Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC Fountainhead
 

QOC: Fountainhead. I enjoyed the course on the east map. We had arrived late so I only ran the Red course--Blue was 2K longer and hillier.

John Baker had started before me so as he did I talked-up some trash about seeing him out there soon.

I was doing okay until after #3. I'd just passed a person at #2 and saw Mihai Sirbu ahead. Having set courses here for the US Ultralong Champs a year ago, I headed for the trail but got off of the ridge early rather than go to the next intersection. That gave me a few extra hills. I popped out on the bigger ridge trail about 100m ahead of the guy I'd passed at #2. Further down the ridge, I left shortly after a clearing. I had been running with some effort and didn't slow as I entered the woods going downhill. I wasn't checking things off really well but had some confidence in where I was. When I got to the reentrant and location that I was looking for I didn't see the control and went on. I looped back higher and the even went to the previous large reentrant. I doubled back even higher, then returned to where I had originally searched for the control. Still failing, I went out to the trail and worked my way back. It was only then that I spotted the control above the reentrant. The control was on a small dot knoll and hung low but I was surprised I hadn't seen it in all of my back and forth searching. I must have ran right past it and may have been distracted by other runners--Chris Gross passed me there and I lost at least 9 minutes.

The rest was fairly easy. I spiked 6, using the trail to get there, and #7 and 8 going straight. I hit #9 as I passed John Baker but came in a little lower than expected. For #10, I paused on a shelf below the control and near the road so I lost about 25-30 seconds on it. I spiked #11 and #12. I stopped early at the wrong control for #13. I used the road going to #14. I didn't feel like I was running well and was tired finishing-up. Overall, it was a little disappointing to have such a big error on #4 but it was good to be out and running.

Red - Splits

I had a bad stiff neck this day. I'd never had one that bad. It didn't go away until I'd slept. Maybe it came about from being in the cold for a long while field checking while a little underdressed.

Seneca State Park, MD. From Riffleford Rd., I started mapping the areas to the west on the south side of the creek. I'd been running on the Seneca Creek Trail and on a short run through the areas the previous week. I'd even started a small part of a ridge near the road before so I had a good idea of what I'd find. Starting with the low flood plain, there were ditches that had shown-up on LiDAR. They weren't always neatly defined, with the same ditch varying in depth and width. The forest in the lowlands was just fairly open so it'll be fast when people race through. There were some somewhat interesting linear marshes and short streams popping-up and disappearing. On the higher ground the vegetation had more light green forest and an area of deadfall near the road. An old homestead had a lot of manmade features. Some of it was trash but derelict cars, a doghouse and a small wall were there too. I covered an area of about 600m x 300m and that was fairly productive given the features. I look forward to doing more. There is a good amount of rough open that I'm hoping will be easy to map, along with an area of light green to green bushes. A big field on a ridge where a shooting range used to be still has small buildings and should be really easy to map. I'm hoping to get part of this area south of Riffleford Rd. mapped to use before QOC's April meet, as I'm the course setter for it.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Charlcote Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Old Georgetown Rd., W. Cedar Ln., to Beach Dr., to Jones Mill Rd., to Jones Bridge Rd., to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Maple Ridge Rd., to Park Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I knew I needed a few more miles of cycling to surpass my total from 2014 so I went out after dinner in the dark for a ride. I had lights to see and be seen with. It was nice though I was a little nervous about auto traffic in the first part. I rode on the sidewalk along Old Georgetown Rd. but Beach Dr. was pretty good. When stopped at a traffic light, a middle aged couple rolled down their window and chatted showing smiles and a little concern without saying it. I smiled too. It was a rough year for training so I'm glad I was able to surpass my effort in cycling by a little bit in 2015.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I had to turn around at one point when one of my ankle clips fell off. It was 42 F, humid, and with a breezy headwind. I was kind of glad to be riding since it edges me within 4 miles of surpassing my cycling total from 2014. I was in much worse health and unable to train for more of 2015 so this shows that I did put in some significant training work during the end of the summer and the fall.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There was some traffic along the way and a slight drizzle.