Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: US Individual Championships (Sprint/Middle/Long/Trail)
 

US Individual Sprint Championships, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, hosted by GAOC. Running steady through most of the race, I traded speed for fewer errors. I took a less risky route on the long 11-12 leg. I could of saved some seconds in more than one place where I didn't make errors too but this was mostly about safety and pacing. Besides making errors in races where I run too fast, I make some poor decisions too. Somehow, I managed to stay calm enough and place 3rd in M50+. See the Split List for leg comments. This was a nice campus and venue for a sprint. The GAOC did well hosting.

University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA. Warming up around the tennis courts near Love Valley, I thought I had about 12 more minutes before the US Individual Sprint Championships, hosted by Georgia Orienteering Club. As I finished a first slow loop not feeling so energetic, I heard Peggy calling my name. It turned out that my start time was 10 minutes earlier than I'd thought. I missed it by not much more than 30 seconds.

Sprint - Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd. To Bethesda Ave. and back. I rode into town for lunch. There was a headwind coming back and my gears need adjustment again.

From Northfield Rd. Charlcotte, Rd. to Hampden Ln., to Wilson Ln. to Radnr Rd. to Brite Rd. to Bradley Blvd. to Burling Rd. to Cornish Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to Elm St. to Clarendon Rd. to Hampden Ln. to Beverly Rd. to Edgemoor Ln. to Arlington Rd. to Moorland Ln. Teleworking from home today after getting Max to work, I still managed to work late. I squeezed in this short run on the way to see Max play soccer again. It was supposed to be about 50 F but with a steady dry breeze it felt rather much colder. My legs felt pretty good with a mostly just being lazy extra day off. I had been at work late and later upgrading to Windows 7 late into the night.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. There was a headwind.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a tailwind and it was in the 50s F. I would have liked to ride all the way to work but time constraints and predicted weather steered me away from that plan.

Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. From the north end of the parkting lot, north of Military Rd., to the hiker-biker trail paralleling Military Rd., along Military Rd. to Nebraska Rd. to 41st. St. NW, to Van Ness St. to the Glover Archbold Trail, to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Water St. on the new trail paralleling Water St. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Beach Dr. to the parking lot where I started. I used to run this route in the 1990s with some regularity and I called it Northwest D.C. in my online guide book since it crossed much of that quadrant of DC. I'm confident of the distance despite the GPS coming-up a bit short; when I had put it in my guide book I'd hand wheeled the trails where I couldn't bicycle and I had calibrated my bicycle for accuracy for better than one hundredth of a mile accuracy on other parts.

Taking off, I moved well up the initial climb out of the Rock Creek valley. Going across the rolling and mostly climbing streets to Glover Archbold on the pavement, I was steady. I had some time off the watch at traffic intersections. I was 25 minutes at the top of Glover Archbold. Going downhill on the steeper hills stressed my right knee but I kept a good pace. At the bottom, I was 48:00 at 6 miles for a flat 8:00 minute mile pace. I felt pretty good with that given the climbs but wondered if I went out too fast. I was tempted to run through the new water fountain in Georgetown but I wasn't really hot enough--the temperatures were around 70 F. Tons of people were in the waterfront park in Georgetown and in the parks all over. I took a break (off clock) on the Rock Creek Trail at the C&O Canal Towpath intersection for a Gu and some Gatorade that I'd carried. Feeling good after that, I made my way up the valley pretty well, even feeling stronger up to the climb before the zoo. On Beach Dr., after 13 miles, a guy I was passing did a double-look at me and told me that I looked like I'd gone a long way. I guess it was the dried salt on me. I didn't think I was feeling that bad and was slightly disappointed that I didn't look better too. The overall pace over the distance and hills was pretty good compared to what I've been doing and my knees held-up okay.

From E. Jefferson St., Rockville, MD, to Executive Blvd. to Nicholson Ln. to Woodglen Dr., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Greenwich Park, to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It hadn't been that long since I had brunch with Peggy, Max and a few MCRRC people. I got moving quickly at the start, not having a good sense of my pace. Seeing that I was 6:50 at 0.95 miles surprised me so I decided to keep up the effort. I focused on improving my stride and form. I need to do that more often since I can't hold it well until I've built-up the right muscles. My right knee didn't hurt and I speculate that's because I've been on dirt more lately and wasn't going that far. I did get somewhat tired.