 28 on Alderwood Dr. in a neighborhood and found the trailhead a bit to the west of the intersection with Rte. 28.



This trail was made over the last couple of years and only recently had been completed. It stays on the SE side of the creek. Spring is a good time to run most of the trails around D.C. but this one was quite picturesque. Most the woods were very open and in the section preceding the horse center, it was wide enough with some varied contours enough to support some o-training if mapped. I concur with Ken Walker's log regarding the beginning of the trail having the feel of running through people's back yards. This is over quickly. Though never far from houses, there are many times that one can't see any while at the same time being able to view far across open valleys. There were millions of tiny white/pink flowers on a low, almost grass-like ground cover. I got the feel of running through a garden. The trail was generally located well above the creek so despite the name of the trail, there was almost no mud (only at side streams). Conditions were quite good. Some side reentrants varied the slope and direction of the trail. There were occasional rocky outcrops but not many. The footing was rocky for only a short stretch before I turned around at the NW end of Blockhouse Conservation Park.



There were few people out though I saw a few. I passed one father-son duo heading up the trail on mountain bike (the trail seemed to be designed with this in mind). They spurred me to go a bit faster as we had to pass each other more than once on the ups and downs. There were lots of forks in the trail. Some of these appear to be due to relocation so even the blazes were pointed in the wrong direction. It wasn't very confusing but I did have to stop and think about it when I got to the the horse center. Generally, going downhill with the creek kept me on track.



I stopped and started a bunch along the way. This was to take pictures, adjust my belt, tighten my shoes, answer the phone, relieve myself, drink, etc... I never ate a Gu that I carried. My right knee hurt a little on the return. This might have been due to the change in slope with uphill generally being on my right side. On the return, I crossed paths with Eugene, a QOC regular who happens to live near enough to run this trail regularly.

Event: QOC Fountainhead
 

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park, VA. For my warm-up, I shadowed, assisted and taught Max how to navigate. He was a bit excited and didn't focus too well. He did get progressively better. There were things like trails not shown on the map that confused him. The course was very hilly for the distance (5.3%) with one pure dog-leg down and back up. Along the way we saw Peggy who was finishing-up her Green course.

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park. I struggled today. A number of factors were there to help explain why I was making errors starting with not sleeping enough earlier in the week. My energy level was down. I worked out more this week. It was a little warmer. When I hit the big hills of which there were many in the park (4.7% for the course), I walked a lot but the fatigue made me think poorly or rush decisions when I did run up them. Distance never felt consistent to me, probably ranging with the fatigue too. On the first control, I came up on it much earlier than I thought I would. Later I kept wondering where I was precisely on the map only to discover that I wasn't as far as I thought. I guess that where those who pace count get the payoff. The contours are okay mostly but not as sharp as more up to date maps would show (QOC had hoped to fly LiDAR over this and other parks in the area this spring but the bid came back too late for the leaf-out). I wore my eyeglasses and either through the fatigue or the distortion when seeing things low, I subsequently tripped a lot. The forest is generally open. It should allow good running if you can get over the hills but even going downhill, or along some flats I found a surprising depth of leaves. In other parks they'd been flattened down by rain long ago. I wondered if they had recently come off oaks that drop leaves in the spring.

I had a big error on #2. Thinking I was both taking a safe route and avoiding a big reentrant, I got too far off to the right, somehow crossing a major trail and getting onto a smaller one. It took me down the wrong ridge. Realizing it I had to cross a deep reentrant and did so going right to the control but I lost almost 5 minutes. Going to #6, I somehow miscounted some large reentrants going up one too soon. It was slow correcting going over some unmapped deadfall. I made an error going to #9 when I came off a trail bend--it was either the wrong trail bend or I should have angled better. I recovered by crossing a large reentrant at an angle but it took me time once across to figure the control was just behind me. I made a bonehead error going to #13 when I saw my control to the left but didn't see a fence at it as the control description indicated. Instead I ran to a bridge where another control was visible. I should have known the difference in locations but was running faster than my reading. I took the apparently slower route to #15 when trying to avoid climb. At #16, I approached from the fence and didn't see the control. tucked behind a tree. I ran to the larger reentrant but it appeared to be hung in a smaller unmapped one. It was a disappointing day but I got something out of it.

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd., then to the Bethesda Metro Station. With no school today, Max's day care planned for Wheel Day, in which the kids get to bring a wheeled item to use during the day. Max chose to bring his bicycle so to get it there we rode together. Getting going up the initial hill, Max was complaining. His bike is built solidly so it's no wonder that it's hard for him to get up hills with it. He's grown too so the seat needs to be raised.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Arlington Rd. and back. I had to bring Max his lunch.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was riding in the dark. I had wanted to run today but got out of work pretty late.

From Northfield Rd., to 12th and C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. I finally did a minimal amount of very needed bicycle maintenance on my road bike last night. I used the nice bike repair stand that Peggy had given me for Christmas. It was a much shorter job than I thought it'd be. I felt riding was really needed with all the knee aches lately. I had mid-50s F temperature and mixed winds but the wind was out of the W/NW along the river, near and after Georgetown, giving me more of a tailwind there. I kept a good but not stellar cadence.

From 12th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It did not feel as warm out as the 60 F temperature said it was. Headwinds nearly the whole way kept me cool and slower. I carried two days worth of clothes too. My quads felt sore going uphill and I geared down to keep spinning. There were lots of other cyclists and runners. It was good to have my drive train running smoothly and quietly again. I felt more shoulder discomfort getting into a proper position but did keep my weight off the handlebars.

From Grosvenor Metro Station, Tuckerman La. to Beach Dr. in Rock Creek Park, to the Rock Creek Trail, to Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail., to Cedar La. to Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Ave. to Edgemoor Ln. The weather was pleasant like last Friday when I did this same route. I felt tired from my harder run yesterday. I was concerned about whether or not I should run since my right knee was hurting a little. Within 3 quarters of a mile I did start feeling it. I was about 7:20 at the first mile, and I slowed more. Going up hills I was slower but afterward, my knee felt better.

Silver Spring, MD. From Rte. 29, north on Northwest Branch Trail on the west bank of the Northwest Branch Creek, into Wheaton Regional Park, to complete the Campground Loop Trail, then returned south on the Northwest Branch Trail to the Rachael Carson Trail on the east side of the Northwest Branch Creek to the parking lot on the south side of Rte. 29. Working the day in Beltsville, MD, I was able to get out at a reasonable hour and use the daylight. I stretched before starting and ran in shorts and a t-shirt. It was in the mid 50s F and a little breezy so I was cool at first. The distance recorded is a close estimate. I hadn't downloaded my last few runs on my GPS watch and unfortunately, I didn't think I couldn't fit this one in the memory.

It had been too long since I had a longer trail run or long run in general--I've been mostly recovering or orienteering this month. The trail on the flatter and straighter west side of the creek was just right to get me going. I cruised up to Kemp Mill Rd. (28:36, 3.66 miles). It's always fun to run up the trail and springtime is the best. Today was just a little early as far as the height of beauty there goes. Low carpets of ground cover were green but neither these nor the trees were blooming much. The trail conditions were surprisingly good given the rainy weekend. It was odd running in Wheaton Regional Park. I've run far many more miles there doing orienteering so running the trails without a map made it all feel and look so different.

Leaves were not so visible in the shady Northwest Branch Creek valley except in wet and otherwise greener terrain. In Wheaton Regional Park, a wider but sunnier park surrounded by heat leaking houses, green terrain was similar as far as leaf growth. However the leaves were out on the tops of the tree canopy there. The leaves were not so visible under the same trees at lower levels.

My right knee was aching a little about midway through the run. It made me more cautious in rougher terrain on the return run. The Rachael Carlson Trail is pretty windy with many side forks. I was moving my feet fast over rocks and other things that could trip me and I worried about fatigue inducing a fall.

Parts of the trail had been rerouted again, swinging out away from the creek more, and getting closer to the edges of the park at reentrants. Creek erosion along the banks forced some of the relocations. Some bridges had been added including some improvised ones that took advantage of large fallen tree trunks. Uniformity of the types of ropes used at different tree trunks makes me believe the park service installed these rather than them being made by an active boy scout.

45 situps. I had a late evening at work and figured it'd be better to save it for a better workout on Tuesday.